By Agiza Hlongwane
Where there's love, there's a way... and a cool R1-million.
Just ask Mbongiseni Duma, the KwaZulu-Natal-born beau who is getting married to Zulu princess Ntombizosuthu in May.
Duma, a Gauteng-based businessman, has already paid a princely sum of nearly R1-million in lobolo - just so he can call the king's daughter his wife.
Previously, royal grooms have paid between 114 and 120 cows for a Zulu princess's hand.
And with the going rate for cows currently set at an estimated R8 000 each, Duma, who along with his wife-to-be runs a corporate gifting and in-house printing business in Johannesburg, would have forked out between R900 000 and R960 000.
That excludes the cost of the wedding, which takes place on May 2, at the groom's homestead in Pavensy, Underberg.
Confirming that plans for the wedding were at an advanced stage, King Goodwill Zwelithini's brother Prince Mbonisi Zulu told the Tribune on Friday that Duma had already fulfilled all procedures for lobolo.
"The requirements (for marrying the king's daughter) are the same. He has paid everything. He owes us nothing," he said.
The wedding comes barely seven weeks after an emotional-looking King Zwelithini gave his daughter Princess Thandeka to Sandile Mthiyane of Umlazi in an exclusive, glitzy ceremony in Durban in May.
The king is said to be feeling proud of the recent developments regarding his daughters.
"It's a good thing when the princesses get married," said Prince Mbonisi.
"These are the flowers of the nation. The king lets go of them with a good heart."
He said the princesses were brought up in accordance with the ideals of the Zulu reed dance, which preaches abstinence from sex until marriage and guides young women on how to behave.
"So when they have to go and build their own homes, it means he has raised them well. The king is proud and elated when his daughters leave home."
Approached for comment, Duma would not elaborate on the wedding plans, saying, "I'm a rural man, I don't want to say something that may be seen as disrespectful."
The jet-setting couple, known for their colourful dress sense, run Strategic Persuasions, described as a wholly black-owned promotional and marketing company.