People attending Saturday’s imbizo (meeting) called by Inkatha Freedom Party leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi will be allowed to enter the Princess Magogo Stadium with sticks, shields and knobkieries, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Friday.
”No other dangerous weapons or firearms will be allowed into the venue,” said Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo. He said the decision came after the House of Traditional Leaders applied for permission for participants to bring along their cultural and traditional weapons.
Buthelezi has come under fire for calling an imbizo, which many say can only be done by King Goodwill Zwelithini. Buthelezi maintains he did it in his capacity as traditional prime minister of the Zulu kingdom and as chairperson of the House of Traditional Leaders after a number of meetings of amakhosi had requested the meeting.
He said the imbizo will enable ”the Zulu nation to give guidance to our kingdom at this crucial juncture in our history, in which the very existence of our kingdom is threatened”.
The imbizo comes after recent calls for the role of traditional prime minister to be entrenched in the provincial constitution and for the role of the monarch to be officially recognised in the constitution.
The province’s ad hoc constitutional committee is currently on its third draft of the constitution and gave Zwelithini feedback on the process on Thursday.
Zwelithini said the drafting of a constitution for KwaZulu-Natal is intended to ”culminate in the restoration of the monarch to its rightful position and status”. — Sapa