The founding president of the IFP and traditional prime minister of the Zulu monarch‚ Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi‚ who died last Saturday, aged 95, will be laid to rest tomorrow [Saturday September 16] at an official state funeral in Ulundi.
In a message of condolence to his family, the leader of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba, said: “Apart from being a towering figure in the life of the Zulu nation and South Africa, Prince Buthelezi was a lay minister of our church who often represented his parish, the Diocese of Zululand and ACSA in church forums, and was a member of the Order of Simon of Cyrene.”
In a statement on behalf of the Catholic Bishops in Botswana, Eswatini and South Africa, Archbishop Stephen Brislin said: “Although he [Buthelezi] was often involved in controversies and many political tensions, he was a devoted father, a committed Christian, and a practicing member of the Anglican Church.”
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He noted that Buthelezi, who was the longest-serving member of the National Assembly, “played an influential role in the politics of South Africa”.
ACDP president Rev Kenneth Meshoe said: “Prince Buthelezi, who was also the AmaZulu Traditional Prime Minister, was one of South Africa’s towering but humble leaders with strong convictions. A man who believed in God and obeyed the dictates of his conscience. He was a man of reconciliation, and played a pivotal role in the peaceful transition from our painful and divided past of brutal apartheid to the democratic constitutional order we have today.”
He said the ACDP had learnt much from the IFP president “as a leader and as a statesman”. “He was a man who was not ashamed of his faith. I was with him in his office on a few occasions. At times on invitation, and other times when I had requested to meet with him. Whenever we met there would always be prayers. He would at times ask me to pray for him. Some people would be interested to know what he asked prayer for. Three important prayer requests he would always ask for was for wisdom from God, and because of his age, for physical strength and good health.
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“Shenge was a man that believed in his conscience. Because he was a man of prayer, he would always say that the Lord will guide his conscience, and once he would be convinced that he was right, and that his conscience was not condemning him, Prince Buthelezi would stand his ground regardless of who disagreed with him.”
On Tuesday President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Buthelezi’s funeral would be a special official funeral category 1.
Leaders of the ANC and its alliance have expressed their condolences, most of them saying that they wished to fulfil Buthelezi’s wishes of finding a lasting reconciliation between the ANC and his IFP. The two groups fought a bitter and bloody civil war during apartheid in the late 1970s, 80s and 90s, in which thousands of people died in what was termed black-on-black violence.
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