Mangosuthu Buthelezi: Shenge made his mark– despite dark side

Mangosuthu Buthelezi, one of South Africa’s foremost politicians, is no more. His death on Saturday, aged 95, marks the end of a chapter of a man who lived his life to the fullest, politically speaking.

Undeniably, the Zulu prince had two faces. You cannot talk about Buthelezi only positively without mentioning his dark side, and still remain honest.

He unashamedly collaborated with the apartheid system, and he could not shake away the fact that under his Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leadership, so much blood was spilt in the rural KwaZulu-Natal villages and the urban townships in the Reef.

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At uMkhonto we Sizwe camps and inside the country in the mass democratic movement, impromptu freedom songs despising him were composed and sung.

He was chased away and almost lynched from the funeral of PAC founder, Robert Sobukwe, in 1978. But, as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining and the man cannot be condemned from the grave. Buthelezi had been a collaborator for our new democracy without fail since its inception.

Honestly, lest we forget that had it not been for him and former president Nelson Mandela, the country would have been plunged into a full-blown civil war – prior to and just after 1994 election.

We cannot forget the stand-offs between the ANC and the IFP in the PWV region (now Gauteng) that precipitated in the Shell House and Boipatong massacres. Buthelezi partnered with Mandela, who appointed him as his first minister of home affairs to prevent more bloodshed. He never looked back since.

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Buthelezi should be remembered for having turned the same IFP into a vehicle for change, now striving to make our democracy work.

We should applaud Shenge, as Zulu royal prime minister, for having united the royal family and managed the transition from late King Goodwill Zwelithini to his son and successor, King Misuzulu kaZwelithini with the dexterity of a true elder. He can now rest in peace having accomplished this mission.