Mangosuthu Buthelezi
Mangosuthu Buthelezi is the President of the South African Inkatha Freedom Party.[1]
Buthelezi was born in Mahlabathini, KwaZulu on 27 August 1928, is the son of Chief Mathole Buthelezi and Princess Magogo ka Dinuzulu, the sister of King Solomon ka Dinuzulu.[1]
After completing a university degree at the University of Fort Hare in 1950, Dr. Buthelezi opted for a legal career which was cut short when he inherited the chieftainship of the large Buthelezi tribe in 1953. He is also Undunankulu Ka Zulu. (Traditional Prime Minister).[1]
KwaZulu Homeland
In 1970, Dr. Buthelezi was asked by the KwaZulu Assembly to accept the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Zulu Territorial Authority, a position to which he was unanimously elected by members of that body.[1]
Buthelezi met Irving Brown in Botswana at some point in the early 1970s.[2]
In 1972 he became Chief Executive Councillor to the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly and from 1976 – April 1994 was the Chief Minister of KwaZulu. He became the President of the Inkatha Freedom Party when it was founded as Inkatha in 1975.[1]
In 1982, Buthelezi accepted the AFL-CIO's George Meany Award on behalf of the late Sr Neil Aggett. This event provoked lasting rancour between the AFL-CIO and COSATU.[3]
In 1991, it was revealed that Buthelezi had accepted funds from the Apartheid regime in Pretoria for his political rallies.[4]
When Likud loyalist Zvi Gov-Ari was appointed Israeli ambassador to South Africa in 1989, he strengthened ties with Buthelezi and other Bantustan leaders, widely regarded as puppets of the Apartheid regime.[5]
In March 1994, there were allegations of joint hit-squad operations between Inkatha and the South African government.[4]
Majority Rule
In April 1994, Dr. Buthelezi became the Republic of South Africa’s Minister of Home Affairs.[1]
The Zulu King, Buthelezi's nephew Goodwill Zwelitini became more independent of Buthelezi after May 1994.[2]
He has been appointed Acting President on several occasions. He is Chairman of the House of Traditional Leaders (KwaZulu Natal).[1]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 DR. MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI, MP, PRESIDENT OF THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY, Inkatha Freedom Party, accessed 2 March 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ben Rathbun, The Point Man, Irving Brown and the Deadly Post-1945 Struggle for Europe and Africa, Minerva Press, 1996, p.344.
- ↑ Ben Rathbun, The Point Man, Irving Brown and the Deadly Post-1945 Struggle for Europe and Africa, Minerva Press, 1996, p.349.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ben Rathbun, The Point Man, Irving Brown and the Deadly Post-1945 Struggle for Europe and Africa, Minerva Press, 1996, p.354.
- ↑ Sasha Polakow-Suransky, The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa, Random house, 2010, p.217.
