Sithembile Mbuyazi, widow of desposed chief Sibusiso Myuyazi Photo Delwyn Verasamy
The decade-long battle by Ndulunkulu Sithembile Mbuyazi to act as regent of the Mbuyazi Traditional Authority near Richards Bay on behalf of her minor son is over.
The KwaZulu-Natal government recognised Mkhanyiseni Mbuyazi — half-brother to her late husband, Sibusiso Mbuyazi — as inkosi and introduced him to the community, near Richards Bay, at the weekend.
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala hopes the decision will end the killings and violent protests that have accompanied the dispute, which have repeatedly closed down the Richards Bay Minerals mine and smelter.
Two mine managers, Ronnie Nzimande and Nico Swart,were murdered along with local leaders, among them Judia Mbuyazi, who was gunned down in July 2020 after leaving a meeting with the premier that was called to try to resolve the conflict.
The leadership dispute had also held up the payment of the clan’s share of a R130-million land claim payout from Richards Bay Minerals (RBM), which has mined in the area since 1976, for more than a decade. The chieftainship comes with a R150 000 a year stipend from the land claim, along with other benefits.
The government decided to recognise Mkhanyiseni — who it had installed as inkosi in 2010 after removing Sibusiso from the throne — after he abandoned the mediation process it had initiated between the two and went to court last July.
Sibusiso Mbuyazi.
Sibusiso Mbuyazi had challenged his removal in court in 2010 but had died before the matter could be heard, with the queen subsequently going to the constitutional court and winning the right to represent their minor son, Phatokuhle.
But the province appointed a mediator after the conflict over the title had spilled over into the community, claiming nearly a dozen lives and repeatedly closing down Richard Bay Minerals, which operates in KwaMbuyazi and three other traditional authorities.
Last May, Mkhanyiseni Mbuyazi abandoned the mediation process and approached the high court in Pietermaritzburg for an order absolving him from the constitutional court ruling and enforcing an earlier court decision to appoint him as inkosi.
The order was granted unopposed.
Sithembile Mbuyazi said this week that she had not received any notification of the court application last May and that she was still awaiting the implementation of the mediation process initiated by the province.
“I am still waiting for the premier to meet the Mbuyazi royal family together with the Zulu prince’s who were part of the meditation process when it started as suggested by the Mbuyazi family,” she said.
“When the premier asked the family to give him an opportunity to intervene in a manner that will resolve the matter amicably out of court, both parties agreed that no one will take the matter to court until the process is done and the report is read out. I kept my word,’’ Mbuyazi said.
During the mediation process, a family tree had been presented by the cooperative governance and traditional affairs ministry, which had recognised her late husband as the legitimate heir to the throne.
“Whatever the premier is going to do there KwaMbonambi may have to do with government programmes but not the royal issue. I am still waiting for the meeting where the report will be read out as per our last conversation,” Mbuyazi said.
The government, however, has gone ahead with recognising Mkhanyiseni Mbuyazi and has also brought pressure to bear on RBM to pay out the clan’s share of the land claim, which it had held in trust because of the leadership dispute.
Mkhanyiseni Mbuyazi.
Correspondence between the department of minerals and energy and RBM last June shows that the company was threatened with having its mining revoked should it not release the funding it had withheld since 2009.
In a letter to managing director Werner Duvenhage last August, the department gave RBM until 31 August to release the funds, saying that although it had declared force majeure, the government still believed “the company must honour its contractual obligations”.
In the letter, minerals and energy director general Thabo Mokoena said that despite the force majeure, RBM had “admitted that the money is available and could be paid immediately”.
Addressing the community on Sunday at an imbizo to introduce Mkhanyiseni Mbuyazi as the inkosi, Zikalala said the end of the protracted dispute would bring peace to the area and attract further investment.
“Without stability, there will be no development and the people of KwaZulu-Natal will forever be victims of poverty, inequality and unemployment,” Zikalala said. “We are now at the end of a state of instability and uncertainty in the area. Peace and harmony must return to this community.”
The government and the community needed to “do all in our powers to rebuild and renew relationships of trust that have been broken since the beginning of this dispute”.
“Now it is time for this community to leave the past behind and to rally behind the new Inkosi, to open your hearts to a new future for all the people of KwaMbuyazi. This is a time to strengthen collaboration with neighbouring communities and the local and international investor community in rebuilding this corner of our province,” Zikalala said.
He called on the community to stop disrupting service delivery and allow the government to play its role in providing and maintaining essential services.
“We appeal to everyone to bury the hatchet and to declare a ceasefire to all the hostilities which hitherto engulfed KwaMbonambi and neighbouring areas. The resolution of the dispute will spell an end to bloodshed and pave the path to peace and unity in KwaMbonambi,” he said.
“We urge all those who did not see eye to eye before the dispute was resolved to make peace, heal wounds of the past, and work for the progress and prosperity of KwaMbonambi and the Mbuyazi Traditional Council.”
RBM declined to comment and referred Mail & Guardian to its statement last year confirming that it had agreed to release R130-million to four community trusts after signing an agreement with the four amakhosi in the area to “improve the governance and transparency of the community trusts”.
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