South Africa's Zulu Monarchy Prepares to Bury Queen Mantfombi
The Zulu royal delegation is preparing to take the remains of the late Zulu Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu to KwaZulu-Natal in preparation for her funeral this week.
Funeral preparations are currently underway following the passing of Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu, regent of the Zulu nation, last week on Thursday, 29 April. Queen Mantfombi, who was reportedly ill, had been hospitalised two days prior to her passing. The third wife to the late King Goodwill Zwelithini, who passed away in March of this year, she is set to be buried in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) this Thursday with a memorial held on the Friday according to the Prime Minister of the Zulu nation, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
READ: Zulu Nation Interim Leader Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu Dies At 65
KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala, has already assigned four of his Members of the Executive Council (MECs) to assist with the funeral preparations. IOL reports that these MECs are Peggy Nkonyeni,Bongi Sithole-Moloi, Sipho Hlomuka and Hlengiwe Mavimbela. This move follows President Cyril Ramaphosa's recent announcement that the South African government would provide a state funeral, at the provincial level, for the late Queen Mantfombi. This, despite continued tensions within the Zulu Royal Family as a result of who will succeed the late king in addition to the contestation of his will. Startling claims that Queen Mantfombi herself was poisoned have also excerbated the embattled state of the royal family's affairs.
The late Queen Mantfombi had been presiding over the Zulu nation in the interim following the death of her husband. She was being assisted by the royal council during the ongoing three month mourning period after which a successor is supposed to be named. While 47-year-old Prince Misizulu Zulu, the eldest of the late king's 27 children, was earmarked to succeed his father, it is unclear at this point if he will indeed ascend to the throne as the new leader of the Zulu Nation.
A number of traditional rituals will be conducted today at the Milpark Hospital in Johannesburg, where Queen Mantfombi was hospitalised, by the Zulu Royal Family. More on this in the reportage by eNCA below.
- Queen Mantfombi Zulu Dies - OkayAfrica ›
- King Goodwill Zwelithini of the Zulu Monarchy Has Died - OkayAfrica ›