Gays are rotten, says Zulu king

2012-01-23 09:24

Johannesburg - Zulu monarch King Goodwill Zwelithini has criticised people who engage in same sex relationships, labelling them as "rotten", according to a newspaper report on Monday.

"Traditionally, there were no people who engaged in same sex relationships. There was nothing like that and if you do it, you must know that you are rotten," The Times quoted him as saying.

"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 speaking at Nquthu, in northern KwaZulu-Natal, during the 133rd commemoration of the Battle of Isandlwana, which the Zulu regiments won.

On Sunday, Zwelithini shared the stage with President Jacob Zuma, who was criticised in 2006 for homophobic statements he had made at a Heritage Day celebration.

The South African Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation on Monday said it was disappointed by Zwelithini's statement.

GLAAD's Cobus Fourie said in a statement to News24: "We find it extremely distressing that a high profile person makes such vexing and degrading comments about an increasingly vulnerable community.

"We have enough instances of hate crimes in this country and we do not need to add insult to injury."
 
Meanwhile, former president Thabo Mbeki has been quoted by a Ugandan newspaper as saying that the country's anti-gay bill, which seeks the death penalty for aggravated homosexuality, doesn't make sense.

Mbeki hit out at the bill, telling a public audience in Kampala that what two consenting adults do in private "is really not the matter of law", the Daily Monitor reported.

- SAPA