Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - December 14, 2003
Thabo Mkhize
Zwelithini's KwaKhangela palace, at Nongoma in northern KwaZulu-Natal, has become a second home to scores of impoverished children.
The gesture has attracted the attention of Social Development Minister Dr Zola Skweyiya, who visited the area two weeks ago and this week sent officials to Nongoma to find out how the government could assist the king in helping the children.
The king has five wives and seven palaces. The Royal Household's budget for this year was R21.5-million.
Zwelithini, who was reluctant to reveal how much of his own money was spent on the children, said his heart went out to them.
"It is very saddening for me to see children suffering this way," he said. "It is not their fault. We need to take care of them. There are plenty of Aids orphans in this area and things are not getting any better.
"Every day we get reports . . . of parents dying and leaving children with no one to care for them. Although they don't say what is killing them, you can just see the signs that it is Aids.
"People in rural areas are still very secretive about HIV/Aids and even when they have the disease, they don't tell anyone."
Zwelithini said about 500 children regularly visit the palace, where they are taught skills such as Zulu dance and crafts, Zulu culture, and how young boys and girls should behave.
"This is my duty as a king to set an example for my people - that orphans also need love and care just like all other children.
"The children that come here suffer from poverty and we try to give them what we can, but it is not enough."
The king said donations from friends were not enough to feed the children and claimed he frequently had to dig deep into his pockets to help.
"The need far outweighs what we can provide and that is why I invited the minister to come and see for himself the suffering of the children and what he can do to assist," he said.
Mantfombi, who works daily with the children at the palace, said the Aids orphans at Nongoma needed assistance from the government.
"Poverty has forced young girls and boys to enter into relationships in the hope of getting bread or food, and this does not help in the fight against Aids," she said. "There are lots of orphans in this area who need all the assistance they can get, but unfortunately there is not enough to help all the people."
Mantfombi said it was evident that many children were participating in the skills programmes offered at the palace simply because it meant they would get a plate of food.
One of the regular visitors to the palace, 13-year-old Nombulelo Ndlela, whose mother died last year, said: "I love coming to the palace because we are taught many things and we are also given clothes and something to eat. Things are very hard at home as we usually don't have enough food."
Thandeka Zulu, 18, and her five siblings - who lost their father in 2001 and their mother this year - said they get something to eat from "Bayede" (Zwelithini).
Zulu said the king had told them that the best way to prevent Aids was through sexual abstinence.
Skweyiya's spokesman, Mbulelo Musi, said the minister had received an invitation from the king to visit Nongoma.
"[Skweyiya] was devastated when he saw how the children were suffering," Musi said. "He could see poverty in their faces and he felt he had to act urgently. That is why no time was wasted and officials were sent there this week.
"We are going to see if we can help the children with food parcels and investigate who qualifies for grants."
Musi said Skweyiya was prepared to work with anyone to fight poverty. "Children are not politicians. They should not suffer because of politics."
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