BIG BOOTS TO FILL. Zulu king’s traditional prime minister and founder of IFP Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who died on Saturday. His replacement is expected to be announced by King Misuzulu soon. Picture: AFP
Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini is expected to announce his new traditional prime minister to replace Mangosuthu Buthelezi in the coming weeks – especially in the light of who takes charge of the Ingonyama Trust, which holds administrative power to land belonging to the Zulu nation.
This, as next week’s state funeral plans for Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) founding president who died on Saturday, are likely to become clearer today when President Cyril Ramaphosa returns from the G20 summit in India.
Experts said yesterday Buthelezi’s successor in the powerful position required a leader who would be above party politics. Amid throngs of mourners paying their last respects to Buthelezi at his kwaPhindangene royal residence, the IFP top brass, Buthelezi’s family, Zulu royalists and government officials were yesterday locked in a meeting to plan the burial of the 95-year-old politician – likely to draw dignitaries locally and abroad.
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Forming part of long list of messages of condolences, paying tribute to Buthelezi, the Mangosuthu University of Technology chancellor, Sandile Zungu, and his administrative staff, described Buthelezi as “a mentor, friend, philanthropist and father to many” South Africans.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his immediate family and children. His passing has come as a shock to all of us, because just last week we rejoiced when he was discharged from hospital.
“When Prince Buthelezi established MUT in 1979 with just 15 students, he knew, as a visionary, that this small institution would grow into a large educational organisation that would have the greatest impact on the poor and the marginalised.”
KwaZulu-Natal political experts Zakhele Ndlovu and Sakhile Hadebe said the role of the king’s traditional prime minister was strategic in Zulu affairs.
“The role requires someone who inspires confidence among Zulu traditionalists, and can be trusted by the king and his subjects.
“Going forward, this position is going to require a person who is above party politics,” said Ndlovu, adding a power struggle within the leadership ranks of the IFP could not be ruled out after Buthelezi’s passing.
“He was the glue the kept the IFP united. It is up to the senior leaders to determine if the party maintains the momentum going to the 2024 elections. Political maturity is the key here,” said Ndlovu.
Hadebe said the king has the authority to choose the prime minister. “Prince Buthelezi was chosen by King Bhekuzulu kaSolomon in 1954 at the commemoration of King Shaka in Stanger.
“If King Misuzulu opts to choose anyone apart from the Buthelezi family, it might mark the end of a long history of the Buthelezis’ role in the Zulu monarchy,” he said.
“Prince Buthelezi’s father was also the traditional prime minister to King Bhekuzulu.”
Independent political analyst Sandile Swana said in the early stages, the IFP was “indeed a disguised wing of the ANC – using Zulu culture as a camouflage”.
He added: “Over time, IFP politics became divisive among Zulus and among Zulu traditionalists, because some of them, like Jacob Zuma, are not IFP and are opposed to IFP.”
Asked about Buthelezi’s dream of burying the hatchet between the party and the ANC, IFP president Velenkosini Hlabisa, said: “It is widely known that Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, long expressed a desire for the IFP and the ANC to reconcile and had hoped that it would happen during his lifetime.
“As I said at the recent national convention regarding the IFP’s position on the ANC, the IFP does not hate the ANC, we hate what the ANC has done to South Africa.
“This is why we signed the Multi-Party Charter, with six other opposition parties – meaning, we will
not work with the ANC, as we believe that they have failed our people. However, this does not mean
that we are not open to reconciliation.”
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