After a year-long family feud, Misuzulu ka Zwelithini has been crowned Zulu king in a traditional ceremony in South Africa.
The 48-year-old is the son of the previous king, but some royals had argued he was not the rightful heir and that the late king’s will was in fact forged.
Thousands of people gathered at Saturday’s traditional coronation at KwaKhangelamankengane Palace, where the king entered the sacred cattle kraal to invoke his ancestors before being announced to both the living and the dead as the new Zulu monarch.
He was expected to wear the hide of the lion that he hunted for the royal event, a key feat in proving he is indeed the chosen one. More than 10 cows were slaughtered in preparation for the festivities.
Next month, he is to be hosted by the government for a state ceremony.
The throne has no formal political power, but a fifth of South Africa’s population is Zulu and its monarchy remains hugely influential with a yearly taxpayer-funded budget of more than $4.9m (£3.5m).
The Zulu kingdom has a proud history. It is world-famous for defeating British troops during the 1879 battle of Isandlwana.
But this latest saga, following the death of King Goodwill Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu more than a year ago, has been an embarrassing public spectacle.
Various royal family factions continued to champion their preferred candidates through several legal challenges.
By the time he died last year, King Zwelithini had six wives and had ruled for more than half a century.
In his disputed will, he named his third wife Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu as regent – a sort of caretaker role pending the appointment of a successor.
Queen Mantfombi held the highest status among the king’s wives, because she came from royalty – her father was the late King Sobhuza II and her brother was King Mswati III of Eswatini.
Her marriage to the Zulus came with the condition that her first-born son would be first in line for the throne on her husband’s death.
BBC
