King Goodwill Zwelithini will finally be able to move into his R5-million palace in Ulundi which has remained unoccupied for the past 10 years.
Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi, in his capacity as the traditional prime minister of the Zulu nation, is to officially "hand over" the palace to the king during a colourful ceremony later this week.
A number of foreign diplomats, cabinet ministers, members of parliament and traditional leaders have been invited by the KwaZulu-Natal government to join the estimated 20 000 people expected to witness the event at the Ulundi Cultural Museum on Friday.
At least 10 oxen will be slaughtered to feed guests and various Zulu traditional dance groups are in the line-up to add colour to the occasion.
Lying about 3km east of Ulundi, the Ondini Palace - the seventh royal residence of the current monarch - was built in 1993 by the erstwhile KwaZulu government.
On Sunday there were no concrete answers as to why the taxpayer-funded household had been empty for the past decade.
But Primrose Nxumalo, the co-ordinator of the event and spokesperson for the KwaZulu-Natal government, blamed the delay on "the fluidity of the provincial government since the new dispensation came into effect in 1994".
"You will recall that the palace was built under the old KwaZulu government. And soon after that a new government came into play, so it meant the handing-over had to be postponed, and postponed."
Another highly-placed source said until late last year relations between the monarch and Buthelezi had not been cordial enough to ensure a smooth, politics-free handing-over ceremony.
It was only in October 2002 that the "ash-eating" ceremony was held in Nongoma as a sign that a rift between Buthe-lezi and the monarch - apparent for some time - had healed.
"There have been differences between people in the new government and those in the old order.
"So it has been very, very difficult to decide who was going to be responsible for the highly significant event," said the source.
Berthwell Ngcobo, the spokesperson for the provincial government's royal household department, said: "To the millions of Zulus countrywide, the official hand-over of Ondini Palace to His Majesty the King will be more than just a ceremony.
"It has a sentimental and historical value as it represents the 'rebuilding of Ulundi', after the area was annihilated by British regiments in 1879."
Ngcobo said the palace included "state of the art interior decorations, five bedrooms, a laundry, library, several guest houses and two double garages".
The king is expected to use the residence whenever he is in Ulundi, particularly during the annual opening of the
legislature.