RIPE MANGO
Zulu prince and politician Mangosuthu Buthelezi was one of the few black South Africans to hold a position of power during the apartheid years, reigning over the semi-independent KwaZulu designated by the government for the Zulu people. His role in the fight against apartheid was a polarising one: Though he correctly assessed KwaZulu as an undesirable puppet state, and consistently called for apartheid to end and for Nelson Mandela to be released from prison, he and his Inkatha Freedom Party tacked to the center on key issues like sanctions and often clashed with the African National Congress. IFP-ANC clashes killed over 12,000, and Buthelezi threatened to derail South Africa’s first democratic elections before backtracking. Mandela offered a key olive branch and Buthelezi served as Minister of Home Affairs for a decade, but the rivalry never fully subdued.
Buthelezi also portrayed his real-life grandfather King Cetshwayo in 1964 war epic Zulu, and served as traditional prime minister to the Zulu royal family from 1954 until his death. He also made the Guinness Book of World Records thanks to a meandering oratory style that made William Henry Harrison look like Calvin Coolidge, once taking nearly two weeks to complete an address to the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly. A hospital stint was starting to rival his speeches in length, but the end has come aged 95. Mango was picked by Captain Hemlock’s Twenty.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi
27 August 1928 – 9 September 2023, aged 95
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