Durban - King Goodwill Zwelithini has accused Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba of being carried away by his “five-year” political power and thinking he is a demigod.
Although there was no mention of names, it became clear that the king was referring to Gigaba when he spoke in KwaMaphumulo on Saturday.
Addressing displaced foreigners in Durban on Thursday night, Gigaba called on leaders - also apparently referring to the king - to refrain from using inflammatory statements.
“All our leaders in the country have a responsibility to use words to build and not to destroy,” The Independent on Saturday reported Gigaba as saying.
Gigaba, Police Minister Nathi Nhleko and State Security Minister David Mahlobo have been assigned by President Jacob Zuma to work with the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government to halt the xenophobic attacks storming the eThekwini area.
Gigaba was referring to a speech the king made in Pongola last month when he allegedly called for the deportation of foreigners. The king has flatly denied that he called for foreigners to be expelled.
He
said on Saturday: “Labaholi bangakhulumi engathi salusa ndawonye. (These leaders should not act as if we herded cattle together.)
“I ask political leaders that we should respect each other. Democracy should not make them feel like demigods. Although everyone has a right to comment about ubukhosi (kingship) I will not allow myself to be insulted by people who think because of five years, which was given to them at the mercy of voters, they are now demigods who should be praised.
“I wish that politicians who comment on what I said in Pongola should do so with knowledge. They should ask Police Minister Nhleko about what I had said, as I was there on his invitation. A person should not comment just because he is standing in front of microphones and cameras.”
The media was not spared the king’s wrath. He accused newspaper companies of twisting his speech, which has been linked to outbreaks of xenophobic violence in various parts of Durban, in order to create controversy that would boost sales.
“I warn the media not to burn the country because when it is burning they will run to hide underneath their mothers’ skirts. They will hide,” the king said.
He that said instead of calling for foreigners to leave the country, South Africans should take their tools and till the land to produce food. He repeatedly said the media had reported lies about what he had said when he had addressed a moral regeneration event in Pongola.
The king was addressing hundreds of people in Maphumulo during the induction of Inkosi Sphamandla Hlongwa.
“To boost the sales and profit of newspapers they must find lies. As they are here (in Maphumulo), they are following me to listen to the little that I have to say.
“To tell the truth, they are the ones who are causing us to kill each other. They don’t love us. They are worse than the apartheid regime.
“For the sales to improve they start controversies. The evidence is that they don’t write nation-building news; instead, they just talk about naked pastors, goats and talking zombies.”
He said while he loved South Africa, “they (the media) don’t love us”.
He recalled black-on black violence of the 1990s, which he said the media had perpetuated. While there was evidence that the violence was between IFP and ANC members and was caused by a third force, the media said it was between the Zulu and Xhosa nations, said King Zwelithini.
“The distortion was successful because my father’s people were killed. Those days all newspaper sales were high. As long as they reported about this monster called Zulus or the Ngunis who are killing each other. We became monsters in the whole world.”
The king said he had not declared war against foreigners, and called on the Zulu nation to obey the law and not react with violence.
“Zulus don’t allow (yourselves) to be provoked. My advice to you is, obey the law.
“I never declared war against anyone. If I had declared the war this country would be in ashes,” he said.
The Mercury has a voice recording of the king saying that foreigners should leave the country.
There have been allegations that the xenophobic violence that started in Isipingo and spread to Umlazi, Chatsworth and Inanda was linked to the king’s call. It is thought that seven people have been killed while thousands of foreigners have been forced to leave their communities to live in camps set up by the eThekwini Municipality.
President Jacob Zuma made a call for greater national unity as he celebrated his 73rd birthday on Sunday, his office said.
Zuma said his birthday wish was “for all South Africans to live together in peace and harmony”.
The Mercury was unable to reach Gigaba for comment on Sunday.
Additional reporting by ANA
The Mercury