By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Queen Ntokozo KaMayisela Zulu, first wife of the Zulu King, Misuzulu KaZwelithini filed an urgent application to interdict the upcoming traditional wedding of her husband.
Misuzulu is due to marry his third wife, Nomzamo Myeni, in a two-day traditional ceremony.
Although the king will formally pronounce on the event next week when he appears in public to address the nation during the ceremony of the first fruit ( Umkhosi Wokweshwama), the date for the wedding has been set for Sunday 26 January.
Acting traditional prime minister of the king and the Zulu nation inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza confirmed the date.
Chiliza said preparations are already under way on the district houses of traditional leaders who are already seized with preparations for the event in terms of mobilising amabutho ( warriors) and maidens.
“It is true, the king will traditionally wed his third queen on the day, however all the details will be revealed to the nation next week when His Majesty comes from cultural seclusion to address Umkhosi wokweshwama (tasting of the first fruit ceremony) which will take place next weekend.”
Chiliza said the king will share more details on the wedding ceremony and also allocate responsibilities for the roles to be played by traditional leaders, cultural experts as well as government on the day of the wedding.
The king will also announce the venue of the event but indications point that it may take place in Pongola in the north-east of KwaZulu-Natal as the king spends most of his time there.
The king has paid lobola to his third wife which included 15 cattle. The king in May last year sent gifts including blankets to the in-laws which is known as umembeso.
Myeni hails from Pongola, a town that is not far from Kwakhangelamaknkengane royal palace where king Misuzulu grew up.
However, Queen Ntokozo said if the wedding goes ahead, the Zulu king would be committing bigamy, which is an offence committed when an already married person marries while still legally married to someone else.
In her court papers that Fullview has seen, the queen confirmed that the Zulu king had already served her with divorce papers.
She said that the matter was still pending in court and in the meantime, they remained married in terms of the law.
The queen said that she was married to Misuzulu under civil law and in community of property.
The queen said that the king cannot enter into a civil and or customary marriage while their civil union still exists.
Misuzulu has filed for divorce at the high court in Pietermaritzburg, citing an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.
In his court documents, the king stated: “The parties have, on several occasions, experienced trouble with their marriage and tried to restore the relationship without success. The parties have not lived together as husband and wife for a continuous period of at least one year immediately prior to the date of the institution of the action.”
The divorce comes amid ongoing tensions in the royal household as Misuzulu continues to face opposition from factions in the royal family who dispute his legitimacy.
The recent removal of Thulasizwe Buthelezi as Zulu prime minister has added to the unrest.
Royal divorces are not unique to the Zulu monarchy. Monarchs such as King Charles III, Princess Anne and Prince Albert of Monaco have also endured public divorces.
Cultural experts have said Misizulu’s divorce is rare but not unprecedented in the Zulu royal family.
Professor Musa Xulu, a renowned cultural expert, said the divorce highlighted the tension between civil and customary marriages.
“This marriage of the king to the wife he is divorcing now was not perfected through traditional rituals. It remains more or less a civil marriage,” he explained.
Xulu added that the king’s planned marriage is expected to follow traditional Zulu wedding protocols.
The divorce has raised questions about royal succession.
Xulu said children from the marriage retain their standing in the royal family. A boy from this marriage does not lose his place as a prince. This makes the king’s choice of future advisers and decisions even more critical.
Meanwhile the Zulu Regiments office has postponed the planned protest by Amabutho indefinitely due to office closures and halted business operations, preventing then from delivering their Memorandum of Grievances.
Amabutho had planned to picket outside the Ingonyama Trust offices in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, in support of Misuzulu amid his ongoing dispute with board members over the trust’s management.