AbaThembu royal family want ‘evil’ King Dalindyebo out

AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo. Picture: Siphiwe Sibeko/Pool/AP

AbaThembu chiefs who wrote to President Jacob Zuma to have King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo removed have come out guns blazing, calling the controversial monarch an “evil king”.

Daludumo Mtirara, spokesperson for the royal family for the kingdom of AbaThembu, said today Dalindyebo was not fit to be king and should be dethroned.

“We are prepared to die for him to be removed. We called on government to remove this man as king. He has embarrassed us as a nation and we don’t want anything to do with him. His behaviour cannot be accepted by any normal family or tribe,” Mtirara said.

“We cannot allow our nation to be run by thugs.”

He said one of the reasons they wanted Dalindyebo out was because he had been found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison for arson.

The king was also found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in 2009 for serious crimes, including kidnapping, arson, assault and defeating the ends of justice.

Mtirara said as a convicted criminal, Dalindyebo was not fit to be king.

“The law prohibits someone from occupying the position of king when they are convicted of more than a 12-month prison sentence without the option of a fine. The king has been sentenced to 15 years in prison without an option of a fine. We also don’t understand why the justice system can take so long to put him behind bars,” he said.

Dalindyebo is currently appealing the sentence.

Addressing a press conference at Nelson Mandela Museum near Mthatha, Mtirara said the king had also sexually assaulted and impregnated children of his siblings and that of his father, King Sabata.

“He even sexually abused a 15-year-old girl, a daughter of his own brother. He smuggled the girl to Swaziland to escape prosecution,” he said.

Among the damning claims against Dalindyebo was that he brutally assaulted his parents King Sabata and Queen NoMoscow and that he snubbed the funerals of his brother Bandile, his wife Nolwazi and his mother.

The royal family also took issue with the king smoking dagga in front of elders and insulting leaders such as late former president Nelson Mandela and Zuma.

“He has made disparaging remarks insulting our late icon. Nobody has ever insulted our icon, but he did,” he said.

Chairperson for the royal family, Thanduxolo Mtirara, said the meeting the king called for Sunday for the entire nation was immature and had the potential to spark a war.

“The king must tell the people the truth. He is misleading the nation. He knows the reasons why we are removing him. We removed the royal spear from him. All we want now is for the certificate of recognition to be withdrawn from him, hence we wrote to President Zuma.”

Thanduxolo said they were following the law by writing the letter to Zuma to withdraw the certificate of recognition from the king.

“We are prepared to go to the Constitutional Court if we are not satisfied with the response by the president. We want the man to be dethroned. We are not saying he is not the rightful person by birth to be king, all we are saying is that his actions have rendered him unfit to be king,” Thanduxolo said.

Also present at the press conference was the king’s younger brother, Jongisizwe Dalindyebo who remained quiet throughout the press conference and refused to comment on the matter.

“I have been advised not to speak to the media about this. There are people who are delegated to speak on these matters,” Jongisizwe said.

Thanduxolo also took a swipe at senior AbaThembu chief, Mfundo Mtirara, calling a him a dishonest man who harboured ambitions of being a king.

“Mfundo is very dishonest. He knows what we are talking about here, we have been with him in meetings. But he goes behind our backs, says he wants to defend the king. He is dangerous and cannot be trusted,” Thanduxolo said.