Mehlo Mvelase
A VISIBLY angry King Goodwill Zwelithini for the first time blamed the Inkatha Freedom Party publicly for violence last weekend — after his brother, Prince Mbousi Zulu, had escaped a hail of bullets fired at his car.
Zwelithini’s outburst, during a traditional ceremony in KwaZulu-Natal’s KwaNongoma last Saturday, marks a new low in relations between the Zulu monarch and Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s
Zulu’s car had come under fire shortly before, allegedly from a group of IFP supporters participating in a march led by IFP leader David Ntombela.
Zwelithini said he had received a report that “royal family members have narrowly escaped death from Inkatha supporters”, but advised his supporters not to seek revenge as he was a “king of peace”.
He told IFP leaders to leave him alone and “face their equals” — other political parties. “I will not succumb to evil people who are trying to sabotage my traditional
Meanwhile, it has been learnt that Zwelithini two weeks ago secretly met 16 IFP-aligned chiefs, led by Chief Nkanyiso Biyela, who recently resigned as a KwaZulu/Natal MP in response to the king’s call that chiefs should be non-partisan.
A source close to the king said the chiefs apologised for earlier ignoring his call of non-partisanship and said they were scared then of a “dangerous mamba”, who is now “powerless”.