Zulu king wants his Disney-type park so much, he's opening his palaces to tourists

Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini is opening up his palaces as tourists attractions, like the Buckingham Palace in London, to raise funds for nine new development projects including a Disney-styled cultural theme park.

The monarch announced the investment project at eNyokeni palace where a lavish birthday celebration attended by hundreds of guests, including Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Zweli Mkhize, ACDP leader Kenneth Meshoe and mining mogul Patrice Motsepe, was held on Friday.

The project is in line with the KwaZulu-Natal government’s plan, mooted more than a decade ago, to use the Zulu monarch as a tourist attraction to raise money to maintain his lavish lifestyle. This did not materialise.

The idea was to promote Zulu royalty and turn the palaces into a tourist paradise where people could have an audience with the king.

In Britain, thousands of tourists flock to Buckingham Palace every year as guests to banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and royal garden parties, all of which generate thousands of pounds in revenue for the royal household.

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