Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini lashes out at the ANC. King Goodwill Zwelithini was speaking at the commemoration of the Battle of Isandlwana, in Nquthu, KZN on Friday. The Zulu king has lashed out at the ANC for disrespecting Zulu traditional clothing.
He turned in the direction of acting KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala and said: “Tell your people that I said in our culture imbatha is only worn by men. “I don’t know who told them that imbatha can be worn by women. “Tell them I said they should respect our culture, please.”
During the ANC’s recent election manifesto in Durban, KZN, the ANC used imbatha to honour their heroes, both men and women., for their contributions.
The king said imbatha, which is made from leopard skin, is worn by men on their shoulders, but not by women. Among the women that were honoured with imbatha were the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Albertina Sisulu, Charlotte Maxeke and Sophie Williams-De Bruyn.
The ANC’s acting national spokesman, Dakota Legoete said imbatha was not used only by the Zulu people, but by different nations throughout the continent.
“Even in Kenya you find women and men being honoured with it,” he said. It is used to honour all those who show bravery in their communities. We decided to use it in our stalwarts because we also regard ourselves as a non-sexist organization,” said Legoete.
“If the king felt what we did offend his culture, we can get the president to talk to him.”
Source: Daily Sun
