Durban — King Misuzulu kaZwelithini laid bare his frustrations to newly appointed Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso amid tensions with the Ingonyama Trust Board during their meeting on Monday.
The marathon meeting took place at King Misuzulu’s KwaKhangelamankengane Royal Palace in Nongoma, in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
In an interview with the Daily News after the meeting, Nyhontso said: “The meeting went well. We spoke about a lot of things with the king, including the issue of the Ingonyama Trust Board. He expressed some of the issues he has. I will come back to discuss further the issues he raised with me.”
Nyhontso said the meeting was a meet and greet, adding that he would come back for a follow-up meeting.
“I will reflect on what we spoke about and then come back for a follow-up with the king to fully address the issues we spoke about.
“There are serious issues we spoke about that I can’t share now until I reflect on them as the minister.”
Nyhontso, who is the PAC president, said his role as the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development was to deal with any issues that affected traditional leaders.
The widening rift between King Misuzulu and the board was thrust into the public spotlight in May when he lambasted it for allegedly not taking instructions from him.
A king’s aide, who is not authorised to speak to the media, said: “The king explicitly urged the minister to remove the current board because it does not respect him.
“He told the minister about his frustrations about the board.”
The aide added that the minister promised to look into the matter and later come for another meeting to map the way forward.
“We will wait for the minister to come back and see what happens going forward. We are hopeful that the issue of the board will be resolved once and for all,” said the aide.
Previously, King Misuzulu expressed his anger during the meeting with traditional leaders at the old KZN legislature in Ulundi.
“We don’t get along with the board. They refuse to listen to me. They want me out,” he said at the time.
King Misuzulu also criticised the government for allegedly wanting to upstage him as the sole trustee of the Ingonyama Trust Board, a position he obtained by virtue of being the king.
The government, which appoints the board through the Land Reform and Rural Development Department, denied this allegation, leading to a meeting between the king and the erstwhile minister of Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, to ease the growing tensions.
Didiza is now the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Simphiwe Mxakaza, the spokesperson for the Ingonyama Trust Board, told the Daily News that the meeting was solely between the minister and the king.
The Ingonyama Trust Board controls more than 2.8 million hectares of communal land in KZN. By leasing land, the board generates more than R100 million in revenue annually.
Nyhontso was appointed as minister under the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Meanwhile, the DA has vowed to block PAC president Nyhontso’s attempts to amend the Constitution to allow expropriation of land without compensation, saying it will defeat the goal of the GNU.
“These comments are counter-productive and contrary to the spirit of the Statement of Intent that underpins the GNU,” it said in a statement.
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Daily News