HARARE – AmaZulu king Misuzulu ka Zwelithini and King Ndamase Ndamase of Western Pondoland are set to travel to Zimbabwe to meet president Emmerson Mnangagwa amid rising anti-immigrant tensions in South Africa, reports said on Wednesday.
Ndamase, leader of AmaMpondo aseNyandeni of the Eastern Cape, wrote to South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation, Ronald Lamola, on July 3 informing him of the planned visit.
Lamola’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, told News24 that the department had received the correspondence, and said it would engage the traditional leadership on their proposal.
Ndamase said the decision to visit Zimbabwe followed a high-level meeting on June 27 at which South African president Cyril Ramaphosa met traditional leaders to discuss growing anti-immigrant sentiment and the government’s response to it.
That meeting came three days before nationwide demonstrations on June 30 by anti-immigration groups, which had set that date as an ultimatum for undocumented foreign nationals to leave the country.
Ndamase said he and Misuzulu had also met Ramaphosa separately on June 28, where they agreed on the urgency of engaging regional leaders on the matter. He said the two kings intended to discuss southern African xenophobia, migration and the role of minorities within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and had proposed hosting a SADC regional minority summit in Victoria Falls to turn migration into what he called a “strategic asset for regional investment.”
In a separate letter to Mnangagwa, also dated July 3, Ndamase requested a meeting between the Zimbabwean head of state and the two kings, citing Mnangagwa’s “Pan-Africanist credentials” and describing him as a leader well placed to guide the dialogue on regional migration tensions.
Zanu PF spokesperson Chris Mutsvangwa confirmed at a press conference on Monday that Mnangagwa would meet the traditional leaders, framing the engagement as part of efforts to address what he termed the “weaponisation of poverty.”
Mutsvangwa said the Zimbabwean leader had been in contact with an intermediary with links to traditional rulers in kwaZulu-Natal and among the amaXhosa and amaMpondo, and that correspondence had been received from the Kingdom of Zululand, the king of amaMpondo and the Xhosa paramount king, with discussions to focus on what could be done at a sub-regional level.
Misuzulu is reported to have played a role in the lead-up to the June 30 protests in calming tensions in KwaZulu-Natal, the epicentre of the planned marches, urging his subjects to avoid destroying property and instructing royal regiments and coordinators to protect foreign nationals from harm during the demonstrations.
Zimbabwe’s information minister Zhemu Soda on Tuesday said 21,291 nationals had been repatriated by the government since May, with a further 56,832 having returned independently fearing violence in South Africa.
He said an inter-ministerial committee had been established to oversee the reception, registration and transportation of returnees, along with reintegration programmes.
