Durban – King Misuzulu’s attendance of the Anglican Church service in Cape Town on Thursday was cancelled at the 11th hour because of a botched security arrangement.
IOL can reveal that the royal office of the 48-year-old Zulu king cancelled his attendance when security officials could not agree on how he would be secured on landing in Cape Town.
On Thursday, at 5pm the king was billed to attend the service at St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, which the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby was to preside over.
This was according to a media invitation sent out by the church attended by the members of the Zulu royal family, including the late King Goodwill Zwelithini.
The church played a prominent role during the king’s coronation last month, but when the time came for the king to be in Cape Town, he did not show up.
After the service, the media quizzed the Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba about the glaring absence.
Makgoba said there was a hiccup over the plane the king was supposed to use and he cited some health issues.
“Apparently there were some hiccups in terms of the planes he was supposed to use or his state of health.
“They literally informed me just before the service, but I will phone them to get the real story.
“But it was such a pity because he had really wanted to be here, but this is not the last opportunity,” Makgoba told the media in Cape Town.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the king’s private secretary, Prince Thami Zulu told IOL a different story when he was called to clarify the absence.
“There were issues about the king’s security detail when he lands in Cape Town, it was about how he was going to be secured.
“You will remember that he was going to another province and provincial authorities had to discuss those security arrangements.
“Those discussions dragged until the trip was postponed since there was no security plan on the ground for the king when he arrives in Cape Town,” Prince Thami explained.
The interview took place almost an hour before the news of the assassination of Prince Mbongiseni Milton Muntukaphiwana Zulu, one of the king’s uncles who helped him to ascend to the throne amid a bruising fight with Prince Simakade and others.
Prince Mbongiseni was assassinated in Nongoma in northern KwaZulu-Natal at about 6pm on Thursday.
He died on the scene.
Again, the king was expected to attend the opening ceremony of the World Cup in Qatar.
The trip was abandoned at the 11th hour and a Zululand-based online tabloid reported the trip was cancelled because of lax security arrangements around the king while abroad.
It reported that the king was to take only one bodyguard with him and the royal family felt that it was not a good idea and canned the trip.
Even in a relaxed environment, the king is always surrounded by heavily armed bodyguards since there is a heightened risk around him.
This is as the battle for the Zulu throne is not cooling off even after he was crowned on October 29 in Durban.
There are currently two court cases challenging his assumption of the throne and several ongoing low-intensity family feuds over his reign.
Meanwhile, Prince Mbongiseni’s assassination has been mourned by Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, Indonsa Yesizwe think tank and the KZN MEC For Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sihle Zikalala, as a loss to the Zulu nation.
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