Zulu king to address MPLs at opening of KZN Legislature

Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini, will on Thursday officially open the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature — paving the way for Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube to deliver her State of the Province Address (Sopa) scheduled for Friday.

The Zulu king, who was inaugurated last year following the death of his father, King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu in 2021, will address members of the KZN Provincial Legislature in what will be his maiden speech in the provincial legislature.

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Even though King Misuzulu kaZwelithini was in terms of Zulu royal family tradition officially appointed in 2021, he could not address MPLs during last year’s legislature opening as he had not yet been officially crowned at that point.

KZN provincial legislature
KZN provincial legislature speaker, Nontembeko Boyce, said the legislature was excited about the king’s coronation as it meant that it would now be able to host him during its events.

We are happy to announce that following the coronation of the king in October last year, we will commence with the address by the monarch which will be followed by the State of the Province Address (Sopa).
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About 1 200 guests were expected to attend today’s legislature opening scheduled to take place at Pietermaritzburg’s Oval Cricket Stadium.

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Since 2019 the provincial legislature has been slashing costs associated with the event — with this year’s costs expected to be less that R4 million.

We are therefore confident that we will have a highly dignified and cost-effective inaugural address by His Majesty, whom we regard as a source of wisdom on many important issues, from development to social, economic and cultural issues in the province.
KZN citizens not able to attend both the opening and the Sopa, Boyce said, will be able to follow the proceedings online.

We are proud that our institution was the first among its peers to effectively use digital platforms to run its business online with house sittings and administration meetings now being conducted online.