- Deputy chair Linda Zama says nobody interviewed the Ingonyama Trust board for the inquiry. Its lawyers objected to the King.
- Minister Nyhontso says the board wants to avoid being exposed. The investigator, Marumo Moerane, was abroad and did not present.
The Ingonyama Trust board says nobody interviewed it for the inquiry into its conduct, and it has objected to the findings being presented to King Misuzulu kaZwelithini.
Deputy chair Advocate Linda Zama told Scrolla.Africa this week that the board was never given a chance to present its side.
“First of all, no one came to interview us as part of the investigation, since we are the affected parties. We were then told that the Minister has invited Advocate Moerane to present the findings against us, while we were never given a single chance to present our facts. We felt like that Saturday meeting was aimed to use that report to destroy our characters without any facts,” Zama said.
At that Saturday meeting at eMashobeni Royal Palace, Land Reform Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso told the King the board had tried to stop the report.
“Why would you block a report when you know very well that you are clean? Your Majesty, they wrote a letter to me to block the report, which was very strange,” Nyhontso said.
A letter from the board’s lawyers, Livingston Leandy Incorporated of Umhlanga, went to the King last week.
“The Trust and the Board hereby place on record their unequivocal objection to the Meeting being convened for the purpose of receiving, presenting, discussing or acting upon any findings, whether preliminary or final, before the complete investigation report and all material relied upon have been formally provided to them. By way of correspondence dated 31 August 2026, material concerns were raised with the State Attorney regarding the lawfulness, regularity and rationality of the Inquiry, including the statutory source and scope of the power relied upon, the outsourcing of investigative work to non-legal service providers and the applicable procurement framework, and the absence of any communicated extension beyond the 30 June 2026 target completion date,” the letter reads.
The King asked for the inquiry. Minister Nyhontso appointed Advocate Marumo Moerane SC last October to examine the board’s governance and finances. Moerane was abroad and did not present at the meeting.
Zama said a March court order stops the minister from dissolving the board, and its members stay until their term ends in five months. Scrolla.Africa does not have a response from the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development.
