Anglican Church Reverend Dr Thabo Magkoba prayed and conducted the rituals on King Misuzulu.Picture: Doctor Ngcobo/African News Agency(ANA)
Durban — Nazareth Baptist Church’s Ebuhleni faction, widely under the leadership of Mduduzi Shembe, of whom King Misuzulu is a member, said it was not bothered by his Anglican Church’s anointing during his coronation last week.
The church, popularly known as KwaShembe, weighed in on the matter after a public outcry from the African traditionalists who had questioned the rituals conducted on the king by the church, which was founded through a missionary system under British rule. Many Africans argued that the missionary system was an integral part of the colonisation agenda of European imperialists like Britain.
Speaking to the Daily News on Wednesday, the KwaShembe spokesperson Thokozani Mncwabe said although King Misuzulu was a member of his church, the church was not bothered by the rituals conducted by Anglican Reverend Thabo Makgoba because it meant nothing.
Mncwabe said their leader, Mduduzi, had conducted the ‘real’ rituals on the king long before he performed the kraal- entering ceremony in August. He said part of the rituals performed by his church leader Mduduzi, the king was taken to kraal, and all the Godly rituals was performed, including ‘issuing the king with Godly certificate’.
“We understand the concerns of the people, but to us, it meant nothing since our church leader was the one who had the real anointing of the king. Whatever rituals that would follow after ours would mean nothing. It was just for the public and the media,” said Mncwabe.
After people witnessed the Anglican rituals on the king on Saturday, many took to social media. While some seek clarity, some questioned the Anglican Church's presence, saying since the church has links with England, the rituals were conducted on behalf of the British monarch, which had colonised South Africa and the Zulu Nation, in particular.’
The Anglican rituals, which included the anointing of the king with the oil and the ring on his finger, were also questioned by the Zulu cultural organisation, Indonsa Yokusa Think tank, which expressed its disapproval of the rituals, which it said amounted to a recolonisation.
This prompted inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi, in his capacity as the king’s traditional prime minister, to call a media briefing on Tuesday where he defended the Anglican’s presence and the rituals which he said the king had agreed to.
Daily News