Today it's the showdown nobody wanted, but mounting body counts in vicious pre-1994 election fighting between Inkatha and the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal led to a what is now a thorny compromise. King Goodwill Zwelithini, the Zulu monarch, was given control of more than 2.9 million hectares (or 11,000 square miles) of land through the private Ingonyama Trust, in order to secure Inkatha's place at the Codesa bargaining table – and stop the killings. He's landlord to 5.2 million South Africans, most of whom pay his trust a couple of hundred rand short of what is for some, their R1,500 monthly State pension, amassing him about R129m in annual rentals. The trust's books were adjudged shaky by the Auditor General in a recent review. The King plays the racial land card in the debate, threatening violence should the 'provocation' of the State's bid to revoke the Trust to be more in line with Constitutional values, continue. This fight was inevitable, though the choices back then were rather thin. It's a classic battle of modern versus traditional values and a cynical attempt by the King to hold onto a goose that lays him exclusive golden eggs. – Chris Bateman

South Africa wrestles over Zulu King's vast landholdings

By Gabriele Steinhauser and Aaisha Dadi Patel

(The Wall Street Journal) – JOZINI, South Africa – In her battle to secure the rights to her dusty homestead, Hluphekile Mabuyakhulu has joined a small group of South Africans squaring off with a powerful landlord: the king of the Zulu nation.

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