Prince Cedza Dlamini of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), otherwise known as Prince Cedza (born 24 February 1976), grandson of King Sobhuza II of Swaziland and step-grandson of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

, is a

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...

, youth

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

, spokesman for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

' ''

Millennium Development Goals In the United Nations, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 created following the Millennium Summit, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These w ...

'', 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 The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

, poverty, hunger and illiteracy. Prince Cedza also advocates stronger ties between the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, occupying a seat as a director on the board of the South African

Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

in America.

Family and background

Prince Cedza is the third son of eight children born to HRH Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini of

Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

, born 1950, a son of the late King Sobhuza II and an elder brother of the reigning king of Swaziland,

Mswati III Mswati III (born Makhosetive Dlamini; 19 April 1968) is the ''Ngwenyama'' (King) of Eswatini and head of the Swazi royal family. He heads an absolute monarchy, as he has veto power over all branches of government and is constitutionally immune fr ...

. His father married Zenani Mandela, born 1959, the eldest daughter of Nelson and his (second) former wife,

Winnie Mandela Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, second wife of Nelson Mandela. During ...

. 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 Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, and Prince Cedza also studied in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Prince Cedza is, by birthright and lineage, a royal

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

of the

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

which rules the kingdom of

, the

House of Dlamini 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 to ...

. The Dlaminis are

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and, in Swaziland, practice traditional

polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

, so that the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

has hundreds of members, many of whom are actively involved in government,

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...

, or industry in Swaziland, but many of whom live outside of their native

realm A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a monarchical or dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the German Empire. Etymo ...

. Because of the size of the family, only the king inherits substantial wealth or receives a

civil list A civil list is a list of individuals to whom money is paid by the government, typically for service to the state or as honorary pensions. It is a term especially associated with the United Kingdom, and its former colonies and dominions. It was ori ...

; 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 Royal intermarriage is the practice of members of ruling dynasties marrying into other reigning families. It was more commonly done in the past as part of strategic diplomacy for national interest. Although sometimes enforced by legal requirem ...

with other African dynasties, particularly with the houses of Traditional Leadership and

Paramount Chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for a king or queen or the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a Chiefdom, chief-based system. This term is used occasionally ...

tainships in South Africa: Cedza's adoptive maternal family, the Mandelas of the royal ''Madiba'' clan, descend in the direct, legitimate male line from the

s of the

Thembu people The Thembu () are a Xhosa Nation who inhabited the Kingdom of Thembuland. They were established around the 16th century as one of the Xhosa federations in the Transkeian territories. The federation was later annexed by British Empire shortly ...

, a dignity still held by that tribe's

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...

, Buyelekhaya Zwelinbanzi Dalindyebo. Cedza's aunt, Mantfombi, a sister of his father's, was the ''

Great Wife Great Wife, otherwise appearing in West Africa as Senior Wife, is an honorific applied to the principal female spouse in African polygynous unions. It is widely used by contemporary royal and aristocratic wives in states throughout the modern cont ...

'' of

Goodwill Zwelithini Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu (27 July 1948 – 12 March 2021) was the King of the Zulu Nation from 1968 to his death in 2021. He became King on the death of his father, King Cyprian Bhekuzulu, in 1968 aged 20 years. Prince Israel Mcway ...

, the late king of

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

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 Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

and his future. He resolved to resume his education, and earned his bachelor's degree in

International Relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

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 Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. 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 Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

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 is a Japanese general trading company ( ''sogo shosha'') and a core member of the Mitsubishi Group. For much of the post-war period, Mitsubishi Corporation has been the largest of the five great ''sogo shosha'' (Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, S ...

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 The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Goals The SADC's goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and se ...

region. His duties involved despatching mobile clinics to poor and rural areas, and assistance in developing Mitsubishi's African

affirmative action Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...

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 th
World Youth Peace Summit
In June 2004, Prince Cedza was recruited by the ''

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

'' to participate in the first ''Pan African Youth Leadership Summit'' held in

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

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 Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

and Canada with other young leaders to seek peaceful resolutions to regional and global conflicts and to promote tolerance between

cultures Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and faiths. After

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, Prince Cedza began a speaking tour throughout the U.S. that promotes global

forgiveness Forgiveness, in a psychology, psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may have felt initially wronged, victimized, harmed, or hurt goes through a process of changing feelings and attitude regarding a given ...

compassion Compassion is a social feeling that motivates people to go out of their way to relieve the physical, mental, or emotional pains of others and themselves. Compassion is sensitivity to the emotional aspects of the suffering of others. When based ...

, and the use of

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

- instead of

violence Violence is characterized as the use of physical force by humans to cause harm to other living beings, or property, such as pain, injury, disablement, death, damage and destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines violence a ...

– as a powerful tool for

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of Conflict (process), conflict and Revenge, retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively co ...

. To date, Cedza has spoken to more than fifty

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

s 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 entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, Startup company, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to ...

s from all sectors of African society. 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. Prince Cedza is committed to leading Ubuntu in the application of business principles to run a sustainable social enterprise. 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." Among Ubuntu's projects is an international internship programme, through which successful candidates, mostly Africans, undertake

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

ships in

resorts A resort (North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that aims to provide most of a vacationer's needs. This includes food, drink, swimming, accommodation, sports, entertainment and shopping, on the premises. A hotel ...

in the United States,

the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

for six to 12 months. Afterwards, Ubuntu assists the interns with employment placement in the

hospitality industry The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, food and beverage services, event planning, theme parks, travel agency, tourism, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars. Sector ...

. Dlamini says the programme has thus far helped more than 1000 young people who would have been unemployed. 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. Dlamini would like donor funding to account for no more than 40% when the investment arm matures. 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.

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 Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Massachusetts'' and ''

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

''.

References

External sources

* https://web.archive.org/web/20160419234552/http://www.cedzadlamini.com/.
Genealogy of the royal family of SwazilandUniversity of Alberta Article on Dlamini Keynote AddressUniversity of Alberta Article on Dlamini MDG AddressEmmanuel College Photo Gallery of DlaminiUniversity of St. Thomas Article on DlaminiTufts University Profile on DlaminiRESULTS Canada Profile on DlaminiWorld Youth Peace Summit profile on Dlamini
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cedza Dlamini, Prince Youth empowerment people Swazi anti-war activists Swazi human rights activists Tufts University alumni Living people 1976 births