SA Court ousts Zulu king

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has set aside President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision to recognise Misuzulu as the Zulu king. The court found that Ramaphosa's decision was unlawful and invalid.

The court ordered Ramaphosa to appoint an investigative committee to conduct an investigation and provide a report regarding allegations that the identification of Misuzulu was not done in terms of customary laws and customs.

In October, high-powered lawyers for warring half-brothers Misuzulu Sinqobile kaZwelithini and Prince Simakade Jackson Zulu faced off in court over three days.

Simakade and Mbonisi Zulu, a half-brother of late King Goodwill Zwelithini, launched the application to have Ramaphosa's recognition of Misuzulu as rightful monarch set aside.

Simakade and Mbonisi, through their lawyers, argued that due process was not followed in the nomination and appointment of Misuzulu as king.

On Monday, Judge Norman Davis delivered the much-awaited judgment.

Davis in his findings said his judgment was not about who should be the king of the Zulu nation but rather to determine if Misuzulu was appointed as king in terms of the Zulu custom and whether Ramaphosa had correctly recognised the present king in terms of the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act.

Davis found that Ramaphosa had not followed due process in recognising Misuzulu as the Zulu King.

The court also found that despite being aware of the disputes in the royal house on whether the meeting in which Misuzulu was identified as the new king of the Zulu nation complied with the prescripts of Zulu custom and the Leadership Act, Ramaphosa failed to consider objections raised by certain members of the royal house.

"Objections had been raised at that meeting against the manner in which the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi had conducted that meeting and how, for example, Prince Thokozani had been silenced and removed from the meeting," the judgment reads.

"The president denied that he received this document due to an error in his email address noted thereon but acknowledged having received Princess Thembi's later letter, dated 3 June 2021."

In the letter, Princess Thembi contended that a meeting on 7 May 2021 did not amount to a meeting of the Zulu royal family and a meeting on 14 May was called under false pretences and that its agenda didn't indicate that it was called for purposes of identifying a successor to the throne.

"The president, therefore, erred in law in not having followed peremptive provisions of the Leadership Act. This renders his recognition decision susceptible to review," Davis found.