"Zulu monarch King Goodwill Zwelithini has lashed out at homosexuals, accusing them of confusing children and tarnishing the image of the Zulu nation.
Addressing more than 20 000 maidens and guests during the annual Reed Dance festival held at his Enyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma at the weekend, Zwelithini said homosexuality was a threat to the Zulu nation's rich moral teachings, adding that the new "habit" of feeling attracted to people of same sex was against African values.
"The Zulu nation would not be this big, with millions of people, if there was the problem of gay people that we have today. This new behaviour is quickly becoming a threat in our nation because it encourages people not to have proper families that have children.
We have a huge responsibility as a nation to teach our children to distance themselves from homosexuality," he said.
The Reed Dance ceremony is aimed at teaching young people about their role in society and appropriate sexual behaviour, especially in the light of the HIV/Aids pandemic, he said.
Zwelithini also criticised the government over the Children's Rights Bill which seeks to ban virginity testing. The Bill awaits approval from the National Council of Provinces. All young women who take part at the Reed Dance festival undergo virginity testing. This means that if the Bill is signed into law, the festival will be dealt a severe blow.
"I have never heard of someone dying from virginity testing, but in other parts of the country people die because of circumcisions which go horribly wrong. What is more worrying is that they (government) did not consult us as the custodians of virginity testing before they passed it (the Bill)," he said.
The king appealed to KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele to fight on behalf of the Zulu nation and ensure that the bill was not made law, saying that the Reed Dance festival would die if maidens were not tested.
"I have many daughters who have been tested, but none of them have complained of being sick or humiliated after undergoing the process," he added.
The king also announced that people were being trained to do virginity testing for boys. "I am very grateful to companies that are supporting me in the campaign to have boys tested because they are the ones who make girls pregnant. People are being trained in Empangeni to test boys," he said.
"I want to thank young people who have heeded my call and conducted their lives in a manner that has saved them from contracting HIV/Aids. Please continue to abstain from sex," he said.
There was drama when some maidens were hurt during the process of handing over reeds at the king's palace. Some also fainted because of the intense heat.
Anthony Waldhausen, convener of the Pietermaritzburg Gay and Lesbian Network, this morning described Zwelithini's comments as being "typical of a person of his stature and similar to comments made by Robert Mugabe".
"We are part of his nation in KZN and it is rubbish to say being homosexual is un-African."
He called on leaders not to use their platforms to harbour hate against the homosexual community. "
"Deaths in the Bible. God - 2,270,365
not including the victims of Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the
many plagues, famines, fiery serpents, etc because no specific numbers
were given. Satan - 10."
sounds a bit loopy to me
"Zulu monarch King Goodwill Zwelithini has lashed out at homosexuals, accusing them of confusing children and tarnishing the image of the Zulu nation.
Addressing more than 20 000 maidens and guests during the annual Reed Dance festival held at his Enyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma at the weekend, Zwelithini said homosexuality was a threat to the Zulu nation's rich moral teachings, adding that the new "habit" of feeling attracted to people of same sex was against African values.
"The Zulu nation would not be this big, with millions of people, if there was the problem of gay people that we have today. This new behaviour is quickly becoming a threat in our nation because it encourages people not to have proper families that have children.
We have a huge responsibility as a nation to teach our children to distance themselves from homosexuality," he said.
The Reed Dance ceremony is aimed at teaching young people about their role in society and appropriate sexual behaviour, especially in the light of the HIV/Aids pandemic, he said.
Zwelithini also criticised the government over the Children's Rights Bill which seeks to ban virginity testing. The Bill awaits approval from the National Council of Provinces. All young women who take part at the Reed Dance festival undergo virginity testing. This means that if the Bill is signed into law, the festival will be dealt a severe blow.
"I have never heard of someone dying from virginity testing, but in other parts of the country people die because of circumcisions which go horribly wrong. What is more worrying is that they (government) did not consult us as the custodians of virginity testing before they passed it (the Bill)," he said.
The king appealed to KwaZulu-Natal Premier S'bu Ndebele to fight on behalf of the Zulu nation and ensure that the bill was not made law, saying that the Reed Dance festival would die if maidens were not tested.
"I have many daughters who have been tested, but none of them have complained of being sick or humiliated after undergoing the process," he added.
The king also announced that people were being trained to do virginity testing for boys. "I am very grateful to companies that are supporting me in the campaign to have boys tested because they are the ones who make girls pregnant. People are being trained in Empangeni to test boys," he said.
"I want to thank young people who have heeded my call and conducted their lives in a manner that has saved them from contracting HIV/Aids. Please continue to abstain from sex," he said.
There was drama when some maidens were hurt during the process of handing over reeds at the king's palace. Some also fainted because of the intense heat.
Anthony Waldhausen, convener of the Pietermaritzburg Gay and Lesbian Network, this morning described Zwelithini's comments as being "typical of a person of his stature and similar to comments made by Robert Mugabe".
"We are part of his nation in KZN and it is rubbish to say being homosexual is un-African."
He called on leaders not to use their platforms to harbour hate against the homosexual community. "
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=6&art_id=vn200509120917...
"Deaths in the Bible. God - 2,270,365
not including the victims of Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, or the
many plagues, famines, fiery serpents, etc because no specific numbers
were given. Satan - 10."