via Mohadi slams Zwelithini | The Herald March 30, 2015
Home affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi has condemned recent utterances by Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini calling for the deportation of foreigners from South Africa.
Cde Mohadi said King Zwelithini’s remarks were highly inflammatory and against Sadc protocols.
The Zulu king’s outburst came last week during his speech at a moral regeneration event in Pongola, northern Kwa-Zulu Natal in the presence of Police minister Nathi Nhleko and KwaZulu-Natal community MEC Willies Mchunu.
The Zulu monarch reportedly told the gathering that it was time foreigners were told to return to their countries, accusing them of messing up the country’s towns by hanging their fake clothing brands on the streets.
He also accused the South Africa government of failing to protect citizens from the “influx of foreign nationals” sparking outrage from the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and opposition parties, which described his comments as “highly irresponsible.”
Cde Mohadi said the Zulu monarch’s statements were misguided and unfortunate.
“King Zwelithini’s statement is quite unfortunate and uninformed considering that as Sadc we are trying to build a regional bloc. However, it should be noted that people are allowed to work and move from one country to another within the region as enshrined in the Sadc protocols to which South Africa is also a signatory. It is clear that King Zwelithini is not cognisant of the Sadc protocols,” said Cde Mohadi.
“Mind you, he (King Zwelithini) is only a king of a clan for that matter, not South Africa, so he is not the authority. It is however, unfortunate that such a statement is coming from person of his stature and we thought the South African government was going to issue an official statement,” said the minister.
Cde Mohadi said King Zwelithini’s sentiments promoted hatred in a country where xenophobia is rife.
“We are not in Europe and historically it is known that Africans are one people who were just divided by these artificial borders created by colonialists. We also have Zulu descendants in Zimbabwe,” said the minister.
The king’s remarks were made against the backdrop of rising tensions between foreign nationals and locals in the wake of recent xenophobic attacks in the neighbouring country.
The violence began in Soweto, Gauteng, in January and later spread to KwaZulu-Natal, where it has claimed three lives.
A fortnight ago, a Zimbabwean woman who was wrongly accused of killing a young boy, was lynched by an angry mob in a shanty township near South African capital, Pretoria.
The woman was burnt alive while another man, also from Zimbabwe, managed to escape after police intervened. The Zimbabwean pair had been accused of bewitching the boy. A probe later revealed that the boy had been electrocuted.
South Africa’s main opposition party, Democratic Alliance (DA) described King Zwethini’s comments as “highly irresponsible”. “Particularly given the recent spate of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, he should do the right thing — retract and apologise,” said DA national spokesperson Phumzile van Damme.
The South African Human Rights Commission said it was looking into the matter.
“His utterances, if proven true, would border on xenophobic,” said SAHRC spokesperson Isaac Mangena.
The Zulu monarch has refused to apologise for the remarks.
COMMENTS
Should Zulus in the States, Britain Europe etc and all over Africa come back to where?
An ill conceived statement from a “king”. President Zuma is better placed to understand these complex issues rather than the “king”. The “king” may have to consult the Honourable Buthelezi for kingly wisdom.
The statement justifies the level of brain of the King.Its high time kings are told that they became the royal family by colonising fellow villagers and brutally murdering those against their establishment.History tells that the Africans in SADC came from Central Africa.There, they could not withstand the brutality of the local kings and so they hearded soutwards into the SADC region.It is when the powerful ones further colonised their fellow friends whom they escaped together with.
The level of education in South African officials is very sad.If you go to Tanzania in Morogoro, there are more than 300 graves of South Africans who were killed by the apartheid regime at a farm donated to the ANC by the Julius Nyerere government.Zimbabwe and Zammbia suffered numerous raids and attacks by the apartheid regime for hiding the Umkhonto fighters.
Fprmer President Kgalema Mothaante was staying in Highfieds , a black suburb in Harare Zimbabwe during apartheid.If you read his autobiography , you will see a picture of young Mothlante relaxing in Highfieds gardens
Jacob Zuma stayed in Mpopoma Bulawayo.Moeletsi Mbeki , brother of Thabo was at one point in Mutoko and he still talks nice things about Mtoko.Its really sad that the king makes himself irrelevant in this case.Istead Zwelithini must learn how to budget the over R50 million rand given to him by the state and he gets broke within two months
Mohadi’s government hounded some of those people out of their own country with impunity, with his boss saying he was prepared to run a country populated only by ZANUPF supporters. He has no more moral rectitude than the misguided king. His unspoken fear is that these people may very well come back home to stoke the fires of the opposition movement. Otherwise he could care less about xenophobia against undesirables. And now we hear his boss is begging the diaspora to send money home to patch up the economy that he destroyed, again with impunity. Whatever became of the Look East policy? These people have no shame.
King Zwelithini is protecting the sovereignty of his nation. It is not the responsibility of South Africa to give jobs to foreigners. The correct situation should be that each country should provide jobs for its own nationals. What happened to the 2 million jobs we were promised?
I agree with King Zwelithini 100%.No South Africans have crowded any country anywhere in SADC or even internationally.Foreinegners only are taking everything meant for us the South African. Let them ALL go back to their respective counytries unless they’re her LEGALLY.
Utter duplicity coming from a “gugurahundist cabinet minister” trying to take the moral high ground when in fact it’s thanks to his government that Zimbabweans find themselves destitute and desperate in foreign countries. When industry was booming here in Zimbabwe how many sane Zimbabweans dared cross crocodile infested rivers to go to South Africa? Create an enabling environment for Zimbabweans to return to their country, Min. Mohadi, instead of pontificating to King Zwelithini about SADC protocols when you hardly observe them.