Foreigners remark puts king in a fix By Sibongile Mashaba | Mar 28, 2015 | COMMENTS [ 77 ] <http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2015/03/28/foreigners-remark-puts-king-in-a-fix?mode=true> Back to Home <http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/>
- - INSHARE - - ZULU King Goodwill Zwelithini's call for all foreign nationals to be kicked out of the country has landed him in hot water with the SA Human Rights Commission. The commission said yesterday it had received a formal complaint against the Zulu monarch. Zwelithini reportedly said at the weekend that the fact that certain countries played a role in the country's struggle for liberation "should not be used as an excuse to create a situation where foreigners are allowed to inconvenience locals". "I know you were in their countries during the struggle for liberation. But the fact of the matter is you did not set up businesses in their countries." Zwelithini's comments have earned him widespread condemnation from various organisations and on social media. Commission spokesman Isaac Mangena confirmed yesterday that it had received a complaint. "The complaint has been registered and will go through the commission's complaint-handling processes," said Mangena. He said it had also received an audio of the king's speech as part of its investigation. They were translating it "to understand what was said and the context in which it was said". "It is worth noting that in the past the commission has warned leaders, including from within government, to guard against utterances that may fuel attacks on asylum seekers, refugees and migrants who find themselves in SA. "The rights of migrants should be respected at all times, and by all." Yesterday, Swaziland Solidarity Network's spokesman Lucky Lukhele entered the fray, labelling Zwelithini a "hypocrite and lunatic". "He must start in his own house. He must deport those two women [Zola Mafu and Mantfombi Dlamini]." Zwelithini married Dlamini, who is a sister of King Mswati of Swaziland, in 1973. He married Mafu at a plush traditional wedding in July last year. Lukhele said Zwelithini was "delusional", like his brother-in-law Mswati III. Numsa spokesman Castro Ngobese said Zwelithini should not abuse his power. "He must remember that he was not elected. He is not speaking on behalf of all of us as South Africans or Zulus for that matter. If he wants to contest election and see if his views are shared by majority, he must open his [political] party and stop relying of the taxpayers' money for his lavish lifestyle. His utterances are dangerous and toxic. They could fuel xenophobic attacks. "He cannot blame foreigners for what is happening in South Africa. The issue here is that there is no political will and those in power are not keeping promises made to our people," said Ngobese. He said it was saddening to know that Zwelithini's comments were targeted at African brothers and sisters. "He is not saying anything about the Chinese who are exploiting our poor people in factories in the country," said Ngobese. Lawyers for Human Rights strategic litigation programme head David Cote said research conducted by universities and other organisations in South Africa had shown that foreign nationals "in fact contribute to the economy and are not the drain which has been the perception". masha...@sowetan.co.za *Lucky Lukhele- * *Tell:011 339 3621* *Fax: **0866162206* *Mobile: 072 502 4141* *Email: lucky.lukh...@gmail.com <lucky.lukh...@gmail.com> * Skype: LuckyLukhele1 Twitter: @lukhelelucky -- -- NEW!!!! SSN FORUM IS ON FACEBOOK!!!! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Swaziland Solidarity Network Forum Google Group. Visit the group home page at http://groups.google.com/group/sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum for more options, pages and files. To post to the group, send email to sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum@googlegroups.com or reply to this message. To unsubscribe, send email to sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Swaziland Solidarity Network Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sa-swaziland-solidarity-eom-forum+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
