Rodgers aiming to make royal Zulu family self-sufficient
KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Francois Rodgers says his department is exploring a plan to make the Zulu royal family more self-sufficient.
Last month, the provincial government cut the royal budget by R2 million to R77 million.
Speaking to Newswatch, Rodgers said he had conversations with King Misuzulu about creating an economic generation model that capitalises on cattle farms in Zululand.
He says it's based on the model of Botswana.
"Botswana is very similar to Zululand in that it is rural and a lot of small-scale and emerging farmers run cattle on their farms, and those cattle are then taken to feedlots, they are fattened, and there is a process of slaughtering and packing the meat. That meat is then exported to the European Union; 90 odd per cent of it.
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"Now imagine if we had a system like that.
"The meat would then be processed under the emblem of the king. We could make the royal household more self-sustainable and we could be marketing the king.
"If we could get into the export beef market and it gains traction, people start to understand we have a king in KwaZulu-Natal. There is a fantastic history around the king dating back to King Shaka. Those are things we need to explore."
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