Zulus, animal rights groups to meet

DURBAN, South Africa, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- South African animal rights groups will meet with Zulu traditionalists in a dispute over a planned ritual bull-killing, a South African official says.

Cultural Commissioner Pat Mkhize said the activists and the Zulus have agreed to discuss the Dec. 5 ceremony, known as Ukweshwama, in Durban after a court postponed an effort by Animal Rights Africa to ban the ritual, the BBC reported.

The group is suing Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini to stop the event, saying the ceremony is cruel.

"Dozens (of people) trampled the bellowing, groaning bull, wrenched its head around by the horns to try to break its neck, pulled its tongue out, stuffed sand in its mouth and even tried to tie its penis in a knot," the group said of an earlier Ukweshwama ceremony in a statement.

The king's spokesman, however, says the killing is a highly symbolic way of thanking God, the BBC reported.

"We have called a meeting of all parties because we believe that this matter can still be resolved out of court," Mkhize told the Independent Online.