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Politics
Anthony Diala, Director, Centre for Legal Integration in Africa, University of the Western Cape

What the Zulu kingship judgment tells us about the future of South African customary law

Prince Misuzulu, second from the left, attends the provincial memorial service for his mother, the late Mantfombi Dlamini, at the Khangelakamankegane Royal Palace in Nongoma, in May 2021. AFP via Getty Images

Following the death of AmaZulu King Goodwill Zwelithini on 12 March 2021 in South Africa, the royal family convened on 24 March 2021 and appointed Queen Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu as regent. Although the king’s third wife, she was his great wife – a royal consort who, by Zulu law, births the king’s successor. The king had five other wives.

Before her regency was gazetted by the premier of the KwaZulu-Natal province, as required by South African statutory law, the queen died on 29 April 2021. On 14 May 2021, the royal family unanimously nominated her firstborn son, Prince Misuzulu, as the successor to the Zulu throne. Later that month, various members of the royal family, notably Queen Sibongile Dlamini, the late king’s first wife, challenged his will, and the validity of Prince Misuzulu’s nomination as his successor.

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