THE FUSE

Land Reform Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso told King Misuzulu he will dissolve the Ingonyama Trust board, calling it “rogue”, at eMashobeni Palace.

A court reinstated the Ingonyama Trust board in March, barring both the minister and the King from interfering with it.

Land Reform Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso has told King Misuzulu kaZwelithini he will dissolve the Ingonyama Trust board, a move a court ruled unlawful in March.

Nyhontso made the announcement on Saturday night at eMashobeni Royal Palace in Pongola.

He said he had told Parliament’s land committee the same thing.

“I will never work with this board over my dead body because they are rogue,” he said.

“Your Majesty, we are going to dissolve this board. The board has four members left and the contracts of the other two are coming to an end this month. So it would be left with only two members, which means that thing is dying a natural death,” he said.

He said he has told the director-general to dissolve it, and asked the King’s go-ahead to advertise the vacant posts.

He wants “a board that has no politicians, because the current one is full of politicians,” and said the King and traditional leaders would recommend the names.

The Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled in March that his earlier dissolution was unlawful and outside his powers. The court reinstated the board and ordered both the minister and the King not to interfere with it.

Nyhontso’s reason then was also that too few members were left to make a quorum.

It is not clear how the new plan fits that ruling. The King, who chairs the board, welcomed the decision. The board’s response is not yet available.

Nyhontso also told the King the board tried to block a report by Advocate Marumo Moerane, commissioned after the King complained. He said he is also investigating the Trust’s summit that the King’s regiments disrupted.

He promised the King government does not plan to expropriate Zulu land, “the only land that is left in the hands of black people in South Africa.”