I wonder if King Goodwill Zwelithini shouldn't consider taking a cue from Helen Zille and resigning in the interests of the greater good. The DA leader did her party a great service at the weekend by announcing her decision to go.Zille has done wonders for the opposition. Hopefully, history will judge her for being a real game- changer, rather than the irascible and thin-skinned person she has been of late.She had the good grace to go before she became a burden. If only others could follow her lead.Umshiniwami springs to mind. Alas, the man is in it for the ANC, not the country.Another codger who should consider stepping down is the Zulu king.It's probably heresy in eThekwini to say this, but I'd like to see the heir apparent to that throne.I'm not sure to what extent Zwelithini's statements about foreigners have fuelled xenophobia.But it seems a bit rich for a man who hasn't worked a day in his life, by virtue of his birth, to tell desperate job-seekers to hit the road.In a spirit of genuine inquiry, I ask: How much value do kings, queens, princes and chiefs offer our modern democracy?Zwelithini is often in the news because he can't make ends meet from the millions taxpayers fork out to keep him in the manner to which he is accustomed.It has been reported that the king received R54-million from the government, via the bedevilled Royal Household Department, in the last financial year.Some R42-million of that was for administrative services, R9-million was for the upkeep of his six palaces and R3-million for his five farms.This newspaper ran a piece saying the 66-year-old king couldn't pay R1.6-million to the businessman who organised the monarch's wedding to 28-year-old Zola Mafu.Of course Zwelithini has an interesting relationship with the media. His last tirade took aim at us. According to The Mercury, he said the media twisted his words to create controversy to boost sales."I warn the media not to burn the country because when it is burning they will run to hide underneath their mothers' skirts."To boost the sales and profit of newspapers they must find lies. They are the ones who are causing us to kill each other. They don't love us. They are worse than the apartheid regime."Newspapers, he said, don't write nation-building news; instead, they just talk about "naked pastors, goats and talking zombies".Well, he may have his (many) faults, but clearly our expensive royal is an avid newspaper reader. ..