Some Zulu royals have turned down King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s invitation to meet over the ongoing succession dispute.

Prince Mbonisi and Princess Thembi are said to have declined to attend the uLundi meeting on Wednesday, claiming that they could not be summoned by someone who referred to himself as a King when the nation did not yet have one.

The late King Goodwill Zwelithini’s siblings have questioned their nephew’s legitimacy as the rightful successor. All of the Zulu royal family’s major houses met in the hopes of reaching an amicable solution to the nation’s succession problems.

Other members of the royal house have been urged by King Misuzulu to be patient with those who oppose his ascendancy.

“The division of the Royal family means the division of the Zulu nation. We find ourselves having two sides, which is unfortunate; there is no person who can say he’s more important than others as we all need one another.

“Right from King Misuzulu himself, he needs us as other houses to embrace him, so he is a king before you see him as a king,”Prince Thulani Zulu, the royal family’s spokesperson, said