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Zulu Royal family to meet on Sunday to discuss Queen’s funeral

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The Zulu Royal family is expected to meet on Sunday to discuss preparations for the funeral of the regent of the AmaZulu nation, Queen Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu.

The Queen passed away on Thursday evening in a Johannesburg hospital. She was 65-years-old.

Mourners have been gathering at KwaKhethomthandayo Royal Palace in Nongoma, northern KwaZulu-Natal to pay their respects.

A marquee has been erected outside the palace to accommodate mourners that are streaming in to pass their condolences.

Queen Mantfombi was the Great Wife of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini who passed away, in March, of COVID-19-related complications.

Residents of Nongoma have hailed her as a Queen who wanted to develop her people and loved them.

She was the daughter of King Sobhuza the Second of Eswatini and sister of the current ruler King Mswati the Third.

One of the mourners, Nesta Ntshaba, says, “We will remember her by all her good work that she has done for us. She made us into respectable women even in their homes. She taught us a lot of things. She taught us how to sew, how to do beadwork. We are here today. We are very proud of King Mswati’s daughter. We are proud of our Queen. We say rest in peace. We knew you, you took us to your country to show us how women in your country live and carry themselves.”

The Zulu nation mourns the death of Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu: 

 

Princess Tobhi Zungu, the leader of uMkhosi wesivivane, says the Queen contributed to reviving a number of ceremonies including the annual maiden reed dance and a women-only uMkhosi wesivivane. It is a ceremony aimed at empowering and preparing women to face life’s challenges.

“After the reed dance, she then saw fit to start uMkhosi wesivivane. She took a few women to Eswatini to show them how it is done so that they can come back and practice it here in the Zulu Kingdom. That’s how it started in 2006. This is where the maidens and all the women who are married are educated and taught how to carry themselves and how to handle themselves in their homes.”

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