Durban - Zulu King Misuzulu KaZwelithini has denied abusing drugs and alcohol or committed incest and has a child with one of the half-sisters in the Swazi royal family where his mother, the late Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, came from.
The young king wants the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to dismiss the allegations as spurious.
The king’s denial is contained in court papers (more than 300 pages long) in response to Prince Mbonisi Zulu’s application to stop his coronation and set aside his recognition as the king of the Zulu Kingdom.
BREAKING: Zulu King, Misuzulu KaZwelithini, denies he is a drug junkie and alcohol abuser and that he committed incest. He asks the Pretoria high court to dismiss the allegations as spurious. The King's denial is contained in court papers in response to Prince Mbonisi. @IOL
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) July 19, 2022
Early this month the senior Zulu prince rushed to the court to halt the king’s coronation billed for August 13 this year, among other things.
He claimed the matter was urgent and asked the court to hear it on July 26 this year, a request that is yet to get the nod from the court.
“In other words, the allegations that I have committed incest with my sisters from the Royal Palace of Kwakhangelamankengane is fiction. It is also untrue that I have a child with the daughter of my mother's sister from the Royal Family of Swaziland. Secondly, those related to alleged alcohol and drug abuse.”
Furthermore, he said it is true that he consumes alcoholic beverages, but it is not true that he gets unruly.
“It is no secret that I consume alcoholic beverages. However, I do not suffer from alcohol or drug abuse. The allegations have been made maliciously and vexatiously to scandalise me. They are scandalous, vexatious and prejudicial to me. They are also irrelevant.
“The fact that I consume alcohol does not disqualify me to be King under the Khoi San Act or under Zulu customary law. The application is baseless and scandalous and should be dismissed with costs, including the costs of two counsel,” the king said in his replying court papers.
The issue of alcohol is in response to allegations that on two occasions, the king, while his late father, King Goodwill Zwelithini, was on the throne, in a drunken stupor told him to surrender the throne to him.
King Misuzulu’s legal team comprises Durban legal guru advocate Madoda Griffiths Madonsela, and he works with advocate Musa Ntsibande.
Prince Mbonisi, who is working with 13 other royal family members, has appointed Johannesburg-based Mabuza Attorney led by Eric Mabuza to plead his case in court.
sihle.mavuso@inl.co.za
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