Johannesburg — AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has joined the DA, the party's Eastern Cape leader said on Monday.

"After a long meeting [on Monday] to discuss the DA's values and the DA's constitution, I can confirm that AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has joined the DA," Athol Trollip said.

He said in a statement they discussed the proposed Traditional Courts Bill, and the Democratic Alliance's objection that parts of it were unconstitutional.

"King Dalindyebo was clear that, while the Constitution recognises traditional leadership, it is paramount that traditional leaders respect and abide by the Constitution," he said.

"To that end, the king agreed that unconstitutional provisions in the bill regarding gender needed to be amended."

Trollip said Dalindyebo believed the DA's "brand of clean government and delivery" was needed in the province.

"I was up front with King Dalindyebo with regards to some of the controversies that have surrounded him," he said.

"I made it clear that the DA expects its members to conduct themselves in line with the party's values and principles. On that basis King Dalindyebo took up membership of the DA today."

Dalindyebo is still appealing a 15-year jail term on various charges, including attempted murder.

Last month, Dalindyebo made headlines when he reportedly described the African National Congress and President Jacob Zuma as "corrupt hooligans". He made the remarks in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape, at a prayer service for ailing former president Nelson Mandela.

Dalindyebo reportedly said the ANC had distorted the anti-apartheid icon's legacy and behaved arrogantly. He said he would stop smoking dagga the day Zuma stopped being corrupt.

Dalindyebo previously said he would join the DA as a birthday gift to Mandela. Mandela, who remains in a critical but stable condition in a Pretoria hospital, turns 95 on Thursday.

On Saturday, AbaThembu royal family spokesman Nkosi Daludumo Mtirara said the family had apologised to Zuma.

He said at the time that a resolution in September last year, to remove Dalindyebo as king, had not been finalised.