King Dalindyebo asserts independence by hosting Israeli delegation amid political tensions

King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo had told a national news broadcaster that the government has no authority over him and that he will never ask for permission from the elected political principals to host whoever wants to visit his AbaThembu nation. 

He said this in connection with his hosting of Israeli senior government officials, which has led to the South African government sending Ariel Seidman, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Israeli Embassy, packing within 72 hours last month. 

The South African government declared Seidman persona non grata after he brought an Israeli For­eign Affairs Min­istry senior offi­cial, David Saranga, to Mthatha to meet the king and assess the situation faced by victims of last year's devastating floods and donated money to support them, without following the diplomatic channels. 

The ANC has condemned the actions of both Israeli officials and the king, which were not authorised by the country’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

During an interview with Newzroom Afrika news anchor Thabo Mdluli on January 30, the king said there was no reason for him to ask for permission to receive the delegation from President Cyril Ramaphosa and Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane, whom he belittled as “little boys”.

Mabuyane had lambasted the king for taking Saranga and his team to inspect the poor condition of hospitals in Mthatha and the Walter Sisulu University campus. 

He said since public institutions belong to the people, not to the government, he was the custodian of those facilities.

“Certainly, I would like you to understand that as a monarch, I am the number one custodian.

“I don’t see any head of state or premier that is above a king, (and) to question or for me to be obliged to small boys like that, it would be out of logic and out of God’s order,” said the king. 

When contacted for a response to the king’s utterances, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said: “You seriously don't expect a head of state to respond to this.” 

The king, whose previous trouble with the law led to him being sentenced to 12 years in prison for kidnapping, assault, and arson, said certain people were making his hosting of the Israelis an issue “out of something that is not even an issue”.

He said there was nothing illegal about the visit because, as a king, there was no law restricting him from any international interaction and any bilateral relations with any country.

“So with that spirit, we believe we have a right to receive anyone who comes to us as long as that person is not coming to us criminally, but is coming to us with an intention of helping the nation, of assisting us get out of poverty, and to our detriment,” he said.

He said even if he was aware of existing state diplomatic channels of hosting dignitaries from foreign governments, such channels did not apply to royalties or kings.

“I do not have to follow those (channels), I am not obliged by any act, by any law whatsoever.” 

The king’s spokesperson, Ntando Dalindyebo, recently said during his visit to the Bumbane Great Place palace outside Mthatha, Saranga donated R180,000 to the soup kit­chen run by the king’s queen to feed residents who were left homeless by the floods that hit Mthatha in May last year.

She also said Saranga promised that the Israeli government would assist young people from less fortunate families with fees to study at tertiary education institutions. 

She said he also promised to help refurbish hospitals and build water infrastructure in the Eastern Cape, whose residents were victims of drought.   

The king stated that he is not required to declare the donations to the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

“How many people have been given donations here without being questioned? The Arab Emirates donated R35 million, and nobody questioned why. What makes me sick is that the money has not been accounted for.

“Oscar Mabuyane knows where that money ended up, and we are facing a problem where we are dealing with kleptomaniac thieves from premier to president because the president also donated for the floods about a billion rand, and that money has not been accounted for, as Mabuyane and cronies have already misappropriated it,” he said. 

When asked to respond to the king calling Mabuyane a “little” boy and accusing him of misappropriating donations, Eastern Cape government spokesperson Sonwabo Mbananga said: “Premier Mabuyane will neither respond to, nor dignify insults that have been levelled at him, as his sole preoccupation and focus is the optimal delivery of services to residents of the Eastern Cape, and nothing else.”

“Premier Mabuyane will also not be dignifying baseless lies, which are meant to tarnish his name and hard-won reputation, and proven track record of having led the improvement to provincial government performance outcomes and controls.”

In a recent media briefing, ANC secretary in the Eastern Cape, Lulama Ngcukayitobi, said it was concerning that the king had betrayed what his forefathers and his father, late King Sabata Dalindyebo, stood for during the fight for liberation.

“The king of AbaThembu was completely out of order for going all the way without consulting anybody to invite the worst enemy of the people, an apartheid state of Israel, who have butchered people in Palestine.

“They have the audacity to think that they can bring clean water to the people of the Eastern Cape using the water crisis in that particular area,” said Ngcukayitobi.

He said the Israeli government used the king to enter South Africa through the backyard. 

“Our country has taken that particular country (Israel) to the International Court on its genocidal attitude against the people of Palestine. 

“It cannot be that in the Eastern Cape, you find one of us, the traditional leader, who has become an inviter of a state that has been declared an apartheid state by the United Nations.

“He (the king) knows that what he did was a betrayal of his subjects, and we call upon AbaThembu to reflect on the conduct of their king,” said Ngcukayitobi.  

bongani.hans@inl.co.za