Mayibongwe Maqhina and Bongani Hans
durban: The local houses of traditional leaders in KwaZulu-Natal are to hold meetings in various regions to find ways of implementing King Goodwill Zwelithini’s proposals for accommodating foreigners.
This is according to the kzn House of Traditional Leaders chairman, Inkosi Phathisizwe Chiliza.
“Chairpersons of regional houses of traditional leaders will convene meetings to discuss the plan as proposed by the king. Each of the houses will have to look at what is being done to foreigners in their areas and come up with programmes,” he said.
Chiliza was reacting to reports that Zwelithini had on Thursday unveiled processes to be followed by foreigners when wanting to settle in land controlled by the Ingonyama Trust.
The Cape Times’s sister paper, The Mercury, reported that the king said foreigners wanting to settle on the land controlled by the trust should be introduced to him in the company of their ambassadors.
It also said locals who wanted to accommodate foreigners should get permission from traditional leaders, and that those foreigners should have legal documents authorising their stay in the country.
The paper also reported that authorities should ensure foreigners who wanted to run businesses did so under strict guidelines and the Ingonyama Trust board should provide guidelines on allocating land to them.
Chiliza said they welcomed the initiative proposed by Zwelithini, saying it would go a long way to ensuring the peaceful coexistence between foreigners and locals.
He said it was important that foreigners were known to the traditional leaders who controlled land in a particular area. This would stop possible attacks against foreigners.
They should also be introduced to the local way of doing things when they were welcomed to stay, he said.
“This will go a long way to stop the accusations levelled against foreigners,” Chiliza said.
He also said the government should attend to problems faced by the locals, such as the lack of jobs.
Zwelithini last month declared war against xenophobic attacks and called for a peace accord between locals and foreigners.
He spoke at an imbizo at Moses Mabhida Stadium on April 20
, a gathering attended by thousands, including hostel dwellers, government officials and diplomats from African countries, including Zimbabwe and Nigeria.
Without taking responsibility for an earlier speech in Pongola, in which he called for the deportation of foreigners, Zwelithini challenged the SA Human Rights Commission to finalise its investigation against him, and to also investigate the media’s role in “inciting” violence against foreigners.
Defending himself, Zwelithini said he had called in Pongola for police to enforce control at the country’s borders, but said the media chose to ignore this.
“I believe the media should submit itself for investigation if it has nothing to hide.”
In his Pongola speech, he called for the deportation of foreign nationals after accusing them of changing the culture of the country and taking over economic opportunities from locals.
This speech has been widely condemned and linked to the xenophobic violence which started in Durban and later spread to Gauteng.