Costs of SA royals in the spotlight as union calls for the abolition of Zulu monarchy

1 Nov 2022

On Monday, the General Industries Workers’ Union of SA released a statement calling for the abolition of all South African royalty. The union is a rare voice of dissent in a country where traditional monarchs are usually presented as untouchable — despite the cost to the taxpayer.

The September death of the world’s most high-profile sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II, prompted serious discussion and heated debate about the ongoing justification for hereditary monarchies worldwide. But not so much in South Africa — until now.

The certification ceremony for Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, held on Saturday, “cost millions of taxpayer rands, standing in stark contrast to the horrendous conditions of life suffered by the great majority of Zulu working-class people, in whose name this new king is being coronated”.

In photos: Zuma, Mbeki and more — see who attended King Misuzulu kaZwelithini's coronation

That’s according to the General Industries Workers’ Union of SA (Giwusa), in a strongly worded statement released on Monday. Giwusa’s stance is an unusual one in a country where questioning the legitimacy of the Zulu monarchy, in particular, is often taken as tantamount to blasphemy.

In August 2022, EFF leader Julius Malema fired verbal warning shots at anyone considering such criticism, telling a media briefing that the Zulu royal family must be “jealously protected” on the grounds that it is “one of those black institutions that are still run by black people and led by black people and are run in a dignified manner”.

According to IOL, Malema “added that it should not be allowed that those remaining monarchs in the country be destroyed by those who did not want to see anything black united”.

Such messages appear not to have deterred the leadership of Giwusa, an independent trade union working across industries. Giwusa’s president is Mametlwe Sebei, who previously stood for election under the banner of the short-lived Workers and Socialist Party.

Zulu royal household received R67.3m from state

In Giwusa’s statement on Monday, the union describes it as “shocking but not surprising that not only the governing ANC but the entire political spectrum of the ruling class, from the left wing to the right-wing neoliberal opposition”, supports the granting of public funds to “obsolete parasites” like the Zulu royal family.

The union states that the R67.3-million that the Zulu royal household received from the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government for the 2022/23 financial year will be used in part to “maintain and cater for six royal palaces, including a fleet of luxury cars for the royals, payment of royal aides and praise singers, school fees for royal children in the country’s top schools”.

In addition to the financial allocation for the royal household, Misuzulu himself receives an annual salary of R1,277,116 from the state.

These disbursements are “even more remarkable”, Giwusa suggests, “in the context of the province that is failing to provide for communities devastated not only by the devastating floods early this year, but that hasn’t bothered to repair damage from the floods of 2019 and 2017, or from the rioting of July 2021”.

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Announcing the royal household allocation in May 2022, erstwhile KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala said that one of the most important uses for the money was to support the Zulu Royal Household Trust’s drive towards financial self-sustainability.

This trust was established in 2009 with the aim of reducing the taxpayer burden presented by the Zulu royal family — but there has been little sign of this working.

In 2019, opposition parties in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature questioned why the trust did not seem to be moving the Zulu royals towards financial sustainability a full decade after its establishment.

In 2022, the trust is still being cited as a potential vehicle for “supporting greater financial independence in the near future”.

The Zulu royal family further benefits from its sole control of the Ingonyama Trust, which owns 30% of the land in KwaZulu-Natal and extracts tenancy fees accordingly. The Ingonyama Trust reported an income of R76.7-million in the 2019/2020 period.

The justification for the taxpayers’ funds directed towards the Zulu monarchy is usually based on the idea that the royals play important roles in serving as cultural figureheads, promoting social cohesion — a hard sell in the case of the late King Goodwill Zwelethini — and supporting good causes.

Giwusa is having none of it — describing South African royals in general as getting paid “for mostly living a life of complete idleness, and … at worst, upholding an oppressive regime against the poor, women and other marginalised groups”.

South African royals are ‘parasites on the public fiscus’

The union notes that the Zulu monarchy is the most prominent, but “by no means the sole parasite on the public fiscus and the working-class people of this country”.

A commission set up to look into traditional leadership disputes under the administration of former president Jacob Zuma in 2010 found that there were seven “legitimate kingships” in South Africa, Zuma announced at the time.

The recognised monarchies were those of the AbaThembu, AmaXhosa, AmaPondo, AmaZulu, Bapedi, AmaNdebele and VhaVenda. A number of others are still currently fighting for recognition – such as the AmaHlubi nation from KwaZulu-Natal.

With recognition comes state remuneration. All the countries’ kings and queens collect an annual salary of R1,277,116, as per the latest gazetted salaries for traditional leaders.

“It is the position of Giwusa that the existence and recognition of traditional royalty as a public authority in a republican democracy is not only a waste of enormous amounts of resources but an affront and subversion of the democratic foundations of the country, for which many people laid down their lives in the struggle against successive colonial and apartheid regimes,” the union contends.

Giwusa is calling for royal salaries to be cancelled, the vast land-owning trusts of the monarchies to be expropriated, and for all traditional authorities to operate henceforth as voluntary membership associations.

When it comes to consultations on aspects like applications for mining licences, with mining being a lucrative revenue source for South Africa’s traditional leaders, Giwusa says the only legitimate voices of communities should be those stemming from “community assemblies, democratically organised community civics and interest groups for young people, rural women, etc”.

Giwusa’s voice is likely to be ignored or dismissed with anger by the Zulu royal household in particular. Yet, research suggests ordinary South Africans hold less positive views towards traditional leaders than those leaders might hope.

An Afrobarometer study released in September found: “fewer than four in 10 [South African] citizens express significant trust in traditional leaders”. DM

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Zulu royal household received R67.3m from state

South African royals are ‘parasites on the public fiscus’