The passing of Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi at the weekend marked an end of an era in the history of homeland or Bantustan leaders.
Buthelezi, 95, served as part of the apartheid regime’s homeland system in the 1980s.
Even as some chose to mourn his death and heaped praise on his legacy of service in the democratic dispensation, others remembered him for the violence that engulfed KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in the late 1980s under his watch.
He is mostly derided for failing to publicly apologise for some of the atrocities committed under his watch as Inkatha Freedom Party leader decades ago.
In 1994, his party pushed the country to the precipice of war when he refused to participate in the first democratic elections before he was persuaded to change his mind at the last minute after ballots had long been printed.
He therefore leaves behind a chequered legacy, which predictably has divided the nation. But perhaps this too was to be expected given that his life was not lived without controversy, and this simply followed him to the grave.
The range of reactions since his death underscores the complex nature of his political life from the man who led a party of warlords to a rebranded “elder statesman” in the democratic parliament.
Both these narratives about Buthelezi’s life are true and can be told side by side without a revisionist approach. Attempts by others, including his party, however, to try and re-write history by seeking to muzzle the dissenting voices on his contested legacy are unfortunate and ought to be called out. Some have argued that for the sake of ubuntu we should never speak ill of the dead but this too would be akin to sanitising the truth.
Instead, we should use this period as an inflection point on the true course of history and ponder the lessons to be learnt from it for a better future. Even as he showed glimpses of intolerance in life at times, Buthelezi lived knowing the truth about the pain he indirectly caused others and learned to live with his critics.
Therefore, even in death, he will remain a despised figure in the eyes of those who suffered brutality and violence in the hands of his party henchmen. For his supporters who worshipped the ground he walked on, he is held in high regard as a hero. We must allow both sides of Buthelezi’s life to be told.
SOWETAN | Buthelezi's life was complex
We must allow both sides of his life to be told
Image: Sandile Ndlovu
The passing of Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi at the weekend marked an end of an era in the history of homeland or Bantustan leaders.
Buthelezi, 95, served as part of the apartheid regime’s homeland system in the 1980s.
Even as some chose to mourn his death and heaped praise on his legacy of service in the democratic dispensation, others remembered him for the violence that engulfed KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in the late 1980s under his watch.
He is mostly derided for failing to publicly apologise for some of the atrocities committed under his watch as Inkatha Freedom Party leader decades ago.
In 1994, his party pushed the country to the precipice of war when he refused to participate in the first democratic elections before he was persuaded to change his mind at the last minute after ballots had long been printed.
He therefore leaves behind a chequered legacy, which predictably has divided the nation. But perhaps this too was to be expected given that his life was not lived without controversy, and this simply followed him to the grave.
The range of reactions since his death underscores the complex nature of his political life from the man who led a party of warlords to a rebranded “elder statesman” in the democratic parliament.
Both these narratives about Buthelezi’s life are true and can be told side by side without a revisionist approach. Attempts by others, including his party, however, to try and re-write history by seeking to muzzle the dissenting voices on his contested legacy are unfortunate and ought to be called out. Some have argued that for the sake of ubuntu we should never speak ill of the dead but this too would be akin to sanitising the truth.
Instead, we should use this period as an inflection point on the true course of history and ponder the lessons to be learnt from it for a better future. Even as he showed glimpses of intolerance in life at times, Buthelezi lived knowing the truth about the pain he indirectly caused others and learned to live with his critics.
Therefore, even in death, he will remain a despised figure in the eyes of those who suffered brutality and violence in the hands of his party henchmen. For his supporters who worshipped the ground he walked on, he is held in high regard as a hero. We must allow both sides of Buthelezi’s life to be told.
Views vary as Buthelezi is remembered for his leadership role
MUT to consider suspension of academic programme after Buthelezi’s death
Day two of reed dance cancelled as nation mourns Buthelezi
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