The following tribute to the late IFP Founder, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, was delivered by the DA Federal Leader, John Steenhuisen, in the National Assembly today:
The Mahlabatini plain is a wide and sweeping grassland plain in northern KwaZulu-Natal. It is rolling and magnificent in its ruggedness, populated by historic places and towns like Ulundi and Nongoma.
The hills, soils and rivers of the plain have for centuries borne silent witness to monumental bloody battles, the rise and fall of empires and the very struggle for survival of the Zulu nation. This mighty plain is also where the life story of Mangosuthu Buthelezi began and where, laid to rest at his beloved Phindangane, it ended.
Where does one even start to deal with such a long life? How does one choose which elements of a life so full and so richly lived to focus on?
Perhaps it is best to start in the beginning: born on the 27 August 1928 as a Zulu prince into a distinguished royal bloodline. Shenge attended university at Fort Hare where his political activism and awakening began, he was expelled from the university for participating in a student protest against the governor general.
In 1953 Shenge became the inkosi of the Buthelezi clan and a year later was installed by King Cyprian as the traditional prime minister to the Zulu nation, a role that he continued to fulfill for 69 years until his passing this year.
Prince Buthelezi served as chief minister of the KwaZulu-Natal government where he oversaw the building of hospitals and other infrastructure and also, secured the funding for the establishment of the Mangosuthu Technikon which operates to this day and which has been responsible for the education of thousands of young South Africans.
But the largest contribution he made to politics, the country and to this house was the establishment in 1975 of what ultimately would become known as the Inkatha Freedom Party. It was to this cause that he dedicated his life, turning the IFP into a formidable political force in KwaZulu-Natal and a national player in the political arena.
It was as the leader of the IFP that Shenge first took his seat as a member of this house in 1994. He was appointed as the Minister of Home affairs in the Government of National Unity, serving under both Presidents Mandela and Mbeki.
His television appearances, missives to the newspapers, formidable debating skills and keen love for history, particularly of his beloved Zulu nation, marked him out. His ability to recall the intricate details and dynamics of the famous battles fought by his ancestors against the British and the Boers made him a fascinating companion in any forum.
When the book closes on a persons life it is always tempting to cherry pick a certain chapter or paragraph and then use that to try and judge their full contribution. We have seen in the weeks following Shenge’s death attempts by critics and former opponents to do precisely that. I have always believed however that a longer view is required and that consideration of the full timeline of a persons life must be evaluated, particularly when it has been as full a life as that lived by Prince Buthelezi, failure to do so is the epitome of the term “ahistorical”.
The Democratic Alliance and its predecessors are proud of our long association with Prince Buthelezi. He enjoyed enduring and endearing friendships with the progressives Ray Swart and Harry Schwartz, a signatory to the Mahlabatini declaration. The warm friendships with leaders like Colin Eglin, Helen Suzman and Tony Leon led to many exchanges of letters and views about the state of the country and the fight for democracy.
Prince Buthelezi was a man of impeccable manners and great compassion, he was a friend of royalty, presidents and prime ministers, yet retained a humbleness that made him relatable to the man on the street. He cared deeply about the plight of his fellow man and dedicated his life to improving the lot of those who’s suffering he felt so deeply.
But he was also a man of deep faith who drew strongly on his Anglican faith during the numerous trials, tribulations and tragedies that characterised his public and private life. His faith was a great source of comfort to him during his times of loss when he lost the love of his life, Princess Irene in 2019.
In his later years, especially in this house, the Prince came to fulfil the role of an elder statesman. When the house would descend into chaos, he would always try to calm the waters, and even has his heath started to fail him, he would still participate in sittings, well into his sixth term, with his usual sage advice and wise words.
Today we say thank you for the life of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. And on behalf of the Democratic Alliance we extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends, we pray for comfort and healing. Thank you for sharing him with the nation.
To his beloved Inkatha Freedom Party, we extend our sympathies on the passing of your President Emeritus. To the leader and members of the IFP, we hope that you will carry his memory as lodestar into the future that lies ahead. Bulawayo, may you continue to draw wisdom from his many lessons and inspirations.
I have no doubt that today those windswept grasslands of the Mahlabatini plains whisper his Isithakezelo: Shenge! in tribute to this great son of its soil.
I conclude fittingly with the words uttered by Horatio in Shakespeares Hamlet, a favourite of the Prince:
“Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest”
Nacho
Fun South African Fact: The waters surrounding the 2,500km long coastline are teeming with life. You’ll find great white sharks, African penguins, dolphins and much much more in South Africa’s oceans. Many travellers visit the coast to watch the annual whale migrations. In Hermanus, in the Western Cape, you can see hundreds of whales from June to late November. Simon’s Town, another coastal Western Cape town, is home to Boulder’s Beach. Here you can swim alongside colonies of African Penguins!
New York Winder
The Man who could only Drink Milk
I know an old man who had lived a life full of adventure, but his health started to catch up with him. He\’d run the Boston Marathon, was an avid surfer, and climbed Everest, but he\’d started to have abdominal pains around his 85th birthday and went to see a doctor. Sadly, he ultimately was diagnosed with a rare degenerative liver disease that slowly made him allergic to everything he ate.
He kept copious notes, and as an avid gastronomist slowly grew to despair as everything he\’d spent his life enjoying became something he could no longer eat. Alcohol went first, then mushrooms, then bread, then root vegetables, then coffee, one at a time he had to remove them from his diet. The doctor was clear: if he kept eating something his liver rejected the autoimmune response would be quick and severe, and would lead to a painful death. Little by little, everything was taken away as an option, until the only thing that remained was milk.
In some ways, this actually made life easier, because the mental strain of remembering what he could and couldn\’t eat was gone, but then so was the joy in variety. But he took it in stride, and got his own cow and took classes from a farmer to learn everything he could about the only thing that could give him sustenance. And even within milk, he could still have yogurt, butter, cream, some cheeses, and other milk-derived products he hadn\’t fully rejected yet, so it wasn\’t all bad. But then one day a few months later he felt the pain again, and he knew cow\’s milk was no longer an option.
Lacking other options, he tried goat\’s milk, and he was delighted that it worked! The protein structure is just different enough that his body still tolerated it. That bought him another month. And that\’s when we came up with a wonderful plan to go on one last grand adventure around the world. If he could get one month of life out of the milk of every mammal, he\’d actually have a few more years to enjoy life to the fullest and see the world in all its beauty. Each month, we\’d pick a place with a new mammal, and he would immerse himself fully with the locals, learn all the ways to prepare the milk, and just enjoy the hand he had been dealt as much as he could.
We milked sheep in New Zealand. Camels in Egypt. Zebras in South Africa. Giant bats in Indonesia. Do you know how many Peruvian cuy you need to milk to get a single glass? I do. Even as his health slowly faded, he stayed cheerful, and I felt lucky to join him on the adventure of a lifetime. That brings us to today when he got to the very end of his spreadsheet, and declared that he was now allergic to every mammal. He\’d enjoyed his journey, but his time had come to an end, for there was nothing left to milk.
To which I said nonsense, I bet we can milk a few thousand karma out of this post.