Nongoma - The man who grabbed the attention of the country when he threatened a legion of journalists for live reporting about the chaos that ensued at Kwakhangelamankengane Palace, shortly after the contested unveiling of Prince Misuzulu as the next Zulu king, has spoken out.
Short of offering an outright apology, Andile Hlatshwayo, who claims he was an adviser to the late King Goodwill Zwelithini (father of the prince), says journalists crossed the boundaries when they reported about the internal royal squabbles.
At some point, the close protection team of Prince Misuzulu had to push Hlatshwayo away and drew a gun after he threatened a team from eNCA which was live-filming the whisking away of Prince Misuzulu.
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This was after his security was threatened when Prince Thokozani Zulu stood up to challenge his ascension to the throne.
In a video sent out to media houses on Saturday, many hours after his behaviour was roundly condemned, Hlatshwayo said he spoke to the affected journalists about that and the matter had been resolved amicably.
“Regarding what I did yesterday, I was not fighting with journalists and I spoke to them about that. I explained to them that they were not supposed to film what was happening inside the palace and in order to call them to order. You don’t need to be a member of the royal family to shield the royal house from embarrassment,” he said.
Furthermore, he said as someone who was part of the late king’s executive, he had to act.
“As someone who was part of the king’s executive, he taught us that the king does not fight his own but battles, so I did what I did not because I had a gripe with someone,” he added.
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sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
Political Bureau