Johannesburg – His Majesty King Zwelithini was born on July 14 1948, three months after apartheid came into force.
Therefore, his whole life experience was shaped by living both as a black man and as a Zulu monarch in a racist environment.
He prevailed despite the vicious, dark apartheid cloud that was continuously hovering above every black person’s psyche.
Like some of his forefathers, the king’s life was infused with intrigue, treachery, exile and a whiff of scandal. Even though there was no confusion about him being the heir, he had to stay one step ahead of his royal detractors.
His Majesty, iSilo Samabandla Onke, grew up in a modernised world but his was an ordinary Zulu rural life in the valleys of Nongoma.
Have you read: Condolences for King Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu
He herded livestock and like most young Zulu men, took part in ijadu (matchmaking festivals). Although he was particularly good at stick fighting, his number one love was soccer. He was a talented striker.
Whenever he touched the ball, his fans, especially the girls, would go berserk and scream “one-one”, which was the number embroidered on his soccer jersey.
Tragedy struck early when the king lost his mother, Queen okaThayisa, hence he lived an emotionally lonely childhood.
His life began to unfold when he was at KwaBhekuzulu College where his late paternal sister Princess Nonhlanhla, helped him take his future into his own young royal hands. She uncovered a plot to kill him during a “hunting trip” and she sprung him to KwaNdebele where he worked in a rural store undercover with an assumed name, Percival Dlamini.
When the royal family found out the crown prince was in exile, a furore bordering on a revolt erupted within the Zulu nation as they were not aware of the royal shenanigans.
Moreover, he had no offspring. Against the backdrop of the royal Zulu intrigue and conspiracy theories of the palace, black South Africans were in a state of low intensity, insurrection against apartheid all over South Africa.
This made it imperative for Zwelithini to ascend the throne as a matter of urgency.
The Zulu nation needed assurance that when apartheid was overcome, they would still be a nation.
Have you read: President declares Special Official Funeral for King Zwelithini
It also became clear that the crown prince needed to find a wife quickly in order to assume the throne from the prince regent Mcwayizeni. Despite several royal hurdles and sabotage by the internal palace politics, his wedding was fast-tracked.
There was tension in the palace corridors as some royal family members felt that the prince regent was doing a great job.
The regent also saw no reason to step down.
He even went further and had the audacity to pronounce a different 18-month-old prince as the new “rightful” heir. Other pretenders to the throne used politics to frustrate the young crown prince and started a Coronation Trust Fund in August 1971.
It was riddled with so many problems that in the end it was abandoned.
On the other hand, the white government was in a conundrum because the apartheid system did not have a plan to recognise a “new Zulu Emperor”. He was finally crowned on an uncharacteristically cold, wet and misty day on December 3 1971 at the newly built KwaKhethomthandayo Palace amphitheatre. Thousands of excited amaZulu gathered dressed in their colourful traditional regalia from all over the country and from different parts of the world.
He was a mere 23-year-old. An awkward Minister of Bantu Administration MC (indlovu elinebatha) Botha, presented him with a “letter of appointment”. Perhaps, the apartheid government was sending a clear message to the brand-new king that he could be “fired” or “retrenched” from his reign at any time, if he defied apartheid laws.
It was obviously wishful thinking because he lived to see a democratic South Africa. King Zwelithini lived an unenviable life as a monarch under siege while his subjects living under traditional leadership expected miracles.
When the national conference about constitutional issues in a New South Africa was organised in October 1990, one of the burning questions raised was the future of traditional leadership. At that time, the ANC’s stance was that institutions of “hereditary rulers” and “chiefs” shall be transformed to conform to democratic principles embodied in the constitution. This caused nationwide tension.
In retaliation, the king demanded sovereign recognition because the Zulus had defeated the British, a then world power at iSandlwana in 1879.
But his demands were dismissed with contempt. After careful consideration, he woke up one morning and put on his military regalia and went to the KwaZulu legislature with his regiments in tow and announced that the Zulu empire would seek to secede from the Republic of South Africa and revert to King Shaka’s borders by any means necessary.
He got the respect he commanded at Codesa. Hence today, the Zulu king is recognised with constitutional powers, prerogatives, rights and obligations.
The Zulu inkani (will power) prevailed. His Majesty King Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu passed on into spirit on March 12 2021. He was on the throne for 48 years. Wena weNdlovu enamandla!
• An excerpt from the book Zulu History Decolonised by Mbatha. The foreword was written by His Majesty King Zwelithini.
By Shalo Mbatha
Have you read: Actor Menzi Ngubane’s death a huge loss to entertainment industry
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
