Political parties in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature are set to lock horns over the status which the legislature should accord Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini.
The province’s two major political parties, the ANC and IFP, believe that the king’s status is higher than that of the province’s Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, who is given a police guard of honour during important events such as the opening of the legislature.
However, the country’s Constitution makes it clear that the Zulu King cannot be given a gun salute as such an honour is reserved for the President, premiers and cabinet ministers.
But the IFP, whose founder, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi is the king’s prime minister, is pushing for the provincial legislature to disregard the provisions of the Constitution and ensure that the king receives a police guard of honour during the opening of the legislature.
IFP chief whip, Blessed Gwala, who on Thursday is expected to move a motion in the legislature calling on Dube-Ncube and the provincial cabinet to come up with special regulations compelling police to give the king a guard of honour during the opening of the provincial legislature, reiterated that the king, and not the premier, was the province’s first citizen.
“The individuals who drafted the Constitution are human beings — they made a mistake by creating an impression that the premier was more senior than the king. As the IFP we believe the shortcoming in the Constitution can be overcome through the insertion of a clause in the Ministerial Handbook saying that the king should be saluted. As such, the IFP calls upon the KZN Premier and Cabinet to add the King’s salutation in the ministerial handbook,” he said.
In the past, the Zulu King, who opens the KZN Legislature at the beginning of every year, received a police guard of honour before delivering his opening address.
However, the practice of giving the king a guard of honour was stopped last year after the provincial legislature was advised that the practice was unconstitutional. The practice was stopped following a motion tabled by the ANC in the provincial house.
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However, the ANC in recent months has been under pressure to demonstrate the party’s support for the king, who has major influence over the province’s Zulu-speaking population.
ANC KZN chairperson Siboniso Duma and other members of the party’s provincial executive committee (PEC) were among the throngs of people who last month travelled to Nongoma, in northern KZN, to pledge their loyalty to King Misuzulu kaZwelithini.
Gwala said ANC MPLs in the provincial legislature could not afford to be seen to be disrespecting the Zulu King.
“As such, I expect them to support the IFP’s motion,” he said. However, ANC KZN legislature chief whip Super Zuma made it clear that the ruling party’s MPLs would reject the IFP’s motion.
As the ANC, we fully support the position that the Zulu King should be accorded the necessary respect when he comes to the legislature. This is why the king received the guard of honour each time he came to the legislature. However, it has since been established that the way the KZN legislature has been honouring the king was not consistent with the Constitution
The ANC, Zuma said, supported the position that the National Assembly should be engaged so that the process of amending the Constitution to accommodate the Zulu King could begin.
“By saying the premier and KZN cabinet should do something about that matter, the IFP is simply grandstanding as such issues are the competence of the National Assembly,” he said.
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