The King's speech - an Oscar for hypocrisy

Dear Anti-fur Lobbyists,

When Jennifer Lopez, singer and US idols judge recently appeared in Vanity Fair magazine looking as if she was naked except for a very revealing Artic fox fur coat, animal lovers were outraged. Britain’s Sun newspaper quoted a reader as saying, Fur is worn by beautify animals and ugly people. 

         Well I wonder what that reader as well as the anti-fur lobby would say about South Africa’s Zulu President, Jacob Zuma; the Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini and Chief Mangosuthu Buthlezi, a Member of Parliament and long time leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party, and their followers who don’t exactly subscribed to this, You shouldn’t wear animal fur nonsense.

         Has the Anti-Fur Society, the worldwide organisation for the betterment of fur bearing animals, ever said anything about what has been going on for decades in Kwazulu-Natal which is in the country that is supposed to be the most civilised part of Africa?
         And have the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) noticed?  It claims to be the biggest enemy of fur wearers in the world with over 2-million members and is supported by South Africa’s Oscar winner, Charlise Theron, Pamela Anderson and Sir Paul McCarthey’s ex-wife Heather Mills. He has also slammed Lopez for wearing animal furs.

         My question to these two bodies is this: Isn’t it time you started attacking African leaders with the same vigour that you use when getting stuck into film and TV stars as soon as they appear wearing animal fur.

         After his recent speech at the annual Reed Dance at his palace King Goodwill should have been awarded the hypocrisy Oscar of the year.  At the event the girls present the King with reeds to symbolise their purity which made the monarch’s words even more ridiculous.

He took the opportunity to tell his guests and the 3 000 maidens that he would personally hunt down the dogs who did not care about the future.

        The dogs he was referring to were rhino poachers.  And he told the crowd that included  President Zuma, the Minister of Environmental Affairs Edna Molewa, and guests from Swaziland, Mozambique and Angola that these animals are a wealth given by God to the people of Kwazulu-Natal.

        Change the way you are behaving because the killing of rhinos is a defiance of my order as your King to respect and protect wild life, he said.

         The King recalled that last year 333 rhinos were killed and so far this year the total was 274. Stop this, I urge you, he added.

The animals are being butchered because their horns can fetch up to $50 000 a kilo in Asia where they are believed to have all kinds of curative powers and are also an aphrodisiac.

         What do you think the King and his closest followers were wearing – LEOPARD SKINS. Uncharacteristically Zuma, who is normally covered in these spotted furs on these occasions, had on ordinary clothes.

Please Jennifer Lopez don’t encourage them. They already have a twisted enough view of preserving wild life. And the way they and the rest of Africa are going there won’t be anything left soon. It’ll be either eaten or used  for traditional robes or medicine.

The AK 47 is a lethal killing machine. 

         Goodwill sir, isn’t it time you started practising what you preach by showing some good will to the dwindling leopard population. They are just as much, if not more of a tourist attraction than rhinos.

         Leopards are protected in Provincial and privately owned reserves in South Africa, but are persecuted relentlessly outside these. Poison baits, cruel traps and other means are widely used to kill them and land owners who claim that a leopard has killed their livestock can easily get a destruction permit.

         The Government recently doubled the hunting quota for leopards to 150 for the country.

What else would you expect when all the President’s men have to be adorned with one of their skins on every ceremonial occasion? It’s tradition you know and artificial leopard skin just will not do.

So get cracking Anti-Fur Society, Petra as well as film stars and other high profile people, and raise hell all over the world so as to embarrass these African big wigs who think that some long standing tradition can go on being an excuse for blasting animals into extinction.

Regards

Jon, owner of a factory that makes fake leopard skin guaranteed not to change its spots.

P.S. That's Zuma dancing at one of his numerous weddings surrounded by leopard skins and wearing his traditional dark glasses.