Dr Frank Mdlalose to be buried today in Newcastle

THE first democratic-era premier of KwaZulu-Natal, between 1994 and 1997, and South Africa’s former ambassador to Egypt, Dr Frank Mdlalose, will be buried today in Madadeni, Newcastle.

Mdlalose, 89, succumbed to Covid-19-related complications, and President Cyril Ramaphosa granted him a provincial funeral category 2, which entails the lowering of national flags on the day of his burial.

The eulogy will be delivered by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala.

Mdlalose’s passing brought to the public’s attention his role in stabilising the province after it was ravaged by political violence from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. While he started his political career as a young activist of the ANC in the 1960s, Mdlalose went on to be a founding member of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in 1975.

He did that with the blessing of ANC leaders of the time, who instructed Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to leave the then banned ANC and form a political party that would mobilise under the guise of cultural unity.

When the IFP had to send negotiators to talks in the run-up to the 1994 elections, Mdlalose, a medical doctor, was one of them. Later, when the IFP won the majority of votes in KwaZulu-Natal, it made him premier.

This week, after visiting Mdlalose’s family, Zikalala said: “We would like to thank the president for granting our (provincial government’s) request to honour him with a state funeral.

“We cannot do enough to honour Dr Mdlalose. We thought it important to respect him with a send-off that is dignified, for the role he played, firstly, in the development of the province, but in particular in working towards achieving peace in KwaZulu-Natal.”