Mashudu Netsianda Senior Reporter
THE Minister of Home Affairs Cde Kembo Mohadi has condemned the recent utterances by Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini, calling for the deportation of foreigners from South Africa.Cde Mohadi said King Zwelithini’s remarks were against Sadc protocols and highly inflammatory.
The Zulu king made the disparaging remarks last week during a speech at a moral regeneration event in Pongola, northern Kwa-Zulu Natal.
King Zwelithini spoke in the presence of Police minister Nkosinathi Nhleko and KwaZulu-Natal community MEC Willies Mchunu.
Following the storm torched by the remarks, his spokesman Prince Thulani Zulu said the Zulu monarch meant each and every word when he said foreigners must pack their bags and get out of South Africa.
Prince Zulu said the king had nothing to be sorry for.
King Zwelithini reportedly told the gathering in Pongola that it was time foreigners were told to return to their countries, accusing them of messing up the country’s towns by hanging their fake clothing brands ( amanikiniki) on the streets.
He also accused the South Africa government of failing to protect locals from the “influx of foreign nationals” sparking outrage from the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and opposition parties, which described his comments as “highly irresponsible”. In an interview with The Chronicle yesterday, Cde Mohadi said the Zulu monarch’s statements were misguided and unfortunate.
“King Zwelithini’s statement (calling for the deportation of foreigners) is quite unfortunate and uninformed considering that as SADC we’re trying to build a regional bloc. However, it should be noted that people are allowed to work and move from one country to another within the region as enshrined in the SADC protocols to which South Africa is also a signatory. It’s clear that King Zwelithini isn’t cognisant of the SADC protocols,” said Cde Mohadi.
“Mind you, he (King Zwelithini) is only a king of a clan for that matter, not South Africa, so he isn’t the authority. It’s however, unfortunate that such a statement is coming from a person of his stature and we thought the South African government was going to issue an official statement,” said the minister.
Cde Mohadi said King Zwelithini’s sentiments promoted hatred in a country where xenophobia is rife.
“We’re not in Europe and historically it’s known that Africans are one people who were just divided by these artificial borders created by colonialists. We also have Zulu descendants in Zimbabwe,” said the minister.
The king’s remarks were made against the backdrop of rising tensions between foreign nationals and locals in the wake of recent xenophobic attacks in the neighbouring country.
The violence began in Soweto, Gauteng, in January and later spread to KwaZulu-Natal where it has claimed three lives. A fortnight ago, a Zimbabwean woman who was wrongly accused of killing a young boy, was lynched by an angry mob in a shanty township near South Africa’s capital, Pretoria.
The woman was burnt alive while another man, also from Zimbabwe, managed to escape after police intervened. The Zimbabwean pair had been accused of bewitching the boy. A probe later revealed that the boy had been electrocuted.
South Africa’s main opposition party, Democratic Alliance (DA) described King Zwethini’s comments as “highly irresponsible particularly given the recent spate of xenophobic attacks in South Africa.
“He should do the right thing – retract and apologise,” said DA national spokesperson Phumzile van Damme.
The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said it was looking into the matter. “His utterances, if proven true, would border on xenophobia,” said SAHRC spokesperson Isaac Mangena.