Durban - The leader of Abantu Batho Congress (ABC) says the raging issue of the Zulu royal feud should not be resolved by politicians, instead, it should be left to the royal family to resolve it.
Philani “PG” Mavundla, who is a former mayor of Umvoti Municipality in Greytown, in KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, says any intervention by the government to resolve the matter would amount to “recolonising” the institution.
Mavundla made this call on Friday during an interview with Independent Media regarding his party’s local government elections’ plans.
Mavundla said his party’s plans was to first win eThekwini and later snatch the province from the ANC.
He said his hometown of Greytown and the district of uMzinyathi is already in the bag, hence he was now focusing on eThekwini where he claimed the ANC is already on its back foot.
He then laid out his plan which included ensuring that land under tribal authorities remains as such and should not be affected by land restitution as traditional leaders hold the land on behalf of communities.
It was during that point that he wedged into the issue of the Zulu monarch where two factions are fighting for power.
One faction is backing King Misuzulu who is already occupying the throne while another is backing Prince Simakade to take over.
Mavundla insisted that only the royal family should work on finding a solution.
“The Zulu royal issue does not require the intervention of politicians to resolve, it requires royal family members to work on it and come with a solution and announce it to the public. If politicians intervene they would be recolonising thee institution,” Mavundla said.
Mavundla also said his party was against calls to disband Ingonyama Trust and place the land under it in the hands of the state.
“Isilo (the King) is the custodian of the land on behalf of the Zulu people. So we are against the calls to disband Ingonyama Trust.
“We know there are problems with the trust and we are saying work on the problems instead of destroying the institution because of one person who can be removed.”
Once again, Mavundla had harsh words for the ANC, a party he was once a member of, saying all the once-thriving towns like Newcastle, Ladysmith, Estcourt and Pietermaritzburg in KZN have been run down by the ruling party.
Political Bureau