The king of the South African Zulus, Goodwill Zwelithini, died today at the age of 72: the royal palace announced it.
The monarch was sick with diabetes and had been hospitalized several weeks ago.
"It is with the utmost pain that I inform the nation of the death of His Majesty King Goodwill Zwelithini ... King of the Zulu nation," the palace said in a statement signed by Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a powerful veteran politician who is also a prince Zulu.
"Tragically, while he was still in the hospital, His Majesty's health deteriorated and he subsequently passed away in the early hours of this morning," the statement continues.
Born in Nongoma, a small town in the southeastern province of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Zwelithini ascended the throne in 1971 during the apartheid era - at the age of 23 - three years after his father's death.
Zwelithini had great influence over millions of Zulus due to his largely ceremonial and spiritual role, despite having no official power.