Zulu monarch crowned after battle over succession

‘The event is going ahead, which I think is a breakthrough for the nation and the king’

SALUTED by leopard skin-clad warriors and feted by dancing choirs, South Africa’s Zulu monarch has taken the throne at a state coronation, ending an acrimonious succession battle.

While King Charles mulls a toneddown ceremony for next year, King Misuzulu ka Zwelithini’s coronation was celebrated by tens of thousands in joyful splendour.

The ceremony where the king received official recognition from the president, Cyril Ramaphosa, was the first since 1971 and therefore the first time a new Zulu monarch has been acknowledged by a black premier.

The ceremony seemed to put an end to a succession battle fought through the courts since the death of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu.

The late king left six wives and at least 28 children. Competing claims to the throne unsuccessfully fought through the courts to try to block the accession of King Misuzulu.

The new monarch is the first son of Zwelithini’s third wife, who he designated as regent in his will. She died soon after the king and named Misuzulu as the successor, which was challenged by other family members.

Queen Sibongile Dlamini, the late king’s first wife, backed her son Prince Simakade Zulu as the rightful heir. Some of the late king’s brothers put forward a third prince as their candidate.

Prof Sihawukele Ngubane, of Kwazulu Natal University, said: “It may not be over, but the event is going ahead, which I think is a breakthrough for the nation and the king.”

While the king has no legislative power, he acts as the custodian of traditions and customs for more than 11 million Zulus who make up a fifth of South Africa’s population.

Prof Ngubane said the heir to the throne was kept out of the public gaze. The 48-year-old monarch was educated at St Charles College in Pietermaritzburg, before studying at Jacksonville University in America. He is married with two wives and three sons.

African dignitaries attending the coronation included King Mswati III from Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, King Gungunyane from the province of Gaza, Mozambique, and traditional leaders from Lesotho, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe.