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- The body of late Zulu Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu will leave Johannesburg for KwaNongoma on Wednesday.
- The regent died in Johannesburg on 29 April in the latest of a series of devastating blows to the royal family.
- Her funeral and memorial service will take place on Friday.
The journey home for late Zulu Queen Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu starts on Wednesday with a procession that will take her body to KwaNongoma in KwaZulu-Natal.
"It is a long and sombre procession," KwaZulu-Natal government spokesperson Lennox Mabaso told News24.
The regent died in Johannesburg last Thursday - the latest of a series of devastating blows to the royal family.
Groups of Zulu women who had participated in her many programmes arrived at the mortuary in Johannesburg early on Wednesday in traditional clothing, along with several chiefs, to accompany the queen home.
Her body will travel by road from Gauteng, through Mpumalanga, to her home province of KwaZulu-Natal.
People are expected to line the streets in some parts to pay their respects and provincial authorities are expected to assist with the traffic procession.
At the same time, the royal family is preparing to receive her body later on Wednesday.
A special provincial funeral will be held on Friday, with flags flying half-mast in South Africa.
Newzroom Afrika reported that a group of women clad in traditional clothing had already arrived at the mortuary in Hillbrow for the sombre day ahead.
[WATCH] Scenes outside the Hillbrow Mortuary. Maidens have come to collect the mortal remains of the Amazulu Regent Queen, Mantfombi Dlamini-Zulu. LM^ pic.twitter.com/Qmax4vzZnX
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) May 5, 2021
A royal entourage will accompany her on her final journey.
After her death, there were indications that there would be a legal challenge to who the rightful regent was until a new king ascended to the throne.
King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu died in March and one of his wives, Queen Sibongile Dlamini, is challenging his will.
READ | Zulu royal family crisis deepens
The KwaZulu-Natal government made four MECs available to assist with the arrangements - MEC for Transport and Community Safety Peggy Nkonyeni; MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development Bongi Sithole-Moloi; MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Sipho Hlomuka; and MEC for Arts, Culture, Sports and Recreation Hlengiwe Mavimbela.
This followed a consultation with the royal family.
We are outside the Johannesburg mortuary where Late Zulu Queen ,Her Majesty Queen Mantfombi’s Dlamini-Zulu’s remain will leave from.Izintombi (Zulu Maidens) have gone inside. @eNCA #RIPQueenMantfombi #ZuluRoyalFamily #zulu pic.twitter.com/ATuICD48Al
— Nqobile Madlala (@Nqobile_Mad) May 5, 2021
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