THE Matulini royal houses in Mgababa have been embroiled in a dispute over the tribe’s kingship after the government accepted King Mazwendoda Luthuli, who was born to the previous king, Phathisizwe Luthuli.
The dispute over the kingship is now at the High Court in Pietermaritzburg. All four houses of the tribe, which decide on kingship, have called a press conference on Friday at the Batcentre in Durban to present the new steps taken that are why they are opposing the enthronement of King Mazwendoda, nominating Mr Busani Luthuli, who is also born in one of the four hills.
The chairman of the family, Mr Bukela Luthuli, said that at the enthronement of King Phathisizwe, all the houses of the family were present, but the son of the king and the Royal Family did not attend the meeting. He told the media that in the Luthuli dynasty, a person born to a wife who came to the family after having a miscarriage (having an illegitimate child) is not enthroned.
“The King arrived with an illegitimate child. Therefore, the king was not born of a wife who came and gave birth to a child that was not from Mathulini. That is why other old kings of ours took wives and started having children in Mathulini,” said Mr Luthuli.
The body that manages the affairs of this kingdom has decided to arrest the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, the newly appointed King Mazwendoda and King Thenjiwe Luthuli. This body representing all the houses wants them to explain in detail the appointment of King Mazwendoda when it agreed on Mr Busani Luthuli who is the chairman of the Mathulini Trust.
The chairman of the family said that after they met and chose a king and sent a name to the department, they did not receive answers as to why their proposal was unsuccessful.
“We do not know which houses met and agreed on the name of Mazwendoda, where they met. We do not know why we were not explained the reason for the failure of the name we proposed. The department acted in its own way and not in ours, the Mathulini kingdom,” he said.
Okhulumela uMnyango wezokubusa ngokubambisana neziNdaba zoMdabu uMnu Senzelwe Mzila, uthe izindaba zobukhosi zokungaboni ngaso linye komndeni, umnyango awuzixoxi kwabezindaba.
Mthobisis@ilanganews.co.za
