By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE: Prince Simakade Zulu has expressed his disappointment with the Constitutional Court, which on Friday rejected his application for leave to appeal the Supreme Court of Appeal’s (SCA) affirmation of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recognition of King Misuzulu as King of the Zulu Nation, IOL News reported on Saturday.

It has been reported that, the Apex court found that Simakade has no prospect of successfully appealing against the SCA’s October 2025 ruling. 

But a faction of the Zulu royal family recognises Simakade as the rightful heir to the throne after the death of his father, King Goodwill Zwelithini, on March 12, 2021. 

The Constitutional Court ruling was the finalisation of the legal battle that Simakade started by approaching the Pretoria High Court to seek to nullify Ramaphosa’s decision to issue a letter of Misuzulu’s recognition.

In the court judgment, Deputy Chief Justice Dunstan Mlambo and his seven colleagues said the court had concluded that there were no reasonable prospects of success on the merits of the application for leave to appeal.

“Consequently, condonation must be granted, but leave to appeal must be refused with costs for lack of reasonable prospects of success,”reads the court judgment in part.

But Misuzulu’s Spokesperson Prince Thulani Zulu, said the SCA judgment was a warning shot, which should have warned Simakade not to proceed with this matter. 

“Since this decision had sealed all their legal avenues, those people should come back to be united with the King. The Zulu nation cannot be prosperous if the royal family remains divided. This judgment does not come as a surprise, as we have been expecting it because everyone understands that the successor of Mdlokombane (King Zwelithini) is his son, King Misuzulu,” said the Zulu King’s Spokesperson.