THE first of an expected 10 000 people had started to stream into Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium on Monday morning‚ where under-fire Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini will publicly address his controversial comments - that foreigners must leave the country.

Carrying knobkerries‚ shields and other traditional weapons‚ the men and women cheered‚ sang traditional songs and shouted out war cries.

A large police contingent was deployed in the stadium precinct where hundreds of buses‚ carrying people from around the province‚ were to arrive.

Speaking at a moral regeneration event in Pongola about a month ago‚ Zwelithini said that foreigners should pack their bags and leave.

The comments are being probed by the SA Human Rights Commission‚ which is investigating whether or not they constitute hate speech.

Since his comments‚ xenophobic attacks in and around Durban have claimed six lives and displaced thousands of foreigners.

While Zwelithini was expected address the crowd‚ it is unlikely he would apologise for the comments. Instead‚ he was expected to condemn the attacks and call for calm.