High honours and high tensions: Buthelezi’s state funeral divides opinion

With Mangosuthu Buthelezi granted a special state funeral category 1, the late Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) founder has been placed on the same level of honour as Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Desmond Tutu and King Goodwill Zwelithini.

This has annoyed some who believe he did not deserve it because he worked against black people’s freedom.

The special state funeral honour afforded to Buthelezi is almost equal to but an imaginary notch below the state funeral category 1 reserved for the president of South Africa, the president-elect and former presidents.

It is a notch above the funerals of a deputy president, acting president and former deputy president that are in state funeral category 2.

The special official state funeral is declared by the president to honour “persons of extraordinary credentials” and “distinguished persons”.

It’s different only in terms of ceremonial intensity to the state funeral for presidents which involve a full military ceremony.

An expert said Buthelezi was honoured for the role he played in the Zulu kingdom and not as chief minister of the KwaZulu homeland who collaborated with the apartheid system against the ANC.

But some were adamant that he did not deserve the honour, accusing him of having led a party that caused many massacres and bloodletting of innocent people.

ANC members, who preferred to remain anonymous, said even respected leaders like the late uMkhonto weSizwe chief of staff Chris Hani did not get such honour although he deserved it.

“Hani should be given an honour, even posthumously, but not Buthelezi who was an apartheid collaborator,” a member said.

Hani was assassinated in 1993 and he had an ordinary funeral but with an MK military parade.

Political analyst Sandile Swana said people should not confuse IFP history with Buthelezi as the party’s leader and his role as the Zulu kingdom’s prime minister.

The honour was not for Buthelezi as former KwaZulu bantustan leader, but as the Zulu royal prime minister.

“Buthelezi was a long-serving Zulu prime minister and our system is blended. It is a state funeral in the Zulu kingdom but the resources are controlled by the constitutional republic and it avails resources to the kingdom.”

SA Communist Party activist Nzipho Kalipa said Buthelezi had made mistakes.

“But we should appreciate his patriotism to the Zulu people and we can’t take away the development projects he did in KwaZulu-Natal.”

The funeral service is on Saturday in Ulundi.