Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini: I am not poisoned, I am well

South Africa's Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has moved to reassure his radical and dismissed stories that helium had been poisoned.

"I americium not poisoned, I americium well," helium said connected a video released connected Monday evening.

At the weekend, the king's accepted premier curate said helium had gone to neighbouring Eswatini for treatment.

Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi added that it followed the abrupt decease of 1 of the king's elder advisers, besides of suspected poisoning.

But successful response, the king's spokesperson, Prince Africa Zulu alleged determination was "an orchestrated docket and a hopeless communicative to pass defamatory and baseless claims of His Majesty's ill-health".

The quality is simply a motion of however the narration betwixt King Misuzulu and Chief Buthelezi has fallen apart, reports the BBC's Nomsa Maseko successful Johannesburg.

But successful a powerfully worded connection connected Tuesday, Chief Buthelezi said determination was "certainly nary increasing rift" betwixt him and the king. He did admit that determination were "disagreements connected matters from clip to time", but this was "like immoderate different family".

Chief Buthelezi added that helium had not "acted successful malice by making the announcement astir his health".

In the video released connected Monday, the king, looking well, explained that helium had travelled to Eswatini for a regular aesculapian wellness cheque - thing that Chief Buthelezi continues to quality saying that the king crossed the borderline to "urgently question aesculapian attention".

"I'm happy, everything is well-functioning, determination is nary poison whatsoever. So delight people, mostly to the Zulu people, the Zulu royal household besides to punctual everyone to delight don't perceive to everything that radical say," the king said.

King Misuzulu was crowned successful beforehand of thousands of his subjects past October.

But a vicious powerfulness conflict has been raging wrong the royal household implicit the 48-year-old's accession, portion tensions person besides precocious surfaced betwixt the monarch and Chief Buthelezi.

The Zulu king does not person ceremonial governmental powerfulness and the monarch's relation wrong broader South African nine is mostly ceremonial, but helium remains hugely influential with a yearly government-funded fund of respective cardinal dollars.

King Misuzulu's accession to the throne was sooner than expected and helium has been astatine the centre of palace intrigue.

His begetter died during the Covid pandemic successful March 2021 of diabetes-related complications.

He was the Zulu nation's longest-reigning monarch, having served connected the throne for astir 50 years.

King Misuzulu's mother, Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu, past became the regent, but she died a period later.

She was the sister of Eswatini's King Mswati III - Africa's lone implicit monarch.

At the time, Chief Buthelezi dismissed rumours that she had been poisoned.

He had backed King Misuzulu's accession to the throne aft her death, but caller reports suggested that crisp differences had emerged betwixt the two.

It followed a quality implicit the chairmanship of the Ingonyama Trust Board, which manages immense tracts of onshore controlled by the monarch.

The king appointed Chief Thanduyise Mzimela arsenic its chairman, but this was opposed by Chief Buthelezi who felt helium was inexperienced for the post, according to section media.