They have made peace and finally buried the hatchet after nine years of conflict. The father-and-son feud dating back to 2016 between AbaThembu King, Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, and his son, Prince Azenathi Dalindyebo has come to an end.
King Dalindyebo addressed the royal house, saying, “Blood is thicker than water,” and that they have made peace.
“Blood is thicker than water. Ups and downs will always be there to go through. Hurles are there for us to jump. This is my son,” he said.
The war that left the royal house and travelled shores was sparked by King Dalindyebo publicly denying the paternity of Prince Azenathi; he wanted a DNA test to prove that he was his son or that he was disowning him. In 2020, King Dalindyebo gave Prince Azenathi a month to vacate this home of Bumbane Great Place until a DNA test is done. On 1 November, the King visited a laboratory to get a DNA test done to determine whether the prince was indeed his own. On 20 December 2023, the DNA was read out in front of the AbaThembu Rroyal House during a press conference in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.
The DNA feud split the AbaThembu Royal House after King Dalindyebo was arrested for allegedly being involved in terrorising Azenathi and his family at the royal Bumbane Great Place homestead. He also had a case of allegedly assaulting his subjects in the 1990s. He was reported to have allegedly kidnapped a woman and her six children and set their home on fire. He was arrested in December 2015 for three assaults, seven counts of kidnapping, three of arson, one of culpable homicide, and one of defeating the ends of justice. He was given 15 years, but his sentence was reduced to three years.
Before the reading of Prince Azenathi’s DNA results, questions on the legitimacy of the results were thrown at the Royal House. Prince Azenathi, who is the son of Queen Nocollege Dalindyebo (Buyiswa Majiki), sat on the panel waiting for his fate.
“The results are very clear,” said Nkosi Thandisizwe Mtirara, the uncle of King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo.
“The results do not lie; I, too, have been there and know how they work. Through all the back and forth, the results are out, and they prove that Prince Azenathi Dalindyebo is indeed King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo’s son,” Nkosi Mtirara added.
“The proof is all there. I will not read it from the paper; the DNA results are out. We needed to announce this the same way that it was announced that he might not be the son. The proof is there. Those in the know will explain. But all in all, we want to fix what has been ruined.”
