Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini ‘not guilty’ of fuelling anti-foreigner attacks

A preliminary investigation in South Africa has cleared the powerful Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini of inciting the anti-foreigner violence that swept through the country earlier this year.

The king had not made a call to arms, but was guilty of making “hurtful and harmful” comments against foreigners, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) said in a preliminary report.

King Zwelithini said at a rally in March that the government should “help us clean our land of lice”, and that “all foreigners should take their baggage and be sent back”.

“There can be little argument against the conclusion that a public expression by a public figure with moral authority to the effect that foreigners should pack their bags and leave, would leave foreign nationals diminished in their human dignity,” the HRC said.

The monarch should either publicly apologise to foreign nationals or enter into a “private mediate settlement” to resolve the dispute or failing that he could be referred to the Equality Court, said the statutory body, which investigates rights abuses in South Africa.

Tom Sangala

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