ZONGILE NHLAPO: King Misuzulu - Porous throne, leaking monarchy and crumbling legacy?

Growing up in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, the face of the late AmaZulu King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu was not an uncommon sight in and around our rural town.

He was the face that welcomed you into the heart of Zululand as you drove past ‘eplaza’ - our then-version of a shopping mall. You’d see him again on a placard while driving past the then-Caltex garage as if you were headed to KwaNongoma - the late King's birthplace.

But it wasn’t just about his face. The mere mention of his name seemed to carry weight. Actually, I don’t recall hearing His Majesty’s name being uttered without a degree of sincere reverence.

I will never forget the then-mayor of Ulundi, Johanna Manana who was interviewed by eNCA ahead of the late King’s royal wedding 10 years ago. Upon being handed the mic, immediately she ululated, for a while, and then greeted the King, in his absentia, “Greetings to His Majesty the King of the Zulu nation...” before addressing whatever question Thulasizwe Simelane had posed.

Perhaps, rightfully, it was her excitement about the festivities, but I remember watching that and thinking "iyathandwa-ke bo le Nkosi" (this must be a much-admired King, or even feared) that he is greeted in absentia during a live television interview.

But even in discussions where people differed in opinion about the late King, his politics or the monarchy, the conversations always seemed to be carried in respectful tones. I will never forget my own mother’s reprimand if something was ever said that seemed to be out of line, “Cha-ke bantabam akukhulunywa kanjalo ngeSilo” (children, we don’t talk that way about the King).

I certainly do not remember picking up Isolezwe or Ilanga – which my mom bought religiously and stumbling upon salacious or scandalous details about the Zulu King's personal life. And this is not to say that the late King didn’t have any - which human being doesn't? Yet, this is the perception I had from my early years, pretty much up until the passing of the longest Zulu-reigning king, in 2021.

2025

Contrast that with 2025, where King Goodwill’s son, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini now sits on the throne.

I am sure no one would dispute that the current Zulu king is a different man from his father, and by virtue of being his own person will have a different reign.

It also is that he’s not facing anything new in this era in terms of succession battles – which are as old as biblical times. In His Majesty’s own words, “Every king has gone through what I’ve gone through,” he said during a conversation with Alex Mthiyane.

Add to that the reality of his public profile and social impact largely being shaped under different circumstances than those of his father – of democracy, free speech and social media.

Nevertheless, it does seem that King Misuzulu grabs headlines for far more than just a king "going through" things. This is some of what we've seen in his rather short 2-year reign:

• ‘I am not an addict or a drunkard’
• Zulu king denies drugs, corruption claims by estranged uncle
• 'I was hacked: Sihle on intimate video with King Misuzulu'
• 'She is not my girlfriend': King Misuzulu on woman who caused drama
• King Misuzulu's shocking firing spree
• Fixer sues KZN premier over King Misuzulu
• King Misuzulu goes to ground as family scandal is exposed via leaked audio
• King Misuzulu's bodyguard found dead  

In January 2025 alone, we’ve gone from an announcement of his divorce to his first wife, Queen Ntokozo kaMayisela, an announcement of his wedding to his third fiancée Nomzamo Myeni, that same wedding being interdicted by the first wife, that same wedding being cancelled, or not?

Twenty-four hours after news of the cancellation was another report claiming they’d spoken to the King directly and he denied information contained in the letter with the kingdom’s official letterhead, logo and signature which expressly said King Misuzulu was cancelling his traditional wedding to Myeni.

“Engingakusho nje ukuthi ngiyamthanda umkami futhi ngizomshada ngenkani (all I can say is that I love my wife and will marry her by force), reads the piece.

Yet later that same day, in his court papers, the Zulu King said he had no intention to commit bigamy, and there is no evidence that had been tabled before the court that he intended to get married.

In social media's 2023 word of the year, "kuningi" (it is a lot).

SOCIAL MEDIA

Now, where the truth lies regarding the above stories, at least to me, is at this point inconsequential. 

What remains is an alarming impression created of King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, and by extension the Zulu monarchy. With not so much as clarification or even rebuttals from the monarchy, at least where absolutely necessary.

Instead, reporters claim they have a direct line to His Majesty, who answers his phone and laughingly gives comments before passing it on to his fiancée.

One couldn’t even verify this, because the other thing the King has been in the headlines about is the dismissal of personnel, with another spokesperson, Prince Simphiwe Zulu, fired just the other day.

The King also recently dismissed the Zulu Traditional Prime Minister, Thulasizwe Buthelezi.

Weeks earlier, the King, who is the sole trustee of the Ingonyama Trust, announced he had placed the entire Ingonyama Trust board on suspension.

Oh, and social media is having a field day with all of it.

“Week after week he's in the media for all sorts of wrong reasons, jumping from avoidable crisis to the next one” all the way to “The House of Zulu is delivering more drama than Game of Thrones and King Misuzulu is scripting new episodes at lightning speed.”

His Majesty, fortunately or unfortunately, rules in the age of social media, and to turn a blind eye to that, or hide behind “social media is just a fraction of the population and not the entire Zulu nation”, would be disingenuous at best.

It would also wrongly assume that interested parties are only royal fundis and loyalists.

The fact is social media has become a complex phenomenon, because it is so much more than people exchanging words or ideas. The platform is also about authority and influence. Put simply, social media users have the power to influence public opinion.

Ironically, it was on this platform when he was touted as the successor, that he was hailed as humble, and a platform, arguably, that played a key role in increasing his public profile.

But today, social media not only forms public opinion, but also brings with it the ever-present risk of misinformation and disinformation. And frankly, social media users aren’t necessarily obligated to fact-check. No one is going to do a deep-dive to ascertain whether or not it was the king snoring in that alleged intimate video.

What we do know, in the words of author Charles McCarry, is that anything that's secret, clandestine, loaded with such a supercargo of speculation, misinformation, disinformation and, for that matter, accurate revelations, creates an appetite.

And here, not only has an appetite been created, but it’s being mightily fed, with no one seemingly regulating the diet.

You can already tell the prevalent impression, as one X user said: “No one has tarnished the image of the Zulu nation and the throne more than Misuzulu himself.”

This user is talking about a King who’s been on the throne for only two years!

What’s happening, unfortunately, seems to bear testament to all the things they teach you about in PR: “If you don’t tell your story, someone else will,” and “Bad news isn’t wine, it doesn’t improve with age.”

Because we can’t help but indeed ask, who is advising the King? Who is working to plug the leaks?

Instead, we’re left to believe in some of the things said by the now-dismissed traditional prime minister, by cultural experts and commentators, and the suspended chair of the Ingonyama Trust board, that “the King has been pressured to” “the King lacks support structure” and  “the King is being ill-advised”.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

The fact that I have to search harder than perhaps I need to, to get a sense of what the King has been trying to propagate or champion during his two-year reign is concerning.

He certainly doesn’t make it any easier when he preambles a speech by saying: “Some say she is my girlfriend. How do they know that? It is painful to be given something that is not yours. Let me make it clear, she is not my girlfriend. I am a king who speaks the truth,” he said in isiZulu.

This was during the annual eNyokeni royal palace prayer last year, where he remarked on an incident that had occurred days earlier, where a woman barged onto the stage where he’d been sitting during the King Shaka statue unveiling in Durban. That inevitably shifted some attention away from the statue unveiling.

Again, one's left to wonder, if it was that important for the King to clarify, where was his communications team or spokesperson to translate, perhaps with greater tact, what ideally a King shouldn’t even be bothering to clarify on podiums? Because then that becomes the story.

And then we miss out on what may have been opportunities for, at the very least, broader cultural awareness, hopefully lending themselves to fruitful discussion.

Take, for instance, the wrapping up of the recent uMkhosi woselwa - which was clouded by the wedding-divorce-interdict news.

A few days ago was the significant commemoration of the Battle of Isandlwana, and there seemed to be not much focus on the King's main address, instead, one headline read: 'King Misuzulu leaves everyone guessing regarding his divorce, pending marriage and the new Zulu Traditional Prime Minister'. 

King Misuzulu kaZwelithini was reportedly the first Zulu monarch to deliver the main address at an AfriForum event - the annual King Dinuzulu legacy commemoration event last year. I cannot tell you what he said on this historic occasion without having to first search for his speech.

Still on the issue of firsts, if the wedding to MaMyeni was going ahead or goes ahead sometime in the future, it was going to be the first time in history that a Zulu king weds in a Shembe Nazareth Baptist Church. Last year, King Misuzulu was baptised as a member of the church - the first King to join the church as his father, King Zwelithini was Anglican.

Still on MaMyeni, there was much-charged debate about blended families esigodlweni, as she has children with another man. Again, another first, that speaks directly to the pulse of blended families – a generally hot-button topic in society in general; and an entire King has broken tradition by doing so?

Last year, during an anti-GBV march in Durban, the King donned attire that one X user described as ‘akin to a boy band member’, complete with a chain, a graphic tee and sneakers. He received much attention about it as deviating from expected kingly wear. The King contesting stereotypes maybe?

These are but some of the opportunities that have been missed where the King could have been an anchor of social discussions that helped us confront some hard topics.

TRUST DEFICIT

During his coronation ceremony two years ago, the King himself noted that there exists a trust deficit in traditional leadership structures, so I certainly don’t believe the above news, and the perception created has helped bridge that deficit one bit.

Especially at a time when the role and necessity of monarchs - constitutional and absolute in the world is growingly under scrutiny.

It was also during this coronation speech that King Misuzulu vowed to be a catalyst for development and change. But, as is, he risks being a catalyst for monarchy scandals.

The King also told Mthiyane, “Although we are a royal family, we are still human; still people.” And to be clear, it’s not His Majesty’s humanity at question here, but at the end of the day, we are the mere mortals and he is the king – on whose shoulders the Zulu nation’s reputation rests, and on whose shoulders his father’s legacy rests.

And I hate to quote his opponent, Prince Simakade – who I would imagine has been rubbing his hands with glee with all these developments; (and whose antics I’d much rather read about at this stage, to be honest) "akusona isihlalo esilula lesi" (this is not an easy seat to occupy).

In King Misuzulu’s now famous words, taken from his traditional coronation speech, “nibezwe kodwa ningabalaleli” (hear them, but don’t listen to them), maybe this would be a useful time to reflect on this, but instead, both hear and listen to what’s being said and propagated, so that hopefully, corrective measures are taken to contain the spillage.

I do wonder what might the impression of a girl growing up in Ulundi today be, seeing King Misuzulu’s face on a placard eplaza. How her experience may differ or compare to mine. Or what might her mother’s response be when opinions similar to X users are repeated verbatim?

Ultimately, if King Misuzulu kaZwelithini succeeds, he will have fulfilled both his names – Misuzulu, which loosely translated means strengthen the Zulu nation, and will also be able to proudly say as per his second name - Sinqobile, that indeed we have conquered.

If not, he risks, as one X user said, being ‘Wisuzulu’ (he who causes the fall of the Zulu nation), and fulfilling all naysayers who predicted his gloom before he even took to the hot seat.