Mngwengwe headed the turnaround team deployed to regularise the finances and administration of the ITB before becoming the full-time chief executive of the entity.
The Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) has extended the tenure of its chief executive Vela Mngwengwe by 24 months, despite an attempt by King MisuZulu ka Zwelithini to prevent his contract from being renewed.
The board is understood to have met late last week and passed a resolution to add another two years to Mngwengwe’s contract, which had just expired, against the king’s wishes.
Mngwengwe headed the turnaround team deployed to regularise the finances and administration of the ITB before becoming the full-time chief executive of the entity, which falls under the land reform and rural development ministry.
The monarch met Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso last week and asked him to dissolve the ITB and had previously written to Mngwengwe informing him that his contract would not be extended.
The minister has undertaken to consider the king’s concerns but the board — appointed as part of the process of addressing concerns around the ITB’s finances and operation which have been expressed by parliament and the auditor general for nearly half a decade — remains in place.
The monarch’s relationship with the board, which was appointed by former minister Thoko Didiza last May after the term of office of the previous board headed by Jerome Ngwenya had expired, has soured.
The ITB runs the affairs of the Ingonyama Trust, which controls nearly three million hectares of land falling under traditional authorities on the king’s behalf.
MisuZulu is the chairperson of the board, a role he took on after he removed the previous chairperson, Inkosi Thanduyise Mzimela.
Last February, the monarch fired Ngwenya, his late father’s close confidante who had chaired the board for more than a decade, over a failed investment which cost the ITB R41 million. MisuZulu replaced Ngwenya with Mzimela, before he took on the role himself in February this year.
The king has since clashed with the board when it shot down his proposal that the legal firm which represents him in his legal battle for the throne be appointed to conduct an audit of all the land under the ITB’s control.
The issue appears to have exacerbated already strained relations between the king and the board over the payment of his legal bills.
Mngwengwe revealed in court papers that the ITB had paid R9 million on the king’s behalf to his previous lawyers in terms of an agreement signed by Ngwenya but would make no further contribution to his legal fees.
The board had also halted payment of the king’s gratuities from the division of royalties it collects on his behalf for 26 months in lieu of the payment made to the lawyers.
MisuZulu is embroiled in a legal battle with his half-brother Simakade, his uncle Mbonisi and other Zulu royals.
They succeeded in having his recognition by President Cyril Ramaphosa declared unlawful but the matter is being appealed. Last month, the court ruled in the king’s favour in a separate bid by Mbonisi to have him stripped of his powers over the ITB and amakhosi and to stop the provincial government from paying his salary.
Last Monday, the king met Nyhontso, along with his traditional prime minister, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, who submitted a memorandum asking that the minister dissolve the current board over its “hostility” to the monarch.
Buthelezi also accused board members of failing to brief the province’s traditional leaders, who want to have more of a say in how the ITB operates and how the funds it collects are disbursed.
The board receives just over R20 million a year for operating expenses from Nyhontso’s ministry and collects revenue for mineral rights and commercial and farming leases from companies operating on the land it controls.
In June 2021 the high court ruled that a residential lease programme, introduced during Ngwenya’s tenure, was unlawful and ordered that residents be paid back the rent that had been illegally collected from them.
Three sources with intimate knowledge of the matter said that Mngwengwe, who was part of the team seconded to the ITB to regularise its operations and finances by Didiza, would remain in his job.
“The CEO will stay for another two years,” one source told the Mail & Guardian at the weekend. “The human resources committee came with a recommendation that he continue to allow the work that has been done to be completed.
“There is a lot that has been achieved since he was appointed and the board did not want that process to be disturbed,” they said, adding that the king had not attended the board meeting last week.
Last Friday, ITB human resources director Simphiwe Madondo wrote to staff members informing them that Mngwengwe would not be leaving, despite his contract having come to an end.
“We are pleased to inform you that the board has resolved to extend the employment contract by a further 24 months,” Madondo wrote.
Buthelezi told the M&G that the king was waiting for a response from Nyhontso to the memorandum outlining his concerns and the demand for the board to be dissolved.
“His majesty has met with the minister. The way forward from now on will be mapped by the minister,” he said.
Nyhontso’s spokesperson, Linda Page, said the issue of the chief executive’s contract was not among those discussed by the minister and the king at their meeting last week.
“The decision is taken by the board in consultation with the director general,” Page said.
ITB spokesperson Simphiwe Mxakaza said the board had taken into consideration the ITB’s “stability, and the CEO’s performance” in deciding to extend his contract.
The decision had been taken in terms of Clause 9 (3) of the Ingonyama Trust Act and in consultation with the department of land reform, Mxakaza said.
He said there was no breakdown in relations between the king and the board.
“There is no breakdown in relations with the chairperson. Any matter that affects the workings and stability of the board is an internal matter and it will be handled within the board,” Mxakaza said.