Harper grinds Buthelezi axe again

In his piece “Battered by the flu ... and Shenge” (July 6), Paddy Harper bashed out yet another attack on his favourite whipping boy, the Inkatha Freedom Party’s Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

FW de Klerk did not come up with the Ingonyama Trust Act, nor was the Trust given to the IFP to secure its participation in the 1994 elections. The Act was passed by the KwaZulu legislative assembly, which neither needed nor sought permission.

The intention of the Act was to preserve the land left to the Zulu nation after colonial conquest and racial dispossessions, so that it could continue to be administered in the best interests of traditional communities.

This had nothing to do with negotiations; the Act was passed after the signing of the Solemn Agreement by Nelson Mandela, De Klerk and Buthelezi, on the basis of which the IFP re-entered the 1994 elections.

Harper knows there is no such thing as the “KwaZulu Bantustan”. Unlike the so-called TBVC states, KwaZulu never had its own military or passports, because Buthelezi consistently rejected independence.

Buthelezi is not against title deeds. The intention of the Act was always to end with title deeds being granted. It has been slow in coming, but amakhosi began the process of granting title deeds in 2016, under the leadership of the king.

What excuse will Harper come up with next for bashing Buthelezi? And why does this paper keep falling for it? —