King Misuzulu kaZwelithini
Image: Independent Newspapers Archives
DISGRUNTLED members of the Zulu royal family seeking to remove King Misuzulu from the throne are heading back to the Constitutional Court in another attempt to unseat the king.
However, the office of the king has raised concerns, saying the relentless legal fight is now personal and motivated by intense hatred for the king.
Members of the royal house have applied to the Constitutional Court, asking the court to rescind its earlier decision to dismiss the application they had brought before the court, arguing that the decision could have a profound impact on the handling of succession in the royal house. Twenty-three royals, led by Prince Mbonisi Zulu, are fiercely opposed to the recognition of King Misuzulu by President Cyril Ramaphosa. They argue that the customary and legal processes had not been followed in the recognition.
It had been reported that Mbonisi and others sought to challenge an earlier judgment of the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered in October last year. In that judgment, the SCA held that the Zulu Royal House’s identification of the king-elect was consistent with Zulu customary law and customs. The apex court refused leave to appeal with costs “for lack of reasonable prospects of success.”
However, the group has filed a new application asking the apex court to rescind its decision. The court papers state that the applicants are seeking the court order of February 20 dismissing their application to be rescinded and that the applicants be granted leave to appeal. Alternatively, the applicants’ application for leave to appeal is referred for oral arguments.
In an affidavit from Mbonisi attached to the application, he stated that the family is aggrieved by the president’s decision. The affidavit states that the case of the Zulu Royal Family presents exceptional circumstances to justify the court invoking its jurisdiction to reconsider and rescind its order.
“The constitutional ramifications for the proper management of the succession dispute are far-reaching and eternal if there are no definitive findings by the highest court of the land. There is a real danger that a change in custom without any hearing or reasons by the highest court creates conditions for disunity and conflict whenever there is a succession dispute in the Zulu Kingdom,” said the affidavit.
He added that a hearing on the merits of the application is necessary to give effect to the constitutional governance of the Zulu Kingdom. Its succession customs and traditions should be changed following a hearing and with judicial reasons to explain to the kingdom what their new customs involving succession are and why they have been changed.
Mbonisi pointed out that the order of the court changes this customary law. The identification of an heir to the Zulu Kingdom may now be done by other members of the community who are not members of the Zulu royal family. This is a fundamental change of custom that warrants a hearing of the dispute.
“The order of the court marked the death of this venerated and deeply held ancient custom of identifying an heir in the Zulu kingdom. These customs allowed the succession to take place without any bloodshed and conflict, with the ruling family of the Zulu royal family at the centre of managing the transition of power from one king to the next king. The message of the Constitutional Court with its order dismissing the application of the Zulu royal family for leave to appeal a matter involving the validity of entrenched practices and customs of the Zulus in identifying an heir to the throne is that the culture and its people do not matter under our constitutional system. That is definitely an error which must be corrected by a procedure of reconsideration and rescission of its order.”