King Dalindyebo takes the throne — on TikTok
There’s a new king on TikTok.
Never shy of controversy, one of SA’s most recognisable traditional leaders, AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, has become a royal sensation, quickly amassing more than 11,000 followers on the global short video platform.
Dalindyebo, who is well known for his antics, political ship-hopping, stance on cannabis and family feuds, has an account run by his royal council, featuring videos of the monarch dancing, singing and delivering speeches.
The account @abathembukingdom has 26,000 likes and 11,200 followers.
One of the videos shows the king admitting to being drunk at a religious conference and had nearly 2,000 likes.
In it he says: “Nindimeme
seku late kwacaba nditye
igrangqa ngamandla. Nindibhaqa ndinxilile [You invited me too late after I’d enjoyed some strong shots. You found me drunk already].”
The king is now among only a handful of royals, mostly teenagers, with a personal presence on the platform.
Princesses Carolina, 18, and Chiara, 17, of Bourbon Two Sicilies each have their own account, while Prince Achileas of Greece and Denmark, 21, his sister Princess Olympia, 26, and Countess Eloise of Orange-Nassau, 19, are some of the biggest royal names on TikTok.
Chief Mthunzi Ngonyama, a council member and the king’s spokesperson, said the TikTok account was created to enlighten the people.
According to Ngonyama, this would allow people to become aware of the events and decisions made by the king.
“We decided as the council to sit down and craft an agenda to promote the king.
“It is the council group that joined and decided to create the group.”
He said the media did not provide the king with adequate space to express himself, and the platform was more convenient for him.
“There are remarks the king occasionally makes that do not receive media attention.
“Some of his ideas do not become public, and sometimes if they do become public, they are so brief that we had to develop another outlet.”
The chief said that the platform would record events where the king addressed the media and the public.
“We relied on media records of events and interviews and we ended up not having our own recordings.”
The king is said to be pleased with how the people had received his craft.
“The king is pleased to see people loving his content, which indicates that the content’s creators are achieving their purpose.
“This is not the only initiative; there are others yet to come. The focus is to guarantee that the king reaches out to his people.”
According to Ngonyama, the people’s reactions were divided, but they (the council) were pleased to know they were transitioning in a better direction.
“People will react differently to change; some will doubt his social media activity, while others will find it amusing, and still others will find it intriguing.
“There will be opposing viewpoints, but his role will be to encourage activities while expressing his own.”
He said the king was not offended by unfavourable criticism.
“There was a time I wanted to sue a media company for making terrible statements about the king, but he urged me to let go and not bother; he is not afraid of negative critics, or any critics for that matter, since he realises people have different points of view anyway. Others will begin as critics and end up loving the content,” he said.