A prince and a president

Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi

Born in Mahlabathini in Kwazulu-natal on 27 August 1928

A scion of the Zulu royal family, grandson of King Dinuzulu and the great-grandson of King Cetshwayo, he was first in the Buthelezi chieftainship line of succession

Attended the Impumalanga Primary School from 1934 to 1943 and matriculated at Adams College in Amanzimtoti

Studied History and Bantu administration in 1948 at Fort Hare University, joining the ANC Youth League and meeting its leader, Robert Sobukwe In 1953 he returned home to become Inkosi of the Buthelezi clan He became chief executive officer of the Kwazulu Territorial

Authority in 1970. The territory was earmarked as a future independent homeland

In 1979 he openly opposed anti-apartheid sanctions and the armed struggle Buthelezi formally revived the Inkatha cultural movement in 1975 and began to use it to build mass support. Initially confined to Zulu membership, it was opened to other black South Africans in the 1980s and to all races in 1990 After much persuasion, Buthelezi agreed to participate in the 1994 democratic elections and was appointed minister of home affairs in the first government of national unity, serving two terms

In 1998 Buthelezi served as acting president of South Africa while Nelson Mandela was away in Washington. He gave the go-ahead for South Africa’s military action in Lesotho to rescue the country’s elected government

In the 2004 general elections the ANC gained control of Kwazulu-natal from the Inkatha Freedom Party

Buthelezi died on 9 September 2023 aged 95 at his home in northern Kwazulu-natal