Durban - The traditional prime minister of the Zulu monarch and nation, Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi, has hit back at Prince Thokozani Zulu telling him that it was an insult to say he keeps King Misuzulu on a leash.
Buthelezi was responding to Zulu's open letter on Tuesday wherein Zulu said that on July 15 this year, Buthelezi embarrassed King Misuzulu, in the full glare of the media and the world, by telling him what to say while addressing the nation on looting and violence in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Buthelezi said that ordinarily he would not respond to insults from an "outsider who clearly carried a political agenda," but he has to do so because Thokozani, distorted history and insulted King Misuzulu whom he calls "Prince Misuzulu". Msweli is Prince Penuel’s son and was born out of wedlock,
"He uses this as a basis to disseminate lies, pretending that I am somehow controlling His Majesty the King; an educated adult with a mind of his own. He refers to the King as “Prince Misuzulu”, disputing the indisputable fact that His Majesty is de facto on the throne; a fact that all the Royal Houses understand," Buthelezi hit back.
He said the role of the Buthelezi clan, which he leads from Mahlabathini near Ulundi, in the Zulu monarch started during the reign of King Shaka in the 1800s and could not be distorted by lies and cheap propaganda.
"It is a matter of record what I have done and sacrificed in order to serve the institution of the monarchy itself, apart from my service to the King and his family. Everything that Government continues to do for the King is done because I instituted it as Chief Minister of the KwaZulu Government.
“It is the height of insult to claim that my administration was taking instruction from the apartheid regime. Mr Msweli hopes to sully my legacy as Chief Minister of KwaZulu by saying that I oppressed the King in the same way that the apartheid regime oppressed Mandela.
"It was painful that the King made this statement at a time when it served political ends to drive a wedge between the King and I. But the King made other statements too, which contradict what Mr Msweli claims.
“At the opening of the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Museum and Documentation Centre in Ulundi on 28 August 2015, His Majesty King Zwelithini said, “I am here Mageba to congratulate you on saving the Zulu Nation, even during my reign. You have served South Africa as a whole in the most dedicated manner," he said.
Buthelezi said he understood that his position often made him a target of abuse but he would not accept being insulted by someone who did not grow up in the royal court.
"His insults and false accusations are damaging to the Royal Family and the Nation, for they deny the history of our people. Worse still, Mr Msweli insults His Majesty King Misuzulu who has accepted the burden of leading his father’s people, with dignity. The whole country knows better. I would urge Mr Msweli to stop sowing such lies."
sihle.mavsuo@inl.co.za
Political Bureau