KZN premier meets new Zulu king

KWAZULU-NATAL Premier Sihle Zikalala has assured the new king of the Zulu nation that the provincial role will continue to support the royal house as it has done in the past.

Zikalala was speaking after he met King Misuzulu kazwelithini, who ascended the throne a week ago after the death of his father, King Goodwill Zwelithini in March.

“The purpose (of the meeting) was to clarify how the government works with the royal house as a whole. It is known that the royal house is under the premier’s office, in terms of governance and the administration, and the premier’s office is expected to provide support to his majesty and the royal house as a whole as it has been always happening. So we are here to deal with such issues as to how we provide that and ensure that it is not disrupted,” Zikalala said yesterday.

He also said he and the monarch had discussed the issue of his security and the royal family.

The issue came under the spotlight on Sunday when the KZN government, the ANC in KZN and the SAPS at national level accused Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi of peddling lies by claiming that the VIP protection unit of the king had been withdrawn.

Buthelezi told the media on Tuesday that these claims were not true.

Zikalala said there had been a miscommunication and that led to confusion about the security of the king and royal palaces.

“But more than that, we were here to ensure that as there were reports about the withdrawal of the security and all issues, we wanted to confirm for ourselves that there is no such a thing… There was no point where the security was withdrawn and you can (see) for yourselves, it is not withdrawn, it is here and we will continue to support the royal house as a whole in ensuring that they continue to do their work for the Zulu people.”

Yesterday, ENCA reported that since the issue of royal security was still being discussed, KZN SAPS Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-general Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi was spotted within the palace apparently to assure the new king that his security detail would not be withdrawn.

Meanwhile, after officially registering his marriage with the Department of Home Affairs, the king yesterday also apparently sent a royal delegation to pay lobola for his long-time sweetheart Ntokozo Mayisela.

The meeting today is expected to prepare the royal court for the king’s coming inauguration.