Finance MEC Francois Rodgers said he was negotiating with King Misuzulu kaZwelithini to find means for his royal household to be self-sustainable.
Image: Independent Media Archives
The KwaZulu-Natal government is still trying to find ways for King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s royal household to be self-sustainable after Finance MEC Francois Rodgers had this financial year allocated it a budget of R89 million.
This amount would be split over this year and the next two financial years.
Delivering the annual budget speech, which had a total of R168 billion, at the Provincial Legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday, Rodgers did not mention the king’s budget, as this would be highlighted when Premier Thami Ntuli delivered the budget for the Premier's Office.
However, Carol Coetzee, head of the provincial Department of Finance, stated in a media briefing that Misuzulu's budget has increased this year.
The king was allocated R86 million in the 2025/26 financial year.
Coetzee said the king’s Royal Household Trust, which is in charge of the king’s upkeep, was allocated R28.7 million this financial year, R30 million for the 2027/28 financial year, and R31 million for the 2028/29 financial year.
“It is not a cut, and it is an increase,” said Coetzee.
When asked why it was still necessary for the king to receive his budget from the provincial government, Rodgers said such a question should be asked of the Office of the Premier.
“We allocate budgets, and the departments then prioritise how they spend the budget.
“I would not be in a position to answer as the Office of the Premier determines those figures,” said Rodgers.
However, he said he was “very vocal” about the need for the king to be self-sustainable.
“I have also engaged with His Majesty on various occasions, looking at making the royal household self-sustainable, particularly in this year of agriculture.
“It is a process that we are busy discussing, and I have some meetings with Ingonyama Trust and the Department of Agriculture about the process, and certainly I would like to see it to the point where the royal household is self-sustainable so that it becomes a body that is not susceptible to political influence,” said Rodgers.
As the king’s budget increased every financial year, political parties had last year put pressure on the authorities to find ways of keeping him off the government’s budget.
EFF provincial spokesperson Chris Msibi said on Tuesday that the royal household should generate its income through the Ingonyama Trust, which is in charge of 2.8 million hectares of land in KwaZulu-Natal, and its sole trustee is Misuzulu.
“The issue of being funded all the time is not sustainable.
“The Ingonyama Trust is generating a lot of money, but no one knows how that money is used, as there is a lot of land that belongs to the Ingonyama Trust.
“Some of that land has game reserves and holiday lodges, but we don’t understand why it is not generating income for the king and the royal household,” said Msibi.
He said the state must also look at other means for the provincial population, including the king, to run businesses and generate their own income.
“That should be done by investing locally, manufacturing goods, and buying locally. There should be goods produced by the Ingonyama Trust to generate income to sustain the royal household.
“There is no one who is in charge of the land, and that land does not generate him income; he only relies on the government,” he said.
bongani.hans@inl.co.za