The Legacy of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi: In the Struggle for Liberation in South Africa

By Themba Nzimande

Many myths and fallacies have surrounded the life of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi; a man who has
played a profound and undeniable role in shaping the history and culture of South Africa for more
than half a century. Yet even his opponents refer to him as the doyen of South African politics.
This book chronicles Buthelezis legacy in South Africas struggle for liberation. It examines his
utterances, beliefs and warnings, to the ANC alliance, the apartheid government and the people of
South Africa at large.
In doing so, it exposes the myths and challenges the propaganda, while forging a clearer picture
of the man about whom so much has been written.
The book considers Buthelezis principled advocacy of peaceful change, when it was fashionable to
cry for violence. It explores his influential role at the negotiating table at CODESA and reflects on why
his vision and commitment could not be ignored by his opponents. His active espousal of federalism,
in direct opposition to the unitary one-party state envisioned by the ANC, is also investigated.
Finally the book chronicles Buthelezis service in the Government of National Unity and the reasons
why Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki entrusted him with running the State more than
twenty times over a five year period.
Through writing this book, the author has come face to face with the unique character of Buthelezi,
from his remarkable leadership skills to his workaholic tendencies. Buthelezis undeniable integrity,
loyalty, faith and wisdom have influenced the making of his legacy, which has somehow married liberal
values with ubuntu botho - a form of African humanism.
For more than 60 years Buthelezi has carried the torch he inherited from leaders like Dr Pixley ka
Isaka Seme, Professor ZK Mathews and Inkosi Albert Luthuli. This book describes the journey.
Themba Nzimande holds a degree in political science and public management. He has been
involved in the politics of the Inkatha Freedom Party since its inception in 1975 and has served on its
Central Committee.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Apr 8, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456880705

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Themba Nzimande.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011903503

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4568-8069-9

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4568-8068-2

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4568-8070-5

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Contents

Profile Summary

Preface

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Chapter 1:Introduction

Chapter 2:History of the Struggle for Liberation in South Africa

Chapter 3:The Politics of Inkatha, Its Concepts and Strategy

Chapter 4:Apartheid’s Grand Design

Chapter 5:A Plea for Non-violent Change

Chapter 6:The Buthelezi Commission and KwaZulu Natal Indaba

Chapter 7:The Real Causes of Enmity

Chapter 8:The Goldstone Commission and Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Sources

Addendum 1

Addendum 2

Addendum 3

Profile Summary

Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi

Personal

Date of Birth: 27-08-1928

Place of Birth: Mahlabathini, KwaZulu, South Africa

Marital Status: Married to Irene Audrey Thandekile Mzila

Lineage:

Father: Inkosi Mathole Buthelezi ka Tshanibezwe ka Mnyamana ka Nqengelele

Mother: Princess Magogo ka Dinuzulu ka Cetshwayo ka Mpande ka Senzangakhona

Founder and Leader of Inkatha Freedom Party, South Africa

Positions Held

Member of Parliament, Inkatha Freedom Party: National Assembly, (1994-present)

Minister of Home Affairs, Government of South Africa (1994-2004)

Appointed to act as State President many occasions when the State President was out of the country.

Chancellor, University of Zululand (1979-2001)

Chairman, Buthelezi Tribal Authority (From 2005 referred to as Buthelezi Traditional Council) (1975-present)

Founder and Leader, Inkatha Cultural Liberation Movement (Inkatha yeNkululeko yeSizwe) (Later formed into a political Party, Inkatha Freedom Party) (1975-present)

Chairman - Buthelezi Tribal Authority (1975-present)

Chairman - Mashonangashoni Regional Authority (1968-present)

Inkosi - Buthelezi Clan, Mahlabathini (1957-present)

Founder - South African Black Alliance (1977)

Initiator - Buthelezi Commission of Enquiry into Social, Economic and Political Justice

Chancellor - University of Zululand (1979-2001)

Chief Minister - KwaZulu Legislative Assembly, Ulundi (1976-1994)

Chancellor - Institute for Industrial Education (1971-1977)

Chief Executive Councillor - KwaZulu Legislative Assembly, KwaZulu

(1972 - 1976)

Chief Executive Officer - Zulu Territorial Authority, Nongoma, Kwazulu (1970 - 1972)

Chief Executive Officer - Zulu Territorial Authority, Nongoma (1970-1972)

Acting Inkosi - Buthelezi Clan, Mahlabathini (1953-1957)

Education

Degree(s)

University of Fort Hare

Bachelor of Arts (1950)

Hon LLD – University of Zululand, SA

Hon LLD – University of Cape Town, SA

Hon LLD – Tampa University, Florida, USA

Hon LLD – Boston University, USA

Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters – City University, Los Angeles, USA

Paul Harris Fellow

Achievements

Awards

1972 – Man of the Year – Institute of Management Consultants of SA

1973 – Newsmaker of the Year – SA Society of Journalists

1975 – Knight Commander of the Star of Africa for Outstanding Leadership – President Tolbert, Liberia

1976 – Citation for Leadership – District of Columbia Council, United States of America

1981 – French National Order of Merit – France

1982 – George Meany Human Rights Award – The Council of Industrial Organisation of the American Federation of Labour (AFL-CIO)

1983 – Apostle of Peace (Rastriya Pita) – Pandit Satyapal Sharma of India

1985 – Nadaraja Award – Indian Academy of SA

1985 – Man of the Year – Financial Mail, SA

1985 – Newsmaker of the Year – Pretoria Press Club, SA

1986 – Honorary Freedom of the City of Pinetown – City of Pinetown, Kwazulu Natal, SA

1988 – Freedom of Ngwelezane – Ngwelezane, SA

1988 – Unity, Justice and Peace Award – Inkatha Youth Brigade, SA

1988 – Magna Award for Outstanding Leadership, Hong Kong

1989 – King’s Cross Award – HM King Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu, Ulundi, SA

1998 – Key to the City of Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Conservation Award Class 1 – Bruno H Schubert Foundation

2001 - King Shaka Gold Medal – HM King Zwelithini ka Bhekuzulu, KwaDukuza (Stanger), SA

2001 – The Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award – The American Conservative Union, USA

2009 – Order of St Markhus (Mark) (2009) – The Partriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, The Greek Orthodox Church, Egypt

2010 – Order of St. Michael and all Angels (2010) – The Dean of the Diocese of Zululand, The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, SA

2010 – Simon of Cyrene (2010) – All the Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, SA

Preface

Since 1976, I have read thousands of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s speeches and memoranda, first out of sheer interest, then later as part of my duties while serving in his office as an overseas information officer in the KwaZulu government’s Department of the Chief Minister. Subsequently, I served as the executive assistant to the president of the Inkatha Freedom Party and as ex-officio member of its Central Committee.

It has been under these auspices that I have become au fait with his mission, essence, and political idiom. It is not so much the distortion of the truth about his political clout that is disheartening, but the ignorance that has seemed to set in. Here I am putting together a documented collection of his utterances that tell a tale. These statements are testimony to what he stood for, what he fought for and how, and what he believed in throughout his political struggle.

He is a highly charismatic leader, who possesses remarkable leadership qualities. No leader in the history of Africa has been so pragmatic and so far-sighted, to the point of being prophetic. No leader has singularly given so much in shaping the future of the politics of South Africa. No leader has been as powerful and used that power so responsibly in the interests of his country. No leader has ever succeeded in forming a political movement and driving it towards its goals so ingeniously. His ingenuity eventually facilitated our liberation through the non-violent means he propagated, thereby ensuring that the wealth and economy of the country remained intact. A formidable leader who took on the apartheid regime and eventually led it to its demise, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi literally laboured day and night throughout his political life—for he only stopped to rest briefly in the early hours of the morning every day of his service to the nation. Extraordinarily, he reads each and every item of mail he receives from all over the world, some from relatives and acquaintances, others from total strangers. He pays close attention to them all. With the understandable exception of the ‘poison pen’ letters he often received, no letter ever went unanswered. And he ensured that even those were kept meticulously in files.

What is most significant about his speeches is that he wrote most of them out in longhand before they were typed. And to decipher that handwriting is a great challenge! Each occurrence, each function, each ceremony had a specific message on each and every occasion. He rarely, if ever, spoke off the cuff when invited to a ceremony. It is such characteristics that make him loom larger than his contemporaries in Africa. The accolades and awards that have been showered on him over the decades speak volumes. They were granted in recognition of his prowess and ingenuity. They were never awarded as a political ploy by the provider.

His profound Christian faith and uncompromising integrity are the major values that have sustained him in the harsh world of politics. As he put it:

The journey of the soul is one of transformation through the gathering of knowledge, which progressively forms meaning. Through the journey, new meaning builds on old meaning expanding and transfiguring it and generating growth. As meaning varies in taste, texture and inclination so do the phases of our growth, and yet remain united by the capacity of the perceptive and accepting spirit to retain diversity within oneself without fear of contradiction. In this sense that of the soul can be a unique journey in which we travel to new places without ever completely leaving the point of departure.

This is not a collection of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s quotations simply for the sake of preserving them. Far from it, it is an account of his legacy in the politics of South Africa, juxtaposing his utterances as evidence of his wit, ideals, and political paradox. This legacy found form and substance during an epoch when working within the system was seen as ‘selling out’, and violence against the apartheid state was considered the only option to gain liberation from oppression. His eloquence and erudition make it difficult for anyone to attempt to speak on his behalf. Hence, I have decided to let him speak instead so that everyone can realise the legacy I am referring to. This is the legacy that today the entire South African nation is privileged to share, for it is the legacy that eventually found its way into CODESA and into the tenets of the country’s liberal constitution, with its Africanist orientation.

Acknowledgements

There was a time when I had a collection of almost all Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s addresses and memoranda for the period between the 1970s and mid-1990s.

At the time of the advent of the new democratic dispensation in the country, I made arrangements for these documents to be loaded on a truck and moved to what I believed was a safe place. But years later, I was to learn that they were lost. This mishap was further aggravated by the theft of documents from the office of Buthelezi by one of his trusted aides. Thanks are thus due to the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the Killie Campbell Library for having managed over the years to find and preserve some of these documents. Of course, Buthelezi’s office has a large collection of speeches, memos, correspondence, and a variety of other documents, which still need to be archived.

I thank Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi for furnishing me with the photographs contained in this book. I also thank Mr Marc Stanes (of Somerset West, Western Cape Province, South Africa) for permitting me to use the photograph on the front cover. Unfortunately, due to technical problems, I could not receive the photograph he so kindly sent in better resolution.

I must thank Dr Bridget Theron-Bushell for her enthusiasm in agreeing to edit this work, after having been introduced to me via Mr John Kane-Berman. She has been highly inspiring and highly professional. Thanks also to Ms Lyndith Waller, an accomplished editor, who readily agreed to help here and there in the way of editing some of the works in the book.

There are several individuals within the Inkatha Freedom Party fraternity, and some outside it, who have encouraged me to proceed with this work after they had seen the initial pages. I will not name them individually, but I am most grateful to them all. One in particular is Dr Mario Oriani-Ambrosini, who wrote the book’s foreword. I am grateful to have received the benefit of his deeply perceptive mind and his grasp of the politics of the Inkatha Freedom Party and Buthelezi.

At this time when most publishers are inclined to set great store in being politically correct, it is noteworthy that there is an increasing trend towards self-publishing. This new style of publishing is certainly the most preferable in these days of advanced technology. I must mention Ms Victoria Gray and Mr Roy Andrews of Xlibris Corporation, an international self-publishing company. They have been most helpful in offering me encouragement and guidance in undertaking the publication of this work.

I am quite aware that there are many others who have been working in the background to ensure that this book breathes life. Thanks to you all.

Foreword

Themba Nzimande has undertaken a most complex literary and historical task: a book about Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. It is almost impossible to reconcile in a narrative Buthelezi’s many dimensions and the many roles he has played in a political career of sixty-five years that has been lived with unparalleled intensity. Perhaps one must accept, as Nzimande has done, that Buthelezi himself is the only point of reconciliation of all that Buthelezi has done and experienced.

Nzimande is aware that a narrator should avoid the easy exercise of reconciling facts into an explanatory paradigm, for this will inevitably lead to betraying facts that do not fit the theory. He should rather indulge in the more arduous exercise of identifying and documenting the intricate layers of facts and their often kaleidoscopic nuances, leaving it to the reader and those who will write with the benefit of a historical perspective, to reconcile the million pixels into a unified picture.

In so doing, Nzimande has also provided an academic contribution of note. A great deal of African history tends to be written within the mould of Western historiography, often by Westerners. The Greeks and Romans bequeathed us history by res gestae, or great deed, including bloody battles and superlative acts of personal arrogance, ambition, and self-contentment. Subsequent historiography superimposed the pursuance of an ideological, nationalist, or religious agenda. None of this applies to Buthelezi. If one wishes to understand it, African history must be told in its own methodological language which highlights the details and nuances that Western historiography obliterates. Often, in that lies the greatness of an African leader.

This is surely the case in respect of Buthelezi, whose greatness will be appreciated by future African generations, owing to his complex and intense political action, which has woven progress into the tapestry of world history. He has done this in a far more effective and significant manner than most of his South African contemporaries whose deeds have sometimes been reconstructed into greatness after the fact packaged within a thin ideological patina foreign or borrowed from academics on hand at the time.

Buthelezi has not only been a man of his times, but in and with his own persona, he has become the personification of the times he lived. He has been the living incarnation of Zulu history, which is told through the roles and deeds of his paternal and maternal ancestors from Kings Mpande, Cetshwayo, Dinuzulu, and Solomon, to the leaders of the Buthelezi clans who clashed with King Shaka and also gloriously led the wars against the British imperial troops. So much so, that his birth and role was planned to heal the historical divisions between the most prominent Zulu clans: the Royal Zulu and the Buthelezi clans. Buthelezi has dedicated his entire life to this task, surviving the most intricate and explosive terrain of political and family intrigues and conflicts, which in themselves would warrant several tomes.

Buthelezi’s story is also the history of the African National Congress (ANC), which was founded by his uncle, Pixley ka Isaka Seme and the first president of thenANC, John Dube. Buthelezi was a key leader in the ANC’s Youth League and the tipping factor in the close-margin election of ANC president and first black Nobel Peace Laureate, Albert Luthuli, who became Buthelezi’s mentor and role model. When the ANC abandoned the quest for a negotiated and all-inclusive settlement among all South Africans, to embrace the notion of an absurd armed struggle, Buthelezi remained the only one carrying forward Luthuli’s work and legacy. He became the custodian of the ANC’s moral compass, which the ANC partially regained only after liberation when it was freed of the foreign ideological imperatives of the cold war.

Buthelezi was also the key player in the Western bloc’s efforts to promote South African liberation in a non-communist outcome. South Africa had become a major theatre in the cold war, because the Soviets placed direct or indirect influence, armaments, and advisers in Angola, Mozambique, and Namibia, threatening to control the outcome of their liberation struggles. South Africa, with its strategic minerals and favourably situated on the southern control point of world maritime routes, had greater strategic importance than Vietnam, and its fall to the Soviets would have caused a Southern African war more far more explosive than Vietnam.

The ANC’s armed struggle, fuelled by Soviet weapons and foreign money, was waged for the most part not against the white apartheid regime, but rather against all other components of the liberation movement, including AZAPO, the PAC, and Inkatha. In this black-on-black conflict, which the TRC was hopelessly incapable of understanding, about 20,000 people perished. Buthelezi took the full brunt of it without ever departing from his chosen method of non-violence. In the country as well in the international arena, he backed the idea of holding negotiations among all South Africans: a fact duly recognised at a 2,000-strong meeting of the American Conservative Union where the U.S. vice-president conferred the Courage-under-Fire award on Buthelezi.

A Soviet-influenced ANC elite in comfortable foreign exile and an uninformed group of prisoners, presided over massive and ferocious violence aimed at forcing some reluctant black communities into allegiance, not so much to fight apartheid, but rather to acquire political hegemony during the struggle and after liberation. This was despite the ANC having no significant political internal structures of its own on the ground. The horrifying and internationally broadcast images of ‘necklaced’ people with burning tyres wired through their ribcages had nothing to do with apartheid; it was the ANC’s way of intimidating communities into joining its armed struggle—and only incidentally against the white regime. This worked very well elsewhere across the country, but not in KwaZulu.

In KwaZulu, Buthelezi chose to have nothing to do with this Soviet-backed armed struggle, and pursued a steadfast strategy of non-violent resistance to apartheid, advocating the method of peaceful negotiations which eventually delivered liberation, and which the ANC had to accept once its Soviet sponsor had collapsed. In this process, Buthelezi was the only credible black counterpart to participate in dialogue with the Western governments under Ronald Reagan, Helmut Kohl, Margaret Thatcher, Francois Mitterrand, and Giulio Andreotti.

Buthelezi’s story is also closely linked to the constitutional history of modern South Africa. He began constitutional negotiations when the ANC trusted guns and armaments. In 1983, he called the best domestic and international constitutional intellects together to the KwaZulu-Natal Indaba and formed the Buthelezi Commission to formulate a blueprint for a democratic South Africa. He created the personal and cultural bridges to overcome centuries of division, and he devised the strategy employed in 1992 in CODESA, where the transition from apartheid to democracy was finally negotiated. In 1986, Buthelezi guided the creation of the first interracial government of South Africa, namely the KwaZulu and Natal Joint Executive Authority. This foreshadowed full democracy by proposing a Joint Legislative Authority, which Pretoria blocked.

In twenty years of relentless passive resistance and obstructionism, Buthelezi refused to bow to the grand scheme of apartheid by keeping the most numerous South African black communities out of it, and making apartheid unworkable. President F. W. de Klerk recognised this when he announced the dismantling of apartheid in February 1990. In South Africa, Buthelezi held more rallies than anyone else to free Nelson Mandela; he refused apartheid’s offers to negotiate bilaterally for a democratic constitution in terms of which the ANC would be unbanned and democratic elections held—which would have made Buthelezi the liberator rather than Mandela. This has been amply recognised by Presidents Mbeki and Zuma and the ANC’s chief whips, and is now finally part of the parliamentary record, reversing twenty years of ANC vilification of Buthelezi, aimed at justifying why the Soviet-influenced ANC made Buthelezi its enemy by portraying him as a surrogate of apartheid.

Buthelezi was also the main contributor to the process of constitutional negotiations, which the ANC approached equipped only with its Freedom Charter, which, at that point, was no longer particularly helpful. Furthermore, he was the first