Cool heads needed in royal dispute

DEATHS often bring families together as grief is shared; often, but not always.

In the “not always” category is the case of the Zulu royal household, where the deaths of King Goodwill Zwelithini and Queen Regent Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu have served to tear the family apart. Not unusual, I suppose, where money – and indeed a throne – is at stake.

The Zulu royal family’s squabbles are compounded by the size of the family. The king left behind six wives, effectively six households and all with competing interests.

And from what we have learnt, succession is not necessarily determined through primogeniture, which essentially means that everyone has a chance of ascending.

Further complicating the issue, the king concluded a civil ceremony in marrying only one wife, Queen Sibongile Dlamini, while the other five were married in traditional ceremonies. This has opened the door for Queen Sibongile to lodge a claim for half the king’s estate.

Adding to the intrigue are allegations that the Queen Regent was poisoned, that some calling themselves princes and princesses cannot legitimately claim the titles, and that signatures on the king’s will are not kosher.

Prince Misuzulu, touted as heir apparent and later named the new king, attended yesterday’s memorial service surrounded by bodyguards, a further sign that the succession is not expected to be an amicable affair.

King Goodwill himself had to go into hiding to avoid assassination for three years before taking the throne. We can only hope that the bloodletting with which such disputes were resolved in the days of Shaka and Dingane, has been consigned to the past, and that cool heads will prevail.