READER LETTER | Longevity allowed Buthelezi to redeem himself

So the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi has been laid to rest, and the multi-dimensional approach to the analysis of his legacy is definitely set to persist for some time.

The long-serving MP and Zulu nation traditional prime minister had recently reached what seems to be a saintly and noble age of 95, joining the inner circle comprising the likes of Nelson Mandela and fellow former Rivonia trialist Andrew Mlangeni.

The advantage that comes with such extraordinary longevity is that the mortals in question are granted the opportunity to embark on a transformative process of self-redemption. Rebranding their public profiles in line with the dictates of the status quo. In the post-liberation struggle era, this tends to achieve the desired results among a batch of the whole new generation of active citizenry, who would have a limited frame of reference regarding the alleged past mischievous exploits of the perceived culprits.

The late former IFP leader appeared to have benefited from such a phenomenon, his alleged counter-revolutionary role in the run-up to the 1994 general elections notwithstanding.

Among the demands that Buthelezi held the country to ransom with in the twilight days of apartheid was the inclusion in the interim constitution draft of guarantees for creation of a federal democracy, and the retention of substantial powers for the Zulu monarchy.

As part of sheer compromise in this instance, the midwives of our democracy decided to split the former Transvaal and Cape administrative regions into largely ethnic-based new provinces, and keeping Natal and the Orange Free State intact, with a few insignificant mergers and acquisitions.

However, the gesture was frowned upon and categorically spurned by the IFP leadership.

But the solicited intervention didn’t play into the hands of Buthelezi’s autonomous aspirations. Tactically, Buthelezi backtracked on his boycott of the first non-racial and democratic elections and spent the final third of his long life serving perpetually as an elderly MP, and reconstructing his legacy.

This third stanza of his political career formed the core theme on which the homage paid to him by the political  leaders were based at his memorial service.

Charles Makhaban, by email