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- Zulu regiments, led by Nkosikhona Phakelumthakathi Ndabandaba and Ngizwe Mchunu, disrupted the Ingonyama Trust’s Rural Development and Investment Indaba at the Durban ICC on Wednesday.
- The regiments accuse the Trust of sidelining King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, who serves as its Chairperson and Sole Trustee, by inviting traditional leaders without his involvement.
Zulu regiments say they have no regrets for storming the Ingonyama Trust’s Rural Development and Investment Indaba, held with traditional leaders at the Durban ICC on Wednesday.
The regiments say they were acting on a call King Misuzulu kaZwelithini made last week, during the King Shaka Day commemoration at uMlazi, telling them to ensure this summit and other government meetings discussing Zulu land were disrupted if he was not involved.
Nkosikhona Phakelumthakathi Ndabandaba, who led the disruption alongside Ngizwe Mchunu, said the regiments calmed down only after realising traditional leaders they knew to be loyal to the King were inside the venue.
“We have no regrets for what we did, but we only apologised to traditional leaders who calmed us down inside the venue, because these are our leaders and the representatives of the King,” Ndabandaba said.
AmaQadi traditional leader Inkosi Mqoqi Ngcobo and Inkosi Thathezakhe Ngobese intervened to calm the regiments.
Ingonyama Trust Board Deputy Chairperson Advocate Linda Zama said traditional leaders were invited to the meeting so they could engage with the King, on behalf of the board, to find an amicable solution. The regiments entered the venue after an address by acting Chief Financial Officer Siyamdumisa Vilakazi, accusing the Trust of sidelining the King by inviting traditional leaders without his knowledge to discuss land and development matters.
Those opposing the gathering maintain that no official meeting involving amakhosi on Ingonyama Trust matters should take place without the King’s involvement and consent, in his capacity as Chairperson of the Ingonyama Trust Board and Sole Trustee.
The group is also demanding clarity over a reported allocation of around R4-million in Trust funds for the two-day event, questioning how the expenditure was authorised, and alleging the board’s four remaining members do not constitute a valid quorum.
The dispute follows the board’s invitation to amakhosi to attend the gathering. Critics say the invitation was issued without the King’s direction, and point to remarks he made at both Umkhosi woMhlanga at eMashobeni Royal Palace and Umkhosi weLembe in uMlazi, where he reportedly objected to amakhosi being convened without his say-so.
This is not the first time tensions between the King and the Trust have boiled over this way. The King previously removed the Trust’s long-serving chairperson, Judge Jerome Ngwenya, replacing him with Inkosi Thanduyise Mzimela, before later appointing himself Chairperson.
Scrolla.Africa has also reported separately on the Trust’s own legal case against Ngwenya over an alleged R30-million theft from a Hammarsdale community fund.
The King has voiced similar frustration before: Scrolla.Africa reported last month that he said he had considered sending regiments to disrupt the SADC Summit in Durban after being left off the guest list, saying he was “tempted to send my regiments from hostels to disrupt it.”
