UKHOZI FM DJ Ngizwenkosi Mchunu is suing Durban's King Shaka International Airport for R10million after security guards allegedly confiscated his traditional shield (Ihawu) and threatened to destroy it because it was "carrying foot-and- mouth disease".
Mchunu, who co-hosts the traditional maskandi music programme Sigiya Ngengoma on Saturdays, will fight this "discrimination and defamation" case in the city's equality court early next month.
According to the charge sheet Mchunu was dressed in full traditional Zulu attire when he boarded a plane to Dubai in April. He was representing South Africa as a traditional ambassador at a function in the United Arab Emirates.
But when he returned home a few days later he accidentally left his shield on the luggage conveyor belt and later went back to fetch it from the office of an airport official only identified as "Steve".
"On my way out two security guards stopped me and asked me if I had declared what was in my plastic bag. I explained that I had not brought the shield from Dubai and that I had it with me when I left the country," Mchunu said in court papers.
He claimed the guards told him that his shield was "dirty" and "contained foot-and-mouth disease". They refused to return it to him and threatened to destroy it, calling it a "piece of rubbish".
He said the parcel was even given to the airport's dog to sniff at.
When two police captains arrived on the scene in the ensuing commotion, they tried to explain that the traditional shield made of cow hide was no danger to anyone, but the guards insisted on taking it for spraying to kill any bacteria before returning it to Mchunu.
"The police ordered the guards to give it back, which they did ... but they still insisted on taking away my shield even after they were told there was nothing wrong and unlawful with it. They continued with their intensions to wrongfully defame my dignity," Mchunu said in his statement.
Mchunu says he is suing the airport for R10million for hate speech and defamation and is also demanding a public apology.
Mchunu - who is also the director of the Pan South African Language Board, has travelled extensively abroad as a cultural ambassador, including during the inauguration of US president Barack Obama - says he has never had problems at any airport with his cultural weapons.
Ukhozi DJ sues King Shaka Airport
UKHOZI FM DJ Ngizwenkosi Mchunu is suing Durban's King Shaka International Airport for R10million after security guards allegedly confiscated his traditional shield (Ihawu) and threatened to destroy it because it was "carrying foot-and- mouth disease".
Mchunu, who co-hosts the traditional maskandi music programme Sigiya Ngengoma on Saturdays, will fight this "discrimination and defamation" case in the city's equality court early next month.
According to the charge sheet Mchunu was dressed in full traditional Zulu attire when he boarded a plane to Dubai in April. He was representing South Africa as a traditional ambassador at a function in the United Arab Emirates.
But when he returned home a few days later he accidentally left his shield on the luggage conveyor belt and later went back to fetch it from the office of an airport official only identified as "Steve".
"On my way out two security guards stopped me and asked me if I had declared what was in my plastic bag. I explained that I had not brought the shield from Dubai and that I had it with me when I left the country," Mchunu said in court papers.
He claimed the guards told him that his shield was "dirty" and "contained foot-and-mouth disease". They refused to return it to him and threatened to destroy it, calling it a "piece of rubbish".
He said the parcel was even given to the airport's dog to sniff at.
When two police captains arrived on the scene in the ensuing commotion, they tried to explain that the traditional shield made of cow hide was no danger to anyone, but the guards insisted on taking it for spraying to kill any bacteria before returning it to Mchunu.
"The police ordered the guards to give it back, which they did ... but they still insisted on taking away my shield even after they were told there was nothing wrong and unlawful with it. They continued with their intensions to wrongfully defame my dignity," Mchunu said in his statement.
Mchunu says he is suing the airport for R10million for hate speech and defamation and is also demanding a public apology.
Mchunu - who is also the director of the Pan South African Language Board, has travelled extensively abroad as a cultural ambassador, including during the inauguration of US president Barack Obama - says he has never had problems at any airport with his cultural weapons.
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