Zulu King Misuzulu’s love life shocks South Africa as he opts for divorce

The love life of South Africa’s Zulu king has the country agog – and has scandalised his socially conservative subjects as he messes with tradition by seeking a divorce.

Polygamy is part of Zulu culture, but King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has taken the unusual step of going to court to divorce his first wife, Queen Ntokozo kaMayisela.

“Everyone was puzzled. People were not expecting the king to go so far as to file for divorce,” Prof Gugu Mazibuko, a cultural expert at South Africa’s University of Johannesburg, told the BBC.

“In Zulu culture, there is no divorce. You are not supposed to chase away your wife,” she said.

Regarded as the “lion of the nation”, the Zulu king is the custodian of age-old traditions that place marriage and polygamy at the heart of royal success.

His role within South Africa may only be ceremonial, but he remains hugely influential, with a yearly government-funded budget of several million dollars.

The monarch – who grew up in neighbouring Eswatini, studied in the US and came to the throne in 2021 – seems to court controversy.

His coronation was challenged in court by his elder half-brother, who has been trying to snatch the crown from him.

His second marriage appears to be shaky, his attempt to take a third wife hit the buffers and there are also reports of another dalliance with a young princess.

However, the 50-year-old’s troubled personal life used to be discussed in hushed tones – that is until he filed divorce papers in December.

Prof Mazibuko acknowledged that historical records appeared to suggest that a Zulu monarch in the 20th Century had divorced one of his queens, but it had been a “top royal secret”, given royal divorce is not the norm.

“If a marriage does not work out, the wife will still live in the king’s homestead. She will be given her own space. She will not have a relationship with the king, but she and her children will be well-cared for.”

It was just before his accession to the throne – following the sudden death of his father and mother four years ago – that the then-Prince Misuzulu married Ntokozo Mayisela.

The two were already a couple and had two children together, but according to another cultural expert, Prof Musa Xulu of the University of Zululand, the decision to marry appeared be be hurried.

“It seems as though he felt he could not be a king without a wife,” he told the BBC.

Queen kaMayisela came from an “ordinary family” – as many of the wives of Zulu kings do – in a small mining town in KwaZulu-Natal province.

It was as a cabaret singer performing at a restaurant in the coastal city of Durban that she caught the royal eye, the academic said.

Her senior status in the family was made clear at the king’s state coronation in December 2022 when she sat by his side.

But her position is now under threat, with the monarch saying in court papers that they have not lived as husband and wife for at least year and their marriage has irretrievably broken down.

The palace followed this by sending out invitations for the king’s wedding to a new bride, Nomzamo Myeni, set to take place in late January. The bride-price, known as lobola, had already been paid in cattle – a prized asset in Zulu culture.

Queen kaMayisela did not take any of this lying down, instituting separate court action to halt the wedding, which was postponed as a result.

Her argument was that the king – known to his subjects as “Ingonyama”, meaning Lion – would be committing the offence of “bigamy” without first “converting” his civil marriage to her into a traditional Zulu marriage.

But the judge threw out her case, saying she had had a “turnaround” in attitude as she had already agreed her husband could take other wives.

He noted the monarch had already done so – marrying Nozizwe kaMulela, the MD of Eswatini Bank, in 2022.

Prof Mazibuko explained that polygamy was not initially part of Zulu culture, in fact the first two kings were bachelors.

But it was embraced by their successors – King Misuzulu is the ninth monarch of the Zulu nation – and has become part of Zulu culture.

“That’s how we build families, especially the royal family,” Prof Mazibuko said.

Queen kaMulela comes from an influential family in Eswatini and the marriage was apparently arranged to strengthen the ties between the royal families.

Yet it is unclear whether the pair are still in a relationship, as the high-powered banker has not been spotted at Zulu cultural events for a while – with speculation their final marriage rituals have not been completed.

The current king’s various marriage problems seem to stem from the fact that tradition has not been properly followed.

In the case of the first wife, he opted for a modern-day marriage, without a traditional wedding.

“For a marriage to be perfected under Zulu custom, there has to be a public gathering, with song and dance,” Prof Xulu said.

“You, as the bride, must lead with a solo song and the bride-maids dance with you, and you carry a spear which you give to the king – and then there is no going back.”

This has left Queen kaMayisela without the protection of tradition – and only the offer of monthly maintenance of $1,100 (£850) for a year, though she was likely to demand more before returning to the life of a commoner, Prof Xulu said.

In the case of the second wife, the academic said lobola had been paid in January 2022, but royal insiders suggest the king felt “those who went to pay didn’t have the authority to do so” – plus this union has not been marked with a public ceremony.

The fortunes of the would-be third wife, Nomzamo Myeni, remain unclear as the king failed to marry her in January despite the court giving the go-ahead.

Prof Xulu said that in Zulu culture a “postponed” marriage usually never takes place.

Though Ms Myeni is still being seen with the king, accompanying him to a state event last week where she was referred to as a queen, suggesting their wedding may take place once the king’s divorce goes through.

Yet as a commoner she would bring no powerful connections with her, which may be why one of the monarch’s aides recently confirmed to local media there was “a new queen-to-be” – Sihle Mdluli, who hails from the royal family of a small ethnic group in South Africa.

The aide suggested she might be named “the mother of the nation” – a title that would make her the most senior queen with her children likely heirs.

But Prof Xulu said he would not be surprised if that wedding also failed to take place, as the king’s relationships all seemed to run into trouble.

“I am not sure whether he was ready to be king, and whether he has good advisers,” the academic said.

He pointed out that the monarch had also been behaving erratically in his public life, sacking several senior officials in his retinue.

On top of this, he has installed himself as the chairman of the board of a financially lucrative land trust, of which he is the sole trustee.

The trust was controversially established shortly before South Africa became a democracy in 1994, giving it control of about 2.8 million hectares (seven million acres) of land in KwaZulu-Natal.

King Misuzulu has also suspended all members of the board, bar one, accusing them of being uncooperative.

He did this against the advice of the government, which pointed out that as chairman he would be required to account to parliament about the trust’s operations – something that would not be in keeping with his status as a constitutional monarch.

The dispute remains unresolved, giving the government a major political headache as it tries to avoid going head-to-head with the king.

Prof Xulu said he would not be surprised if at some point a powerful rival faction within the royal family launched a fresh bid to dethrone him by asking the courts to rule that he is not “fit and proper” to be king.

The monarch’s half-brother, Prince Simakade Zulu, who is the late king’s eldest son, has long coveted the crown, but his backers were outmanoeuvred by Misuzulu’s allies in succession discussions.

President Ramaphosa later gave Misuzulu a “certificate of recognition”, paving the way for him to be funded by the government.

But Prince Simakade’s supporters did not give up – going to the High Court to declare his state coronation “unlawful” – and won.

The court ruled that President Ramaphosa had failed to comply with the law, which required him to order an investigation into objections to Misuzulu’s accession.

The status quo remains, pending the outcome of an appeal.

The scandals have the potential to weaken the king’s position should it come to another tussle for the crown.

Though Prof Mazibuko noted there had always been fierce competition for the Zulu crown – except these days it takes place in court instead of a bloody battlefield.

“He is not the first king to go through a lot,” she said. “I hope he survives, and everything settles down.”