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Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi has clarified statements he made about Queen Mantfombi s medical treatment before her death.
He denies saying she was poisoned, instead explaining he had referred to toxins in her liver.
Buthelezi said he regrets the ructions in the royal household during the mourning period.
The traditional prime minister to the Zulu monarch, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, has denied saying Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu was poisoned. I merely mentioned the fact that twice, doctors hesitated about operating on the queen because there were toxins, which is not the same thing as poison, it is a medical term [related to the liver], he said on Wednesday.
Late Zulu Queen to be interred at midnight ewn.co.za - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ewn.co.za Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Two court applications are contesting the late King Goodwill Zwelithini’s will, signalling a turbulent succession battle.
At the centre are Zwelithini’s eldest wife, Queen Sibongile Dlamini and two of his daughters, princesses Ntandoyenkosi Zulu and Ntombizosuthu Zulu-Duma (Dlamini’s children).
In the first matter, Dlamini is laying claim to 50% of Zwelithini’s estate worth more than R71-million and including the Ingonyama Trust, of which the king was the sole trustee.
The pair married under civil law in 1969 and therefore in community of property. This was before Zwelithini was crowned, as custom dictated that an unmarried male could not assume the throne.
LISTEN: Zulu princess tells warring royals that the next king should come from Queen Mantfombiâs house
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Nongoma â A senior member of the Zulu royal family is heard in a leaked voice note, allegedly sent to the faction opposed to Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, telling them to accept the reality that the late Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu is, according to Zulu culture, the legitimate queen regent and the next Zulu king should come from her house.
Princess Nondumiso Zulu, the daughter of Prince Vincent Zulu (a former ambassador), says Dlamini Zuluâs superior marital status was cemented when her lobola was paid for by the Zulu nation, making her a senior wife.