Ramaphosa praises Buthelezi, Zuma and Mbeki at Zulu prince’s funeral

President Cyril Ramaphosa said he has always admired the late Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader and Zulu Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi’s commitment to finding common ground amongst political leaders.

Ramaphosa praised Buthelezi for helping to “avoid disaster” by bringing the IFP to the polls in 1994.

The president delivered the eulogy in honour of the 95-year-old Buthelezi who was sent off in a special official category 1 funeral on Saturday in Ulundi.

Ramaphosa  was among thousands of Amabutho regiments, IFP members politicians and dignitaries who descended on Prince Mangosuthu Stadium to honor the Zulu prime minister who died last week.

Former presidents Thabo Mbeki, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma were also in attendance at the funeral which was conducted by the head of the Anglican church in South Africa, Bishop Thabo Makgoba.

Ramaphosa praises Buthelezi

Ramaphosa said “the sun has set on an era and on a life that witnessed and had an impact on much of our country’s modern history.”

“We are here to bid farewell to a man who had a vision of a shared, common future. This was his enduring preoccupation even in the latter years of his life.”

Speaking about Buthelezi’s role in the lead-up to the 1994 democratic elections, Ramaphosa said Zuma and Mbeki, “played a key role in assuring that indeed our transition was a peaceful one”.

“I applaud them and we should recognise the very important role that these two leaders played at the time.”

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Transition from apartheid

Ramaphosa added that Buthelezi also played a key role in the transition from apartheid to the democratic dispensation in the aftermath of political tensions between rival IFP and African National Congress supporters in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

He praised Buthelezi for showing leadership by putting aside the differences between the IFP and ANC and agreeing to join the first post-independence cabinet of former president Nelson Mandela.

“There can be no doubt that this was a turning point in the transition process, and a decisive moment. Had Prince Buthelezi not taken this decision in the best interests of peace, South Africa might be a vastly different place today.

Working together

Ramaphosa said “uShenge” was a leader who was willing to collaborate across the political divide.

“At a political level we did not always agree. We often found ourselves on opposing sides of one or another issue. He never shied away from a harsh word, a criticism or from voicing his dissent.”

“I have always admired his commitment to finding common ground amongst political leaders and parties, particularly between the Inkatha Freedom Party and the African National Congress,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa said Buthelezi understood too well that the IFP and ANC share a common goal of a better South Africa.

“Difficult as it may be right now, it is important that we fulfill the wishes he had for a sustainable and durable reconciliation not only between the IFP and the ANC but amongst all of us as the people of South Africa” Ramaphosa said.

Buthelezi was laid to rest on Saturday afternoon.

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