The king of South Africa’s giant Zulu neighborhood has challenged a professor and cultural knowledgeable to a stick struggle, saying he had been insulted, together with all the Zulu nation.
King Misuzulu kaZwelithini issued the problem to Prof Musa Xulu in entrance of hundreds of people that had gathered at his newly constructed royal palace for the annual Reed Dance.
“We’re offended and we’ll do something to guard and protect our cultures,” he mentioned, in response to the Timeslive information website.
Prof Xulu informed the BBC he took the king’s private problem as a joke, nonetheless he mentioned he was nervous for his security in case he was attacked by different Zulus.
“I’ve acquired threats from employed assassins,” he mentioned, including that he had lodged a proper criticism with the police.
King Misuzulu didn’t specify precisely what Prof Xulu had mentioned to anger him however he was quoted as saying: “It pains me to see one other man telling me do my job.”
“It’s okay if he’s in opposition to me, however when he insults me, he insults the Zulu nation as properly,” he mentioned, in response to the IOL website, in what was reportedly an unusually quick speech on one of many main occasions within the conventional Zulu calendar.
“If his pals are right here, go and inform him that there’s a preventing ring – if he desires a stick struggle as a result of I can take him up,” mentioned the king, aged 50.
Prof Xulu informed the BBC he believes the king was angered by an interview he gave to native media, wherein he mentioned that the transfer to the brand new eMashobeni palace may very well be seen as wasteful, on condition that 152 million rand ($9m; £6.5m) had been spent on renovating the Enyokeni palace the place the reed dance had been held since 1984, when the ceremony was launched to South Africa.
However “speaking about public finance just isn’t an insult,” he mentioned.
“I am not his spokesperson,” he added, noting that he has doctorates in Zulu music and cultural tourism.
“I’ve nothing private in opposition to the king.”
On the query of stick-fighting, he mentioned this was a part of Zulu tradition however these preventing needed to be equals and “I am not equal to the king”.
The 64-year-old professor additionally mentioned he had not carried out any stick-fighting since earlier than he was an adolescent.
King Misuzulu was topped in 2022, after a year-long feud following the demise of his father, long-time King Goodwill Zwelithini, after which his mom shortly afterwards.
Two of his brothers challenged Misuzulu’s declare to the throne however he has been recognised by each the Zulu royal family and the South African state.
The throne has no formal political energy, however a few fifth of South Africa’s 64 million individuals are Zulu and its monarchy stays massively influential with a yearly taxpayer-funded funds of greater than $4.9m (£3.5m).
The Zulu kingdom has a proud historical past. It’s world-famous for defeating British troops in the course of the 1879 battle of Isandlwana.
