By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
King Goodwill Zwelithini is expected to return to his main palace on Friday afternoon where he will lie in state for a couple of days.
IFP founder Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, in his capacity as traditional prime minister of the Zulu monarch, made the announcement on Friday morning a few hours after the death of the king.
“For now the king’s body will be conveyed to the palace hopefully this afternoon where we hope he will lie in state for a couple of days,” Buthelezi said in his brief address.
While the monarch had several palaces, he lived in the Osuthu Royal Palace in KwaNongoma in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Buthelezi warned mourners visiting the king’s palaces to adhere to Covid-19 protocols.
He announced the king’s death in hospital of Friday morning.
However, Buthelezi cautioned mourners to also note that the king died in the most difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We should observe all the protocols, I know that our people are devastated as much as the royal family is devastated but nevertheless sadly as it is one must remind the nation even sad as we are bound to observe the protocols of Covid-19 because we really do not want that the death of his majesty should be the death of anyone else, “he said.
According to Buthelezi, arrangements for the funeral will be announced soon.
Born in Nongoma, a small town in the southeastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province, Zwelithini ascended the throne in 1971 during the apartheid era at the age of 23, three years after the death of his father.