Eastern Cape to fund its seven kings

Plans are at an advanced stage to allocate funds from the provincial budget to the province’s seven kings, although it is not clear how much money each will receive.

Co-operative governance & traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Xolile Nqatha made the announcement at the funeral of AbaThembu senior traditional leader Nkosi Zanomthetho Mtirara at Mqhekezweni Great Place near Mthatha on Friday.

The government has come under fire for not allocating funds to kings in the province, as is the case with Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who takes home almost R70m a year.

Eastern Cape traditional leaders are supportive of Zwelithini receiving funds, but want other kings to benefit as well.

At Mtirara’s funeral, Nqatha said: “As the provincial government, we have made a decision that our kings in the province must be allocated an annual budget.

“We are now busy discussing the policy framework to ensure accountability and determine the total figure and allocation per reigning king or queen.

“According to our plans, that should start in the coming financial year.”

Nqatha said the move was aimed at “protecting and promoting the dignity of our kingdoms and our monarchs”.

“We now have seven kings, including the head of the newly restored AmaMpondomise kingdom.”

Provincial kings, he said, had met with Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to petition for a budget allocation. “Our premier, Oscar Mabuyane, received a letter from the national minister which encouraged us to take that route and make a budget for our kings.”

Nqatha told the Dispatch no figure had been proposed as yet, but the amount would be far less than the almost R70m Zwelithini receives.

“This is because we are budgeting for seven kings in the Eastern Cape, unlike one in the whole of KwaZulu-Natal. While we are not sure at this stage how much each king will receive, I am sure we cannot afford the amount accorded to King Zwelithini for each of our kings,” said Nqatha.

Zwelithini’s annual budget increased slightly, from R65.8m in 2018 to R66.71m in 2019.

In line with government salary recommendations, Zwelithini receives an annual salary of R1,223,799 — the amount set down for kings and queens in the country — along with an annual budget of almost R70m which comes out of KwaZuluNatal’s provincial budget.

Some traditional leaders in the Eastern Cape were sceptical of Nqatha’s announcement.

Nkosi Mwelo Nonkonyana, who is provincial chairperson of both Contralesa and the Eastern Cape House of Traditional Leaders, said: “We will wait and see. I cannot be excited about it until I have seen that there is an actual budget and implementation.”

But Contralesa national secretary-general Zolani Mkiva said: “We welcome this. It is the product of the grassroots struggles which were waged by Contralesa, both provincially and nationally.

“We have made it clear to the national government that we are a unitary state, so therefore the issues of standardisation and uniformity in terms of services that are granted to traditional leaders must be of an equitable nature.”

As the provincial government, we have made a decision that our kings in the province must be allocated an annual budget