Prime minister ‘interfering’ in Ingonyama Trust
● Newly appointed Zulu traditional prime minister Thulasizwe Buthelezi has called a meeting with the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) — a move seen as an attempt to interfere in the running of the entity.
Some board members who spoke to the Sunday Times said the meeting made them feel “deeply uncomfortable”.
Buthelezi asked to meet the ITB and the Ingonyama Trust’s CEO in a letter he sent to ITB chair Inkosi Thanduyise Mzimela.
The Ingonyama Trust has been a subject of much contestation since the death of King Goodwill Zwelithini.
Former traditional prime minister Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi publicly clashed with King Misuzulu kaZwelithini over his choice of members for the ITB before his death. Now Thulasizwe Buthelezi is showing a keen interest in the affairs of the trust and wants to meet its top leaders.
In his letter, he wrote: “His Majesty the King has requested that I meet the board and CEO of Ingonyama Trust Board to obtain clarity on the issues pertaining to the ITB, which His Majesty is the sole trustee of ... and has no knowledge of.”
Buthelezi emphasised the “scheduling of this meeting” should be “treated as a priority”.
Members of the ITB who spoke to the Sunday Times said they did not know the agenda for the meeting, but they stressed it was “unheard of” for a traditional prime minister to “convene” the ITB when “we have a chairperson for that function”.
However, the meeting will take place by Wednesday next week, according to Mzimela.
“Yes, I am the one who is mandated to call for a board meeting, but it’s not a board meeting. I’m not sure what to call it, because a board meeting is convened by the chair. I’m not sure what to call this one,” Mzimela said.
However, Buthelezi said there was nothing untoward about the meeting, as he was not convening it, but had merely requested that it be called.
“It’s not the traditional prime minister convening the board. The letter says the king has requested me to meet the chairperson and the board.
“The chairperson is appointed by the sole trustee, the king. The trustee issues an instruction to his deployee, the chairperson. What is irregular about that?” he said.
Buthelezi defended his position by suggesting that questioning his authority on the ITB was tantamount to declaring the king has no authority to raise issues with the board — because he had been sent by the king.
“The agenda and issues King Misuzulu has with the board will be raised in the meeting,” he said.
Ultimately, Buthelezi said, “either the chairperson says no, he is not prepared to accede to the request of the king, or he convenes the meeting”.
“It’s up to him [as to] whether he recognises the authority of the prime minister or not — it’s up to the board to decide my authority.”
Buthelezi was also unconcerned by criticism that he should not be calling for meetings with the board.
“The spokesperson for the minister [of agriculture, land reform & rural development] said I have no authority, but I was not appointed by the minister, so I can’t be told by the minister’s spokesperson what authority I have and what authority I don’t have,” he said.
Meanwhile, Buthelezi has expressed King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s wish that the trust — which administers almost 3-million hectares of land in KwaZulu-Natal — be managed by amakhosi and be independent of the department.
He revealed that the king had embarked on wide consultation on whether it was still necessary and ideal for the trust to be under the auspices of the minister of agriculture.
“Are amakhosi [so] illiterate or incapable of running their own land and affairs that they must still report [to] and be supervised by the minister in Cape Town about their own land, which they inherited from their forefathers?
“Why must the land of the Zulu people be administered in Cape Town when amakhosi have their own governance structures which are closer to the people?
“As the sole trustee of the Ingonyama Trust, His Majesty holds the land in trust on behalf of the Zulu nation, and His Majesty will do everything in his power to protect, preserve and develop the land for the benefit of the Zulu nation,” Buthelezi said.