By Celani Sikhakhane
- ANC leaders in KwaZulu-Natal are reportedly pressuring King Misuzulu kaZwelithini to remove his Traditional Prime Minister Thulasizwe Buthelezi.
- Senior royal family members are said to be working with ANC KZN Chairperson Siboniso Duma to replace Buthelezi with Prince Mthokozisi Mahlobo.
After suffering a huge electoral defeat in KwaZulu-Natal, the ANC appears to be on a mission to pull King Misuzulu kaZwelithini away from the IFP.
His Majesty has never declared a preference for any political party.Â
But his decision to appoint Buthelezi, a senior member of the IFP executive committee, as his traditional prime minister suggested he was endorsing the IFP over the ANC.
The appointment also came on the eve of the national general elections and may have contributed to the ANC’s poor showing at the polls.
The ANC now plans to remove Buthelezi.
ANC KZN chairperson Siboniso Duma is reportedly working with powerful royal family members to push King Misuzulu to remove Reverend Buthelezi as the Traditional Prime Minister of the monarch and amaZulu nation.
Sources say they want to replace him with the King’s cousin, Prince Mthokozisi Mahlobo.
“As we speak the King is under enormous pressure to remove him because Siboniso Duma has managed to persuade some of the senior royals to convince the King that he should get rid of Buthelezi and replace him with Prince Mthokozisi Mahlobo,” a source told Scrolla.Africa.
Duma apparently first approached King Misuzulu’s wife Queen Nomzamo kaMyeni of eMachobeni Royal Palace and Prince Simphiwe.
The plan includes bringing back the King’s former spokesperson Prince Afrika Zulu, who Buthelezi fired earlier this year.Â
Prince Afrika is understood to have already received a letter of appointment.
The Mail&Guardian reported this week that ANC and IFP leaders see Buthelezi as causing problems in the Government of Provincial Unity.
Buthelezi faces criticism for not investigating former Cogta MEC Bongi Sithole-Moloi. Instead, he investigated a security company owned by an ANC leader’s ally.
Buthelezi declined to comment to Scrolla.Africa but told the Mail&Guardian he knows about efforts to create problems between him and the King.
Duma’s spokesperson Ndabezinhle Sibiya directed questions to the ANC.
Pictured above: The plot is thickening from the ANC KZN chairperson Siboniso Duma and other royals set on overthrowing King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s Prime Minister Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi.
Source: X
