By Sipho Khumalo
Political Staff
Attempts to stop Zulus from holding the ukweshwama ceremony, in which a black bull was killed barehanded by a newly anointed Zulu regiment, sought to undermine the Zulu nation and what it stood for.
So said an angry King Goodwill Zwelithini, adding that the move was tantamount to the destruction of the Zulu nation, which was characterised by the burning of Ulundi and the banishing of Zulu kings by colonists after 1879.
Addressing thousands of Zulu warriors at the ceremony in Nongoma at the weekend, and in his first response to a failed bid by animal rights activists to have the bull-killing ritual stopped, the king said no one could dictate to Zulus how they should conduct their customs and culture.
He said that while Zulus lived in a global and multicultural world, they should not abandon what was theirs and that which made them what they were.
"Living in this multicultural society does not mean Zulus should worship other people's customs, live to fulfil other people's wishes, be undermined by other groupings and be dictated to by other groupings on what we should do or not do," said the king, amid cries of "Bayede" (the royal salute) from the warriors.
The king rejected suggestions by the activists that the ukweshwama ceremony had once been abandoned by Zulus, saying attempts by the colonialists to "dismember" the Zulus had forced them to hold it under different conditions in the past.
He said it was difficult for him to resist the temptation to comment on the Pietermaritzburg High Court case, in which "the very essence of Zuluness was questioned by those who undermined it".
He called for good neighbourliness and respect for all South African cultures.
"I wish to strongly appeal to you not to undermine and look down upon other people's culture and customs. A mature nation is a nation that respects the customs and practices of other groupings, even if they do not agree with them," he said.
The king called for unity among Zulus, hitting out at "izimpimpi" (traitors), saying they were responsible for photographing ukweshwama rituals and handing them over to "enemies".
"I know that some of you have been planted here by enemies to take pictures in exchange for cash. Those who do this will be cursed by our ancestors," he said.
He spoke out against pictures of the ceremony circulated prior to the weekend's events, saying they were all "doctored" to present the Zulus in a bad light.
The king also announced that he was reviving the custom of circumcision, which had been abandoned by King Shaka, the founder of the Zulu nation. He said Shaka had lived under different circumstances, before the scourge of HIV/ Aids.
Research had shown that circumcised men had a smaller chance of contracting HIV. However, the king said the circumcisions would be carried out under the watchful eyes of doctors.