- King Mbusi Mabhoko III of the Ndzundza Mabhoko royal house has gained a following on social media for cracking jokes with his regiments.
- The King will welcome home more than 300 boys at Siyabuswa on Thursday, after two months at initiation school without any deaths.
Forget stiff royal protocol, AmaNdebele King Mbusi Mabhoko III is winning over social media with jokes.
The 41-year-old King, who leads the Ndzundza Mabhoko royal house based in Mpumalanga, keeps popping up in videos shared widely online, cracking jokes with his regiments while going about everyday life with his people in kwaNdebele. It turns out a king can wear the crown and still get a laugh.
This week gives him something real to celebrate. Ntuli Mahlangu, director at the Office of His Majesty, told Scrolla.Africa on Wednesday that the King will welcome home more than 300 boys who spent two months at initiation school, all of them returning safely.
“He will welcome those boys with pride because they have been in the mountains for two months since May, as part of the initiation rituals. The King will welcome them at 5am on Thursday at Siyabuswa in Mpumalanga. After the ceremony with the King, they will go back to their homes, as part of the Ndebele cultural ritual to prepare young boys for manhood,” Mahlangu said.
All 300 boys made it home without incident, the kind of news every family waiting at home wants to hear.
There’s more to the King than the jokes, though. He’s the nephew of King Mswati III of Eswatini; his mother, Queen Mother Siphila Dlamini Mahlangu, is King Mswati’s sister. His royal seat sits in the Kangala District of Mpumalanga.
The Ndzundza Mabhoko royal house traces back to a historic split among the AmaNdebele people, when the sons of King Musi divided into two houses, Manala and Ndzundza, settling on opposite sides of the Olifants River. The Ndzundza house is remembered for standing its ground against colonial land seizures, including King Nyabela, who was arrested by the Boers after leading fierce resistance against them.
Pictured above: AmaNdebele King Mbusi Mabhoko III of the Ndzundza Mabhoko royal house, who has taken social media by storm with his sense of humour.
Image source: AmaNdebele Facebook
