South Africa's controversial and powerful Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini will receive a men-only burial which will take place at night.

The private burial will take place on Wednesday followed by a memorial on Thursday.

The deceased's cousin, Zulu traditional leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi, announced the arrangements over the weekend.

"He said he would like to be buried at night and only by men. So we agreed with the royal family that his wish should be granted. And that will happen in private," chief Buthelezi said in Sunday's announcement.

The king died last Friday at the age of 72. Born in Nongoma, a small town in the south-eastern Kwa-Zulu Natal province, Zwelithini ascended the throne in 1971 during the apartheid era.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the king “will be remembered as a much-loved, visionary monarch who made an important contribution to cultural identity, national unity and economic development.”

Returning from hiding over assassination fears, Zwelithini was crowned the eighth Zulu monarch at the age of 23. The Zulus are South Africa’s largest ethnic group with over 11 million people.

Traditional rulers play a largely symbolic role in modern South Africa, where they are constitutionally recognised.

Under the white-minority regime which ended in 1994, kings ruled homelands where most blacks were confined to defuse broader national struggles.