Prince Cedza Dlamini - Family and Background

Family and Background

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 1958, the elder 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 Cedza spent much of his childhood in Boston.

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, 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 maternal family, the Mandelas or Madiba clan, descend in the direct, legitimate male line from the Paramount Chiefs of the Transkei, a dignity still held by the family's patriarch, Buyelekhaya Zwelinbanzi Dalindyebo. Cedza's aunt, Mantfombi, a sister of his father's, is the Great Wife of Goodwill Zwelithini, the reigning 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.