“His Majesty will be remembered as a much-loved, visionary king who made an important contribution to cultural identity, national unity and economic development in KwaZulu-Natal and thereby to the development of our country as a whole,” Ramaphosa wrote about Twitter Friday morning.
“Dear Honorable President, I humbly ask you to suspend the first warning for Covid. We must bury our king as he deserves! He deserves much better than 50 people …”, Mageba wrote on Twitter.
Lwazi Monyetsane, 33, a Zulu whose family lives in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal, told CNN that the late monarch deserved a state funeral.
However, Monyetsane fears that Covid-19 security protocols could be overlooked by admirers of the late Zulu king.
“I know for sure that KwaZulu people will not mind Covid protocols. The death of a king is a big issue and everyone will want to be part of it or at least want to attend,” she said.
“The government will have to be very deliberate about how they proceed with the planning of the funeral. KwaZulu people love King Zwelithini. I will keep a close eye on how we handle it,” Monyetsane added.
Mvangeli Nzuza (31), from KwaZulu-Natal, also told CNN that King Zwelithini should get a state funeral – but said it should be done virtually to ensure that the Covid regulations of South Africa are complied with.
“The whole world should stream the funeral,” Nzuza said, adding that “there should not be one 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 passing of his father. He is the tallest Zulu monarch.
The Zulu kingdom resisted the invasion of the area by British soldiers in the 1800s under the tolerance of Zwelithini.
“He was powerful,” Kwena Moabelo, a 46-year-old Johannesburg resident, told CNN. “He was more progressive than his predecessors.”