New Zulu king crowned in South Africa

Misuzulu ka Zwelithini has been crowned the Zulu king in a traditional ceremony in South Africa.

The coronation comes after a year-long family feud, where some royals had argued he was not the rightful heir to the throne, with claims that the late king’s will was forged.

Thousands of people gathered at the KwaKhangelamankengane Palace in KwaZulu-Natal to see the new king, who entered the sacred cattle kraal to invoke his ancestors before being announced to both the living and the dead as the new Zulu monarch.

The throne has no formal political power but is still influential as a fifth of South Africa’s population is Zulu.