Zulu King to meet land minister over Ingonyama Trust

By Celani Sikhakhane

King Misuzulu kaZwelithini and the newly appointed Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development, Mzwanele Nyhontso, will meet in Nongoma to discuss the future of the Ingonyama Trust’s board.

King Misuzulu will share his plans with Nyhontso of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania at a meeting on Monday at kwaKhangelamankengane Royal Palace in Nongoma.

The King’s traditional prime minister, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, said the meeting would cover several topics, including the monarch’s unhappiness with the current board of the Ingonyama Trust, appointed by former minister Thoko Didiza.

“The board was chosen without talking to traditional leaders (amakhosi), and this will be a key point in the discussions,” said Buthelezi.

King Misuzulu has had issues with the board since February when he replaced Inkosi Thanduyise Mzimela.

He says the board is not working well with him and has been trying to remove him. In May, he told traditional leaders that the board did not accept him as chairperson.

The Ingonyama Trust manages nearly three million hectares of land in KwaZulu-Natal.

Some ANC politicians have said the trust should be scrapped and its land taken over by the government.

Currently, traditional leaders manage the land for rural communities, and people use it without paying municipal rates because it is seen as ancestral land.

Wealthy people are moving from the city to build luxury homes on this land for small fees – sometimes less than a crate of beer and a bottle of whisky.

The government owes the Ingonyama Trust millions of rands in unpaid rent for properties on its land.

Pictured above: King Misuzulu kaZwelithini is set to discuss matters relating to the Ingonyama Trust with the new Minister of Land Reform.

Source: X

spot_imgspot_imgspot_imgspot_img

Recent articles