Buthelezi represented fear and not the hope we needed

[View in browser]( [Mail & Guardian]( M&G Mornings | Fri 15 Sep   [Ron Derby] The death of Mangosuthu Buthelezi last Saturday has stirred up conversation for those who lived through the troubles of the 1980s and early 1990s as the apartheid era came to its bitter end. For those that lived in Kwazulu-Natal or Gauteng townships, it wasn’t as miraculous a transition as is often depicted. Three men, now all dead, literally held our lives in their hands — Nelson Mandela, FW de Klerk and Buthelezi — representing the ANC, the apartheid state and Zulu nationalism through the Inkatha Freedom Party. Of these men, who I feared most was Buthelezi and his Zulu police force whenever I visited family in Umlazi or Inanda on the outskirts of Durban. Whenever they passed in their blue vans, I’d make a double check to see whether I was wearing a wrong colour T-shirt that may signal my family was ANC supporting or not. For the life of me, I can’t remember the wrong colour. Buthelezi brought fear to the table in negotiations over the future of South Africa, not hope, or statesmanship that some say he came to embrace in his latter years. I feared him and he showed why I should when storming into a live SABC studio broadcast in Durban in 1994 to intimidate Prince Sifiso Zulu in September 1994. That was a cold moment, I couldn’t find a YouTube video of the moment, but I can relive it as if it was yesterday. That’s the man that the country puts to rest on Saturday, and there’ll no doubt be countless tributes to him and his 95-year life. Some will call it complex life but one dedicated to the service of his country or more honestly, the Zulu nation. The plaudits will go on, but the truth is this was a man who was [on the wrong side of history](. Read some of the [excellent coverage]( the Mail & Guardian led by [Paddy Harper]( has done on his “complex” life this week and I’d urge you to go through the archives that we put together on the paper’s coverage of his career since the eighties. In the annals of the history of the Zulu nation, young as it is, I wonder what historians will think of Buthelezi’s near 50-year role in steering the monarchy. What I do know is that he nearly burnt this country to the ground to safeguard his own interests and appease a dying apartheid regime. He represented fear and not the hope we needed. Ron Derby | Editor-in-Chief [@Ronderby]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Inkatha Freedom Party founder and president emeritus Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, who served as traditional prime minister to a succession of Zulu kings, died early on Saturday 9 September 2023, after a lengthy spell in hospital. View all the M&G’s content on Buthelezi below: [From the M&G Archives: Buthelezi, the King’s Hand]( --------------------------------------------------------------- ADVERTISEMENT [Is there life for the IFP after Buthelezi?]( Leadership tension and a coalition backlash are the first hurdles the party faces [// Read more]( [State lambasts Nulane trial judge in petition to the supreme court of appeal]( The acting judge who discharged Gutpa associates in the first state capture case fell short of legal and ethical standards, the National Prosecuting Authority submitted [// Read more]( [Cryptic Crossword 396]( 5D “My dream ran OK” can be represented by this retail giant (7,8) [// Read more]( ADVERTISEMENT Recommended Reads [Mondli Gungubele says Postbank mass resignation was to avoid accountability for unlawful contract]( The minister has been accused by the Postbank board of being treated with hostility, undermined and disrespected [// Read more]( [Mantashe accuses NGOs of being CIA funded]( NGO’s should not have “unfettered veto powers” over development in South Africa, according to the minister [// Read more]( [NASA to publish long-awaited UFO report]( There have been more than 800 “events” collected over 27 years, of which two to five percent are thought to be possibly anomalous [// Read more]( [Tackling the disconnect between colleges and communities]( A blueprint for strengthening the power of TVET education to grow society and the economy [// Read more]( [Ipid investigates man being dragged by police van]( Members attached to Kensington police in Cape Town are under investigation for alleged police brutality [// Read more]( [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( Mail & Guardian Media LTD · 25 Owl St · Braamfontein · Johannesburg, Gauteng 2001 · South Africa