[imagesource: Zallo Images]

Five days after Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini passed away from complications brought on by COVID-19, he was laid to rest.

He was buried in a private funeral, which started yesterday and ended in the early hours of this morning.

The location of his grave is secret, and is only known to members of the Royal Family and a few others who attended the ceremony, which was preceded by Zulu traditions applied when a King is ‘planted’.

Per IOL, his funeral started at around 1PM yesterday, when his body was fetched from a mortuary in the CBD in Nongoma and taken to Kwakhethomthandayo palace, a few kilometres away.

The Amabutho fetched the remains of King Zwelithini, before the ‘planting’. You can hear that described from the one-minute mark below:

Mourners are paying their final respects to the late AmaZulu King Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuzulu, just hours before he will be laid to rest. The monarch will be planted by Amabutho in a ceremony expected to start at around midnight. #DStv403 pic.twitter.com/LlrD8DQsh2

— eNCA (@eNCA) March 17, 2021

More footage from that procession:

[WATCH] Live visuals from KwaNongoma. eNCA reporter, @sphagoge is there and has more details. #DStv403 pic.twitter.com/8cw76OyfvX

— eNCA (@eNCA) March 17, 2021

Here’s the motorcade procession carrying the body of the King through the town of kwaNongoma allowing for people to pay their final respects:

When the King arrived at the palace, senior Royals and Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the Zulu nation’s traditional prime minister, performed the requisite rituals.

It was done behind a thick wall of Zulu regiments who were determined to keep the rituals out of the public eye.

Since the king’s burial would be secret and conducted only by men, as per his wish, some rituals are kept private.

If you’re still unsure what ‘planting’ entails, per IOL, here’s senior IFP leader, Blessed Gwala, explaining how the King’s burial is different from ordinary burials.

“You can’t say the king is dead because he can’t die, an angel can’t die. He is a God-sent leader who has come down to do a particular assignment and rule over the people for a certain period, thereafter then he has to depart and allow the other one to take over,” he explained.

In Zulu culture, it’s believed that when the King dies, his spirit is transferred into the next king.

“So to say ukhotheme (bowed down) is ukhothema just as you kneel down and then that’s what it means because he will never die and to say nitshala iNkosi meaning that you plant iNkosi is because he will germinate in the next few days or months. The one that will actually be elected formally by the royal family will be the same one who actually has been planted in the past, so that’s how it works,” Gwala said.

King Zwelithini’s memorial service took place today.

[sources:iol&iol]