Read: Zulu king on racism and condemning farm murders

Zulu king Goodwill Zwelithini gave his speech at the opening of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday. The king had a lot of things to say, from getting all South Africans more involved in condemning racism, to addressing the recent uproar over farm murders.

Zwelithini hit the nail on the head with almost everything he said, speaking about Penny Sparrow’s “monkey” remarks, he called on all South Africans to call out such racism, not just the ones who are facing the abuse. He shared exactly the same views on farm murders.

“If a farmer is killed there should be widespread condemnation of such acts, not only from white farmers, but from all of us because the victim is a South African irrespective of where he comes from.” – King Goodwill Zwelithini

For Zwelithini, all South Africans across race, class and social groups need to take an interest in each other’s problems, the attitude of “that’s not my problem” has to change.  The king labelled social cohesion and reconciliation a “failure,”  saying they have not taken us forward from our sad past. Zwelihini says in South Africa co-dependence is absolutely key, and it always has been.

“I always say that the history of the Zulu nation would not be complete without the history of the Indian communities, and the history of English people, Afrikaners and Germans. If we accept this truth we would go beyond tolerating each other to embrace each other,” 

The king did not leave those in power out of his comments, calling parliament a place that has “lost its dignity.” At the same time though, he applauded opposition parties and urged them to continue doing their “duties well to strengthen democracy.”

The king has often been in hot water for his controversial comments, this time though he really seems to have ticked all the boxes. All South Africans should make an effort to follow that Zwelithini has said, not because of who he is, but because this time he is right.