KwaZulu-Natal premier Zweli Mkhize wants to meet SA Human Rights Commission head Lawrence Mushwana to discuss allegations that Zulu monarch King Goodwill Zwelithini attacked gays.
"Mkhize wants to meet Mushwana to discuss this issue because he strongly feels that the public has been misled," Mkhize's spokesman, Ndabe Sibiya, said yesterday.
He said Mkhize was disappointment at the interpretation of the king's speech, which he delivered on Sunday at the 133rd commemoration of the Battle of Isandlwana.
According to Mkhize, the king denounced abuse and had not lashed out at gays and lesbians.
King Goodwill said in Nquthu that "traditionally" people did not engage in same-sex relationships.
"There was nothing like that and, if you do it, you must know that you are rotten. I don't care how you feel about it. If you do it, you must know that it is wrong and you are rotten. Same-sex is not acceptable," he was quoted as saying.
Addressing members of the royal household portfolio committee in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature yesterday, Mkhize challenged anyone who claimed to have evidence of a homophobic statement by the Zulu king to produce it.
He played a DVD of King Goodwill's speech, which he said did not contain an attack on gays.
Sibiya said Mkhize felt it was important for him to meet Mushwana to explain what the king had said and provide him with a copy of the speech and the DVD.
The commission said on Monday that it would write to the king to seek clarity on his utterances.
Sibiya said Mkhize was disappointed that it had commented before it had all the facts.
The Zulu royal household on Monday criticised the "reckless translation" of the king's speech.
"At no stage did his majesty condemn gay relations or same-sex relations," spokesman Prince Mbonisi Zulu said.
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