My final take on this debate is neither the Zulu nor the vegans want to negotiate. The vegans may have deep pockets (overseas funding for animal rights), so they will continue to find excuses to take the Zulu Monarch to court until they can either get animal rights to life = human rights to life included in the law in this country and all South Africans become vegans by law, or they exhaust all legal options and be forced to negotiate with the Zulu for a compromise.

Watch this space.

Did the representatives of ARA say that are you just making it up?

“How many more animals must die a slow, painful death before the king will deign to talk through intermediaries?”

- that depends on the outspoken white man who represents ARA. When he decides to get off his pedistal and acknowledge the Zulu monarch as king of the Zulu instead of a mere civil servant and is prepared to publically state he respects the Zulu, culture even if he does not agree with it, maybe, just maybe, the Zulu monarch will forgive ARA for their high handed indiscretions and talk to them.

The ball is in ARA’s court.

” The point I was trying to make is that all these groups that are pushing ideals like ARA need to wake up to this simple fact: desist from engaging people like you know it all. ”

I do not believe they have. They approached the king and were met with refusal to talk. In approaching the king, I believe, they showed some cultural sensitivity and willingness to engage in a manner that is appropriate. One thing you must remember though, is they feel as strongly as you about this. So perhaps their intitial spirit of respect should have been reciprocated.

“if he wants to stick to culture then he must also go back to living in a mud hut but his subjects are livid, me included. ”

I cannot imagine that any representative of ARA would say that. Is it not other poeple that are saying that? I have seen it all over the place. My issue here is people making assumptions about what organisations do or do not do.

” And, I would tell you the reason why the bull needs to bellow before it dies but you would tell me in your enlightened attitude that ancestral involvement in this is mambo jumbo.”

I do not have the same beliefs, certainly, but would be intersted to hear it.

The point I was trying to make is that all these groups that are pushing ideals like ARA need to wake up to this simple fact: desist from engaging people like you know it all.

For instance, the king maybe upset about being dragged to court and being told that if he wants to stick to culture then he must also go back to living in a mud hut but his subjects are livid, me included. Read posts of a group called uMzulu on facebook.

Be modern, be educated and all things that your culture affords but be weary of dancing on the heads of those you feel need to be on a par with you in terms of modernity, morals and ethics for they might feel the need to shake you off.

And, I would tell you the reason why the bull needs to bellow before it dies but you would tell me in your enlightened attitude that ancestral involvement in this is mambo jumbo.

I have a life, thanks. One filled with compassionate people, living animals and tasty vegetables. Neither I nor the bull had any part in what racist colonists did to Zulu culture.

How many more animals must die a slow, painful death before the king will deign to talk through intermediaries?

As for vegan ethics, once you read up on it you may find it’s not that narrow. Every animal rightist I know is also a passionate supporter of human rights. Usually their compassion for animals flowed from their initial recognition of universal, inalienable rights. My position is that cultural rights do not necessarily trump the rights to life or bodily integrity of humans or animals. We can all imagine what sort of inhuman practices can and have been perpetrated under the banner of “culture”. Killing a bull is not illegal. Torturing an animal is. Are we saying blind acceptance of culture is more important than law?

That is the biggest misconception about animal rights and why I have been assking people to read up about it. The underlying thinking of animal rights is not ‘animals or humans’ it is ‘animals and humans’.

And according to the Animal Protection Act torturing a bull is not.