Forgo traditions, guard your safety – urges Zulu king

Forgo traditions, guard your safety – urges Zulu king

Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini KaBhekuZulu, is urging amaZulu to avoid funerals of people who are not their relatives as the country continues to battle a surge in COVID-19 infections.

The king has sent condolences to families who have lost their loved ones to the pandemic.

Urging his subjects to take the disease seriously, king Zwelithini urged the public to attend funerals that they cannot avoid.

He says they shouldn’t worry too much about some of the cutural rituals they are accustomed to as those can still be fulfilled once the battle against COVID-19 has been won.

“It would be a tragedy for people to place traditions before their own safety,” the king said.

Quoting a Scripture on 2 Chronicles, the king also urged South Africa to seek God’s forgiveness so that he can bring healing on the land.

Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa also urged South Africans to avoid funerals, saying attending them has become a death trap.

The President says the events have become super-spreaders of the disease, which has killed 35 852 South Africans.

In KwaZulu-Natal alone, 5 964 people have succumbed to the virus and 269 632 others are infected.