King Misuzulu’s scandalous reign

The Zulu monarchy finds itself in the midst of another embarrassing public relations scandal following the release of a video of an alcohol-imbibing and verbally abusive tirade by none other than the head of the monarchy, King Misuzulu himself.

It is not the first time that the relatively newly minted king of the Zulu nation has been caught on video, allegedly swearing like a sailor, and as has now become the norm, his target is a woman.

He is recorded in the video verbally abusing his wife, Queen Nomzamo Myeni-Zulu, and it appears she recorded the video herself.

The monarchy has already apologised for the release of what it called a “private video”.

The story of the Zulu monarchy is one of the most interesting tales about the creation of one of Africa’s youngest but powerful monarchies.

The founding father of the monarchy, King Shaka Zulu has become part of local and international folklore.

His military prowess has been studied widely and he created the Zulu empire in the space of about 12 years, forever changing the history of southern Africa.

The kingdom he left behind went and won some various battles, including the battle of Isandlwana against the British Army in 1879. The site of that battle stands recognised today as a national heritage site.

What does the leaking of a video of Misuzulu allegedly verbally abusing his wife have to do with glorious victories of the original Zulu armies against the British? Everything.

The Zulu monarchy is bogged down crafting two-letter apologies for a king who appears like he cannot handle his alcohol when it should be busy selling its rich heritage to the rest of South Africa and the world.

The British Royals reportedly bring in about £500 million (about R10 billion) in revenue to their country while the Zulu monarchy has been trapped in a never-ending cycle of being beholden to every political party that oversees the province because the royal household depends on government for their upkeep.

In other words, South African taxpayers keep the Zulu royal household going so, by extension, the public has an interest in how well that household works.

Countries like Japan, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Uganda, Swaziland and Egypt have monarchies that are quite old and, like the British, most of these countries have realised that royalty will be around for the longest time and decided to earn as much money from royal tourism as possible.

That requires the monarchies to respect themselves in the first place. An allegedly drunken abusive tirade by the king captured on video by the queen is not the best place to start when one is marketing the great Zulu Kingdom that defeated the British Army.

When Misuzulu’s father, King Zwelithini, died in March 2021, the world witnessed some of the most amazing sights of amabutho (Zulu army regiments) that took to the streets to honour their king.

The world was amazed at the beautiful ceremonial performances of the Zulu kingdom and, for a moment, it appeared as if the monarchy was about to rise up and claim the place that Shaka Zulu had meant for it to occupy in the world.

It was all to no avail. Within weeks of Zwelithini’s death, the royal family descended to some of its lowest depths, with brothers fighting to be installed as the rightful king of the Zulu nation.

What followed was a litany of court cases and the eventual winner being Misuzulu. Ironically his name loosely translates “one who strengthens/unites the Zulu nation”.

The truth, though, is his reign has been anything but uniting. What a missed opportunity.