King Misuzulu and his estranged bride-to-be Nomzamo Myeni appeared to have mended their marital problems as the couple attended the opening ceremony of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature on Thursday.
The king, as per tradition, is always accompanied by the queen of his choice at official events such as the opening of the provincial legislature.
When the king acknowledged guests, he referred to Myeni as uNdlunkulu Mdolomba (queen Mdolomba, a clan name of the Myenis).
Her presence at the legislature, where she accompanied the king on his official trip, dispelled rumours of a marital rift between them, rumours which started soon after the king called off their widely announced traditional wedding towards the end of January. Although there was no reason given by the king or the royal family, many people speculated that the royal family was not happy with Myeni as she has children from a previous relationship.
When the king called off the wedding, he also stripped Myeni of spousal benefits which included security detail and this further fueled rumours that their relationship had ended
Their separation was further emphasised by the emergence of a new girlfriend in the life of the king a few weeks ago. Princess Sihle Mdluli from the Mdluli royal family in Mpumalanga province was touted as the king’s future queen who will take over the position of the mother of the Zulu nation as she was said to be ‘pure and was a royal’.
According to African culture a woman who is to be the mother of the nation must be pure and have royal blood. Irrespective of whether she is the first queen or not, her son must be the heir to throne and succeed his father as king after death. Another important cultural aspect for the mother of the nation is that her lobola must be paid by the king’s subjects.
The king and Myeni’s supposed wedding was also legally challenged by the king’s first wife queen Ntokozo Mayisela who in her papers in Pietermaritzburg High Court argued that she and the king had a civil marriage which forbids either of them to marry again unless the current marriage has been ended.
However the court dismissed Mayisela’s application on the basis that there was no proof that the traditional event, which had been announced, would amount to a legal wedding. The court further stated even if the respondent (king) does marry Myeni, the couple will still have to go to a Department of Home Affairs office and register the marriage for it to be considered legal.
