Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini of South Africa has taken action to reassure his people and has denied rumors that he was poisoned.
In a video that was made public on Monday night, he stated, "I am not poisoned, I am fine.
The king's customary prime minister announced over the weekend that he had traveled to neighboring Eswatini for medical attention.
Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi added that it came after the untimely poisoning-related death of one of the king's top advisors.
Prince Africa Zulu, the king's press secretary, responded by claiming that there was "an orchestrated agenda and a desperate narrative to communicate defamatory and baseless claims of His Majesty's ill-health.".
According to Nomsa Maseko of the BBC in Johannesburg, the argument is a sign of how King Misuzulu and Chief Buthelezi's relationship has crumbled.
The king, who appeared in good health in the video released on Monday, explained that he had gone to Eswatini for a routine medical checkup.
"I'm content; everything is working properly, and there is no poison at all. Therefore, he pleaded with everyone to refrain from listening to everything they said, especially the Zulu people and Zulu royal family.
In front of thousands of his subjects, King Misuzulu was crowned in October.
However, the 48-year-old's accession has sparked a vicious power struggle within the royal family, and recently, tensions have also emerged between the monarch and Chief Buthelezi.
Although the Zulu king does not hold official political office and plays a largely ceremonial role in South African society as a whole, he still wields considerable power thanks to a multimillion dollar government budget. .
King Misuzulu assumed the throne earlier than anticipated, and since then, he has been at the center of palace intrigue.
In March 2021, the Covid pandemic struck, and complications from diabetes claimed the life of his father.
He held the throne for nearly 50 years, making him the monarch of the Zulu nation with the longest reign.
The regent was then Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu, mother of King Misuzulu, but she passed away a month later.
She was the sister of Africa's only absolute monarch, King Mswati III of Eswatini.
Chief Buthelezi at the time denied reports that she had been poisoned.
Although he had supported King Misuzulu's ascension to the throne after she passed away, recent reports suggested that the two had grown distant from one another.
It came after a disagreement over who should lead the Ingonyama Trust Board, which looks after sizable swaths of land under the monarch's control.
According to local media, Chief Buthelezi objected to Chief Thanduyise Mzimela's appointment as the organization's chairman because he believed he lacked the necessary experience.
