Community members in Northern KwaZulu-Natal are optimistic that the Regent, her Majesty Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, will also lead with integrity like the departed king of AmaZulu nation, Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu.
The Queen will reign for the next three months, which is the mourning period for the royal family.
“We wish she can imitate the late king. The King prioritised people; he worked together with traditional leaders as well as iZinduna. We had to mourn the passing of the king and stopped all traditional agricultural activities,” explains Induna uBhek’nkosi Mbatha.
Resident, Busangani Phakathi, agrees with Mbatha.
“We want the queen to represent us like how the late King did. The queen should treat her people with respect. We are hard broken by the king’s departure. The late King encouraged us to do agriculture. He motivated his people. She should also have projects that encourage us and assist us,” adds Phakathi.
This is not the first time that a woman leads the Zulu nation.
“History has repeated itself like you would remember that Princess Mkabayi was handed over and she was leading the Zulu nation as it has happened today. Now we also have that chance the Queen also being a successor in the position of the King so I believe that all of us must accept what has been done by the king because he knew why he did this and the only thing to do is to support her,” says the acting Chief of the Buthelezi clan, Mpikayise Buthelezi.
In his will, the late king Goodwill Zwelithini also stipulated that farmers and workers should not mourn for long.
The successor is expected to be announced by the end of June.
Some Northern KwaZulu-Natal community members are hoping for a male successor.
“According to me, we need a male king because a male can face difficulties and challenges whereas a women can’t do this in my opinion. The difference between a male and a female is that a male is stronger than a woman. Although women are also capable, I prefer a male to rule in the AmaZulu kingdom,” says one community member.
“We are expecting a make king, who is mature and senior who can forsee great challenges and come up with solutions,” adds another.
“A leader must respect themselves and not be easily tempted. He must be principled and stick to his beliefs and not be easily swayed,” says another resident.
Queen MaDlamini Zulu will continue as interim AmaZulu regent:
King upheld agreement
The late AmaZulu King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu has upheld his agreement with Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu‘s late father King Sobhuza II of Eswatini for his daughter to be recognised as the great wife.
That’s the view of cultural historian at the University of Zululand in northern KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Maxwell Shamase.
She has held the status of Great Wife since her marriage to the late Zulu monarch in 1977.
This title applies to the wife who is of royal lineage and whose labola has been paid for by the AmaZulu nation.
Queen Dlamini Zulu was born in 1956. Her father was King Sobhuza II of Eswatini. She had a traditional upbringing in the Swazi royal family.
Dr Shamase says Queen Dlamini Zulu met with the late Amazulu King Zwelithini in the early 70s when he was invited to celebrations in Eswatini.
“The lobola was paid for by the Zulu nation the agreement there with King Sobhuza was that she becomes the great wife because she has the royal blood of Swaziland that was the agreement because at that time King Zwelithini already had two wives and that agreement means automatically she will be the heir bearing Queen in The Royal Zulu Royal House producing the heir apparent to the throne,” says the historian.
Shamase explains the role that Queen Dlamini Zulu will play in the interim, before a successor is announced.
“She has all the powers of the king, she will perform the same role as the king not unless there are restrictions imposed by the royal family members to say that know your only rule is in the news what was that name the successor since she’s the regent every decision or whatever the late his majesty the king was playing she will also play that role irrespective of gender.”
He says Zulu tradition dictates that the successor should be married before ascending to the throne and that he would have been groomed from an early age.
“That’s the reason why at some stage people kept on saying that it’s not nice that the king is now spending most of his time at Queen Mantfombi Royal Palace of Khangelamankengani. There was such noise from 2012 to 2015 and then it subsided. I think it was because of that I think he has been groomed enough as a king; the only thing left for him is to get a queen so that we can have a queen mother once he has been adorned as the king,” adds Shamase.
Shamase says the next Zulu monarch is expected to emerge from Queen Dlamini Zulu’s house.
She has five sons and three daughters. Her eldest son is 47 years old, Prince Misuzulu Zulu.
