Durban – As the battle over the validity of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini’s will rages on in court and in the Zulu royal household in Nongoma, new information obtained by Independent Media from court papers show how a handwriting expert from Johannesburg claimed the late king’s signature was forged.
In the court papers that run into hundreds of pages, Yossi Vissoker, the graphologist (handwriting expert) hired by Princess Ntandoyenkosi Zulu and Princess Ntombizosuthu Zulu-Duma, concluded that the handwriting was forged and marked signs of where and how the alleged forgery happened.
The two princesses filed their court papers in support of a court case brought by their mother, Queen Sibongile Winfred Dlamini-Zulu, who separately, wants to inherit 50% of the late king’s estate, saying they were married in community of property and she was the first wife married through civil rites.
Vissoker then compiled a report for the court in which he noted that even if one tried for years to perfect a signature, it was not possible to get it right as each person has a unique and distinct way of writing.
“Based on and in accordance with accepted and proven documents examinations standards and in views of certain individual characteristics, as has been described and elaborated on in the above letter, with a special attention to those points reflecting Uncharacteristic noted to them, 1 can conclude that Set 1 and Set 2 have not been written or signed by the same hand being that of the Late His Majesty The King Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu,” reads the conclusion of Vissoker’s report for the court.
There is currently no set date when the matter would be orally argued before the Pietermaritzburg high court in KwaZulu-Natal. The same case has drawn in the likes of Prince Buzabazi Zulu and his brother Prince Nhlanganiso Zulu, senior Princess Thembi Zulu-Ndlovu and senior Prince Mbonisi Zulu, who all filed their supporting papers on the side of Dlamini-Zulu.
The same court papers show for the first time that although some senior Zulu royals such as Princess Nombuso Zulu recently told Independent Media that the court case had nothing to do with the throne currently occupied by King Misuzulu – albeit without an official coronation – at the end of the court case, it would be affected if the applicants’ wishes were legally granted.
In the court papers, Zulu-Duma and her sister argues that since Vissoker has found that the late king’s signature was forged, if he had no will other than the disputed one, it means he died without a will.
In that case, she indirectly implies that her mother, Queen Sibongile Winfred Dlamini-Zulu, should be the queen regent until a successor has been “correctly nominated” by the royal house and crowned by the government.
The princesses said if the late king had no valid will, her mother should be made the executrix.
sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
Political Bureau