Sunday News Reporters
SOME families of the royal Khumalo clan are locked in a bitter feud over who has the right to lay claim to the defunct Ndebele throne, 118 years after the monarchy was abolished.

The battle pits Prince Zwide kaLanga Khumalo and Mr Mcijwana Khumalo, both of whom are descendants of the 18th century kings of the Ndebele Kingdom, King Mzilikazi and King Lobengula.
Moves by the Khumalo royal family to resuscitate the monarchy and crown a new Ndebele King have divided them into two camps with each camp claiming the right to the throne.

Last week Mr Mcijwana declared to Sunday News that he was the head of the Khumalos and had been divinely anointed king by God.
He alleged plans were now on course for him to be officially installed as king at a function to be held in neighbouring South Africa.
“The time has come for me to reclaim what is mine . . . very soon I will be going to South Africa for the installation ceremony. I won’t tell you the exact date because I don’t want anyone to distract our plans. Actually, very soon I will be inviting you for an official interview when I am king because right now I don’t trust that you will write anything truthful.

“You might be asking what an old man from Mabuthweni is trying to do by making such statements but I will tell you that you don’t know me. Maybe I am staying here just to be close to my subjects. This is a very serious matter because I was given this throne in heaven plus a lot more powers,’’ said Mr Mcijwana.

Mr Mcijwana, who claims to be King Mzilikazi II, said the dynasty squabbles underlying the affair had no official relevance, as he was a direct descendant of the ruling clan while Prince Zwide is from a junior branch of the royal family.
“You don’t need to read big books to become a king . . . you have all the intelligence you need as this is God’s gift to you. I can tell you that things are now in motion and very soon I will be up there where I belong with or without the young man’s (Zwide) support,’’ said Mr Mcijwana.

Contacted for comment, Price Zwide kaLanga, who is presently in South Africa on business, said he was not moved by Mr Mcijwana’s sentiments as tradition would not permit Mr Mcijwana to declare himself king.
“While I will not comment on Mcijwana’s sentiments, what all of us know is that no one can ever declare that they are king. That has never happened and will never happen. A king is chosen and crowned by the elders according to tradition.

“We all know that whoever is heir to that throne must come out of the house of the last king in this case Lobengula, so if anyone wants to make noise about who is the rightful heir-to-be they must know that their lineage is within the house of Lobengula,’’ said Prince Zwide kaLanga, who hails from the Lobengula’s house.

He said the Khumalo family should take the backseat and wait for the elders to identify the heir-to-be instead of fighting among themselves.
The first king of the Ndebele Kingdom was King Mzilikazi who was also the founder. After his death in 1868, Lobengula was crowned, amid protests as he was one of Mzilikazi’s sons from an inferior wife, MaTshabalala.

A civil war broke out as a section of the royal family disputed King Lobengula’s ascendancy.
King Lobengula emerged victorious to sit on the throne. He died in 1894 at the height of a war with the British South African Company. His death was kept a secret for many months and the cause of his death remains inconclusive. The earliest accounts state it was smallpox, later it was diagnosed as dysentery, and some accounts mention poison, although this seems unlikely.

After his death, the Ndebele monarch was abolished.