COOKED in a small pot by the officers of the fund responsible for the Royal Family, iZulu Royal Household Trust, members of the Legislative Assembly who want to know the distance traveled so that this fund can be independent and not rely on the government for money.
The members instructed the members of this fund to visit the Royal Bafokeng kingdom, in the North West, to gather information on how this kingdom makes money as they do many things. But so far the funders have not planned a trip to the North West, even though the proposal has been made for years.
During the budget meeting for this fund, it was revealed that R29 million has been allocated for this financial year 2026/2027.
Mr. Tim Brauteseth of the DA, asked where to get the information as he made a long speech in the Legislature on this issue. He said they want this fund to be independent and that’s why they suggested that we study how to do this.
Mr. Cedrick Khanyi of MKP, said last year they suggested that the people of this fund go to the North West because there are a lot of mines. He said that there are many mines in this province that are still closed and he said that they were sending them to study to use the same system.
“I want to know if you have gone to study so you can come back and use the same program at Royal Bafokeng, what did you find?”
Mrs. Celiwe Madlopha of the ANC, went in the same words that it is important that this fund is independent and not dependent on the government.
“There is a program that was trying to collect money for a fund for a cattle farm. How is it going? It’s something that has been talked about for a while.”
Mr. Mervyn Dicks of MKP, asked whether there will not be an excess in the budget due to the addition of other people who are covered by this fund.
He said that they have been proposing to go to the North West for some time so that we can be independent.
“We don’t want a small amount of money to be spent and the rest to go back. That is not acceptable.”
Mr. Sipho Buthelezi who is the chief financial officer of the Royal Household Trust, said that they have not gone to North West but that is in the plans.
“It is something that we have prioritized as Prime Minister Mr. Thami Ntuli has ordered the board to go there to study. Since the board has been appointed, we will go together with them to gather information,” he said.
Buthelezi promised that they would not exceed the budget and said that Ntuli had also ordered them not to exceed.
“We will not use the money that we do not have. If we see that we may exceed the money, we will review the budget and stop other programs.”
Ntuli said that he made this call when he met with the board and said that it needs to be expedited to go to the North West to learn how they do things.
“The board made a commitment that it would do what it convinced me to do.”