JOHANNESBURG (AP) – The traditional leader of South Africa’s 12 million Zulus, King Goodwill Zwelithini, was arrested in a private ceremony early Thursday.
Zwelithini, 72, died of diabetes-related health problems last Friday and was buried in a traditional ceremony known as “ukutshalwa kweNkosi,” attended only by elderly men of the royal family, many with leopard skins and colorful zulu gifts.
Reigning for more than 50 years, Zwelithini was the longest-serving monarch of the Zulu nation, the largest ethnic group of South Africa’s 60 million people. The province of KwaZulu-Natal is where most of the country’s Zulus live.
Historically, the Zulu nation gave early resistance to British colonialism under the leadership of King Shaka Zulu from 1816 to 1828.
Zwelithini was an advocate of traditional Zulu customs and the most influential of the traditional South African leaders, who do not hold political office but have considerable influence, especially among the rural population of South Africa. He is credited with speaking openly to promote public education to control the HIV / AIDS epidemic that swept South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s.
After Zwelithini’s funeral, President Cyril Ramaphosa was among the speakers at a memorial service praising the king.
“It was during his reign that the Zulu nation achieved harmony and peace. It was during his reign that his people, along with all the people of our country, realized the dream of freeing themselves from the injustices of colonialism and apartheid, ”said Ramaphosa.
Other attendees at the monument were former President Jacob Zuma, who is Zulu, and Princess Charlene of Monaco, who is from South Africa.
Zwelithini was praised for his role in helping to end the political violence that ravaged the province of KwaZulu-Natal before South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994. He is credited with encouraging the Zulus. to participate in elections and ask them not to participate in violent attacks. across the country.
Zwelithini’s legacy, however, has not been left undisputed and the royal house this week has threatened to take legal action against the City Press for publishing a scathing opinion on the king’s government.
In the article, City Press editor Mondli Makhanya accused Zwelithini of being a puppet of the former South African apartheid regime of white minorities before the transition to democracy.
Makhanya alleged that Zwelithini was responsible for many deaths because he collaborated with the apartheid regime and the leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, in his quest to create an independent Zulu state. and rejecting democratic reforms.
The Zulu royal family issued a statement condemning Makhanya’s claims as “vulgar lies” and said it would take “the necessary steps once the mourning is over.”
The royal family will meet to determine who will succeed Zwelithini.