Before he was King Zwelithini, he was just our brother Goodwill

While ostensibly hiding from those determined to end his life in the late 1960s, late Zulu monarch king Goodwill Zwelithini travelled about openly, attending soccer matches and just being a regular young man on the streets of Mpumalanga, while members of the Skosana family worked to keep him safe.

Also read: Zulu king Zwelithini: Long live defender of his people

Our ‘brother’ Goodwill

Cousins Josiah and George, who were 15 and 16 years old  at the time, vividly remember that summer of 1969 when “umfowethu” (my brother) arrived under the cover of darkness.

As an influential, powerful and relatively rich family who owned a number of shops, their homestead in Matjhirini, a two-hour drive north of Pretoria in Mpumalanga province, was always abuzz.

But there was something very different about this particular visitor ushered into the thatched rondavel reserved for important guests.

“My father called me and my cousin [George] aside [something that has never happened before]… and said: ‘Boys. Where this man come from, he escaped… please do not say anything to anybody’,” Josiah, now 67, recalls.

He says his father, Simon SoMkhahlekwa “SS” Skosana, who would later become the leader of the then KwaNdebele Bantustan in the 1980s, was firm. He gave them no further details, except that Goodwill was his long lost son if anyone asked, before introducing them.

As they entered the rondavel, which housed a cupboard and bedroom suite (a luxury back then) the prince, then in his 20s, was seated on a chair looking relaxed.

“He extended his hand and said ‘bafowethu‘. He was down to earth, you would not realise he was somebody important,” George, SomKhahlekwa’s younger brother, says.

A view of the rondavel where the late King Goodwil Zwelithini had taken refuge after a plot to kill him was discovered in the 1960’s, 23 March 2020, Matjhirini Village, Mpumalanga. Picture: Jacques Nelles

The hard working prince

Over the following three years, the trio would indeed become brothers and Goodwill was readily accepted by the small, close-knit community, even going so far as helping out at the family shop.

George says his brother [Somkhahlekwa] once became enraged upon hearing that during deliveries, Goodwill was carrying bags of maize meal and coal.

They were warned, with Goodwill within an earshot, that this should never happen again but the young Goodwill, who was mostly alone and bored when the cousins were at school, wanted to earn his keep.

“After that incident, Goodwill would throw a coat over his head when carrying bags, so that there was no trace of maize meal or coal,” he says.

Taking turns to share their memories of the late king, the cousins talk about how they went to watch football matches in other surrounding villages, with not a care in the world.

Family ties

Narrating how Goodwill ended up at their homestead, Josiah says princess Nonhlanhla Zulu, Zwelithini’s sister, was married to his other cousin, Klaas Makhosana Mahlangu, and the couple had a house in KwaDlawulale.

When the plot to kill Zwelithini was discovered, Nonhlanhla secretly took him in, but his hideout in the then Transvaal (now Limpopo) was too obvious and soon became compromised.

Mahlangu then arranged with Skosana, his uncle, to hide Zwelithini.

This is how the Zulu prince ended up taking refuge in the Skosana homestead until 1971 when it was finally safe for him to return home to be installed as Zulu king.

George Skosana who spent almost three years with the late King Goodwil Zwelithini, 23 March 2020, Matjhirini Village, Mpumalanga. Picture: Jacques Nelles

Identity hidden even from those who guarded him

The cousins say no one had ever suspected Goodwill’s true identity. Their father Skosana, who was a fearsome man, secretly arranged local strongmen to protect him all the time.

“My father was very diplomatic and probably did not even tell them who they were watching and why,” Josiah says.

They themselves were not aware of it at the time, but there were always armed men lurking in the shadows wherever they went.

“On the day the king died, a teacher who stayed with his wife in the homestead at the time said: ‘Are you aware that I was actually Goodwill’s bodyguard?’ I was stunned,” George recalls.

The King never forgot his Mpumalanga ‘family’

Zwelithini invited Skosana’s late senior wife, Tholiwe, whom he considered as his own mother after she cared for him during his time in hiding, to his official coronation ceremony in 1971.

She attended the event with several local women and was showered with gifts, the cousin says.

Josiah says he would accidentally bump into Zwelithini in Durban in the mid-1980s and he was surprised the heavily-guarded Goodwill, seated about 10 meters away in the hotel foyer recognised him.

“I was not even aware of his presence as I stepped out of the lift … this man I was with exclaimed  ‘Nasi ISilo [here is the King]’ and, as he went to kneel, I froze, I did not know what to do as I am not sure of protocols.

“Then Goodwill called out: ‘Josiah, wenzani? (What are you doing?) Siphi isitolo sakaBaba? (Where is my father’s shop?). We both laughed.”

Josiah Skosana outside the old shop where the late King Goodwil Zwelithini worked in the 1960’s, 23 March 2020, Matjhirini Village, Mpumalanga. Picture: Jacques Nelles

Preserving the memory

The cousins speak of their time with Zwelithini with pride and delight at the role their family and the community played in ensuring he stayed alive to take his rightful place as the king of the Zulus.

Also Read: King Zwelithini portrait: people criticised me prematurely, says Rasta

The family still owns the house in which the then prince lived and even his rondavel still remains, albeit in a much different form.

The home has since been upgraded and renovated, but in order to preserve the memory of his time with them and the history that goes with it, the family incorporated the rondavel into the plan of the  house. It is now surrounded by a more modern home, while maintaining its old thatch roof and the memories of their brother, Goodwill.

10 Things you may not have known about Zwelithini’s time in hiding.

• He smoked at least 30 cigarettes a night.
• He never went by the name of Percival Dlamini as documented. Everybody knew him as Goodwill Skosana.
• He used to have the Skosana family in stitches with his jokes and sense of humour.
• The family were not allowed to pose for pictures with him for security reasons.
• Every Sunday he attended football matches in the area.
• His rondavel had no television and was one of the few rooms in the homestead with a bed.
• He did not date anyone during his time in hiding, as this was considered too risky.
• He allowed Josiah to use his Parker fountain pen, which was inscribed “Prince Goodwill Zwelithini Zulu” for his standard six final exam in 1969.
• He was often overheard boasting about his 30 girlfriends back home.
• He suffered a bit of culture shock, since as a Zulu prince, back home all he had to do to get a girlfriend was look them straight in the eye. He discovered to his shock that was not how things worked in the rest of the world.

siphom@citizen.co.za

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