Des Erasmus
Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has reinstated Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi as the traditional prime minister of the Zulu nation, just short of a year since removing him from the post.
In a statement issued by the Emashobeni Royal Palace in Pongola on Tuesday night, the Zulu Royal House said that Buthelezi had been formally appointed and sworn in as traditional prime minister at the king’s private office, effective immediately.
In his official mandate, Misuzulu said Buthelezi was to “provide executive leadership, structural coordination, and administrative oversight of the affairs of the Zulu Kingdom under the authority and direction of His Majesty the King”.
Also immediately established was the Prime Minister’s Executive Council (PMEC), “designed to strengthen coordination, accountability, and strategic direction within the Kingdom”.
“No initiatives, projects, policies, or programmes may be implemented by the Prime Minister without approval of the PMEC,” according to the official mandate.
All PMEC decisions would be subject to Misuzulu’s “final authority”, according to the statement, “and the council reports directly – and exclusively – to the king”.
“This ensures that the monarchy remains the ultimate custodian of governance direction.”
On Christmas Day last year, Misuzulu announced “with a heavy heart” that he was withdrawing Buthelezi – a senior IFP member and COGTA MEC – from the same position, with immediate effect.
At the same time, Misuzulu suspended the chief executive, chief financial officer and other members of the Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) pending an investigation into alleged potential breaches of the Public Finance Management Act.
Board members publicly rejected the suspensions, saying the king “does not have authority to suspend anyone in the Ingonyama Trust”.
The Mail & Guardian reported at the time that Misuzulu had come under pressure to fire Buthelezi because of his alleged undermining of the province’s then still relatively fledgling coalition government.
Party and government sources accused him of using the prime minister’s post “in a destructive way”, ostensibly to build his political profile.
Buthelezi was understood to have been at the centre of tensions between the king and the ITB over governance of the nearly three million hectares of Ingonyama Trust land administered on the monarch’s behalf.
Misuzulu first appointed Buthelezi as traditional prime minister in January 2024, despite objections from some members of the royal family, to succeed long-serving IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who died in September 2023 after decades in the role under successive Zulu kings.
In Tuesday’s statement, the royal house said the latest appointment and the PMEC structure were intended to “modernise” governance of the kingdom, strengthen coordination with government and traditional structures, and ensure that all engagements “reflect the cultural, administrative, and developmental vision of His Majesty”.
INSIDE POLITICS