MISIZULU WHY DO THIS TO OUR QUEEN
A year ago, Nozizwe Mulela was an ordinary woman with an extraordinary resume. A corporate lawyer, who had branched into banking, she was at the top of the game.
Her appointment as MD of Swazi Bank was hailed as a positive move, akin to Ambrose Mandvulo’s appointment of yesteryear. A year later, her professional accomplishments pale in comparison to the international joke she has become owing to one King Misuzulu kaZwelithini. As has been widely reported in leading KZN publications, things have turned sour between the Zulu monarch and his second wife.
Theirs was initially hailed as an age-appropriate marriage, unlike what has previously happened in eSwatini and by his own father King Zwelithini who married a young girl. Swazi women, many of whom are uninterested in monarchy as an institution, celebrated her union. It was widely known that she and Mizuzulu had been in a romantic relationship. Never you mind that in the same period, he fathered children with his cousin, and with a woman who is now his first wife. And yet can a relationship borne of unequal power and authority be appropriate? Nozizwe, with all her qualifications and pedigree has been cast into the wilderness. There is no clarity about what her position is.
In the ceremonies leading up to Misuzulu’s coronation, her absence was conspicuous. Then to add insult to injury, it seems she was not invited to the coronation. Based on footage taken by South African media, she arrived with a group from eSwatini, and they were initially not allowed to enter the stadium. She was resplendent in Zulu attire, only to be subjected to humiliation of the highest order. To what end? To the hopes of being Ndlunkhulu ? A culture that is built on subjugating women dictates Misuzulu continue taking more wives. Her already tenuous position in the royal house will only continue to get shakier. So maybe our appeal is less to Misuzulu, and more to Nozizwe Mulela. Delete the instagram account and hire a great lawyer to handle your divorce. There’s nothing for you KwaZulu.