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King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu died of complications from a diabetic condition on Friday at the age of 72. He had been in intensive care at a private hospital for the past month.
Just a week ago, the leader of KwaZulu / Natal Mangosuthu Buthelezi of the Inkatha Freedom Party and himself a Zulu prince said the king’s condition was improving.
But this morning Buthelezi said: “It is with the greatest sorrow that I inform the nation of the passing of His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini, King of the Zulu Nation.
“Tragically, while still in hospital, His Majesty’s health worsened and he subsequently died in the early hours of this morning,” the statement said.
“On behalf of the Royal Family, we thank the nation for your continued prayers and support during this most difficult time.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the king “will be remembered as a much loved visionary monarch who made an important contribution to cultural identity, national unity and economic development”.
Depths of apartheid
Zwelithini ascended to the throne upon his father’s death in 1971. It was the very depth of the apartheid era.
The king resisted pressure from the racist regime to accept so-called independence as part of his plan to balkanize the country and deny the racial arithmetic that left whites in the minority.
As the ceremonial and spiritual leader of the 12 million Zulus, South Africa’s largest ethnic group, he lacked political power.
It was in the hands of Buthelezi, who was at odds with the apartheid rulers and the African National Congress which still fought for liberation.
Conflict with the racist regime and the ANC
The conflict between ANC supporters and the IFP caused most of the 100 deaths between the ANC’s non-ban in 1990 and the first democratic election – the so-called relatively bloodless transition from South Africa to democracy.
Zwelithini did not, like his ancestors, fight the colonial powers. However, the modern political conflict has claimed the lives of over 20,000 Zulus.
After this election, the Inkatha Freedom Party dominated the center of the Zulu people in KwaZulu / Natal.
Zwelithini was seen as a conservative force insisting that people should never forget their history which was defeated in 1879 by British colonialists in Ulundi and then symbolically using this location as their modern capital.
Question on land rights
Zwelithini made changes to Zulu customs designed to combat the spread of HIV / AIDS.
He re-established the male circumcision forbidden by King Shaka and reintroduced the reed dance intended to encourage the young woman to remain chaste before marriage.
The king leaves a burning land issue unresolved. Since apartheid, it has administered a third of the traditional lands belonging to the Zulu people.
In 2018, he asked for an exemption for nearly three million hectares of royal land that the government had wanted to expropriate for redistribution to marginalized blacks without land sidelined by apartheid.
As sole trustee of 2.8 million hectares (6.9 million acres) of land through the Ingonyama Trust, he wanted his land to remain untouched, warning that “hell will break loose” if its ownership was disputed.
Various groups have taken legal action to assume this control.
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