Zulu King wanted Zimbabwe trip kept secret - report

King Goodwill Zwelithini's entourage wanted his impending visit to Zimbabwe kept a secret amid security concerns, a report said on Wednesday.

Zwelithini is reportedly set to visit Zimbabwe's mining town of Gwanda in Matabeleland South at the end of August to attend the wedding ceremony of a South African-based Zimbabwean businessman.

Organisers of the event in Zimbabwe said Zwelithin's entourage had requested that his visit be kept a secret for security reasons, state-owned Herald newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Activists in Matabeleland said the Zulu King was welcome, despite xenophobic attacks in South Africa early this year that were seen as having been "instigated" by him, a report says.

"What made those people leave their country for South Africa in the first place? It had nothing to do with King Goodwill Zwelithini," Mbuso Fuzwayo, an activist from the group Ibhetshu LikaZulu, was quoted as saying.

Another activist, Dumisani Mpofu, said Zwelithini owed no-one an apology, saying it was clear that African governments were failing and "must solve their problems".