In a shared video on social media, Zulu traditional Prime Minister Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi said King Misuzulu KaZwelithini was seriously ill. Buthelezi was addressing a church service over the Easter weekend in Ulundi, KwaZulu Natal. On Wednesday, Prince Buthelezi made a U-turn on his statement saying his comments about the King being sick were misunderstood. 

CLARITY 

During the address Buthelezi said: "The King is not well, you need to pray very hard for him. He is not well he needs treatment. We spoke to the Minister of Police to intervene as there are some unsettling things on social media about the King's wife and some young people that are staying with him. "They took him at night, as we are speaking now he is going to a house in Durban, where he has been now for two months.' Hours after the video was widely shared, IFP MP Liezl van der Merwe issued a statement 'clarifying' the matter. Van der Merwe said what Buthelezi meant was that the King is spiritually unwell because of the many attacks he is facing and not that he was physically sick. "The Traditional Prime Minister to the Zulu Monarch Prince Buthelezi attended a prayer service this morning at St Mary's Anglican Church in Nkonjeni where he received 55 church leaders from various denominations affiliated with the KwaZulu Natal Christian Council," the statement read.  "Thanking them for their prayers for him, for the nation and for His Majesty the King, Prince Buthelezi spoke of the spiritual onslaught His Majesty is facing," she added. He described him as unwell, meant to be understood as spiritually unwell, due to the many attacks, struggles and personal turmoil His Majesty has faced in recent months, which has been in the public domain,' Van der Merwe added.

THE KING IS WELL   

The statement went on to say the King spent his Easter weekend in eSwatini with his fiancée, Nozizwe Mulela. Earlier this year, King Misuzulu was in the news when GBV activist Sihle Sibisi claimed that the King threatened her after their alleged affair ended. In an audio recording, alleged to be of MisuZulu, the King told Sihle to take the story to the papers and that he didn't care. "Take that story to the papers, I don't care. They can even arrest me. That is what you guys do, right?' "What do you want to say to me? I will beat you up. You don't know me. I will beat you up. Who are you and what are you trying to do?' the King allegedly said to Sihle.