King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has fired Thulasizwe Buthelezi as the Zulu Traditional Prime Minister.
His dismissal was communicated through a letter date December 25, 2024.
"I address you with a heavy heart as I announce my withdrawal with immediate effect of the name of Rev Thulasizwe Dominic Buthelezi from this esteemed position. Reasons for the withdrawal are to be shared with traditional leaders and the nation in due course as we are still observing uMkhosi until the end of January," the Zulu King said in the letter.
Buthelezi, who is also the MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) in KZN, was appointed in his former position by King Misuzulu in January 2024.
He took over the position following the death of former IFP leader Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Prince Buthelezi died in September 2023 and had held the position of traditional prime minister for almost 70 years. He had worked with three different kings from 1954.
In a similar move in February 2024, King Misuzulu fired the Ingonyama Trust Board chairperson Thanduyise Mzimela and appointed himself as the new chair of the trust which administers rural land in KwaZulu-Natal.
For the first time since its formation in 1994, the king, as the sole trustee of Ingonyama, will also chair the ITB.
During the reign of his late father, King Goodwill Zwelithini, Judge Jerome Ngwenya served as the chairperson until the late king’s death in March 2021.
The Ingonyama Trust was formed during the dying days of apartheid in 1994, in a deal between the National Party and the Inkatha Freedom Party.
It was established to manage land owned by the government of the former KwaZulu government, which was more than 2.8 million hectares of land.
IOL News