After Prince Buthelezi completed his legal studies and began working as a clerk, he began attending political rallies and was mentored by Chief Luthuli and formed close bonds with leaders such as Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela.

Prince Buthelezi often reported that it was on the instruction of Chief Luthuli and Tambo, who believed that Prince Buthelezi could undermine the apartheid system from within, that he took up leadership of the Zululand Territorial Authority, later becoming Chief Minister of KwaZulu-Natal. In 1971, Oliver Tambo announced that the enemy's own creation, the Zulu Bantustan has become battlegrounds of freedom where the true representatives of the people are fighting the racists and rejecting their regime.

In 1974, with the ANC, PAC and other political organisations having been banned, on the advice of President Kaunda and with the support of Oliver Tambo, Prince Buthelezi was called upon to form a membership-based organisation to reignite political mobilisation within the borders of South Africa, while our leaders were in prison or in exile. Prince Buthelezi thus established the IFP as a cultural liberation movement in 1975.

During the dark days of apartheid, Prince Buthelezi held rallies under the banner of Free Mandela, openly calling for the release of President Mandela and other political prisoners, as well as the unbanning of political organisations that were forced to operate in exile. When Madiba was released from prison in 1990, he spoke of the contribution made by the Prince in ensuring that he and other political prisoners were set free and that political organisations operating from exile were unbanned and allowed to come back home.

Of course, we all know, as has been said earlier, that both the ANC and the IFP would always grieve the loss of over 20 000 black lives in the civil war that raged in KwaZulu- Natal between members of the UDF, the ANC and the IFP and other organisations in the 1980s and early 1990s. He wouldn't want us to brush history. Revelations that the apartheid regime provided arms to the IFP during this time remained a source of tension between the two parties. It is an issue that President Mandela attempted to rise above in his own quest for national reconciliation.

Prince Buthelezi and my own father remained close friends throughout their lives. It was Prince Buthelezi who paid tribute to my father, after he passed away in 2010, and he did so again in the National Assembly and at a memorial service here in Parliament. So, it is indeed an honour for me to be one of those asked by my Chief Whip to pay tribute to Prince Buthelezi.

He was also extremely kind to me and took us on, as though we were his children, once we had lost our parents. He attended family events, where he was very careful about what he had and was present at my PhD graduation and extremely proud that I had pursued it beyond the age of 60.

When people remember Prince Buthelezi, they often describe him as a committed traditional leader, a conservationist, family man, a man of faith and a humanitarian. He was considered a lifelong humanitarian, dedicated to the upliftment of his people through education and economic empowerment. What is less said is his role as a conservationist, who supported rhino conservation and initiatives to save the ocean. Under his leadership, the IFP spoke out about the impact of shark nets on the oceans and the horrors of captive lion hunting. Prince Buthelezi was a patron of the Rhino and Elephant Foundation, the Wildlands Conservation Trust and the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project. These organisations will surely carry out his legacy of conservation for many years to come.

His faith in God has been spoken about. So, I will not reiterate it, but I must indicate that throughout his life, he maintained the tradition of morning and evening prayers, which span all his life.