Leaders of political parties in KwaZulu-Natal have called for unity within the Zulu royal family following revelations of tensions between Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi and the princes of the royal family in the wake of the March 12 death of King Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu.
Prince Buthelezi, in his capacity as Traditional Prime Minister to the Zulu Monarch nation, late on Saturday evening delivered a blow-by-blow account of tensions over how the King should be buried, the Sunday Tribune reported.
In the astonishing revelation of the families’ secrets, Buthelezi said some royal household princes wanted him to be sidelined from the process of preparations for the king’s burial and that he had wanted to pull out of the process but was convinced otherwise by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize and Police Minister Bheki Cele.
Speaking outside KwaKhethomndayo Royal Household, in Nongoma, IFP leader Velenkosini Hlabisa, leader of the official opposition in KwaZulu-Natal, said that the king’s death had left the Zulu nation naked and its weakest point as he had been the vanguard of Zulu culture and values.
“We pray that God helps the royal family during this difficult time, to make the family of His Majesty united and after the whole situation to emerge as one family to provide leadership in the Zulu Kingdom,” Hlabisa said.
DA leader Zwakele Mncwango called for the unity of the royal family and described the sight of Prince Mangosuthu on Saturday laying bare the tensions within the royal family as heartbreaking.
“We really wish to appeal to members of the royal family to remain united, to follow in His Majesty’s footsteps because he was a uniter, not a person who was always in the middle of divisions,” Mncwango said. “They must live with His Majesty’s spirit, let them unite the Zulu nation. They must unite the province because if they’re divided then it means the entire province and the country at large will be divided. So we appeal to the princes and princesses and the Queens, everyone must come together and be united during this time.”
He added that this was a time for grieving and not a time for fighting and it was incumbent upon the royal family to find solutions to their differences as all families have issues but those needed individuals willing to bring everyone together to iron out differences.
EFF KZN provincial chairperson Vusi Khoza called for the royal family to be as united as it had been when the king was alive.
“We urge this unity to be continued, for the royal household to speak in one voice as it had been the case when king was alive. The king taught us about unity and working in unison and we would like that to continue in the royal household as the king had taught us,” Khoza said.