Royal family divided, late AmaZulu king’s brothers announce third candidate

A third person is now in the race for the Zulu throne as the brothers of the late Amazulu King have named Prince Buzabazi ka Zwelithini as their preferred candidate.

Prince Mbonisi, the brother of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini, and some other royal family members, announced Prince Buzabazi, the third born son of Queen Buhle Mathe, as their candidate for the throne, meaning there are now three contenders for it.

Prince Buzabazi is the son of late Amazulu King Goodwill Zwelithini’s second wife.

A faction led by Prince Mbonisi has expressed dissatisfaction with developments in the AmaZulu Royal family

Speaking to Newzroom Afrika after a press briefing on Thursday in the north of Johannesburg, Prince Mbonisi said: “The main purpose of this conference was clarify the stand of the kids of BhekuZulu which is us. They are the ones responsible for taking the King’s son to the kraal.

“So what has been has been happening, we were not consulted. We take the kraal as a holy place. We pray to our grandparents and late kings. So what happened is, we wanted to tell the nation that we’ve got plans as the ruling family into this royal family, to say that this is one of the King’s son who must take the throne.

“We need to bless the children who will be on the father’s throne as the elders,” he said.

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According to media reports, celebrations continued as normal at the royal house, as King Misuzulu KaZwelithini completed one of the most important aspects of entering the kraal ritual by bringing home a lion on Thursday night.

King Misuzulu will wear the lion’s skin on Saturday when he enters the sacred kraal, the last traditional rite before he is coronated as the Zulu King in Durban next month.

Speaking to the news channel, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the traditional prime minister of the Zulu nation, said the press briefing was “nonsensical” and a way of disrupting proceedings, which he did not support.

At the weekend, a small group of members from the Zulu royal family pronounced that the eldest son of late King Goodwill Zwelithini, Prince Simakade, was officially the new King. 

The pronouncement came after Prince Simakade performed the ceremony of entering the kraal at the Enyokeni palace, a week before his brother King Misuzulu was expected to do so. 

The faction said that they are the only ones who can identify a Zulu king and stated that King Misuzulu was not their choice.