ZULUS STILL ALIVE AND WELL IT SEEMS

Zulu king slams Congolese marchers
CANAAN MDLETSHE | 21 February, 2012 00:33

Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini
Image by: TEBOGO LETSIE
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Zulu monarch Goodwill Zwelithini used his speech at this year’s opening of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature yesterday as a platform from which to lambast the Congolese who marched to parliament in Cape Town last week.

“I understand that South Africa is a democratic country and welcomes people from different countries who have run away from their countries for different reasons. As a result, South Africa is home to many Africans but I must express my disappointment at the behaviour of these people.

“Their marching to parliament was disappointing. They come to South Africa as immigrants but once they are here they make themselves freedom fighters, who in turn tarnish the good image of South Africa,” he said.

A group of about 300 Congolese marched to parliament to demand that President Jacob Zuma denounce the re-election of President Joseph Kabila in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“They must understand that Zuma was elected by the majority of South Africans and they don’t have a right to march against him. It boggles [the] mind that an immigrant who left his country for political reasons can come and act like that.

“If such behaviour is allowed to continue, I have no doubt that locals might ask themselves many questions and I hope it will never happen,” said Zwelithini.

It is a tradition for Zwelithini to open the provincial legislature a day before the state of the province address.

Premier Zweli Mkhize is expected to deliver the address today and will present the provincial government’s plans to root out corruption and accelerate rural development.

Political party leaders, members of the legislature and the judiciary, businessmen and traditional leaders attended the opening of the legislature.

Zwelithini called on the provincial government and the private sector to work together to build tertiary educational institutions.

“It is quite evident that the number of tertiary institutions we have cannot cope with the increased output at the basic education level.

“The problem is known: institutions receive tens of thousands of applications but can only accept a fraction of them.

“Therefore, we need more universities, colleges and technikons. Let us budget for these institutions, build them, staff them and equip our children with skills they need to better their lives.”

Zwelithini said that, though the national government was responsible for building tertiary educational institutions, he believed that the province could deal with the demand for higher education.