Upset that a Nigerian man was allegedly crowned king in the Eastern Cape, residents, political parties, and traditional leaders took to the streets on Monday, calling the move an insult and completely unacceptable.
The outrage erupted after videos and photos went viral on social media showing Chief Solomon Ogbonna Eziko being crowed “Igwe Ndigbo” in a lavish ceremony in KuGompo City, formerly known as East London.
ActionSA, the Patriotic Alliance (PA), civic group March and March, and several traditional leaders are taking part in the protest in KuGompo City.
Carrying knobkieries, placards, and waving SA flags, they said the coronation was unacceptable.
“A Nigerian national has been coronated as a king in the Eastern Cape, and we are here to say this is completely unacceptable,” ActionSA Eastern Cape leader Athol Trollip told IOL.
“There’s no constitutional provision for any foreigner, legal or illegal, to coronate themselves in the Eastern Cape and call for the establishment of a homeland.
“We do not support that.
“We support the existing local kings in the Eastern Cape, of which we have five, and no Nigerian kings.”
PA spokesperson Steve Motale said: “We condemn that fake coronation.
“We are happy that even the Nigeria High Commissioner in SA has also condemned it,” Motale told IOL.
“Now, we urge all legal foreigners in our country to respect our laws.”
Contralesa president Kgosi Mathupa Mokoena also slammed the ceremony.
“No person can be a king without traditional leaders under them,” Mokoena said.
“If they have kingship in their family, let them be recognised in their own country, not here in SA.”
Meanwhile, the Royal House of AbaThembu, in a statement to IOL, previously denied reports on social media that King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo welcomed and granted royalty to the Nigerian national.
He said he was not involved.
AbaThembu royal ambassador and senior royal advisor Adv Matthew Mpahlwa said the claims come from “sick and depraved minds”.
“The Royal House of AbaThembu wishes to distance itself from the trending social media posts and pictures purporting to portray King Dalindyebo as welcoming and officially granting royalty to a particular Nigerian national,” Mpahlwa said, as previously reported.
He added: “It would appear that the social media posts are a product of fake news, sick and depraved minds.
“As such, no further comment will be issued in this regard.”
The African Transformation Movement (ATM), earlier this month, called on the government to investigate reports of the so-called coronation.
“ATM views this incident as a dangerous precedent that undermines not only the authority of legitimate traditional leaders but also the rule of law,” the party said.
Dalindyebo recently grabbed headlines when he publicly ordered his subjects to vote for the ATM in the upcoming local elections, while criticising both the ANC and EFF.
In a speech, the controversial traditional leader, who was once a supporter of the EFF, called its party leader Julius Malema a “sleepwalker”.
He also condemned and rejected the ANC leadership in his territory.
His attack on Malema was despite the EFF having gifted him a brand new Mercedes-Benz in November 2021.
He also made bizarre claims that the traditional leader of Mvezo, Mandla Mandela, has been removed from his position.
Mandela is the grandson of the late former president Nelson Mandela and was installed as chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council in 2007, taking up a role within the AbaThembu traditional leadership structure.
