There was drama inside and outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday before, during and after the hearing of the dispute between the warring factions of the Zulu royal family.

Various disputes between the Zulu royal family members were set to be heard on Tuesday and Wednesday. These disputes include the succession to the throne following the death of King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu in March 2021.

The late king's first wife, Sibongile Winifred Zulu, is seeking a declaratory order stating she married the late king in terms of civil law and in community of property, which entitles her to 50% of kaBhekuzulu's estate. The other five wives were married in terms of customary law, and thus have no standing, she contends.

Queen Sibongile Winifred's two daughters, princesses Ntandoyenkosi Zulu and Ntombizosuthu Zulu-Duma, wanted the court to declare the late king's will to be a forged document. In that will, the late king nominated his third wife, the late Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, as the regent. Queen Dlamini Zulu, in turn, wrote her own will in which she nominated her own son, Misuzulu Sinqobile kaZwelithini, as the successor to the late Zulu king.

The applicants have also interdicted any attempts to install...