‘The legal team is carefully studying the court judgment’: Presidency on AmaZulu king recognition blow

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s legal team is studying a damning Pretoria high court judgment which found his crowning and recognition of King Misuzulu kaZwelithini as king of the Zulu nation was unlawful and invalid. 

“The legal team is carefully studying the judgment. Only once they've completed their thorough study of the judgment will a determination on the way forward be made,” Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said on Tuesday.

The high court ruling on Monday came after the royal family approached the courts to determine the rightful heir as Misuzulu's brother Prince Simakade Zulu claimed he was entitled to the throne. However, the king’s uncle, Prince Mbonisi Zulu, believed the family should reconvene to identify an heir. 

Judge Norman Davis handed down his reserved judgment on Monday in which he stated Misuzulu’s recognition contained in the Government Gazette of March 17 2022 should be set aside.

In a legal blow to Ramaphosa, Davis ordered the president to act in accordance with the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act to appoint an investigative committee.

Its purpose would be to investigate and report back on allegations that the identification process of Misuzulu was not done in terms of customary laws and customs. 

However, the judgment is not to determine who is the rightful king of the AmaZulu, Davis said, as that is not what the applicants had tried to contest in court. 

“The applicants brought two review applications and the court was required to determine those. The first was whether the incumbent king, Misuzulu kaZwelithini Zulu, has been appointed as king in terms of Zulu custom and the second was whether the president had correctly recognised the present king in terms of the act,” said Davis. 

He ordered Ramaphosa to pay the legal costs of the applicants, including their two counsel. 

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