King Misuzulu kaZwelithini.
The succession battle among the late King Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu’s sons, dubbed the Zulu Game of Thrones, has thrust the lucrative nature of the position being fought over into the spotlight.
A Zulu king wields significant political, social, and economic power as the traditional leader of more than 12 million people.
In KwaZulu-Natal, the provincial government is legally obliged to maintain the wellbeing of the king and his family, largely thanks to the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who negotiated special recognition for the Zulu monarchy in the lead up to the country’s first democratic elections in the early 1990s.
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