CHIEF Mangosuthu Buthelezi is desperately trying to cling on to traditional power. For the first time ever, he has issued invitations to ANC-aligned traditional leaders to attend Shaka Day celebrations, to be held in Stanger in two weeks time. He issued the invitations in his capacity as traditional prime minister.
Buthelezi is also seeking a negotiated settlement with King Goodwill Zwelithini. He disclosed this week that headmen from the Buthelezi clan and Zwelithinis headmen were making arrangements for a family discussion to hammer out differences.
Speculation in IFP circles this week was that failing a negotiated resolution to the bitter feud, IFP-aligned princes may attempt to dethrone Zwelithini. For Buthelezi to succeed in reining in Zwelithini, he would need to rally chiefs and headmen behind him, as they are the link between the monarch and his subjects.
Significantly, while headmen from East Rand hostels condemned Zwel-ethinis decision to invite President Nelson Mandela to the Shaka Day celebration without first consulting Buthelezi, no such condemnation emanated from kwaZulu/ Natal, where the majority of traditional leaders and their subjects live. Instead, kwaZulu/ Natal chiefs were scheduled to make a visit to the East Rand hostels to muster support for Zwelithini.
As many of the East Rand hostel dwellers come from Msinga in northern Natal, the decision to hold a Shaka Day rally there the day after the Stanger celebration is significant.
By addressing East Rand hostel dwellers, Zwelithini hopes to shore up his credibility among them and send a powerful message advocating peace. But some observers fear that the Zwelithini-Buthelezi row could spark off a new wave of violence between clans with divided loyalties.