The king’s speech – and why it has foreigners in South Africa worried

BBC:

South Africa’s Zulu king has raised eyebrows by using a highly derogatory term for foreigners and saying they must all leave the country during a much-hyped speech that was supposed to have been aimed at calming anti-migrant feelings in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Warning: This story contains language some people may find offensive

Misuzulu kaZwelithini was addressing his supporters at the place where 20,000 Zulus warriors defeated a British contingent of 1,800 soldiers 147 years ago beneath the rocky outcrop of Isandlwana hill.

The Battle of Isandlwana, fought during the Anglo-Zulu war, is something many Zulus wear like a badge of honour: they fought against a foreign army and won – the foreigners were cowed.

The ire of many of King Misuzulu’s subjects is now directed not at British invaders but at migrants from neighbouring countries like Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe who have come to South Africa to work. According to official statistics, the country is home to about 2.4 million migrants, about 4% of the population.

The 51-year-old monarch did not advocate violence but said all “kwerekwere”, an offensive word for African migrants, must pack their bags – even if they were in relationships with South Africans and had children with them.

“We must now sit down and discuss this because even if my nephew’s father is a ‘kwerekwere’, the ‘kwerekwere’ must leave, only the child will remain,” he said on Thursday to the delight of his audience – a response which prompted him to burst out laughing.