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King Goodwill Zwelithini

WE find Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini’s utterances regarding foreigners in South Africa to be abhorrent, inflammatory and unfortunate. As head of the Zulu kingdom which is roughly the size of Portugal and has a population of slightly over 10 million, the king is an influential figure in South Africa and his call for the deportation of all foreigners living in the country are not only regrettable but are likely to stoke the flames of xenophobia.

In a country with a history of violence against foreigners and with a huge black population still living in squalor and penury, the utterances of politicians and other national leaders have the potential to ignite hatred and it is incumbent upon those in authority to exercise good judgment and avoid statements that might be seized upon by those with a nefarious agenda.

The South African media quoted King Zwelithini at the weekend as calling for the deportation of all foreign nationals in the neighbouring country, saying it was unacceptable for locals to compete with people from other countries for the few economic opportunities available.

Addressing Pongolo community members during a moral regeneration event on Friday, King Zwelithini accused the government of failing to protect locals from an “influx” of foreign nationals. “When you walk in the street you cannot recognise a shop that you used to know because it has been taken over by foreigners, who then mess it up by hanging amanikiniki (rags),” he said. “Most government leaders do not want to speak out on this matter because they are scared of losing votes.

“As the King of the Zulu nation, I cannot tolerate a situation where we are being led by leaders with no views whatsoever. We are requesting those who come from outside to please go back to their countries,” Zwelithini said.

“The fact that there were countries that played a role in the country’s struggle for liberation should not be used as an excuse to create a situation where foreigners are allowed to inconvenience locals. I know you were in their countries during the struggle for liberation. But the fact of the matter is you did not set up businesses in their countries,” he said.

The King’s sentiments are dangerous as they can be latched onto by proponents of xenophobia who will only be too glad to go on a rampage looting foreigners’ shops and “necklacing” them with reckless abandon. We wish to remind the Zulu monarch of the unfortunate role he played in the dying stages of apartheid where violence was rampant especially in KwaZulu Natal.

In the power vacuum created in the 1990s as apartheid and the domination of the country by white South Africans was abolished, the King was sometimes unable to avoid being drawn into partisan politics and his alliance with the Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party saw him sullied by associating with his cousin Mangosuthu Buthelezi who was premier of the province.

The violence between IFP and ANC supporters — which was steeped in tribal undertones – led to the loss of thousands of lives and in hindsight, historians point to the role of the King and his premier at the time as being crucial to aiding and abetting it. Although the South African constitution makes the role of the King largely ceremonial, it is incumbent upon him to act on the official advice of the provincial premier and during that time, Buthelezi wielded immense influence on the King and both cannot escape culpability for the bloodshed that preceded South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.

We therefore find it strange that the King has such a short memory and cannot recall the impact such reckless statements can have on excitable unemployed youths with a bone to chew with their own government. Most foreigners in South Africa, including Zimbabweans, are law abiding people who work hard to earn an honest living and it is unfair to blame them for that country’s ills.

However, their lives have been placed in jeopardy by the misguided utterances of a King who appears to have been playing to the gallery more than anything else. We call on the South African government to rein in King Zwelithini and lean on him to proffer an unreserved apology to all foreign nationals in that country who are contributing immensely to its economic development.

His statement is not only an affront on the moral standing of that country in the region but flies in the face of ubuntu that he as a custodian of the Zulu culture and traditions should be jealously guarding. Victims of xenophobia most of whom died horrible deaths at the hands of South Africans must be turning in their graves following the king’s sentiments which are regrettable and unacceptable.