Swazi burial after five-year wait

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A man kept in a mortuary for five years because of a chieftaincy dispute has finally been buried at his homestead in Mkhwakhweni, southern Swaziland.

The funeral, attended by some 600, ends an agonising five-year-long official mourning period for his two widows.

Swaziland's King Mswati III had ruled the chief, Mzikayise Ntshangase, should not be buried at his homestead because of claims he was evicted from the area.

After a court battle, the Supreme Court ruled the funeral could take place.

Songs of joy

There were scenes of celebration, characterized by religious songs of joy, during Mzikayise Ntshangase's funeral at his homestead of Mkhwakhweni.

The funeral was not sorrowful: mourners had come to pay their respects to a man they still regard as a chief of Mkhwakhweni.

Lindimpi Ntshangase, son to the late chief, could not contain his joy when the coffin was lowered into the ground in a grave next to the family cattle kraal.

Accompanied by a group of Zulu warriors, he sang war songs, traditionally sung when a Zulu descendant like the deceased is buried.

Police officers kept a watchful eye on proceedings, after threats of disruption were received from a faction led by a princess who claims to be an acting chief of the same area.

Friends and family had waited five years to bury the chief

Mr Ntshangase had lain in the mortuary since 22 December, 2002.

The burial follows a long-running court battle by the family of the deceased, which ended when the country's Supreme Court ruled in their favour.

Initially, King Mswati had ordered that Mr Ntshangase be buried elsewhere, because he had lost his position as chief of Mkhwakhweni before his death when his brother married a princess and thereby climbed in the social ranking.

Human rights lawyer Muzi Masuku said mourners had every reason to celebrate the significant funeral of a man who for almost five years had been denied the right to be respectfully buried at his homestead.

The Catholic Church Bishop in Swaziland, Ncamiso Ndlovu, was one of the speakers at the funeral.

During the long court battle, church groups had offered to bury Mr Ntshangase on behalf of his family because of the protracted delays.