Daughters of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini have launched a court bid to halt any events associated with the coronation of King Misuzulu kaZwelithini Zulu.

Princesses Ntandoyenkosi Zulu and Ntombizosuthu Zulu-Duma are also seeking to bar President Cyril Ramaphosa from providing Misuzulu with a certificate certifying him as king of the amaZulu.

This, the princesses argue, should be done after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) rules on a judgment dismissing their contestation of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini's will.

The princesses are Queen Sibongile Zulu's daughters, the late king's first wife.

They approached the SCA after the high court in Pietermaritzburg dismissed their challenge to the will’s legitimacy.

Meanwhile the government-recognised king's homestead of Kwakhangela is filling up for a custom of entering the kraal, which is strictly reserved for the heir to the throne.

Last week, the same custom was performed by another faction of the Zulu royal family that recognises the late king's firstborn son as heir to the throne at Enyokeni royal palace. The ceremony went ahead without incident.

Meanwhile, King Misuzulu's biggest backer, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the traditional prime minister, earlier this week emphasised that entering the kraal was not the same as a coronation.

“Some people have equated it with the coronation, and some have said if the king has not done so, then he is not the king which is false because the king is already on the throne and going through entering the kraal is purely because it is the custom of Zulu people,” said Buthelezi.

This is a developing story.

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