In a strange twist of events, the Mthatha high court has heard of how a three-year-old prince became part of a bitter traditional leadership battle between his father and uncle.
Three-year-old prince Sibabalwe MziwamaMpondo Ndamase is said to have attended a meeting in 2018, where a letter he allegedly wrote and signed, consenting for the removal of his uncle, prince Thandisizwe Zwelikhanyile Ndamase, in favour of a different candidate, was presented.
This was revealed on Monday during the murder trial of his father, Nkosi Sinikiwe Bakhokheli Ndamase, who is accused of orchestrating the brutal killing of his younger brother Zwelikhanyile.
Sinikiwe — who is the head of the Mhlanganisweni Traditional Council and rules from Khwanyana village near Port St Johns — and two KwaZulu-Natal men, Mphendulelo Faya Ngwazi, 51, of KwaDwashula location in Port St Shepstone, and Vincent Musa Cele, 61, of Umkhombe location in Port Shepstone, appeared before judge Fathima Dawood.
The court heard how the fight between the two brothers got so bad that Sinikiwe allegedly forged his young brother’s letter of resignation from his position and sent it to the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs.
Following the submission of the letter, Zwelikhanyile lost his salary and was later killed while apparently launching a civil suit to challenge his removal.
Testifying about the letter allegedly written by the toddler prince, Zwelikhanyile’s wife, Zusange, cast doubt on its authenticity.
The letter seemingly played a part in her husband’s “dethroning”.
“The child was not even four years old then.
“A child of that age, who is three years old [can’t] write and appendix a signature, he was too young and at the age, [he] was not even at school,” said Zusange, in response to the state prosecutor having questioned whether the child would have been capable of writing the letter.
The state prosecutor said a child of that age could not even write their name, let alone construct a sentence.
She suggested an adult could have written the letter on behalf of the child.
“But for a child of this age writing a letter himself and signing it, it is unbelievable,” the prosecutor said.
Sinikiwe was among the people who signed as witnesses.
The letter was part of the resolutions agreed on by the royal family in a meeting in which they appointed Nkosentsha Nomngongo as an acting headman on behalf of the toddler prince, and removed Thandisizwe from the headmanship.
Thandisizwe was gunned down at his home on May 24 2019.
He was still fighting to be reinstated on the basis that he had occupied his headmanship position on a permanent basis and not acting for the toddler.
The trial has been postponed to October 13 to 30.
Daily Dispatch
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