Zanozuko Sigcau will be crowned as king
AMAMPONDO King Zanozuko Tyelovuyo Sigcau will be officially enthroned in a traditional ceremony to be held at Ndimakude Great Place near Flagstaff on Friday.
This is despite an ongoing court battle with Eastern Mpondoland Regent-Queen MaSobhuza Lombekiso Sigcau over the legitimacy of Zanozuko’s kingship.
MaSobhuza claims Zanozuko has no right to be recognised as a king as she or her daughter, Princess Wezizwe Sigcau, is the rightful person to rule the AmaMpondo nation.
MaSobhuza is the widow of the late King Mpondombini Thandizulu and Wezizwe is their eldest daughter.
The cultural coronation, spearheaded by the AmaMpondo supporting Zanozuko, who organised themselves under the banner of Imbumba YamaMpondo, said the event had nothing to do with the extended court battle over the nation’s sovereignty between the Sigcaus, which has been ongoing since 2010.
This was when Zanozuko was pronounced by President Jacob Zuma as king of the AmaMpondo following a probe by the Nhlapo Commission into the authenticity of South African kingships.
His uncle, Mpondombini, who had been Eastern Mpondoland king since 1978, was stripped in 2011 of the kingship, but the government recognised his widow as regent pending finalisation of the court battle.
The AmaMpondo’s sovereignty row could be nearing an end – Zanozuko’s spokesman Prince Mzandile Maraqana said they would be back in the Constitutional Court on February 20. —