South Africa (Commonwealth Union) _ Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a controversial South African politician and Zulu traditional minister, died this week at the age of 95 and was laid to rest on Saturday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered a eulogy during Buthelezi’s funeral in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal province, where he had been living, complimenting him for his work as a legislator and his determination to eventually participate in South Africa’s peaceful transition to democracy.
Mourners gathered for the funeral of Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a veteran South African politician and Zulu leader. In recognition of his contributions to the fight against white minority rule, he was given a state funeral. As a gesture of appreciation, the national power company agreed that Ulundi would not be subject to the national rolling power outages during the celebrations.
However, his death at the age of 95 has sparked a controversy regarding his legacy. He was born into the Zulu royal family and served as the traditional prime minister until his death. However, his role in politics has divided opinion.
After becoming disillusioned with the African National Congress (ANC) during the height of apartheid in 1975, he founded the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). He said that the ANC’s stance on armed action and sanctions disadvantaged black South Africans.
His fans believe he deserves all of the praise he is receiving, and the hundreds of people who lined the streets leading to the Kwa-Phindangene Palace in Ulundi on Friday, together with praise-singing Zulu battalions wearing in traditional attire, regard him as a man of peace.
Buthelezi was “a respected traditional leader who made a contribution in history in ensuring that the dignity of black people, particularly Zulus, was not trampled on by the apartheid regime,” according to Prof Kealeboga Maphunye, head of African politics at the University of South Africa.
However, it was what transpired during the transition to multi-party democracy in the early 1990s, when an estimated 20,000 people were killed in violence between the ANC and the IFP that drew criticism and condemnation.
We must not forget that Buthelezi’s supporters were complicit in acts that harmed his legacy, according to Prof Maphunye. A day after Buthelezi’s death, City Press newspaper editor-in-chief Mondli Makhanya was more direct in his front-page editorial, labelling him a “murderous apartheid collaborator who was behind hit squads linked to his organization.”
Makhanya went on to call positive compliments to him “the culmination of South Africa’s greatest whitewashing of history.” Thokoza township, east of Johannesburg, is one of many sites where political violence was used by those aiming to undermine the country’s first democratic elections in 1994.
A memorial to the 600 people who died there currently sits on Khumalo Street, which was originally the dividing line. On Khumalo Street, which was formerly the dividing line between two warring communities, a monument to the 600 people who perished there now stands.
People gathered at the memorial on Thursday, determined that their relatives who died would not be forgotten at this time.
“During the violent clashes, I lost my uncle.” “He was bludgeoned to death,” a man who did not want to be identified told the BBC. He had demanded that Buthelezi “humble” himself and apologize for the horrors committed in his name. “However, rather than apologizing, he denied involvement until his death,” he stated.
The IFP has refuted these accusations, claiming that neither Buthelezi nor his party were responsible for the violence. Nelson Mandela and Buthelezi buried the hatchet when Nelson Mandela won the country’s first democratic elections, and the IFP leader went on to serve two terms as home affairs minister in the ANC government.
