King wants control over Zulu land
King Misuzulu ka Zwelithini wants chiefs to play a greater role in the Ingonyama Trust Board
Aconfrontation appears to be imminent between the Zulu king, Misuzulu ka Zwelithini, and the provincial and national governments over his plans to review the operations of the Ingonyama Trust to give oversight to the province’s traditional leaders.
The king wants to change the way the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) — which administers three million hectares of Kwazulu-natal on behalf of the trust — works, giving greater say to amakhosi over how it spends the revenue it collects.
The monarch also wants the agriculture, land reform and rural development minister, Thoko Didiza, to remove members of the ITB she appointed last year — and to possibly relinquish control over the board, which her department funds to the tune of more than R20 million a year.
The ITB collects millions of rands annually in commercial and agricultural leases, along with revenue from mining houses operating on trust land, which is meant to benefit residents, their traditional councils and, to a lesser extent, the monarch.
It accounts to parliament’s agriculture, land reform and rural development portfolio committee, but has had a fractious relationship with the legislature over the years.
This improved last year after the king appointed Thanduyise Mzimela as chairperson.
But last week the king fired Mzimela, taking on the role himself, as he is entitled to do per the 1994 legislation passed to create the trust.
The move was part of the king’s vision to have himself and amakhosi play a more central role in the administration and beneficiations of ITB land, but is likely to put him on a collision course with the government.
Didiza this week described the ITB as a “creature of statute” and said that the oversight model, and the way in which it worked, would remain in place to ensure it benefitted the people living on the land.
Traditional prime minister Thulasizwe Buthelezi, appointed last month by the king to replace the late Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) president Mangosuthu Buthelezi, said this week that the king will meet Didiza to discuss his vision for “transforming” the Zulu nation.
“The king is saying that 30 years into democracy it is time to review the governance model with regard to the Zulu people,” Buthelezi said.
“The meeting between the minister and his majesty will be very important, so that the minister can apprise him of the operations of the Ingonyama Trust, and so that his majesty can also share his vision with the minister,” Buthelezi said.
Buthelezi confirmed that the king envisaged that the legislation governing the trust, passed in 1994 to secure the participation of his father, King Goodwill Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu and Inkatha in the first democratic elections, would have to be amended.
Whether this would be driven by Didiza, or whether she would accept this, still had to be discussed when they met.
“Of course this would require legislative change. We don’t know [if it would be driven by Didiza]. That is why we are waiting for the meeting,” Buthelezi said.
Asked whether this path might lead to a confrontation with the provincial and national governments, Buthelezi said: “I don’t know.”
“At the end of the day, the land belongs to the Zulu people and the king is custodian of that land. The king’s primary concern is that the land must benefit the beneficiaries, who are the people living on the land,” he said. “The king feels that up to now the beneficiaries have not been seeing the full benefits from the land.”
Buthelezi said the king had reached out privately and publicly to estranged family members who had taken him to court to challenge his recognition as king by President Cyril Ramaphosa and to have him stripped of his powers over the ITB.
Prince Simakade Zulu, the king’s half-brother, and his uncle, Prince Mbonisi Zulu, are among the royals who have brought the two court applications.
Last year the Pretoria high court set aside Misuzulu’s recognition and ordered Ramaphosa to appoint an investigative panel into allegations he had not been legitimately identified as heir to the Zulu throne. The president has appealed the ruling.
The application to have Misuzulu stripped of his powers — and to have his salary withheld — will be heard on 26 April in the Pietermaritzburg high court.
Both Ramaphosa and Kwazulunatal Premier Nomusa Dube-ncube have indicated that they will not oppose this application.
In his explanatory affidavit to the court, provincial government legal adviser Karl-heinz Waldemar Kuhn said the premier would not oppose the application for a number of reasons.
He said the provincial government did not pay the king’s salary; the national government did. The province merely “managed the budget
allocation” made for the monarch by the presidency, which set — and paid — the king’s stipend.
The province was responsible for the payment of traditional leaders, inkosi and other traditional officials, while any funds to the monarch did not go “directly” to the king, but “to the entire Zulu royal house”.
Budgeted funds were subject to the Public Finance Management Act and had to be spent as allocated through “proper legislative process”.
Kuhn said the Royal House budget was tabled, debated, voted upon and allocated through a process in the legislature, with any changes made by further adjustment votes and that the court should be aware of this.
Asked whether this decision indicated a loss of support of the presidency and the province, Buthelezi said: “That is a question the premier will have to answer. We cannot answer on her behalf as to why she took that position with regards to the king.
“There is regular contact with the presidency and the presidency continues to provide support to his majesty,” he said.
Dididza said in a statement this week that the board “continues to function in accordance with the laws” despite the recall of Mzimela by the king.
The board had presented its annual report and financials to parliament’s portfolio committee as expected and continued to implement corrective measures identified by the auditor general, she said.
Didiza said she had taken note of the king’s decision to take over as chairperson instead of appointing a nominee.
“We trust that there will be a seamless transition and ensure that all of the matters that relate to the governance of the institution continue to be attended to,” Didiza said.
She welcomed the request for a meeting from the king.
“This will assist in engaging isilo on all the matters that the board must continue to address, including the accountability of the board to parliament as well as to the beneficiaries whose land is being administered by the Ingonyama Trust,” Didiza said.
“As we all know, the Ingonyama Trust is a creature of statute. It outlines how the board must act in order to ensure that the interests of the beneficiaries are taken care of.”
Didiza said the board had been briefed on the importance of strengthening corporate governance and better management of the trust’s assets to the benefit of people living on its land. It had also been “reminded” that it needed to implement a high court ruling ordering it to pay back residential lease fees collected from residents.
Didiza said the board had been successful in addressing some of the weaknesses identified by the auditor general and parliament, while others were still a “work in progress”.
The ITB’S communications person, Simphiwe Mxakaza, said this
‘The king is saying that 30 years into democracy it is time to review the governance model with regard to the Zulu people’
week that the board was continuing with its work and it was hoped that the monarch, in his capacity as chairperson, would attend its next meeting on 26 February.
The king fired the board’s longterm chairperson, Jerome Ngwenya, last year in the wake of an exposé by the Mail & Guardian into a dubious R41 million investment made through Ingonyama Holdings, of which Ngwenya was a director.
The money was paid to consultancy AIN Private Capital for services in securing a R1 billion foreign investment, which never materialised.
Ngwenya was ordered by the king to publicly account, which he did, and was then removed from office.
The ITB has subsequently attempted to recover the money, but has not been successful and had been attempting with no success to meet Ngwenya and fellow director Lucas Mkhwanazi since last July.
Mxakaza said the board had resolved to remove Ngwenya and Mkhwanazi as directors of Ingonyama Holdings and to take control of the company and assess its financial position because they had never produced the company’s financial statements and had “avoided accountability to the board”.
“It is only then that a determination will be made on the recoverability of the R41m. Should any irregularity or impropriety be identified, appropriate steps will then be taken,” he said.