By Celani Sikhakhane
Some members of the Zulu Royal Family allege that King Misuzulu KaZwelithini is snubbing maidens who take part in the annual Reed Dance, rather than choosing a future wife.
This comes after his Prime Minister, Thulasizwe Buthelezi, announced that the King is taking a third wife, Nomzamo Myeni, whose lobola will be paid on the 5 May in Jozini in KwaZulu-Natal.
Royal sources who spoke to Scrolla.Africa on condition of anonymity said they expected the King to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, King Mswati III of Eswatini, and pick his future wife during the Reed Dance. The ceremony takes place in September at the eNyokeni Palace in Nongoma.
“We are a bit disappointed because there are so many young girls who are eyeing the King at the Reed Dance,” a source said. “This time we thought he would pick his third wife from the Reed Dance ceremony but he didn’t.”
After King Misuzulu’s ascent to the throne in October 2022, another source said many women took to social media and said that they would attend future Reed Dance ceremonies in the hope that they would be chosen by the King to be a future Queen of the Zulu Nation.
Dr Nomagugu Ngobese of the Nomkhubulwane Cultural Organisation that looks after the maidens before, during and after the Reed Dance, said it was disturbing that some people thought they had a right to determine who the King should marry.
“His father, the late King Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, never used the Reed Dance for his romantic life. If I remember, the only wife he chose from the Reed Dance was Queen NoMpumelelo kaMchiza in 1984.
“I think some people who are our enemies want to paint the Reed Dance as a demoralised, child abuse ceremony. They must leave the King to his personal choices and respect him,” said Ngobese.
King Misuzulu’s first wife, Queen Ntokozo kaMayisela-Zulu, met him at the wedding of Princess Bukhosibemvelo-Nyawo, the younger sister of the King, in 2009.
He met his estranged second wife, Queen Nozizwe Mulela, in Eswatini.
And he met his soon-to-be third wife, Nomzamo Myeni, while she was working at a Nedbank branch in Jozini.
Pictured above: Some members of the Zulu Royal Family say King Misuzulu has snubbed Reed Dance maidens when choosing a future Queen.
Image source: X
