THE PRESIDENT of Mzansi has recognised King Misuzulu as the Zulu king.
But Prince Mandlakapheli and his Zulu faction have made it quite clear that they don’t care.
"All the families will unite behind its own king, who is king Simakade!" said the prince.
And now the Zulus have two kings after late king Zwelithini’s first son, Prince Simakade Zulu, was traditionally coronated in the cattle kraal on Saturday night.
Prince Simakade entered the sacred cattle kraal at Enyokeni royal palace in Nongoma, KZN where he was introduced to the late Zulu kings as the king.
King Misuzulu will perform the same ritual next Saturday.
The Zulu royal faction that is opposing King Misuzulu as the king saluted Prince Simakade as their king, and they’ve sent an application letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa asking him to recognise Prince Simakade as the king.
A few months ago, Ramaphosa recognised King Misuzulu as the Zulu king, and he started getting government benefits as the king.
Prince Mandlakapheli Zulu, who backed Prince Simakade, said the Enyokeni royal palace was the only place where the king could be coronated. “Those who will do their coronation in another palace will be wasting their time. King Simakade will have powers in terms of connecting with ancestors because he used this palace,” he said.
The media was not allowed to take pictures.
Prince Mandlakapheli said they didn’t care that President Ramaphosa has recognised King Misuzulu as the Zulu king.
“Before someone gets the recognition from the president, he must be recognised by the family and the family must introduce him to the nation and write the letter to the president for recognition,” he said.
“We have written the application letter to the president because the letter he received to recognise Prince Misuzulu did not come from the family, but from prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
“That was just a game. We asked the president to give us the mediation committee report to mediate the throne dispute.
“But instead of giving us a report, we heard from the media that he has recognised Prince Misuzulu as the king without saying why.”
Last week Zulu monarch traditional prime minister Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi warned Prince Simakade to not do an illegal traditional coronation because King Misuzulu was already on the throne.
Buthelezi threatened that Prince Simakade would be prevented from entering the palace, but they came in numbers to maintain order and make sure that the event went smoothly.
President Ramaphosa’s spokesman Vincent Magwenya was called for comment, but he didn’t answer his phone.
Instead, he sent an SMS that the journalist should send a text. The message was sent, but he hadn’t responded at the time of going to print.