Land reform minister denies ordering Ingonyama Trust Board members to resign

Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso has instructed members of the Ingonyama Trust Board to resign or face dissolution over tensions with King MisuZulu kaZwelithini.

But the board’s spokesperson and the spokesperson for the minister denied that such an ultimatum had been issued even while acknowledging that a meeting between the board and the ministry had taken place.

The Zulu king has repeatedly called for the dissolution of the board over its refusal to implement some of his instructions, including the appointment of service providers to conduct an audit of the nearly three million hectares of Ingonyama Trust land it administers on his behalf.

The monarch is the ITB chairperson, a role he took on after firing Thanduyise Mzimela, who he had installed last year after removing long-serving chair Jerome Ngwenya, who had been appointed by his late father.

Last week Nyhontso, under whose ministry the board falls, held a “meet and greet” with its members in Pretoria. There, according to two sources with intimate knowledge of the matter, he gave the board members an ultimatum to resign within seven days, failing which he would dissolve it.

One of the sources said the meeting was attended by the department’s legal team and the deputy minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Zolile Burns-Ncamashe.

“The deputy minister was very vocal at the meeting. He and the minister advised that they were under pressure to dissolve the board and that its members should act accordingly and resign,” they said.

“The minister gave the board seven days to finally take a decision before they will meet again on 5 November. The board members requested that the minister put the instruction and the basis for it in writing as  was a political decision.”

A second source told the Mail & Guardian that the minister had “instructed every board member to resign within seven days due to breakdown of trust between the king and the board”.

“If they don’t resign, the board will be dissolved,” the source added.

The current board was appointed last year by then agriculture, land reform and rural development minister Thoko Didiza as part of a programme to regularise the operations and financial controls of the ITB and the trust.

The trust was set up on the eve of the 1994 elections to control what was the old KwaZulu homeland on the then king’s behalf and the board two years later. They are funded by the land reform ministry and the board chairperson accounts to parliament, a situation which has been complicated by the king taking on the role himself.

ITB chief executive Vela Mngwengwe was seconded by Didiza to assist with the turnaround of the entity but has also come into conflict with the monarch, who has opposed the extension of his contract in his role as chairperson.

The tensions have been exacerbated by the appointment to co-operative governance and traditional affairs MEC Thulasizwe Buthelezi as traditional prime minister to the king, who has publicly called for the ITB to be dissolved.

The source said the minister had also told the board the extension of Mngwengwe’s contract had been done without his concurrence and against the advice of the department’s director general.

Board members had in turn complained about the role of Buthelezi in “commenting” on Ingonyama Trust issues and had indicated that “there was still room for mediation with the king so long as the prime minister was not present”.

Nyhontso’s spokesperson Linda Page denied that the minister had instructed the board members to resign or face its dissolution.

“The minister did not issue such instruction to the ITB,” Page said. “He did, however, hold a meeting with it, where engagements centred around issues that needed to be addressed such as existing relationship challenges between the board and its chairperson.”

Board spokesperson Simphiwe Mxakaza confirmed that the meeting took place but said there had been no instruction to resign or threat of dissolution.

“The board had initiated and held a meet and greet meeting with the minister on 24 October 2024. This was the first time the board met the minister, hence the meeting was more about introductory information about Ingonyama Trust,” Mxakaza said.

“The minister did not instruct the board to resign or threaten it with dissolution.”

The tensions with the king have now affected the ITB’s ability to account to parliament as he has now twice failed to appear in his role as chairperson of the board  for its annual financial statement to be presented.

Didiza had advised the monarch against taking on the job because it would expose him to having to answer questions in parliament.

The annual financial statements were submitted to the Auditor General of South Africa at the end of May and those of the trust at the beginning of August. The audit was finalised on 13 October and the annual financial statements were then submitted to Nyhontsho on 22 October for tabling in parliament.

But the scheduled presentation by the board chairperson did not take place.

Mxakaza said the board does not have “sufficient details to formulate a response” with regard to the non-appearance of the chairperson before parliament.