Published 2023-12-11 21.46
1 / 3Photo: Themba Hadebe/AP/TT
The Zulu people of South Africa got a new king, Misuzulu Zulu, a year ago after a bitter succession dispute.
A court in South Africa now finds that the government’s approval of the king was wrong, opening a new chapter in the protracted battle.
The coronation party was huge when Misuzulu Zulu finally became king of the approximately eleven million people who belong to the Zulu people of eastern South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa presented a giant framed certificate that Misuzulu was the rightful ruler.
Wrong, the High Court in Pretoria ruled on Monday. The South African government’s endorsement of the monarch was against the country’s law, prompting the president to set up an inquiry.
Allegation of forgery
The new chapter in the succession scandal will mean new and open battles for the throne.
Misuzulu became king after his father, King Goodwill Zwelithini, died in March 2021. According to the will, Goodwill’s wife Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, his third wife, was to be crowned. But the new queen died unexpectedly a month after her husband’s death.
She in turn had appointed her son Misuzulu to succeed her. This was contested by King Goodwill’s first wife, Sibongile Dlamini who claimed that she was the rightful ruler and that the King’s will had been forged.
The High Court in the province of Kwazulu-Natal rejected Sibongile’s claim to the crown.
Several called
In addition, there were more who sought the throne. Three of Misuzulu’s half-brothers stood behind another of 27 half-brothers as the new king. He was crowned in an informal ceremony, which was never approved.
In the family there was also a first-born, illegitimate son who considered himself entitled to become Zulu king.
In total, King Goodwill had six wives and about 40 children according to official records.
The verdict in Pretoria means that many of the king’s claims will once again be relevant. The Zulu king has great influence over the ethnic group and controls nearly a third of the land in the province of Kwazulu-Natal.
But kingship also entails dangers. This summer there were rumors that King Misuzulu Zulu had been poisoned after one of his closest advisers had died after ingesting poison.
Misuzulu – who formally also goes by Sinqobile kaZwelithini – denied the reports of attempted poison.