The AmaMpondo king Ndamase Ndamase has been installed as the king of AmaMpondo aseNyandeni. He has been sworn in by deputy judge president Zamani Nhlangulela.
Earlier, the monarch’s elder brother, senior Prince Ntandoyesizwe Ndamase enrobed him.
More than 15 000 people have graced the event. Traditional leaders and provincial political leaders were amongst the guests at the formal event near Libode.
The king is being installed after more than a decade in power. He took over in 2008 from his late mother Queen Bongolwethu Ndamase who acted as regent for 11 years.
President Cyril Ramaphosa and Traditional Affairs minister Zweli Mkhize did not attend the installation ceremony of King Ndamase Ndamase.
Kingdom officials say they only learnt on Wednesday morning through the grapevine that the two leaders would not be attending.
The AmaMpondo aseNyandeni spokesperson Chief Zoyisile Ntapane says they are disappointed.
‘We are so disappointed because this date, that is the 3rd of October it was suggested by the President. Our initial date to coronate King Ndamase was the 28th of September. It was changed by him to this date. We were having a meeting with the minister last week Wednesday. He was coming here. He was talking with Nkosi Bokleni over the phone three days back that he was coming here. He didn’t even have the decency of conveying the message that I’m no longer coming. We are hearing from the grapevine that they are not coming. We are going to sit down after the coronation, decide what do we do going forward.”
However, the provincial Traditional Affairs MEC Fikile Xasa has defended Ramaphosa’s decision not to attend the installation ceremony of king Ndamase Ndamase.
Xasa was addressing the media before the ceremony at Nyandeni Great Place outside Libode, following the dissatisfaction voiced by AmaMpondo aseNyandeni kingdom over the President’s absence.
Xasa says the President took the decision after he received a letter from the AmaMpondo aseQaukeni, threatening to interdict the event if he proceeded with the installation.
”This issue of unity, we will work on; this issue of making sure that AmaMpondo we will be working with them. So that’s what we will be doing. There was a demand by lawyers of king Zanozuko. Amongst the demands that were put to the President was to say don’t go there. If you go we will interdict the event and number two they also said withdraw the certificate of Ndamase Ndamase. So the President had to respond to those lawyers. He had also to respect that there was this threat.”
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