King Misuzulu has sent a delegation to start lobola negotiations for Princess Sihle Mdluli.
Image: Sibonelo Ngcobo / independent newspapers
In keeping with an African tradition, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini has sent his emissaries to the family of his new bride-to-be, Princess Sihle Mdluli, in Mpumalanga, to apologise for her overstaying in the royal house.
The princess, who is said to be in her 20s, has been with the king since the beginning of last month, which elders from both families were said to have raised concerns about since it was unAfrican.
This concern is said to have prompted the king to dispatch the delegation to Mpumalanga last weekend to formally report to her family that she is in the Zulu royal kraal.
Insiders said the emissaries, which included the king’s governmental representative, Prince Gumbela Zulu, accompanied by a number of amabutho ( warriors), offered the king’s apology to the family and offered several cattle as a gesture of apology.
Princess Sihle Mdluli, has moved a step further to become potential mother of the Zulu nation.
Image: Supplied
The princess is currently at a newly built Emashobeni Palace in Pongola, north-east of KwaZulu-Natal.
A source said the princess’s family then handed the list of lobola expenses to the delegation should the king want to proceed with lobola.
“Contrary to various reports that suggested that the king had paid lobola for the princess, it was to report first that she was with the royal family. This is in keeping with an African tradition that no man can just take away someone’s daughter and treat her as a wife without paying lobola. So the king as custodian of culture and tradition cannot be seen as the one breaking the same,” said the source.
University of KwaZulu-Natal-based cultural expert, Professor Sihawu Ngubane, said the king should have done so immediately when the princess arrived at the palace, in keeping with the tradition.
He said unlike today where a boyfriend would just send a delegation to the girlfriend’s family to pay lobola, in the olden days, a boyfriend would at night go and fetch the girlfriend and bring her to his home, then dispatch a delegation in the early hours of the following day to inform the woman’s family about her whereabouts before the family could even notice that she was not home.
“Remember that the delegation carried no money or cattle with it since no one knew what lobola would cost. After the delegation has informed the woman’s family of the boyfriend’s intention to marry her, the woman's family will give the delegation the list of lobola expenses, including the number of cattle. I think this is what the king’s delegation had gone to Mpumalanga for, not to pay lobola but to convey the king’s intention to marry her,” said Ngubane.
The king’s royal chancellor, Sibongiseni Mageza Mbambo, confirmed that the king did send a delegation, however, he refused to discuss the details of the engagement, saying it is a private and internal matter between the elders of the families.
The princess is from the Mkhatshwa royal family. Her mother, Khulile Mkhatshwa, is inkosi of the tribe known as Mawewe in Nkomazi. She became inkosi in 2014 when her father died without a male child.
The king was said to be considering making her a mother of the Zulu nation - meaning her lobola would be paid by the Zulus and she would give birth to an heir to the Zulu throne.
willem.phungula@inl.co.za
