Nozizwe Ka Mulela: Eswatini queen who wears many hats

Queen Nozizwe Ka Mulela of Eswatini during the interview at the Sommerset Westview Hotel in Nairobi on November 25, 2022. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NMG

Were you a journalist, and you got the opportunity to interview a queen, what questions would first run through your mind? Probably whether you will be required to show respect when she walks through the door, whether there’s a certain distance you will need to keep, or even whether there are certain questions that would get you thrown out of the room if you dared ask them.

These, and many other questions ran through my mind when I learned that I was going to interview Queen Nozizwe Ka Mulela, the second wife of King Misuzulu Sinqobile ka Zwelithini-Zulu. And yes, I was apprehensive.

But this apprehension flew out the window immediately after she walked in. She was regal-looking alright, tall and trim with an air of assurance about her, but with a comprehensive, easy smile on her face and an outstretched slim hand that clasped mine warmly and held on for a few seconds.

“Hello, I’m Queen Nozizwe, it’s a pleasure to meet you," she said. Her fingers were bare, devoid of any rings, and she spotted a short, elegant French manicure.

She had no entourage, just three people, a man, and two women, whom she joked and laughed with as if they were peers. Queen Nozizwe was in the country at the invitation of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) which was holding a gala dinner that aimed to raise funds in support of over 16 million plus girls in Africa to access education.

She was the chief guest at this event, which took place on November 25. It was no coincidence that she had this honor, you see, Queen Nozizwe is the patron of Faweswa, (FAWE, Eswatini chapter) an organization that her mother, Prof Lydia Makhubu, a professor of Chemistry, started with other women educationalists back in the late 1980s. As Queen Nozizwe would later put it during the interview, this was not just an organization, but a place she considered home, a cause she is very passionate about.