South Africa: Battle for Zulu Throne Reignited As King Misuzulu Kazwelithini's Recognition Ruled Unlawful

GovernmentZA / Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)
Misuzulu kaZwelithini at his coronation as Zulu king, August 20, 2022.
12 December 2023
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
analysis By Chris Makhaye

President Cyril Ramaphosa has been ordered to appoint an investigating committee comprising experts on Zulu royal matters to determine the rightful heir to the throne after he was found to have prematurely recognised King Misuzulu kaZwelithini.

The epic battle for the Zulu throne has been reignited following Monday's decision by the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria to nullify and invalidate President Cyril Ramaphosa's 2022 decision to recognise King Misuzulu kaZwelithini as the king of AmaZulu and grant a certificate to that effect.

King Misuzulu was crowned king in a ceremony held at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium in October 2022 attended by statesmen and women, kings and queens, amabutho (warriors), Zulu maidens and thousands of people, wherein Ramaphosa handed King Misuzulu a certificate of recognition.

The court found that Ramaphosa had acted hastily in recognising Misuzulu without ensuring all protocols of identifying and selecting the king had been followed.

Monday's court decision follows an application by Prince Simakade Zulu, a half-brother of King Misuzulu, who approached the court and filed an application effectively challenging Ramaphosa's decision to recognise Misuzulu as King of AmaZulu.

For three days in October this year, the high court sat to hear arguments from Prince Simakade's lawyers, as well as those representing President Cyril Ramaphosa and those of King Misuzulu.

Reading his judgment on Monday, Judge Norman Davis, said: ''The judgment is not about who should be king of...

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