MASSES of people have started to converge at KwaKhangelamankengane royal palace in Nongoma, KZN, where King Misuzulu kaZwelithini will be traditionally coronated in the sacred cattle kraal today.
Although he performed the ritual in the kraal with the hunted lion and bull during the night with selected royal family members, today he will enter again in front of the public.
King Misuzulu hunted a lion on Thursday and brought it to the palace to be introduced with it to his ancestors as isilo, imbume, ibhubesi or ingonyama – other Zulu names meaning lion.
Many warriors in Zulu traditional regalia are singing songs like Elethu izwe owani ombango, meaning this is our land; what we are fighting for? They are referring to the ongoing fight over the throne as Prince Simakade Zulu performed the same ritual last Saturday, where he was named as king. Then on Thursday, Prince Buzabazi kaZwelithini was named the next king.
READ: KING MisuZulu's crowning ceremony
Cultural expert Dr Gugu Mazibuko said it was important for the king to kill a lion and perform the traditional coronation, known as ukungena esibayeni.
“This is because he is always referred to as an ingonyama or isilo. So he has to kill a lion and return with it as it symbolises his power and greatness. The entering of the kraal is significant because the king will be introduced by royal elders to the nation’s ancestors,” she said.
One of Amabutho, Sipho Mngadi, told Daily Sun that he wanted to witness the coronation of king Misuzulu.
“We have one king, who is king Misuzulu, and we don’t recognise others. He is the only one who has killed the lion.”
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King Misuzulu’s praise singer Buzetsheni Mdletshe told the People’s Paper that he had accompanied the king to hunt a lion.
“We found it when it was waiting for animals to come to the place where they drink water, and the king shot and killed it,” he said.
More than 30 cows have been slaughtered for the coronation.
