EFF leader Julius Malema said that the passing of the king should not cause divisions within the Zulu royal family as this would harm the credibility of the monarchy.

Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi said that the event was being organised together with government as the president had agreed to transform the special category one funeral into a memorial service.

AmaZulu King Goodwill Zwelithini is expected to be planted during a private ceremony on Wednesday at midnight.

The late monarch is expected to be laid to rest on Thursday.

Nongoma Local Municipality Mayor Albert Mncwango said they did not want King Zwelithini's send-off to be a super-spreader event.

The Ingonyama Trust controls about 3 million hectares of land in KwaZulu-Natal and the late monarch was its sole trustee.

Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi said this means the King will not be laid to rest in an official state funeral as declared by President Cyril Ramaphosa, but a memorial service would be held on Thursday.

KZN Premier Sihle Sihle Zikalala is expected to lead the delegation to the Kwakhethomthandayo Royal Palace in Nongoma, where the late monarch was born.

The institution said the late Zulu monarch espoused the principle of unity and the next leader of the Zulu nation must take this legacy forward.

Mourners have gathered at King Goodwill Zwelithini's Nongoma Palace, where his body was expected to arrive after he passed away in hospital on Friday.

The body of late amaZulu King Goodwill Zwelithini will lay in state at the Kwakhethomthandayo Royal Palace in Nongoma, which is the home of the monarch's late father King Cyprian kaSolomon.

The Zulu Royal Household has expressed gratitude for tributes that have come in following the passing of amaZulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.

The monarch died in the early hours of Friday morning at a Durban hospital.

Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi said that the Zulu nation could mourn the king by suspending events and ceremonies until he was laid to rest.

King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBekhuzulu died at the age of 72 after he had been in hospital for weeks for what was initially reported to be a problem with his blood glucose levels.

The league’s president Bathabile Dlamini was expected to lead a delegation which would include Kwazulu-Natal chairperson Nonhlanhla Khoza and provincial secretary Nonhlanhla Gabela.

He served as mayor of eThekwini from 1994 to 1996 and later became chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal Local Government Association.

The KZN Public Works Department said that it was previously owed an amount of R573 million by the provincial Education Department but R163 million was received in February.