OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Saturday 6.30pm.
ZULU king Goodwill Zwelithini is seeking a meeting with President Thabo Mbeki over controversial plans by the South African government to incorporate tribal land into municipal areas.
Zwelithini on Saturday added his voice to protests by the Amakhosi (Zulu chiefs) in KwaZulu-Natal on proposals by the national demarcation board to alter municipal boundaries.
The Amakhosi, who gathered with thousands of their subjects at an imbizo, or traditional gathering, in this eastern city, claim their powers will be eroded because areas they currently control will be incorporated into municipalities.
Brandishing traditional spears, shields, fighting sticks and battle axes, the crowd gathered at Umlazi black township here to hear their leaders deliberate the sensitive issue.
In a speech read on his behalf at the imbizo by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Lionel Mtshali, Zwelithini said: “The way in which this latest demarcation is handled shows that those who have been given this responsibility do not understand the sensitivity of this matter.”
The king said that as trustee of the land of KwaZulu-Natal, he should have been consulted.
Mbeki’s African National Congress said it realised the Demarcation Board should urgently discuss its new proposals with the king.
“The ANC notes his majesty’s concern that he as king was not consulted by the Demarcation Board,” the ANC said in a statement. — AFP