Prince Cedza Dlamini

Prince Cedza Dlamini
Prince Cedza Dlamini
Born	24 February 1976
Issue	Prince Cabumuzi Dlamini; Prince Thandolwethu; Prince Lethokuhle
House	House of Dlamini
Religion	Christian
Occupation	Humanitarian

Last updated January 18, 2024

Prince Cedza Dlamini of Swaziland, otherwise known as Prince Cedza (born 1976), grandson of King Sobhuza II of Swaziland and step-grandson of Nelson Mandela, is a humanitarian, youth activist, spokesman for the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals , and the founder of the Ubuntu Institute for Young Social Entrepreneurs. His work promotes future international cooperation by initiating and supporting global networks of young leaders through which they can work collectively to address such current world problems as HIV/AIDS, poverty, hunger and illiteracy. Prince Cedza also advocates stronger ties between the United States and South Africa, occupying a seat as a director on the board of the South African Chamber of Commerce in America.

Family and background

Prince Cedza is the third son of eight children born to HRH Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini of Swaziland, MBA, born 1950, a son of the late King Sobhuza II and an elder brother of the reigning king of Swaziland, Mswati III. His father married Zenani Mandela, born 1959, the eldest daughter of Nelson and his (second) former wife, Winnie Mandela. His father and step-mother are joint proprietors of a business, Mandela, Dlamini and Associates (MDA). His father's master's degree was earned at Boston University, and Prince Cedza also studied in Boston.

Prince Cedza is, by birthright and lineage, a royal prince of the dynasty which rules the kingdom of Swaziland, the House of Dlamini. The Dlaminis are Christian and, in Swaziland, practice traditional polygamy, so that the royal family has hundreds of members, many of whom are actively involved in government, civil service, diplomacy, or industry in Swaziland, but many of whom live outside of their native realm. Because of the size of the family, only the king inherits substantial wealth or receives a civil list; other family members usually work for a living.

Nonetheless, Prince Cedza is legally eligible to inherit the crown of Swaziland, although his accession is a remote likelihood. Moreover, the Dlaminis continue to practice royal intermarriage with other African dynasties, particularly with the houses of Traditional Leadership and Paramount Chieftainships in South Africa: Cedza's adoptive maternal family, the Mandelas of the royal Madiba clan, descend in the direct, legitimate male line from the Paramount Chiefs of the Thembu people, a dignity still held by that tribe's sovereign, Buyelekhaya Zwelinbanzi Dalindyebo. Cedza's aunt, Mantfombi, a sister of his father's, was the Great Wife of Goodwill Zwelithini, the late king of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

Prince Cedza acknowledges when speaking publicly to student audiences that he went through a self-indulgent phase as a youth, before realizing that he was squandering his heritage and his future. He resolved to resume his education, and earned his bachelor's degree in International Relations from Tufts University in Boston in 2005.

Education and employment

Prince Cedza began working as a young man with MDA, his family's international business consulting firm in Johannesburg. It was while at MDA that he has said he was exposed to the many obstacles faced by emerging black entrepreneurs in the post-apartheid South Africa. He resolved to educate himself in marketing and return one day to expand resources and provide economic opportunities for Southern Africans.

Prince Cedza next worked for the Mitsubishi Corporation in South Africa. For several years there he was an assistant to the Official Development Assistance Manager, facilitating development programs between Japan and all 14 countries in the Southern African Development Community region. His duties involved despatching mobile clinics to poor and rural areas, and assistance in developing Mitsubishi's African affirmative action policy.

Prince Cedza moved to the United States to study international relations in 2000.

United Nations work

In October 2003, Prince Cedza was appointed Co-chair for the World Youth Peace Summit.

In June 2004, Prince Cedza was recruited by the United Nations Development Programme to participate in the first Pan African Youth Leadership Summit held in Dakar, Senegal focused on achieving Millennium Development Goals in Africa. Subsequently he was appointed as a spokesman for that campaign and has represented his continent in youth leadership conferences (e.g. UN's World Youth Peace) in Japan, Bosnia and Canada with other young leaders to seek peaceful resolutions to regional and global conflicts and to promote tolerance between cultures and faiths.

After September 11, 2001, Prince Cedza began a speaking tour throughout the U.S. that promotes global forgiveness, compassion, and the use of dialogue - instead of violence – as a powerful tool for conflict resolution. To date, Cedza has spoken to more than fifty non-profit organizations and academic institutions with audiences ranging from 200-14,000 people. He especially seeks to inspire young people, speaking on youth empowerment and leadership. Through his 3 Principles of Success, Prince Cedza encourages youths to realize that with the right attitude they can overcome difficult challenges.

Social entrepreneurship

In 2005, Prince Cedza founded the Ubuntu Institute for Young Social Entrepreneurs, a youth-led non-profit organization focused on leadership enrichment, practical skills training and fundraising which recruits potential social entrepreneurs from all sectors of African society.^[1]

The Ubuntu Institute fosters implementation of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals through poverty alleviation programmes targeting unemployed youth from rural and semi-rural communities.^[1] Prince Cedza is committed to leading Ubuntu in the application of business principles to run a sustainable social enterprise.^[1] He has expressed concern that too often social entrepreneurs rely on donor funding and become less innovative. He maintains that South Africa has a plentiful supply of talent, opportunity and emerging entrepreneurs, but inadequate skills continue to be an obstacle in effectively tapping opportunities.

"Sustainability is key," says the prince. "A lot of people who start NGOs are looking for donor funding. A social entrepreneur knows he can't just depend on funding, he needs to be creative in all business aspects."^[1]

Among Ubuntu's projects is an international internship programme, through which successful candidates, mostly Africans, undertake internships in resorts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and China for six to 12 months.^[1] Afterwards, Ubuntu assists the interns with employment placement in the hospitality industry. Dlamini says the programme has thus far helped more than 1000 young people who would have been unemployed.^[1]

Ubuntu generates over two-thirds of its funding from donors, but Prince Cedza aims for the organisation to eventually generate 60% of its funding from investments. Its investment arm, Ubuntu Institute Holdings, currently produces about a third of the institute's income.^[1] Dlamini would like donor funding to account for no more than 40% when the investment arm matures.^[1] With partners such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Passenger Rail Agency of SA, Ubuntu is now developing programmes to meet the demand for rail engineering and related artisan skills.^[1]

Awards/Recognition

In recognition of his work for social causes around the world, Prince Cedza has been honored in the United States with Keys to the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts and Little Rock, Arkansas .

Related Research Articles

Eswatini is an absolute monarchy with constitutional provisions and Swazi law and Custom. The head of state is the king or Ngwenyama, currently King Mswati III, who ascended to the throne in 1986 after the death of his father King Sobhuza II in 1982 and a period of regency. According to the constitution of Eswatini, the king and Ingwenyama is a symbol of unity and the eternity of the Swazi nation. By tradition, the king reigns along with his mother or a ritual substitute, the Ndlovukati. The former was viewed as the administrative head of state and the latter as a spiritual and national head of state, with real power counterbalancing that of the king, but during the long reign of Sobhuza II the role of the Ndlovukati became more symbolic. The king appoints the prime minister from the legislature and also appoints a minority of legislators to both chambers of Libandla (parliament), with help from an advisory council. The king is allowed by the constitution to appoint some members to parliament for special interests. These special interests are citizens who might have been left out by the electorate during the course of elections or did not enter as candidates. This is done to balance views in parliament. Special interests could be people of gender, race, disability, business community, civic society, scholars, chiefs and so on. The Senate consists of 30 members, of which some are appointed by the king on recommendation of the advisory council and others elected by the lower house. The House of Assembly has 65 seats, of which 55 are occupied by elected representatives from the 55 constituencies around the country, and 10 are appointed by the king on recommendation of the advisory council. The attorney general is the ex-officio member. Elections are held every five years.

Artifacts indicating human activity dating back to the early Stone Age have been found in the Kingdom of Eswatini. The earliest known inhabitants of the region were Khoisan hunter-gatherers. Later, the population became predominantly Nguni during and after the great Bantu migrations. People speaking languages ancestral to the current Sotho and Nguni languages began settling no later than the 11th century. The country now derives its name from a later king named Mswati II. Mswati II was the greatest of the fighting kings of Eswatini, and he greatly extended the area of the country to twice its current size. The people of Eswatini largely belong to a number of clans that can be categorized as Emakhandzambili, Bemdzabu, and Emafikamuva, depending on when and how they settled in Eswatini.

Mswati III is Ngwenyama (king) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family.

Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu was the King of the Zulu nation from 1968 to his death in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swazi people</span> Bantu ethnic group of Southern Africa

The Swazi or Swati are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, inhabiting Eswatini, a sovereign kingdom in Southern Africa, and South Africa's Mpumalanga province. EmaSwati are part of the Nguni-language speaking peoples whose origins can be traced through archaeology to East Africa where similar traditions, beliefs and cultural practices are found.

Sobhuza II,, was Ngwenyama (King) of Swaziland for 82 years and 254 days, the longest verifiable reign of any monarch in recorded history.

King Mswati II, also known as Mswati and Mavuso III, was the king of Eswatini between 1840 and 1868. He was also the eponym of Eswatini. Mswati is considered to be one of the greatest fighting kings of Eswatini.

Labotsibeni Mdluli, also known as Gwamile, was the queen mother and queen regent of Swaziland.

Ntfombi has been Queen Mother of Eswatini since 1986. She was also regent of Eswatini from 1983 to 1986. She is the mother of King Mswati III.

Ndlovukati is the siSwati title for the female monarch of Eswatini. The title is given preferentially to the mother of the reigning king, or to another female royal of high status if the king's mother has died. The title is roughly equivalent to a queen mother, though she is jointly head of state, ruling alongside the Ngwenyama. The title can also mean doctor. When there is no king, the Ndlovukati rules as queen regent. The current Ndlovukati is Queen Ntfombi Tfwala, the mother of Ngwenyama Mswati III and wife of Sobhuza II. She was also queen regent from 1983 until 1986 when Mswati became king. The most notable queen regent was Ndlovukati Labotsibeni Mdluli who ruled Swaziland from 1899 until 1921 when she abdicated for Sobhuza II.

Sobhuza I (1788–1850) was king of Eswatini, from 1815 to 1850. Born around the year 1788, his father was King Ndvungunye, and his mother was Somnjalose Simelane. He was called Somhlolo, meaning "Mysterious man", upon his birth because his father, Ndvungunye, was struck by lightning. When Sobhuza was king, Lojiba Simelane, instead of his mother, Somnjalose was Queen Mother because Somnjalose was an inhlanti or support bride to Lojiba. Somhlolo is a greatly revered king of Eswatini. He had his first royal capital or kraal at Zombodze in the Shiselweni region, but moved it north to new Zombodze in central Eswatini. Swazis celebrate Somhlolo Day every September 6 as their Independence Day and the national stadium is named Somhlolo stadium. Sobhuza was succeeded by his son Mswati II and his wife Tsandzile Ndwandwe as Queen Mother after a short regency by Queen Lojiba Simelane. Sobhuza by the time of his death had conquered a country claimed to reach to modern day Barberton in the north, Carolina in the west, Pongola River in the south and Lubombo Mountains in the east.

Lobamba is a city in Eswatini, and is one of the two capitals, serving as the legislative, traditional, spiritual, seat of government of the Parliament of Eswatini, and Ludzidzini Royal Village, the residence of Queen Ntfombi, the Queen Mother.

Dr. Moses Mathendele Dlamini is a Swazi political figure. He was a Senator and is acting chief of Mbelebeleni in the Shiselweni District. He was also Swaziland's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2006 to 2008. Since October 2008 he has been serving in king Mswati III's advisory council or Swaziland national council standing committee(Liqoqo supreme council). Currently he is a member of the Ludzidzini Council 2022-2023

The House of Dlamini is the royal house of the Kingdom of Eswatini. Mswati III, as king and Ngwenyama of Eswatini, is the current head of the house of Dlamini. Swazi kings up to the present day are referred to as Ingwenyama and they rule together with the Queen Mother who is called Indlovukati. The Swazi kings, like other Nguni nations, practice polygamy and thus have many wives and children.

Prince Sozisa Dlamini of Swaziland was Chief of Gundvwini. He became the Authorized Person of Swaziland from 1982 to 1985 after the death of King Sobhuza II, and in 1983 was briefly the acting Regent of the country, after he deposed Queen Dzeliwe. From 1983 he was Authorized Person to the new Queen Regent, Ntfombi, with greater powers. Although lacking the title, he was for most purposes the de facto ruler of the country. He fell from power in July 1984, after being accused of planning a coup, and was suspended as Authorized Person until Queen Ntfombi terminated his appointment on 1 November 1985.

Dlamini is an African clan and surname, common in South Africa and Eswatini. It is the most common surname in South Africa. Most people whose surname is Dlamini are also members of the Dlamini clan.

Ndvungunye was King of Swaziland from 1780 until his death in 1815 after succeeding his father, King Ngwane III following a very brief regency of Ndlovukati LaYaka Ndwandwe. Very little has been recorded of the quality of leadership under his reign. Ndvungunye built his residence or Sigodlo near Mhlosheni on feet of the eMhlosheni hills in Shiselweni, the south east of modern Swaziland near Zombodze, where his father Ngwane had settled during his reign. His rule thus indicated a period of limited expansion and consolidation which is overshadowed by that of his son King Sobhuza I. The NShiselweni settlements established under his reign which he placed under the guardianship of his chief Sukumbili Mbokane would not however provide a solid foundation for the future Swazi state as indicated by attacks after his death on Sobhuza by Ndwandwe chiefs. Ndvungunye died around 1815 after being struck by lightning. Ndvungunye was married to Lojiba Simelane and Somnjalose Simelane. It was with the latter that he had his son Sobhuza I. Lojiba however became Queen mother as she was a senior sister to Somnjalose. Sobhuza I became the king in 1815 after the regency of Queen Lomvula Mndzebele.

Princess Zenani Mandela-Dlamini is a South African diplomat and traditional aristocrat. She is the sister-in-law of the King of eSwatini, Mswati III, and the daughter of Nelson Mandela and his former wife, Winnie Mandela.

Shiyiwe Mantfombi Dlamini Zulu was the queen consort of the Zulu nation from 1977 to 2021 as the Great Wife to King Goodwill Zwelithini. She served as the queen regent from March 2021 to April 2021.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Makholwa, Andile (15 November 2012). "A Royal Endeavour". Financial Mail. Johannesburg, South Africa. BDFM Publishers (Pty) Ltd. Retrieved November 15, 2012.

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[fm-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Makholwa, Andile (15 November 2012). "A Royal Endeavour". Financial Mail. Johannesburg, South Africa. BDFM Publishers (Pty) Ltd. Retrieved November 15, 2012.

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