The Late Buthelezi Hailed as a 'Giant' of South Africa

The founding president of the Inkatha Freedom Party and traditional prime minister of the Zulu monarch, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, will be laid to rest on Saturday. September 13, 2023. The funeral had originally be scheduled for Friday.

TimesLIVE reports that the change of dates was confirmed by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government. On Tuesday September 12, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the the funeral would be a special official funeral, designated category 1. State and provincial funeral policy accords category 1 funerals to people of extraordinary credentials specifically designated by the president.

Buthelezi, who turned 95 two weeks ago, died in the early hours on Saturday September 9.

Describing Buthelezi as a "man of singular political talent", The Conversation's Gerhard Maré writes that he was "among the country's most influential black leaders for the majority of his long and remarkable life. Yet he occupied an anomalous position within the politics of the anti-apartheid struggle."

Veteran KwaZulu Natal journalist and political analyst Cyril Madlala noted that Buthelezi was feted overseas by leaders such as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and U.S. President Ronald Reagan, and recognised by African leaders such as President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. At home he was reviled by his African National Congress opponents in KwaZulu-Natal, while supported by his rural constituents, by the apartheid military and by big business for his opposition to anti-apartheid sanctions.

This article originally appeared on AllAfrica.

Photo: Chris Jackson / Getty Images