APA-Ulundi (South Africa) Thousands of South Africans and international dignitaries gathered in KwaZulu-Natal province to pay tribute to late founder of Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and traditional prime minister of the Zulu kingdom Mangosuthu Buthelezi who died a week ago.
The mourners, most of them dressed in traditional Zulu outfits, gathered for the state funeral of Buthelezi at the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Regional Stadium in Ulundi, the ancient capital of the Zulu kingdom.
The funeral service consisted of two parts, the first one being led by the family of the late politician while the second segment was devoted to the state funeral.
President Cyril Ramaphosa commended the role played by Buthelezi in the dismantling of apartheid, “having been mentored by the giant of our liberation struggle John Langa Dube.”
“The sun has set on an era that had set the tone for the modern history of our country,” Ramaphosa said in an eulogy at the funeral service.
He said Buthelezi played a key role in the transition from apartheid to the democratic dispensation in the aftermath of political tensions between rival IFP and African National Congress supporters in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
He praised Buthelezi for showing leadership by putting aside the differences between the IFP and ANC and agreeing to join the first post-independence cabinet of former president Nelson Mandela.
“As a leader he was ready to collaborate even when we disagreed,” Ramaphosa said.
Buthelezi was the first home affairs minister of post-independence South Africa between 1994 and 2004.
He described Buthelezi as a principled person, saying “he never shied away from a harsh word whenever we disagreed at a political level.”
“He was a man never afraid to say a word whenever he didn’t agree with something.”
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said Buthelezi’s death is a big loss not only to his family and South Africa, but to the whole of Africa.
“History will record his vital contribution to the realisation of the dream of regional unity in southern Africa,” Obasanjo said.
Buthelezi died on September 9, aged 95, following an illness that saw him undergoing a procedure for back pain in July and later being readmitted to hospital last month when it did not subside.
JN/APA