“His Majesty will be remembered as a much-loved visionary monarch who made an important contribution to cultural identity, national unity and economic development in KwaZulu-Natal and, through that, to the development of our country as a whole,” wrote Ramaphosa in Twitter on Friday morning.
“Dear honored president, I humbly ask you to suspend the level one alert for Covid, we need to bury our king the way he deserves! He deserves a lot more than 50 people …” wrote Mageba on Twitter.
Lwazi Monyetsane, 33, a Zulu whose family resides in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal, told CNN that the late monarch deserves an official funeral.
Monyetsane, however, fears that Covid-19’s security protocols could be disregarded by admirers of the late Zulu king.
“I know for sure that the people of KwaZulu will not care about Covid’s protocols. The death of a king is a big problem and everyone will want to be part of or at least attend,” she said.
“The government will have to be very intentional about how they will proceed with the funeral planning. The people of KwaZulu love King Zwelithini. I will be watching carefully how we will deal with this,” added Monyetsane.
Mvangeli Nzuza, 31, from KwaZulu-Natal, also told CNN that King Zwelithini should receive an official funeral – but said it should be done virtually to ensure compliance with South Africa’s Covid regulations.
“The whole world should broadcast the funeral,” said Nzuza, adding that “there should be no set of rules for normal South Africans and another for high-profile individuals.”
King Zwelithini ascended the throne more than 50 years ago, after the death of his father. He is considered the oldest Zulu monarch.
The Zulu Kingdom, under Zwelithini’s ancestors, resisted an invasion of the territory by British soldiers in the 19th century.
“He was powerful,” Kwena Moabelo, a 46-year-old Johannesburg resident, told CNN. “He was more progressive than his predecessors.”