Prince Simakade Zulu, son of the late Amazulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, has filed a court application to have the appointment of Misuzulu King kaZwelithini as the new monarch reviewed and quashed.
In court documents, Prince Shimakade says he himself was correctly identified as the successor in a series of meetings among members of the royal family.
The application was filed in the High Court in Pretoria, five months after Prince Simakade’s legal team wrote to President Cyril Ramaphosa asking him to produce the documents he relied on to officially recognize King Missuzulu as heir to the throne.
Prince Simakade Zulu is asking the High Court in Pretoria in an application to overturn President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to recognize King Misuzulu kaZwelitini as heir to the Amazulu throne in March.
In a court document, the prince says a meeting called by traditional Amazulu prime minister Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi in May to identify a successor was irregular and should be cancelled.
In turn, Prince Shimakade says the royals met twice in May and again in September and correctly named themselves his successor. He asks the president to recognize him as the new monarch.
Prince Shimakade asked the court to order the president to make available all the documentation on which his recognition as King of Misuzu was based. It comes after a committee of senior people was sent to mediate a dispute between members of the royal family over who should succeed.
As an alternative, Prince Shimakade proposes that the court appoint a commission to investigate the claims of both parties in terms of Amazulu customary law and custom. He is asking that members of the royal family who support him as successor be given a chance to respond to the findings of the mediation committee, which Ramaphosa has reported.
Meanwhile, Prince Shimakade is asking the High Court to order Buthelezi not to convene any other royal family meetings to identify a successor.
The court motion was filed after both Prince Shimakade and King Misuzulu held a culturally important coronation ceremony last month, which entails the recognition of the new monarch by his subjects.
The court has yet to set a date for hearing the application. However, Prince Shimakade is asking the court to make his application final if the defendants do not object by December 15.
Video – MisuZulu King kaZwelithini addresses his subjects after the Ukungena Esibayeni ceremony:
