‘Uncle’s drug abuse claim is false’
The Zulu king wants abuse and corruption claims struck from the court record
King Misuzulu ka Zwelithini’s legal team has brought an application for the Pietermaritzburg high court to strike “vexatious” allegations of drug abuse and corruption made against him by his uncle, Prince Mbonisi Zulu, from the court record.
The application is set to be heard on Friday, 26 April, when the case brought by Mbonisi and other members of the Zulu royal family to stop the king from exercising his powers over the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) is heard.
The royals want the ITB and the Kwazulunatal government to stop paying the king’s legal fees in his battle with them and with his half-brother, Simakade, including a challenge to the legitimacy of his claim to the throne.
They successfully had Misuzulu’s recognition by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and his installation as king in October 2022 set aside, but the presidency has appealed the matter.
Thus far, the ITB has paid R8 million to the king’s lawyers and the province has undertaken to pay a further R20 million towards his legal battles in defence of his claim to the throne.
In a notice served last week, the king’s legal team said they were bringing the application to strike out paragraphs of Mbonisi’s founding affidavit which were “scandalous, vexatious or irrelevant” and which prejudiced their client.
These included the claim by Mbonisi the king had turned up for public events “in a drunken stupor” and was “captured by drug mules” and had “an obsession with dangerous drugs”.
No evidence had been provided to back up these allegations, which “do not contribute in one way or the other to the merits of the application”.
Mbonisi purported to rely on a “credible rumour” that the king “is now captive of drug mules who feed his obsession with dangerous drugs and exposing himself to a dangerous and reckless mess in his personal life”, they said.
“He is accused of drug addiction without any evidence to support allegations which are clearly hearsay and accordingly bound to be struck out as inadmissible.
“The allegations are also scandalous, extremely abusive and defamatory and are intended to harass King Misuzulu through abusive allegations which are derogatory and bound to be struck out,” the lawyers added.
In addition, they asked the court to strike out Mbonisi’s allegations that the king had opened 13 companies to “loot” Ingonyama Trust resources, along with his business associates, and assertions that the board was planning to sell off land which is under its control for Misuzulu’s benefit.
The trust controls nearly 3 million hectares of land on behalf of the Zulu king, which falls under traditional leaders, and collects revenue from mining rights, commercial rentals and other levies.
Its day-to-day activities are carried out by the ITB, of which the king is now chairperson, after removing Thanduyise Mzimela from the position in February.
The monarch fired the board’s long-term chairperson, Jerome Ngwenya, last year after the Mail & Guardian exposed a dubious R41 million investment by Ingonyama Holdings, of which he was a director.
The king’s lawyers asked the court to strike claims that the king did not understand how the trust and board worked, which they argued were made “without any factual foundation” and again made use of hearsay.
They also asked that the assertion that the president made the decision to appoint the king “against the advice of senior advisers of the Zulu royal family”, who were legally entitled to advise him, be struck out.
There had been no attempt to identify who these members were, which prejudiced the king, as did Mbonisi’s claim that he is entitled to speak on behalf of the Zulu royal family, the lawyers said.
“Prince Mbonisi is not authorised to speak on behalf of the Zulu royal family,” they added.
They had identified the offending parts of Mbonisi’s founding affidavit in detail because they contained serious assertions or conclusions that were vexatious or irrelevant to the case and should not be considered by the court.
“The court should not likely allow vitriolic statements of this kind, unsupported by any confirmatory or substantiating evidence, which warrants the very serious allegations and accusations advanced by prince Mbonisi,” they said.
“The court should never be seen to be condoning this kind of inappropriate conduct embarked upon on the guise of robustness or simply reckless disregard for the requirements of proof by way of presenting evidence.”
The hearsay evidence, opinions and “scandalous defamatory allegations” were simply intended to harass and annoy and had “no contribution in the presentation of evidence”.
In addition to the strike-out application, the court will hear an application by the king’s legal team to have Mbonisi declared a vexatious litigant.
The exchange of court documents before Friday’s court hearing has shed light on the finances of the trust — and the extent to which money it has raised has been spent on the monarchy, as opposed to people living on ITB land.
Invoices and bank statements submitted to the court by the ITB’S chief executive officer, Vela Mngwengwe, showed the board paid the late king Goodwill Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu’s South African Revenue Services bills and purchased a series of luxury vehicles for him.
The documents also revealed that the board had to settle the current king’s legal bills when he decided to change lawyers earlier in his court battle, paying a lump sum and agreeing to a monthly instalment plan towards the rest of the R8 million required.
While the ITB’S books are audited by the Auditor General of South Africa and are subject to parliamentary scrutiny, those of the trust are not, a situation which has been the source of acrimony between the board and the portfolio committee for a number of years.