King Misuzulu having a chat with his third wife-to-be, queen Nomzamo Myeni at the battle of Isandlwana commemoration on Wednesday. Picture: Supplied
Despite being given the green light by the Pietermaritzburg High Court to proceed with his traditional wedding to his third wife-to-be, queen Nomzamo Myeni at the weekend, King Misuzulu has postponed the ceremony.
The wedding which was expected to draw people as far as Eswatini and other neighbouring countries was scheduled to take place at KwaKhangelamankengane Royal Palace on Sunday.
However, a senior prince close to the king said the wedding ceremony has been postponed. The prince said although no reason was given, the understanding was that the wedding ceremony should be paused so that the king could focus on the divorce court case against the queen he married in 2021.
“I think if you listened to court proceedings on Monday, you will recall that the king, in his papers, denied that he intended to marry anyone while his civil marriage was still in force. So, perhaps he wants to let the divorce case go first in line with his argument in court that he had no plans to marry while his first marriage is still in his force,” said the prince.
Dismissing the application of his first wife, queen Ntokozo Mayisela on Monday, Judge Sidwell Mngadi said there was no proof that the ceremony would be in fact a wedding.
Mngadi argued that if the couple were to get married traditionally, they would still need to go to Home Affairs to register it as a marriage, therefore, he would not stop a traditional function of the people of which the status no one knows.
The judge also questioned the queen’s application after she voluntarily consented to the polygamy in a letter she wrote to the royal family.
In what was construed as a statement that all is well between him and Myeni, the king arrived with her and sat side by side on the stage in full view of warriors and government officials. The queen appeared to still have her security detail despite a letter penned and signed purportedly by the king to the provincial director-general, Dr Nonhlanhla Mkhize
The letter was asking Mkhize to strip the queen of all her benefits including withdrawing her security detail. The letter also called off the wedding, however, the king denied its authenticity, saying in an exclusive interview that he would marry his wife “by force.”
Speaking in the battle of Isandlwana’s 146th commemoration on Wednesday, the king shied away from addressing governance and personal issues that dominated news headlines since last month, arguing that he has not yet ended his cultural seclusion.
“I know the media is expecting me to talk about Ingonyama Trust and Ithala, however, I will not do that since I have not yet ended my seclusion. I will address those issues and others after February 12 or speak about them during the opening of the House of Traditional (and Khoisan) leaders,” said the king.
Attempts to get the confirmation of the wedding’s postponement were unsuccessful because the king has no spokesperson or his representative after sacking prince Simphiwe Zulu last week.
willem.phungula@inl.co.za