Acting Zulu Prime Minister urges mediation in King’s divorce case
The deputy traditional prime minister of the king and the Zulu nation, Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza said that the King's marriage to the queen he is divorcing can still be saved.
Weighing in on the continuing public debate on the king's decision to file divorce in court, seeking to end his marriage with the queen he married in 2021, the deputy prime minister urged people not to confuse civil marriages and traditional marriages because processes preceding them are different, especially with regards to how they start and end. Chiliza said traditional marriages end in a similar way to which they started - through discussion.
He said in a traditional marriage, a son first informs the family members about his intention to get married and also reveals the woman he intends to marry.
He said thereafter, a son with the assistance of a father or his uncles will appoint the lobola negotiators who will approach the woman's family and discuss lobola which will ultimately lead to the wedding day.
Chiliza said similarly, when the son decides to end the marriage, he will have to follow the same process which will then lead to mediation and eventually save the marriage, even if the couple have already taken a decision to separate.
Chiliza said the king has not informed either the royal family nor the team of negotiators as well as the prime minister and as such his marriage to the queen must be regarded as still intact.
“As far as I know, the king has not called a royal family meeting to inform the members that he was having problems with the queen nor has he called the queen’s family to discuss problems they may have had with the queen.
“I have not been informed either, as the deputy traditional prime minister, so in the absence of these processes we regard the king’s marriage to the queen as still intact despite what we read in the newspapers.”
Chiliza said when the king decides to inform these important stakeholders, the mediation will kick in because these structures will demand an explanation from the king and the queen about the challenges and causes which may have led to them taking a decision to separate.
“These structures have the authority to prevent the separation and discipline the guilty party,” said Chiliza.
In court papers, which the king filed in Pietermaritzburg High Court, he said the marriage has reached a state of disintegration that there is no reasonable prospect for the restoration of a normal marriage.
The king said apart from communicating regarding issues concerning the children, there has not been meaningful communication between him and his wife - who is not being named to protect their minor children.
The parties have on several occasions experienced trouble with their marriage and tried to restore their relationship without success. The parties have not lived together as a husband and wife for a continuous period of at least one year immediately prior to the institution of this action,” reads the court papers
The king asked the court to grant him custody of the children who are still minors. He offered to financially support the queen with R20 000 per month for the period of 12 months from the date of the divorce decree.
Although the couple was married in community of property in 2021, the king said there are no assets and liabilities in the joint estate and they have already divided their personal belongings.
Since the matter emerged in public, the king has been criticised by cultural experts for undermining and destroying the African culture by abandoning cultural ways of solving marital problems. Experts argued that there is no divorce provision in traditional marriages.
Zulu cultural expert Professor Gugu Mazibuko from the University of Johannesburg has since appealed to the elders within the royal family to intervene and save the image of the kingdom, stating that it was an embarrassment to the kingdom.
King Misuzulu issued a statement saying he will not comment further on the matter.
Willem.phungula@inl.co.za
