A South African court rules the president failed to comply with the law when recognising the new king.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A South African court has ruled that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s official crowning of the new Zulu king last year was “unlawful and invalid”.
The court has ordered him to set up an inquiry into whether King Misuzulu ka Zwelithini’s accession to the throne took place in line with customary laws.
King Misuzulu appeared to have won the succession battle - especially after his traditional coronation in August 2022 was followed by a state ceremony two months later when Mr Ramaphosa gave him a certificate of recognition in front of tens of thousands of people.
Under South African law, the president gives official recognition to the new king, paving the way for him to be treated like a constitutional monarch and to be funded by the government.
Prince Simakade had argued that Mr Ramaphosa’s recognition of his younger half-brother as the monarch was rushed and failed to follow proper traditional and legal procedures.
It has split public opinion in South Africa, and is likely to plunge the Zulu royal family into deeper turmoil.
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Is this a good thing or a bad thing or just weird? How do they lean?
The king’s royal household gets about ZAR 71 300 000 per year [1] (EUR 3 500 000, tho I think the actual buying power is much more than the euros would indicate).
I don’t know if that royal family brings in any tourism money like royals in some other countries. Hopefully not, because tourism is a major contributor to catastrophic climate change.
The South African constitution states that “A traditional authority that observes a system of customary law may function subject to any applicable legislation and customs, which includes amendments to, or repeal of, that legislation or those customs. The courts must apply customary law when that law is applicable, subject to the Constitution and any legislation that specifically deals with customary law.” [2]
Traditional laws include polygamy, and the previous king had 6 wives and about 28 children. [3] The former president of South Africa, the openly corrupt Jacob Zuma, is a Zulu and had about 21 children. [4]
The Zulu king effectively owns 30% of the KwaZulu-Natal province, and that 30% is more land than the entire country of Rwanda. [3] [5]
- [1] https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2020-06-02-king-goodwill-zwelithinis-budget-increases-to-r713m/
- [2] https://www.gov.za/documents/notices/constitution-republic-south-africa-1996-chapter-12-traditional-leaders-07-feb
- [3] https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/goodwill-zwelithini-five-quick-facts-about-zulu-king/
- [4] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/29/jacob-zuma-nepotism-giving-daughter-ministry-position
- [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area
Thank you for some background info
