Shopping mall honours Zulu feminist warrior princess

By Celani Sikhakhane

Princess Mkabayi kaJama, the former head of the Qulusi military kraal and a regent of the Zulu Kingdom, has been honoured with a multimillion-rand shopping mall in Vryheid (Abaqulusi), KwaZulu-Natal. 

King Misuzulu kaZwelithini officially opened the Princess Mkabayi Mall on Wednesday after surviving a car crash while travelling to Vryheid to prepare for the opening.

The mall is built where the princess used to command her army.

Princess kaJama, one of the most powerful women in Zulu history, was born in about 1750 and died in about 1843. She persuaded her father, the Zulu King Jama kaNdaba, to remarry, and acted as a regent during the reign of her half-brother, Senzangakhona. 

When Senzagakhona died, the princess worked to ensure that Shaka would become king.

At the opening, billionaire Roux Shabangu said he would work hard to develop the local economy.

“I am committed to developing the Zulu nation. That is why I am proud of the new Princess Mkabayi Mall.”

Shabangu added that he was also proud of the current and former mayors’ unity in completing the project.

“It is very rare that a politician when he or she assumes power, decides to continue with the development of their predecessor,” Shabangu said.

The single-level 30,000-square-metre mall will form part of a larger mixed-use development that eventually aims to include an office park, a hotel and casino, and apartments.

The mall is located just south of Vryheid’s centre, within close proximity to both the Lake Side and Bheka Zala townships.

Pictured above: The multimillion-rand Princess Mkabayi Mall was officially opened on Wednesday in Vryheid. 

Source: Supplied 

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