King Misuzulu Sinqobile kaZwelithini, known as Misuzulu Zulu, officially assumed the crown of the Zulu nation, becoming the ninth monarch in the first coronation since South Africa became a democracy in 1994, the BBC reports. The ceremony also marks the official recognition of his reign by the South African government.
The 48-year-old Misuzulu succeeds King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, who ruled the nation for 53 years. While Misuzulu is Goodwill’s third oldest son, he is the first son of Goodwill’s Great Wife, Queen Mantfombi Dlamini, who died last year one month after her husband’s death. Misuzulu’s status as heir to the crown had been negotiated among the various houses.
The first King of the Zulus was Shaka Zulu, who united various tribes in southern Africa in 1816, turning the nation into a warrior people and shifting warfare among tribes from largely ceremonial practices with minimum loss of life to full warfare leading to the massacre of enemies.