Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s political power was built on three pillars: homeland patronage, which he has lost; control of the kwaZulu Police, which he is now losing; and a claim to represent Zulu traditionalism and nationalism, which he is in danger of losing.
This may explain why he has behaved so badly in recent weeks. His conduct is not just unbecoming to a minister and damaging to any claim he may have had to national leadership, but it has a note of desperation, born of the gradual collapse of the pillars of his power and influence.
There is one more pillar to Buthelezi’s position which usually goes unspoken.
It is his ability to stir up conflict in kwaZulu/Natal when he is offended, no matter now petty and personal that offence is. This is why President Nelson Mandela could not do what he ought to have done this week — fire Buthelezi because of his clear inadequacy as a national leader in a government of national unity. Better the devil in your cabinet …
Instead, he forced Buthelezi into a total and public apology — an unprecedented act for a man who has had plenty to apologise for in the past, but has been too proud to do so.
Nevertheless, Buthelezi did display –on prime time national television — his pettiness and thuggishness. Also apparent is his naked hypocrisy: when the king was on Inkatha’s side, it was treasonable to denigrate him; now that he has moved his loyalties, Buthelezi is the first to criticise him.
Buthelezi assured us this week that he was not “such a bumbling fool that (he) would go into a live studio and interfere with a programme deliberately”. Which, of course, is precisely what he did.