Three-month wait before next Zulu king is revealed

THE ZULU nation will have to wait for three more months before they get to know who will be their next king after the passing of King Goodwill Zwelithini almost two weeks ago.

This was announced by Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Wednesday following a meeting of Zulu royals at Kwakhethomthandayo royal palace in Nongoma in northern KZN.

Buthelezi is the late king’s and Zulu nation’s traditional prime minister.

After the meeting which lasted for about five hours and which was attended by more than 200 members of the royal family, Buthelezi officially confirmed for the first time that Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, the daughter of the late King Sobhuza of Eswatini and sister to reigning Swati King Mswati III will act on the throne.

“Today, in the presence of more than 200 members of the Royal Family, His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu’s will was read by his lawyers. In line with the wishes of His Majesty the King, the Family would like to announce that Her Majesty Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu will act as Regent of the Zulu Nation during the interregnum.

“While Her Majesty is the de facto Regent, further decisions on the succession of the Zulu monarchy will not be announced until the Family’s mourning period has been observed. The loss of His Majesty the King has been a tremendous blow and the Family must be allowed to grieve,” Buthelezi announced in a press statement issued on behalf of the royal house.

While the mourning period of three months by the royal family was not announced in the statement, Buthelezi divulged that to news broadcaster eNCA, which was camped outside the palace where the meeting was held.

Furthermore, Buthelezi said that from Friday the Zulu nation would be allowed to return to the fields and till the soil.

“The Regent and the Royal Family have asked that I impress upon the Nation the late King’s wish for his people to take out their hoes on Friday. As a champion of food security and subsistence farming, His Majesty urged that things not come to a standstill for a long mourning period. People are thus free to plough and plant and work from Friday, March 26, 2021, in accordance with His Majesty’s wishes,” Buthelezi added.

While the Zulu succession pattern has not always been settled through having a prince who comes from another established royal family, it has been widely speculated that one of the sons of the acting regent (who comes from the monarch of Eswatini) would take over the throne.

– Political Bureau