After King Goodwill Zwelithini's death, What next? (Patreon)

South Africa's biggest ethnic group, the Zulus, last month bid a final farewell to King Goodwill Zwelithini who died on 12th of march at the age of 72 after serving for half a century.

Under Zulu's funeral rites, he should be interred by a few select men — an event the palace calls a “planting” of his remains rather than a burial.

But how is the next Zulu leader decided and what powers do they have?

The secrecy on deciding a successor

The burial and funeral of Zulu monarchs have in the past been held in private and witnessed only by close family members.

And secrecy also shrouds the identity of Zwelithini’s successor.

Ordinarily, it would have been the eldest son born to the senior of his six wives, with whom he sired 28 children.

But his first son, Prince Lethukuthula Zulu, was killed aged 50 last November at his Johannesburg home.

It is a “complicating factor” that the man who would likely have been the “designated” king is already dead, said Somadoda Fikeni, a cultural heritage expert.

Historian and cultural analyst Ntuli Pikita said that while the palace will have resorted to a “very intricate way” of picking the successor, its inner circle should know already who the next king will be.

What is the role of the Zulu king? 

Zwelithini spoke to powerful political leaders and appeared in public with Nelson Mandela, was visited by President Cyril Ramaphosa and ex-president Jacob Zuma.

The Zulu king lacks executive power under the South African system, but has moral clout over more than 11 million Zulus, nearly a fifth of the country’s population.

At the fall of apartheid, traditional leaders were constitutionally recognised and they continue to play an important symbolic and spiritual role.

They advise legislators and have a say in cultural, land management and justice administration in their territories. The Zulu king remains the most influential of all these traditional leaders.

Nationwide, the state pays several hundred traditional chiefs, including a dozen kings and queens.

They ensure that customs are respected, reflecting the complexity of South African society where less than a tenth of the population speak English as their mother tongue.

The Zulu dynasty has almost been felled numerous times by trials, trysts and tragedies, but has stood steady through the centuries. The largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa today, counting in excess of 10 million people, the Zulus have a family tree with roots stretching as far back as the migration of the Bantu people from their origins in West Africa throughout the continent several hundred years ago.

They now face a challenge that threatens their growth and relevance. The late King Goodwill Zwelithini, who was laid to rest this week after serving for almost 50 years, leaves a legacy that is admirable, but not replicable.

King Zwelithini, a descendant of Shaka Zulu, was the Zulu kingdom’s eighth monarch and a political and cultural figurehead in South Africa. He became king in 1968, a time where South Africa’s tribal factions were being aggravated by apartheid-era legislation. He played a leading role in uniting the Zulus across the political divides, and later spearheaded the revival of cultural practices such as the Reed Dance and male circumcision.

Fast forward to 50 years later, and his successor will be inheriting a significantly different Zulu nation. His heir will be chosen by the family and advisors from amongst his 28 children.

The new leader will have to appeal to a people who, because of urbanization and globalization, may no longer center their identity around being Zulu, choosing rather to be multicultural. Some Zulus prioritize a national identity of being South African over the tribal identity of being Zulu. And others may have little interest in revering cultural practices that they consider patriarchal or outdated. King Zwelithini’s successor will need to be a leader with one foot in the shadow of his ancestors; and the other planted firmly in the light of tomorrow.