There is uncertainty over the health of South Africa’s Zulu king after his spokesman denied reports that he had been hospitalized and suspected of poisoning.
“It appears there is an orchestrated agenda and a desperate narrative to communicate slanderous and unsubstantiated claims about Her Majesty’s ill health,” the spokesperson told AFP by telephone. “The king underwent preventive and thorough medical examinations in the context of Covid and following the sudden death of his close adviser,” he added.
A clarification following a statement from the Royal Palace on Saturday night said that Misuzulu Zulu, 48, also known as Misuzulu kaZwelithini, was “hospitalized in Eswatini after falling ill” in the morning of the same day.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Zulu prime minister and influential member of the royal family, said in the statement that the hospitalization of the Zulu king followed the sudden death of his top adviser, about which he expressed “great concern”.
“[O conselheiro do rei] died suddenly and is suspected of being poisoned. When His Majesty began to feel unwell, it was suspected that he too had been poisoned,” explains Buthelezi.
The king preferred to be treated in Eswatini, the former Swaziland and the last absolute monarchy in Africa, than in South Africa, where his parents “were treated and died”.
“His Majesty has been placed under medical care and is in good health,” the palace said, adding it would leave the task of investigating a possible case of poisoning to authorities.
According to several police sources in Eswatini, the sovereign is being treated at the private hospital in Ezulwini, a few kilometers from the royal residence of Ludzidzini – the royal village of Ludzidzini is home to the House of Dlamini, the royal family of Eswatini, currently headed by Ngwenyama Mswati III and Ndlovukati Ntfombi.
“Roadblocks and armed officers were set up at the hospital,” one of the sources told France-Presse news agency (AFP).
In South Africa, monarchs and traditional leaders are recognized by the Constitution. Despite being kings with no executive power, they exercise deep moral authority and are revered by their people.
Misuzulu Zulu was crowned last year in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, in a ceremony attended by many of South Africa’s estimated 11 million Zulus, nearly one in five South Africans.
Son of the late King Goodwill Zwelithini and a favourite, the coronation sparked a palace war spearheaded by, in particular, the former king’s first wife, who had six wives and at least 28 children.
In September 2022, a Misuzulu Zulu council member was mysteriously shot dead on the sidelines of a traditional ceremony.
Source: DN
