Durban – The new king of the Zulu nation, Misuzulu KaZwelithini on Monday afternoon arrived in the neighbouring Kingdom of Eswatini and held a behind closed doors meeting with the royal family there.
The meeting took place at Hlane (The Wilderness) royal residence, a remote palace located in the north-eastern part of the kingdom, near the border with Mozambique.
Usually, the Eswatini royal family meets its visitors in one of the palaces located along the Mbabane-Manzini corridor.
According to reports carried by the two biggest daily newspapers in the kingdom, the Times of Eswatini (privately owned) and the Eswatini Observer (owned by a royal company), King Misuzulu led a high powered delegation (of about 20 people) from Nongoma in KwaZulu-Natal and he was welcomed to the palace by King Mswati himself.
The royal visit to Eswatini was previously announced by Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the Zulu nation’s traditional prime minister, to allow King Misuzulu to collect his belongings after spending some considerable time.
This was after the passing of his father, King Goodwill Zwelithini on March 12.
However, according to the two daily newspapers of the kingdom, the chief executive officer of King Mswati’s office, Chief (Inkosi) Mgwagwa Gamedze, who briefed it away from the actual meeting, King Misuzulu is in Eswatini to formally introduce himself as the next ruler of the Zulu kingdom.
Further, Gamedze told Eswatini media that King Mswati pleaded with the Zulu nation to support King Misuzulu as he takes over the throne and support would lead them to political stability and economic prosperity.
“He (Mswati) encouraged the Zulus to support the new King so that they can realise the huge economic growth and improve social welfare for the Zulu nation.
’His Majesty said it was important for King Misuzulu to work hard for his people so that he leaves a legacy like King Zwelithini,” Gamedze was quoted as saying by the Times of Eswatini published on Tuesday.
The Zulu king is a blood relative of the king of Eswatini as the late Zulu Queen Regent, Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu is a sister to King Mswati and they are both children of the late King Sobhuza II.
Part of the close protection units that are guarding King Misizulu are police officers from eSwatini. This has not sat well with the Joburg based Swaziland Solidarity Network, a grouping of Swati dissidents opposed to the “extravagant and despotic rule” of Mswati.
The grouping says King Misuzulu is well off enough to afford his own security instead of being a burden to the already struggling and economically suffocated Swati taxpayers.
IOL