AbaThembu royals put fighting aside for Chief Ntande’s funeral
Feuding AbaThembu royal family set aside their fight for the throne at the weekend when they bade farewell to a senior family member.
Thousands of mourners, including cabinet members and visiting royals, witnessed the show of unity as family members sat side by side during the funeral of Chief Ntande Jongikhwezi Mtirara at Matyenengqina, near Mthatha on Saturday.
Even jailed AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo’s close family attended the funeral of the leader who had championed a campaign since 2012 to have the monarch imprisoned and dethroned.
Due to deep divisions in the royal family, the nation has been without a leader for six months since Dalindyebo’s incarceration.
The royal family is divided into three camps: supporters of the king’s son Prince Azenathi Dalindyebo, the king’s brother Prince Mthandeni Mankunku Dalindyebo and the king’s wife Queen Nokwanda Dalindyebo to take the throne.
But despite their differences, almost all the core royal houses of AbaThembu attended the funeral.
Ntande was one of the firebrands who in 2012 publicly announced their disapproval of the king’s “unroyal behaviour”.
One grouping, led by chiefs Mfundo Mtirara and Thandisizwe Mtirara, stood by Dalindyebo while Ntande and his cousins – brothers Thanduxolo Mtirara and Daludumo – called for the king’s imprisonment.
The king’s siblings – Princess Komkom Dalindyebo, Princess Ndileka Dalindyebo-Dlamini and Prince Patrick Dalindyebo – were all at the funeral, Dalindyebo-Dlamini having flown in from Swaziland. Prince Mthandeni Mankunku was also there.
Prince Azenathi, a third-year university student, did not attend due to examinations.
Chief Mfundo Mtirara, speaking about his father’s younger brother, appreciated the unity shown by the royal family.
“I wish it could be like this forever. We are one family, one blood. We must be united always.”
Earlier, royal family elder and stalwart Chief Ngangomhlaba Matanzima spoke passionately of family unity.
“Let’s put an end to public mudslinging in the royal family. Washing dirty linen in public is destroying the family’s unity, cohesion, trust and peace, as well as dragging the family name through the mud and dividing the AbaThembu nation.
“We must stop using TV, radio and newspapers to attack each other. This will not solve our problems, but only make it worse.”
Matanzima advised the family not to involve people who were not family members in their family discussions.
“If you want peace as a family, do not involve foreigners in your family matters. Discuss private family matters with core family members, those whose mothers you can trace and the seniority of their houses. You must always be led by custom in your deliberations,” he urged.
Western Thembuland King Dalimvula Matanzima, his sister Princess Camagwini Matanzima-Madikizela, Contralesa president Chief Phathekile Holomisa, UDM president Bantu Holomisa, traditional affairs MEC Fikile Xasa, ANC MP Chief Mandla Mandela and other dignitaries also attended the funeral.
Holomisa described Ntande as a disciplined soldier in the Transkei Defence Force, when Holomisa was a brigadier and Ntande a corporal. — lulamilef@dispatch.co.za