The king whose comments are at the heart of the latest round of xenophobic violence in South Africa has told his people to remain calm and show consideration to foreigners.
Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini told his subjects to show restraint, following the xenophobic violence that he was blamed for fuelling.
“There are many insults aimed at me, but as your king, I order you to calm down. The Zulus can’t be seen as criminals,” he said at an imbizo or tribal rally at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, which he summoned following days of violence in his home province of KwaZulu Natal which has reportedly left seven dead and about 5,000 homeless.
“I’ve called this Imbizo to initiate a war, a real war against the violence directed at foreign nationals,” he continued, calling on the South African Human Rights Commission to also include an inquiry into media coverage of the attacks on foreigners as part of its investigation, describing it as “perpetuating violence.”
He also defended his actions at the meeting last month where he reportedly made the inciting comments urging foreigners to leave the country.
“I challenge the media to release the entire speech that I made in Opongola and not just soundbites.
“They say I must be charged. Why? I haven’t killed anyone. Every single foreign national must feel secure in our country. It doesn’t matter where they come from.”
However, he made a comment that has been criticised on social media in the immediate aftermath of the speech.
“If it is true that I said people must take up arms, the whole country would be in ashes by now.”
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