Despite publicly announcing that he would establish a 12-member committee within seven days to review the performance of the embattled Ingonyama Trust Board a month ago, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso has not yet kept his promise.
After his meeting with the Zulu king Misuzulu kaZwelithini exactly a month ago, the minister announced that within seven days a committee would be established to look into a performance and investigate the fallout between itself and the king.
On Wednesday, Ingonyama Trust Board chief executive officer Advocate Vela Mngwengwe said the board has never received any communication from the department or ministry about the team since the board heard about it from the news last month.
Mngwengwe said the board is continuing with its day to day operations until such time where it would be told otherwise.
“We have not heard anything about that committee so it is business as usual for us as the board,” said Mngwengwe.
He said last week the board had a meeting, however, the king was not there as the chairperson, adding a meeting was chaired by the king’s deputy Advocate Linda Zama.
Responding to questions, departmental spokesperson Linda Page told the publication that they would communicate as soon as the minister was ready to announce the committee.
In what many people regarded as bowing to the king’s pressure, Nyhontso announced that the committee would be established within seven days. He even promised to include former KwaZulu-Natal premiers Dr Zweli Mkhize and Willies Mchunu, amakhosi and princes as directed by the king.
During an imbizo (mass gathering) which was held two weeks before the king and minister’s meeting former traditional prime minister Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi told traditional leaders and headmen that in the meeting with Nyhontso in July last year, the king had asked him (the Minister) to remove the board but Nyhontso did not do so. He said the Minister’s indecision forced the king to dissolve the board himself.
Nyhontso and the king had been at loggerheads over the control of the Trust after the king fired the board only for it to be reinstated by Nyhontso who told the king that it was he who had powers to remove the board, not the king.
The king had harsh words for the minister during his address at the opening of the provincial legislature in February, prior to their meeting in early March.
Without mentioning him by name, the king said there was no minister who could claim to control the land of Zulus, adding that although he was not a violent person, he was neither stupid nor a coward. Some say these words prompted the minister to make concessions to the king about the board as a way of calming him down.