Prince launches legal battle to dethrone King Misuzulu
PRINCE Simakade has finally filed his legal bid to challenge the recognition of Misuzulu KaZwelithini as the king of the Zulu nation, starting his journey to dethrone his half-brother.
The first-born son of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini also wants President Cyril Ramaphosa’s gazette that announced and certified the recognition of the king to be declared invalid and set aside.
Just days before the Reed Dance at Enyokeni Palace, the prince has approached the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
The court papers were filed with the court on Monday and the sheriff of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal served all the cited parties yesterday.
The Reed Dance festival has been in the spotlight after the prince claimed the palace was his base and out of bounds to the king. It also comes at a time when the king’s coronation has been put on hold until next month (the date has not been finalised). It was initially mooted for September 24, a date that falls on the day Zulus celebrate as Shaka’s Day.
Now the king will use September 24 to unveil a new statue of King Shaka, the founder of the Zulu nation at King Shaka International Airport in Durban and later go to KwaDukuza for the main commemoration.
Apart from the court orders that Prince Simakade seeks regarding the recognition of King Misuzulu, he wants the court to bar Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi from convening any meeting where a king of the Zulu nation can be identified.
“Interdicting the eighth respondent (Buthelezi) from convening any meeting of the persons constituting the seventh respondent or of any other group to identify a person to assume the position of Isilo (king),” he said in the papers.
Prince Simakade also states in his papers that he was identified as the king of the Zulu nation during three meetings. Apparently, the meetings he is referring to were those called by the group of royal family members led by the late Princess Thembi, Prince Mbonisi and Prince Thokozani, among others.
“Declaring that the applicant (him) was lawfully identified as Isilo by the Zulu Royal Family at meetings held on 5 May 2021, 23 May 2021 and 5 September 2021 referred to in the founding affidavit; directing the first respondent to recognise the applicant as Isilo.”
Other than King Misuzulu, Prince Simakade cited respondents including Ramaphosa, Buthelezi, the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, the National House of Traditional Leaders, the KZN House of Traditional Leaders and all those who attended the meeting on 14 May 2021 where King Misuzulu was nominated (by Buthelezi who he claims is not a core member of the Zulu royal family) unopposed to take over the throne.