Residents of KwaZulu-Natal should expect the name of the province to revert to Natal if Melizwe Dlamini has his way and wins his bid to become a king.
Dlamini, a traditional leader of Nhlangwini, near Highflats, said his supporters were unhappy with the current name, which gives prominence to the Zulu kingdom.
He is among three KZN traditional leaders waiting for the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims to make recommendations to President Jacob Zuma on whether to grant them kingship status.
They submitted their claims to the commission in Durban last week.
Currently, Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, Dlamini’s cousin, is the only king recognised in the province.
Speaking to The Mercury, Dlamini, 49, said the name Natal was neutral.
“Natal is the right name for the province. When the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama came up with the name, it was well accepted and it was used for years without any problem,” he said.
However, the province was renamed KwaZulu-Natal after democracy was attained.
Dlamini claimed that King Zwelithini was the rightful king of northern KZN only.
“The Eastern Cape has three kings. Why is it a problem if Natal has more than one king?” he asked.
Dlamini said a large part of the province, stretching from the Tugela River down to Umzimvubu River in the Eastern Cape, and from the coast to the Drakensberg mountains, belonged to his “nation”.
“The demarcation board has a huge job ahead because it will have to help separate the Zulu territory from the Dlamini territory,” he said.
Dlamini, who has fishing and farming businesses, said he was looking to create a nation that would be economically self-sustaining.
He said he had taken lessons from the British royal family, which he said generated income for itself and for the nation.
“The British taught me that the royal family is supposed to maintain itself and provide for the nation. One needs to challenge the notion that a monarch is supposed to live off taxpayers,” he said.
The Zulu royal household currently receives a budget of R59 million from taxpayers.
But Dlamini, who claims to have various qualifications including a bachelor’s degree in business management and economics, said he had a number of development projects for his clan that were mainly dependent on agriculture.
The father of six children said he was currently living off his family businesses, which he had initiated.
He said his palaces were maintained through his own funds, although he received traditional leadership stipends from the government. - The Mercury
