The love life of King Zulu Misuzulu shocks South Africa while opting for divorce

The love life of King Zulu of South Africa has the country’s country, and has scandalized its socially conservative subjects while getting the tradition when looking for a divorce.

Polygamy is part of the Zulu culture, but King Misuzulu Kazwelithini has taken the unusual step to go to court to divorce his first wife, Queen Ntokozo Kamayisela.

“Everyone were baffled. People did not expect the king to request divorce,” Professor Gugu Mazibuko, a cultural expert at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, told the BBC.

“In the Zulu culture, there is no divorce. You are not supposed to scare your wife,” he said.

Considered as the “lion of the nation”, King Zulu is the custodian of the ancient traditions that place marriage and polygamy in the heart of real success.

Its role in South Africa can only be ceremonial, but it is still very influential, with an annual budget funded by the government of several million dollars.

The monarch, who grew up in the neighbor Eswatini, studied in the United States and reached the throne in 2021, seems to court the controversy.

His coronation was challenged in court by his older half -brother, who has been trying to snatch the crown.

His second marriage seems to be unstable, his attempt to take a third wife hit the shock absorbers and there are also reports from another complement to a young princess.

However, the turbulent personal life of the 50 -year -old used to be discussed in the silent tones, that is, until he presented divorce documents in December.

Professor Mazibuko acknowledged that a Zulu monarch in the twentieth century had divorced one of his queens, but it had been a “real real secret”, since the real divorce is not the norm.

“If a marriage does not work, the wife will still live on the King’s farm. He will be given his own space. He will not have a relationship with the king, but she and her children will be well taken care of.”

It was just before his adhesion to the throne, after the sudden death of his father and his mother four years ago, that the then Prince Misuzulu married Ntokozo Mayisela.

The two were already a couple and had two children together, but according to another cultural expert, Professor Musa Xulu of the University of Zululand, the decision to marry seemed to be hurried.

“It seems he felt he couldn’t be a king without a wife,” he told the BBC.

Queen Kamayisela came from an “ordinary family”, as many of the wives of the Zulúes kings do, in a small mining city in the province of Kwazulu -natal.

It was like Cabaret singer acting in a restaurant in the coastal city of Durban who caught the real eye, the academic said.

His last year status in the family was clear in the coronation of the King State in December 2022 when he sat next to him.

But his position is now threatened, and the monarch says in judicial documents that they have not lived as a husband and wife for at least the year and their marriage has been irremediably broken down.

The palace followed this by sending invitations for the king’s wedding with a new girlfriend, Nomzamo Myeni, which will take place at the end of January. The price of the bride, known as Lobola, had already been paid in cattle, a precious asset in the Zulu culture.

Queen Kamayisela did not take any of this lying down, instituting a separate judicial action to stop the wedding, which was postponed as a result.

His argument was that the king, known by his subjects as “Ingonyama”, which means León, would be committing the crime of “bigamia” without “first turning her civil marriage with her into a traditional Zulu marriage.

But the judge threw his case, saying that he had had an attitude of “change”, since she had already agreed that her husband could take other wives.

He pointed out that the monarch had already done it, marry Nozizwe Kamulela, the MD of Eswatini Bank, in 2022.

Professor Mazibko explained that polygamy was not initially part of the Zulu culture, in fact, the first two kings were single.

But he was embraced by his successors, King Misuzulu is the ninth monarch of the Zulu nation, as a way of building allies.

Queen Kamulela comes from an influential family in Eswatini and marriage was apparently arranged to strengthen The ties between real families.

However, it is not clear if the couple is still in a relationship, since the high -power banker has not been seen in Zulu cultural events for a while, with speculation that their final marriage rituals have not been completed.

The various marriage problems of the current king seem to be due to the fact that tradition has not been properly followed.

In the case of the first wife, he opted for a modern marriage, without a traditional wedding.

“For a marriage to be perfected under the custom of Zulu, there must be a public meeting, with songs and dance,” said Professor Xulu.

“You, as a girlfriend, must lead with a solo song and brides dance with you, and wear a spear that you give to the king, and then there is no turning back.”

This has left Queen Kamayisela without the protection of tradition, and only the monthly maintenance offer of $ 1,100 (£ 850) for a year, although it would probably demand more before returning to the life of a plebeian, Professor Xulu said.

In the case of the second wife, the academic said that Lobola had been paid in January 2022, but the royal experts suggest that the king felt that “those who were going to pay did not have the authority to do so”, in addition to this union it has not been marked with a public ceremony.

The fortune of the possible third wife, Nomzamo Myeni, is still clear since the king did not marry her in January despite the fact that the Court was approved.

Professor Xulu said that in Zulu culture a “postponed” marriage usually never takes place.

Although Mrseni is still being seen with the king, Accompanying him to a state event last week where he was referred as queensuggesting that his wedding can take place once the king’s divorce occurs.

However, as a plebeian, he would not bring powerful connections with her, so one of the monarch assistants recently confirmed to the local media that there was “a new future queen”: Sihle Mdluli, which comes from the royal family of a small ethnic group in South Africa.

The assistant suggested that he could be appointed “the mother of the nation”, a title that would make her the most senior queen with her probably heirs.

But Professor Xulu said it would not be surprised if that wedding did not take place either, since the king’s relationships seemed to have problems.

“I am not sure if I was ready to be king and if he has good advisors,” said the academic.

He pointed out that the monarch had also behaved erratically in his public life, dismissing several senior officials in his entourage.

In addition to this, it has been installed as president of the Board of a financially lucrative land trust, of which he is the only administrator.

The trust was established shortly before South Africa became a democracy in 1994, which gave him control of approximately 2.8 million hectares (seven million acres) of land in Kwazulu-Natal.

King Misuzulu has also suspended all the members of the Board, Barra, accusing them of not being cooperative.

He did this against the Government Council, who said that, as president, he would be asked to account for Parliament on the operations of the trust, something that would not agree with his status as a constitutional monarch.

The dispute remains unresolved, giving the government a great political headache, since it tries to avoid going in front of the king.

Professor Xulu said he would not be surprised if at any time a powerful rival faction within the royal family launched a new attempt to dethrone him asking the courts that say that he is not “in form and appropriate” to be king.

The half -brother of the monarch, Prince Simakade Zulu, who is the eldest son of the king, has long covered the crown, but his sponsors were surpassed by Misuzulu’s allies in the discussions.

President Ramaphosa then gave Misuzulu a “certificate of recognition”, racing the way for the government to finance.

But Prince Simakade’s supporters did not give up, going to the Superior Court to declare his “illegal” state coronation, and won.

The Court ruled that President Ramaphosa had not complied with the law, which demanded that he order an investigation into objections to Misuzulu’s adhesion.

The status quo remains, waiting for the result of an appeal.

The scandals about the private life of King Misuzulu, especially their divorce, have the potential to weaken their position if it comes to another fight for the crown.

Although Professor Mazibko said that there had always been a fierce competition for the Zulu crown, except that these days it takes place in the Court instead of a bloody battlefield.

“He is not the first king to go through a lot,” he said. “I hope it survives, and everything sits.”