Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi
*Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi was born on this date in 1928. He was a Black South African politician and Zulu prince.
Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi was born at Ceza Swedish Missionary Hospital in Mahlabathini in southeastern Natal, South Africa. His mother was Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu, the daughter of former Zulu King Dinuzulu and sister of the incumbent King Solomon kaDinuzulu. In 1923, she became the tenth but principal wife of Buthelezi's father, Mathole Buthelezi. Mathole Buthelezi was a traditional leader as chief of the Buthelezi clan.
Education
Buthelezi was educated at I Mpumalanga Primary School from 1935 to 1943, then at Adams College from 1944 to 1946. From 1948 to 1950, he studied at the University of Fort Hare in the eastern Cape Province.
In 1948, the white National Party government in South Africa began implementing a formal system of apartheid, and Buthelezi joined the anti-apartheid African National Congress (ANC) Youth League in 1949. He was expelled from Fort Hare in 1950 for participating in a student boycott. He later completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Natal and worked as a clerk in the Government's Department of Native Affairs in Durban. He served as the traditional prime minister to the Zulu royal family from 1954 until 2023.
Buthelezi founded the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in 1975, leading it until 2019. He was a political leader during Nelson Mandela's incarceration (1964–1990). He continued to be so in the post-apartheid era, when he was appointed by Mandela as Minister of Home Affairs, serving from 1994 to 2004. Buthelezi made much of his association with Albert Luthuli and Mahatma Gandhi as among his political influences; he was also inspired by Martin Luther King's leadership of the American civil rights movement. Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi died on September 9, 2023.
