I couldn’t help laughing at the fulminations from people who could not understand why King Goodwill Zwelithini’s death was finding so much traction in mainstream media, a privilege that has not been enjoyed by other African kings.
Put your emotions aside and consider the following. It can be argued that Zwelithini himself did nothing remarkable during his 50-year reign, the longest on the continent.
But he has history on his side. His great-great-grandfather King Cetshwayo was the first “uncivilised” king to defeat the mighty British Empire at the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879.
It was a humiliating defeat that impressed the Brits who have always loved a good war. Newspapers in Britain dedicated swathes of space to this defeat.
All of a sudden, the Brits and parts of Europe were asking themselves “who are these Zulus?” Fascination with “these Zulus” even spread to the Americas.
The novelist Zakes Mda published a novel two years ago called The Zulus of New York. The book captures this international fascination with Zulus after Cetshwayo’s defeat of the Brits.
When the Brits finally defeated the Zulus and capturedg Cetshwayo they did not kill him, nor torture him.
Call it voyeuristic obsession or what have you, but the queen wanted to see this man who had inflicted a crushing defeat on the strongest and most feared army in the world at that time.
Indeed, Cetshwayo was taken to England where he was dressed in elegant European clothes, given gifts and treated as a guest of the queen.
They spent hours talking and laughing. No king from “the uncivilised world” had been treated with such warmth and respect.
The media covered Cetshwayo’s movements in England. There are pictures to prove it.
When Cetshwayo got back home, he found his kingdom in ruins. The Brits forced him to break down his army.
After his death, and when his son Prince Dinuzulu took the throne, in British law he was no longer a king but a chief who was a mere servant of the Brits. The Zulus were no longer a nation, just a tribe in the British dominion.
The Zulus were angry and told Dinuzulu to fight to be restored as king. When he tried to assert his power during the Bhambatha Rebellion of 1906, the Brits arrested him and sent him and his family to St Helena.
This is an island where the Brits kept their military and political foes. Napoleon Bonaparte, of France, had spent time on the same island many years before as a prisoner.
Again, the arrest of Dinuzulu attracted media attention not only in Britain but in other British territories such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Cetshwayo and his uncle King Shaka are arguably the two most written about kings from the so-called “uncivilised” world. There are so many books about their reigns and military strategies.
Cetshwayo’s popularity, coupled with the legend of Shaka and his less than illustrious, but equally prominent brother King Dingane, ensured that the story of the Zulus stayed uppermost in European minds for a long time.
During the reigns of Cetshwayo’s grandson King Solomon, and the latter’s son King Bhekuzulu, the Brits still kept an open line to the Zulu royal house, even though they knew that these potentates were mere shadows of their ancestors.
It was no coincidence that when Zwelithini celebrated 40 years of rule in 2011, Prince Charles and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles, were invited guests.
Zwelithini himself does not leave a legacy that tickles the cockles of my heart. He is just a product of an illustrious history.
That is why his death was covered by even the New York Times, CNN and the BBC, colonial and imperialist establishments which do not pay too much attention to Africa.
Bayede!
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.