Bhekisisa Mncube | Mangosuthu Buthelezi - how some of us were wrong about his legacy
Six years ago, I posted the following on my Facebook status: “I wish the IFP lifetime president, Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a horrible 90th birthday. May the dead haunt him in his sleep.”
I know everything I do about Buthelezi because he literally lived in our house. He was my father’s friend and his political idol. My father often praised"uShenge" for his"wisdom". The piece was republished four times across various platforms, leading to a prime-time interview on eNCA with Sally Burdett, which even caused the cancellation of sports and business bulletins.
During the class, I publicly refused to pay the 50-cent membership fee, stating that I wouldn’t join a political party that did nothing for me while we were starving at home. I should note that these"political classes" were nothing but panegyric glorifications of Buthelezi and his government, compulsory like Inkatha membership in all Zululand schools.
I reached the conclusion that I had to put an end to the madness of Buthelezi. I hatched a plan to convene an urgent branch meeting. Buthelezi often raised the issue of numerous failed attempts on his life, though these were routinely dismissed as self-aggrandisement for political relevance. But he was right. Although I do not know what became of our recommendation to kill one of our own for freedom.
This followed my obituary of the late King Zwelithini, to which Buthelezi responded to with a full-page article in Ilanga despite the fact I had published the original piece in The Witness. They claimed he used public funds for personal comfort during his tenure as chief minister of the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly “Bantustan” . He helmed the IFP since its founding on 21 March 1975 as the Inkatha National Cultural Liberation Movement at KwaNzimela, near Melmoth in Northern KwaZulu, until 24 August 2019 for 44 years. He was the IFP election poster boy of 30 years.
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