Coronation of the next Zulu King may hang in the balance after an urgent court application. Photo: EWN
As the world awaits to be introduced officially to the new king of the Zulu Kingdom and his also new wife, a cloud is hanging over the momentous event as his right to the kingdom has come under question after an urgent application was made to stop the coronation. Princess Ntandoyenkosi Zulu and Princess Ntombizosuthu Zulu-Duma made an urgent application to stop the coronation to the Pietmaritzburg High Court on Friday morning. This follows an original court order which was also brought to the High Court earlier in which the two princesses sought to challenge the authenticity of King Goodwill’s will.
King Goodwill Zwelithini passed away on the 12th of March 2021 and was interred on the 18th of March in a private function after naming his third wife, Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu as the regent. However, Dlamini-Zulu suddenly fell ill and passed away immediately afterwards, and was also interred in the early hours of the morning, much like her husband. At the reading of her will, amid drama and the drawing out of guns, Misuzulu kaZwelithini was named the next king of the Zulu nation. As the nation awaits the coronation of the next king of the Zulu nation, it is against this background that the application to stop the coronation was made. Among many claims the princesses make is the fact that they suspect that the signature of their late father may have been faked. The princesses are daughters of the late Isilo with his first wife, Queen Sibongile Dlamini, who also made another application to the High Court challenging the king’s will. She argued that hers should be regarded as the only marriage to the late king and as such, she should be entitled to half of the king’s estate.
When the princesses’ application was heard on Friday, the court adjourned the matter sine die (without assigning a day for a further hearing). This was done purportedly to allow both parties and the court to consolidate it with the other applications and therefore file responding affidavits. When asked about the plans around the coronation, the spokesman for the Zulu Royal house Prince Thulani Zulu said the coronation would go ahead as planned. “They tried to stop the coronation. Unfortunately, they were not granted that, so it doesn’t stop us from doing whatever we want,” he said. In anticipation of this move, the advocate representing the princesses said it would be untruthful for anyone to go ahead with the coronation while it was still before the courts. Bethuel Thusini said it would be devious for “anyone to hold the coronation when the matter was in court”.
