Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, on Monday declared war on xenophobia, telling his subjects to go out and defend all foreign nationals living ...
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, on Monday declared war on xenophobia, telling his subjects to go out and defend all foreign nationals living in their areas.
"I have not declared any war before but today I'm declaring one – you must go out there and defend each and every foreign national living in this country," he said.
He was addressing more than 5000 Zulus who had converged at the Moses Mabhida Stadium to hear the king take his stance on the xenophobic attacks currently sweeping through the country. The meeting had been called following accusations that the speech made by Zwelithini in oPongolo, northern KZN, last month, where His Majesty called for the deportation of foreign nationals living in the country, had sparked the violence
However, Zwelithini told his subjects that his remarks in oPongolo had been misrepresented in the media.
"If indeed, I said those things that the media is claiming I said, then, why the oPongolo community – which clearly heard what I said, is not attacking foreign nationals," he said.
"My remarks were directed at the police, whom I said should do more to ensure that our borders were properly policed," he said.
The King called on the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) which has launched a probe against him "not only to speed up the investigation, but also to launch a probe on the role of the media in the fueling of xenophobic attacks in the country.
"I hope the media will cooperate with the investigators," he said.
This after mobs claiming to be acting on Zwelithini's remarks went on to attack foreign nationals living around Durban – looting their shops and evicting them from their homes.
The violence, which has now spread to Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, has so far claimed seven lives and left thousands of foreign national displaced.
Zwelithini called on the government to urgently convene a meeting between himself and ambassadors representing the countries of the victims so that an initiative aimed at halting the attacks could be launched.
"I have not declared any war before but today I'm declaring one – you must go out there and defend each and every foreign national living in this country," he said.
He was addressing more than 5000 Zulus who had converged at the Moses Mabhida Stadium to hear the king take his stance on the xenophobic attacks currently sweeping through the country. The meeting had been called following accusations that the speech made by Zwelithini in oPongolo, northern KZN, last month, where His Majesty called for the deportation of foreign nationals living in the country, had sparked the violence
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| Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini |
"If indeed, I said those things that the media is claiming I said, then, why the oPongolo community – which clearly heard what I said, is not attacking foreign nationals," he said.
"My remarks were directed at the police, whom I said should do more to ensure that our borders were properly policed," he said.
The King called on the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) which has launched a probe against him "not only to speed up the investigation, but also to launch a probe on the role of the media in the fueling of xenophobic attacks in the country.
"I hope the media will cooperate with the investigators," he said.
This after mobs claiming to be acting on Zwelithini's remarks went on to attack foreign nationals living around Durban – looting their shops and evicting them from their homes.
The violence, which has now spread to Gauteng and the Eastern Cape, has so far claimed seven lives and left thousands of foreign national displaced.
Zwelithini called on the government to urgently convene a meeting between himself and ambassadors representing the countries of the victims so that an initiative aimed at halting the attacks could be launched.
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