The IFP founder and Zulu traditional primer minister will receive a state funeral
Leaders across the political spectrum have paid their respects to the late Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) founder and president emeritus Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who died early on Saturday morning.
Buthelezi (95) died after spending almost a month in intensive care in hospital due to complications that set in after a routine medical procedure he underwent at the end of July.
In a statement, his family said Buthelezi, who led the IFP from the 1970s until 2017, had died “quietly and painlessly” in the early hours of Saturday morning, describing his passing as “devastating.”
They said that funeral arrangements would be discussed with the party, the presidency, the Zulu king and the Buthelezi clan and that an announcement would be made in due course.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was “deeply saddened” over the passing of Buthelezi, who served as traditional prime minister to three Zulu kings, who had been “an outstanding leader in the political and cultural life of our nation, including the ebbs and flows of our democratic dispensation”.
Ramaphosa said Buthelezi had been a “formidable leader who has played a significant role in our country’s history for seven decades”.
“We shall in due course reflect more extensively on his extraordinary life and diverse contributions to the development of our nation. At this point in time we embrace the Buthelezi clan in their mourning and pray that the soul of the prince rests in peace,” Ramaphosa said.
Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said the IFP, the Buthelezi family and South Africa as a whole had lost “a great leader” and a “founding father”.
“Prince Buthelezi was a giant on South Africa’s political landscape. He will live forever in our hearts and minds as a true servant leader who dedicated his life to improving the lives of others and fighting for freedom,” Steenhuisen said.
Steenhuisen, whose party is in a coalition agreement with the IFP, said that Buthelezi “consistently demonstrated the courage of his convictions, never hesitated to speak truth to power, and was a role model for us all.”
Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane said Buthelezi had “shaped the body politic of our nation over multiple decades” and had made an “immeasurable” contribution to Zulu culture.
“He was a custodian of knowledge and values. His leadership of the IFP and role in the transition of our country has been a significant part of our democracy. He was a sharp thinker, always resolute, in service to the people,” Maimane said.
ANC KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo said that Buthelezi’s “untimely death is a depletion of matured leadership that shaped KwaZulu-Natal and the country as a whole”.
Mtolo said Buthelezi had played a significant role in the development of the province and that “Shenge’s flame is shining in KwaZulu-Natal and other parts of the country”.
“It is this shining flame that will inspire multitudes of people to stand together in salute of a man who strode with grace among the great statesmen,” Mtolo said.
Mtolo said they had requested that Buthelezi be given an official funeral and that the ANC leadership would be visiting the family in the coming days to support them in their time of need.
Mtolo called on members of the ANC to be “closer” to the Buthelezi clan – and the IFP, with whom the party enjoys a historically fractious relationship – at this time.