An icon of Tourism

With the Zulu kingdom encompassing some of the most idyllic lands in the world, His Majesty has gone out of his way to punt the province as a tourism mecca.

“We have lands and nature reserves which are highly respected by the outside world and which are recognised by the World Heritage Organisation,” marvels King Zwelithini.

From the wetlands of St Lucia to the Hluhluwe-Umfolosi Game Reserves, and from the heritage sites at the Drakensberg Mountains to the battle-sites in the KZN midland, his Majesty fervently believes that his kingdom caters for the preferences of a wide spectrum of tourists.

Apart from the employment generation potential of the tourism industry, His Majesty also implores locals to assert their cultural identity and utilise their customs and traditions to eke out a living.

“This is important because unemployment is increasing on a daily basis, especially in the rural areas,” says the monarch.

His Majesty therefore calls on locals living along the routes to his kingdom’s popular tourist destinations to flaunt their traditional attire as well as parade their indigenous African Arts and Crafts, believing that this will keep his subject’s productively occupied and enable them to rake in revenue.

But the king as a word of warning to his subjects.  “Ensure that your wares are of international standard,” he stipulates.  Mindful that stability in his kingdom is inter-dependent on surrounding areas, the king also markets the rest of South Africa as well as the neighbouring countries on his overseas visits.

As part of his tourist drive, the king last year revived the centuries old “Hunting Ceremony” whereby the professional hunting of surplus game was undertaken by His Majesty.  Replacing the traditional weapons of his ancestors with a modern-day rifle, the king remarked that events like the hunting ceremony would popularise tourism to Game reserves His Majesty stressed that the ecological balance of such resorts would not be destroyed as long as the hunts were conducted within the rules of professional hunting and strictly served the purposes of culling only.

The king has also supported and endorsed battle-site re-enactments, such as the Battle of Isandlwana fought in 1879.  In one of the fiercest battles fought during the colonial era, where 30 000 members of the amabutho (Zulu military regiments) rallied to the call of their former leader, King Cetswayo, against the intended take-over of their lands by an 18 000-strong British garrison led by Lord Chelmsford.

The Zulu warriors, employing the strategic “horns of the buffalo” tactic perfected by King Shaka, stunned the international world with an astonishing victory over the might of the British Empire.  More than 3 000 men from both sides are still buried at the battle site.

“Events such as these not only exploit the rich historical and tourism potential of areas such as Isandlwana but also creates jobs for the impoverished locals,” smiles King Zwelithini.