South African politicians, traditional leaders and celebrities gathered Thursday to bid farewell to zulu king goodwill zwelithini, with tributes led by president Cyril Ramaphosa, who declared “a huge tree has fallen.”
The leader of South Africa’s largest ethnic group, who died of illness last week, was laid to rest overnight at a palace near his birthplace in an intimate ceremony referred to as a “planting” in Zulu culture.
Guests sporting a variety of black dress and traditional attire included ex-president Jacob Zuma, the newly-elected Confederation of African Football president Patrice Motsepe, and Princess Charlene of Monaco.
Zwelithini’s six widows sat in the front row, bowed heads bowed covered in thick black lace.
Zwelithini was the longest-serving monarch in Zulu history, reigning for half a century through years of apartheid and the transition to multi-racial democracy.
He died early on Friday in the eastern city of Durban, aged 72, after weeks of treatment for a diabetes-related illness.
