Durban - Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini has not made a submission on the preliminary report into allegations he made a statement that was hurtful to foreigners.
The report by the South African Human Rights Commission was released in November and all parties were given until January 31 to comment.
The king is one of the parties that did not submit comment on the preliminary findings of the commission.
The king was quoted in media reports as saying in Pongola in March last year, that foreigners should pack their belongings and go back to the countries of their origin – a statement some believed fuelled xenophobic violence later that month.
The king’s adviser, Judge Jerome Ngwenya, told the Daily News that delays by the commission in providing the king with the statement detail of the purportedly hurtful remarks made it difficult for his office to be part of the process.
Ngwenya said the commission had said it would make the statement available by June 5 last year,, but that never materialised.
“On July 27 they made the report available to us and we asked for the part that constituted hurtful speech, but they did not point that to us.
“They later came up with the preliminary report which we were expected to comment on. How do we comment on something that we were not party to in the first place?”
Ngwenya said the preliminary report gave the impression that the commission had spoken to the king, but this was not the case.
“We even said to them if they request a meeting with the king there is protocol to be followed and that we would do our level best to facilitate such a meeting, but none was requested.
“Ours is to wait for the final report and hopefully it will indicate the part that was hurtful in the king’s statement.”
Commission spokesman, Isaac Mangena, would not say which other parties had not submitted comments to the preliminary report.
He said: “I cannot say how many people responded, but we are happy with the responses received. When a preliminary findings report is released for comment, only those who feel there is the need to provide further information or evidence that could help the commission in making its final decision are free to comment.”
The commission last week released a statement indicating it was finalising its report.
It would not be entertaining requests for comments, it said.
Daily News