Every 24th of September marks as the Heritage or Shaka day in South Africa which is usually characterized by speech delivery form the royal palace to Amabutho, this particular important part of the celebration was missing and a lot of people have been askinmg what could be responsible for Misuzulu missing in action.

Zulu monarch King Misuzulu kaZwelithini could not deliver his maiden uMkhosi weLembe — formerly known as Shaka’s Day — address on Friday as he was feeling unwell.

Prince Thulani Zulu ended up reading the speech that was meant to be King Misuzulu’s address to amabutho gathered at KwaDukuza, in Stanger.

Zulu also revealed that Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza, who is the chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders, had also been hospitalized. Chiliza was meant to introduce the king before he delivered his speech, however, his sudden illness resulted in him being rushed to hospital on Friday.

A spokesperson of the AmaZulu royal household, Prince Thulani Zulu, says King Misuzulu KaZwelithini could not deliver his Heritage Day speech due to ill health.  

Zulu read the speech on behalf of the king at celebrations in KwaDukuzu north of Durban. He says the king attended the event because of its significance despite having been in the hospital the previous day. 

In the speech, the king called for unity in the nation, to follow in the footsteps of King Shaka. 

Prince Thulani Zulu says, “Yesterday, the King was (stricken) by heavy flu, and we were expecting the King to be here today. He was hospitalized yesterday and it brought some confusion in my mind as the Doctor emphasized that he must not stand for a long time and he must not talk.

But he made a request to attend the ceremony as he is attending it for the first time, as it would be ashamed (sic) for him if he does not come. We made things easy for the King to read the speech.” 

In his speech that was delivered by Zulu, King Misuzulu Ka-Zwelithini emphasized the importance of unity among the AmaZulu people. 

“It’s another way of praying and asking for unity. He spoke about the relationship between Dingiswayo of Mthethwa tribe and the majesty King Shaka. As the Zulu nation, he stressed that we must be united and he stressed that there should be a relationship among the Kings. And he reminded the nation that all these people were united and we must be one and united Zulu nation.”