Bling fit for a king

Zulu kKng Goodwill Zwelithini sat glowering in a corner of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial legislature in Pietermaritzburg this week as his R39,3-million royal household budget for the next financial year was debated by members of provincial parliament.

The spectacle called to mind PJ O’Rourke’s Parliament of Whores — both for the title and the observation that ‘authority has always attracted the lowest elements in the human race. All through history mankind has been bullied by scum.”

Having overspent his pocket money from taxpayers by a total of R7-million in the past three years, Zwelithini’s free-spending habits were effectively endorsed by the obsequious behaviour of these demo­cratically elected public officials.

The debate degenerated into an exercise in posturing between the IFP and the ANC, with each trying to outdo the other in assuring the Zulu monarch of his ‘immense importance and stature”.

Those who forgot to keep receipts for R1,2-million of the R2,5-million spent by the royal household on subsistence and travel between April and September last year sent the monarch the message that the Public Finance Management Act is a trifling scrap of paper.

A report by the provincial legislature’s finance committee, released last week, noted that hotel accommodation for the king and his entourage was usually ‘in excess of R1 000 per person per night” and that out of the sample provided by the department of the royal household ‘46% were above R1 200 per person per night”.

On five occasions the cost was more than R4 000 per person per night and on four occasions more than R5 000 per person per night.

This despite the provincial government having purchased a R2,5-million house for Zwelithini to use in Durban two years ago, which the king has not used because of ‘security concerns”. The provincial government is planning to turn it into a guesthouse.

In addition, the king has seven palaces in northern KwaZulu-Natal, at kwaDlamahlahla, Khangelamankengane, eNyokeni, Linduzulu, oNdini, iNgwavuma and Khethomthandayo.

Vusi Shongwe, head of the royal household, told the finance committee that these buildings were in dire need of repair, requiring R8,5-million immediately and a further R23-million for upgrades.

The king’s bling extends to his cars, with a fleet consisting of 32 vehicles, including eight for his personal use.

His queens don’t struggle either. In 2006 six Mercedes-Benz E200 Kompressors were bought for his five wives at a cost of R2,3-million, because the Toyota Corollas in which they had been chauffeured were ‘not befitting” of their royal status.

His own armour-plated S-Class Mercedes cost R1,8-million; each tyre costs R28 000 to replace.

According to the finance committee, the provincial government spent R533 000 on clothing for the queens between July and October last year. The report notes that ‘it is not clear whether the department is responsible for these costs”.

Other costs recorded include R335 490 paid to Professor OEHM Nxumalo in May and June last year for ‘research and writing speeches”.

African Christian Democratic Party member Joanne Downs raised concerns during the debate that one such speech had cost R36 000.

The household also spent R1,17-million on entertainment between April and September last year, of which only R803 000 was accounted for.

The report noted that there were suggestions that ‘the bulk of the expenditure is planned by the department and as such should be better controlled and managed to remain within the budget provided”.

With the promulgation of the Royal Household Trust Act late last year, the provincial government is hoping to make the Zulu household ‘self-sufficient” in future.

But the royal household portfolio committee chair, Mike Tarr, said this aim was still remote, as the board of trustees — still to be appointed by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sbu Ndebele in consultation with Zwelithini– would have to examine business partnerships, investment opportunities and sponsorship deals before drawing up a business plan.

‘The king’s farms have never been economically viable like, for example, Prince Charles’s in England,” said Tarr. ‘So it would be worth looking into that, as well as the land used for almost nothing but shopping malls in rural KwaZulu-Natal, garages, holiday resorts et cetera which is actually held by the Ingonyama Trust.”

The trust was set up in the mid-1990s to manage the almost 23-­million hectares previously controlled by the former KwaZulu homeland to the benefit of king and the traditional aristocracy.

Political analyst Protas Madlala said: ‘Zwelithini is essentially using his status to hold the legislature hostage for his demands. Even if these are not met, who is going to tell the king not to spend any more money? He has a sense of entitlement,” said Madlala.