AmaZulu throne contestation saga continues in Pietermaritzburg court

The succession battle for the AmaZulu throne continues in the Pietermaritzburg High Court this week. The late AmaZulu King Goodwill Zwelithini’s first wife, Queen Sibongile Dlamini-Zulu and her daughters – Princesses Ntandoyenkosi Zulu and Ntombizosuthu Zulu-Duma – are challenging the validity of the King’s will.

The will names Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu as the Regent following the king’s death. It also gave her the authority to name the successor.

In this light, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini was named as the successor.

Queen Sibongile Dlamini-Zulu has approached the court to recognise her civil marriage to the late King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, in terms of the Marriage Act of 1961.

In her founding affidavit, she states that she wishes to assert her rights as the wife of the late King. She further states that while she never entered into a customary marriage – she feels she has been subjected to it without consent.

AmaZulu Royal battle goes to court:

Forged signature?

In a separate application, Queen Sibongile Dlamini-Zulu’s daughters – Princesses Ntandoyenkosi Zulu and Ntombizosuthu Zulu-Duma – are challenging the validity of the King’s will. In court papers, they state that they instructed their lawyer to appoint a hand-writing expert to analyse the signatures in the will.

The report from the expert found that the signature on page five of the will differed from other signatures in the same document.

In fact – the assertion by the princesses is that the signatures in the will differ from the known and genuine signatures of the late Isilo. It is in this regard that they are asking the court to nullify this copy of the will.

In April last year, at the reading of the late Regent Queen’s will, it named King MisuZulu kaZwelithini as the successor to the amaZulu throne. This was despite the view shared by some members of the Zulu Royal family that Prince Simakade Zulu should ascend the throne – as the late King’s eldest son.

However, traditional Prime Minister, Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi has in the past maintained that there was no leadership crisis.

Last week, Buthelezi issued a statement saying that neither him nor King Misuzulu kaZwelithini would be attending court proceedings this week. He also urged people not to attend court proceedings in line with COVID-19 regulations.