Mangosuthu Buthelezi
Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi (born 27 August 1928) is a South African politician and Zulu tribal leader who founded what became the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in 1975, and was Chief Minister of the KwaZulu bantustan until 1994. He was Minister of Home Affairs of South Africa from 1994 to 2004. He is often referred to as Shenge, which is part of the Buthelezi clan praises. Buthelezi, a member of Zulu royalty, is also the Traditional Prime Minister of the Zulu nation. Throughout most of the apartheid era, Buthelezi was considered one of the foremost black leaders. He played  a key role in creating a framework for a negotiated solution to South Africa's racial conflict, signing the landmark Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith in 1974 with Harry Schwarz. During the CODESA negotiations of the early 1990s, he represented the Inkatha. Following the introduction of the universal suffrage in the 1994 general election, Buthelezi led the IFP to join the government of national unity, led by Nelson Mandela. Buthelezi served as Minister of Home Affairs until 2004. He continued to serve as both leader of the IFP and an MP, retaining his seat in the 2014 general election. On 20  January 2019, Buthelezi announced that he would not seek re-election to another term as party president of the IFP. The party elected Velenkosini Hlabisa as his successor at the party's 2019 National General Conference. Buthelezi played King Cetshwayo kaMpande (his own maternal great-grandfather) in the film "Zulu" (1964). Early life. Mangosuthu was born on 27 August 1928, in Mahlabathini, KwaZulu, to Chief Mathole Buthelezi and Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu, the sister of King Solomon kaDinuzulu, and daughter of King Dinuzulu. He was educated at Impumalanga Primary School, Mahashini, Nongoma from 1933 to 1943, then at Adams College, Amanzimtoti  from 1944 to 1947. Mangosuthu studied at the University of Fort Hare from 1948 to 1950, where he joined the African National Congress Youth League and came into contact with Robert Mugabe and Robert Sobukwe. He was expelled from the university after student boycotts. He later completed his degree at the University of Natal. Chieftainship. Buthelezi inherited the chieftainship of the large Buthelezi tribe in 1953: a position he still holds today. In 1963 and 1964, he served as adviser on the film "Zulu" about the Battle of Rorke's Drift. Buthelezi also acted in the film, playing the role  of his real-life great-grandfather, King Cetshwayo kaMpande. In 1970, Buthelezi was appointed leader of the KwaZulu territorial authority and in 1976 became chief minister of the quasi-independent Bantustan of KwaZulu. The emerging Black Consciousness Movement of the 1970s branded him an Apartheid regime collaborator, because of his strong anti-Communist beliefs. However, he consistently declined homeland independence and political deals until Nelson Mandela was released from prison and the ban on the African National Congress was lifted. Inkatha Freedom Party. In 1975, Buthelezi started Inkatha National Cultural Liberation Movement with the blessing of the African National Congress  (ANC), but broke away from the ANC in 1979 and his relationship with the ANC sharply deteriorated. He was encouraged by Oliver Tambo, the President of the ANC mission-in-exile, to revive the cultural movement. In the mid-1970s, it was clear that many in the Black Consciousness Movement were at odds with Buthelezi's politics. For instance, during the funeral of Robert Sobukwe he was barred from attending the service since they argued that he was a notable collaborator of the National Party government. In 1979, Inkosi Buthelezi and the Inkatha Yenkululeko Yesizwe, as it was then known, severed  ties with the main ANC since the ANC favoured military strategies by employing the use of uMkhonto we Sizwe, "Spear of the Nation". The meeting that was held in London between the two organisations did not succeed in ironing out differences. In 1982, Buthelezi opposed the National Party government's plan to cede the Ingwavuma region in northern Natal to the Government of Swaziland. The courts decided in his favour on the grounds that the government had not followed its own Black Constitution Act of 1972, which required consultation with the people of the region. He was also instrumental in  setting up the teacher training and nursing colleges throughout the late-1970s and the early-1980s. He requested Harry Oppenheimer, his great friend and ally, to establish Mangosuthu Technikon in Umlazi, south of Durban. He maintained a friendship with journalist Jani Allen. Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith. On 4 January 1974, Transvaal leader of the United Party, Harry Schwarz, met with Mangosuthu Buthelezi and signed the Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith. They agreed on a five-point plan for racial peace in South Africa. The declaration's purpose was to provide a blueprint for government of South Africa for racial peace in South Africa . It called for negotiations involving all peoples, to draw up constitutional proposals stressing opportunity for all with a Bill of Rights to safeguard these rights. It suggested that the federal concept was the appropriate framework for such changes to take place. It also first affirmed that political change must take place through non-violent means. The declaration was the first of such agreements by acknowledged black and white leaders in South Africa that affirmed to these principles. The commitment to the peaceful pursuit of political change was declared at a time when neither the National Party nor African National Congress  were looking for peaceful solutions or dialogue. The declaration was heralded by the English speaking press as a breakthrough in race relations in South Africa. The declaration was endorsed by several chief ministers of the black homelands, including Cedric Phatudi (Lebowa), Lucas Mangope (Bophuthatswana) and Hudson Ntsanwisi (Gazankulu). The declaration also received praise from liberal figures such as Alan Paton. Paramilitary accusations. Buthelezi was said to have been working with General Magnus Malan in training the youth of Ulundi, and other parts of the erstwhile KwaZulu, in setting up a paramilitary unit ostensibly since he feared that a lot of  property and life were lost during the conflicts of 1984 to 1994. He was even implicated in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report as a person who was responsible for the gross violations of human rights, but before the report was published he took them to court and before the court's ruling, Buthelezi and the Truth Commission, agreed to settle out of court. Meeting with Mandela and the elections. Buthelezi at first refused to stand at the 1994 general election, but chose to enter at the very last minute; after a meeting held on 8 April, where Mandela and  De Klerk tried to sway the Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini, from his dependence on Buthelezi by offering him a guarantee of special status of the Zulu monarchy after the election. The offer was not immediately successful, but Buthelezi seemed sympathetic to the idea. The foreign mediation team led by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former UK Foreign Secretary Peter Carrington were pivotal in reaching a compromise, and convinced the IFP leader to give up his boycott of the election. Buthelezi therefore signed an agreement with De Klerk and Mandela that guaranteed the ceremonial status of the Zulu  king and was promised that foreign mediators would examine Inkatha's claims to more autonomy in the Zulu area. It was probably too late though, because Buthelezi was losing support fast, and as a consequence, his party only narrowly won the elections in KwaZulu-Natal. In May 1994, Buthelezi was appointed Minister of Home Affairs in the first post-apartheid government, a position he retained following the 1999 general election. He was appointed as acting president a number of times during this period. Though his appointment in the Government of National Unity was a kind of catharsis, King Zwelithini openly  lambasted Buthelezi and told many members of the ruling party that he was like Mandela because for 24 years of KwaZulu government, he could not operate freely. Buthelezi countered that by saying that Zwelithini should not interfere in political matters, rather the Zulu monarchy should be modelled along the same lines as the British royal family. Because of the IFP's late entry to the election, stickers printed with their candidates' names were added to the ballot papers. Demise of Government of National Unity. Prior to the 2004 general election, then President Thabo Mbeki refused to sign into law Buthelezi 's attempt to overhaul the immigration laws. For the first time in South African history, a Cabinet Minister took the President to court in an attempt to secure stricter immigration regulations. Following the 2004 election, Mbeki offered Buthelezi the Deputy Presidency, which he refused, as in exchange the IFP would have to relinquish the Premiership of the IFP-dominated province of KwaZulu-Natal. From 1994, South Africa had been governed by a multi-party Government of National Unity, consisting of the ANC (Tripartite Alliance), the National Party and the IFP. By the time of the 1999 general election, a coalition  agreement was not constitutionally required, but the majority ANC again invited the IFP to join it in government. After the 2004 election, with Buthelezi declining the offer of the Deputy Presidency, the IFP left the coalition government and sat in the opposition benches. Marriage. He married Irene Audrey Thandekile Mzila on 2 July 1952 who was born in 1929 and died on 25 March 2019 and they had three sons and five daughters.