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“The family will sit and discuss several matters and one of the decisions which will be made is who should preside over the kingdom. We will formalise the matter and hold a press briefing at the royal residence afterwards,” Chief Daludumo Mtirara said on Thursday.
This would be followed by a meeting with the Dlomo royal family on Tuesday, and the AbaThembu nation on Friday.
The AbaThembu were without a king since Wednesday, after Dalindyebo began serving his 12-year jail term at Wellington prison in Mthatha for assault, kidnapping, and arson.
In 2009, Dalindyebo was sentenced to 15 years in prison for culpable homicide, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, arson, and kidnapping. He was granted bail pending the outcome of his appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). In October, the SCA set aside his culpable homicide conviction and reduced his sentence to 12 years.
His crimes involved the treatment he meted out to some of his subjects in 1995 and 1996.
“The family is coping but it is feeling the pain and the gap of his absence,” said Mtirara.
He added he had heard the king was “calm and had showed courage” when he left the royal residence for prison on Wednesday night.
