Queen Mantfombi MaDlamini Zulu,the third wife of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini has been appointed by the Zulu royal family as regent pending the appointment of a new monarch.
She held the status of “Great Wife” since her marriage to the king Zwelithini in 1977. She is the sister of Eswatini’s King Mswati III –Africa’s only absolute monarch.
Her appointment has fired conjectures that one of her sons will become king of the 11 million-strong Zulu nation.
Queen MaDlamini Zulu’s appointment was announced following a meeting between Zwelithini’s lawyers and some 200 members of the royal family to discuss his will.
The late king’s traditional prime minister, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, said her appointment was in line with Zwelithini’s wishes.
The royal family would observe a three-month mourning period and further decisions about the king’s successor would be taken thereafter, chief Buthelezi said.
He added that the demise of His Majesty has been “a tremendous blow and the family must be allowed to grieve”
Zwelithini was ‘planted’, as Zulus say, on Thursday at a private ceremony attended by a select few men from the royal family.
Zwelithini, 72, died two weeks ago in a hospital from diabetes-related complications.
Zwelithini was the longest-reigning Zulu monarch, with six wives and at least 26 children, reigning for almost 50 years.
