Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini crowned in South Africa

 

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 After a year-long family feud, Misuzulu kaZwelithini has been crowned Zulu king in a traditional ceremony in South Africa.

The 48-year-old is the son of the previous king, but some royals had argued he was not the rightful heir and that the late king's will was in fact forged.

Thousands of people gathered at Saturday's traditional coronation at KwaKhangelamankengane Palace, where the king entered the sacred cattle kraal to invoke his ancestors before being announced to both the living and the dead as the new Zulu monarch.

Misuzulu Zulu, 47, is set to succeed her father, Goodwill Zwelithini, who died in March last year after 50 years at the helm, but a bitter succession dispute has threatened to overshadow the ceremony.

Although the title of king does not confer executive power, monarchs wield great moral influence over more than 11 million Zulus, who make up almost a fifth of South Africa’s population.

Men and women in colorful traditional dress gathered outside the Marble Palace on the hills of Nongoma, a small town in the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, the Zulu heartland, on Saturday.