Celani Sikhakhane
President Cyril Ramaphosa has stepped in to squash a feud between KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala and the traditional prime minister to the Zulu monarch, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
This comes after Buthelezi reported Zikalala to Ramaphosa for turning him into a laughing stock at a government event last weekend, in front of his eldest daughter, Princess Phumzile.
“Your premier in KwaZulu-Natal has publicly ridiculed me, telling the Children’s Parliament that the traditional prime minister to the Zulu monarch and nation is incomprehensible, because he stammers. He even did a lively impersonation, encouraging the children of the Zulu kingdom to mock the King’s prime minister,” Buthelezi said.
He even described Zikalala as a “midget” who engaged in a public, drunken brawl.
He was referring to a fight Zikalala had with former uKhozi FM DJ Ngizwe Mchunu during the Ingoma kaZwelonke festival in Durban last week.
Ramaphosa, in his response during the parliamentary presidential budget vote on Friday, said: “It pained my heart to hear Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi outline the interaction of what was said by the premier of KwaZulu-Natal.”
The president said he would step in to mediate the dispute.
“I am going to be talking to Prince Buthelezi to see if there can be a good rapprochement between the two of them. It is important that we should do so.”
“It really hurt me when I heard him articulating this,” he added.
Zikalala and Buthelezi have not seen eye to eye for quite some time, with the friction between the two of them first beginning over Buthelezi’s role as the Zulu traditional prime minister.
Zikalala has accused Buthelezi of using his status in the royal family to gain influence for his political agenda.
He has even suggested that the aged Buthelezi, who will be 94 in August, should step down as a Zulu traditional prime minister to the monarch.
This has angered certain factions in the royal family.
Zikalala has also angered Buthelezi for having meetings with the late king Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu’s wives behind his back several times.
