ANC KZN says Buthelezi is blurring the line between Zulu royal house and IFP

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal is concerned about Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi's “deliberate conflation” of royal household matters with the political party he founded, the IFP.

The party has accused the traditional prime minister of using his royal position to drive a political agenda meant to benefit the IFP, by attempting to blur the lines between Zulu royalty and the party.

“Buthelezi has sought to deliberately conflate the IFP with his responsibility as Zulu traditional prime minister. His primary objective is to create an impression that there is no distinction between the IFP and the Zulu Kingdom, which is something we as the ANC reject because it does not exist in that way,” ANC provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli said.

Ntuli lambasted Buthelezi for using the party’s communication machinery to do the work of the royal house.

“The Zulu Kingdom is distinguishable from the IFP. The fact that Buthelezi is using media communication [resources] of the IFP by issuing statements on behalf of the royal house using the IFP national spokesperson,  is a matter we are deeply concerned about,” he said.

The provincial secretary said Buthelezi, since the founding of the IFP in the mid-70s, had tried to create an impression that the party and the Zulu monarchy were one and the same. 

“Since its inception the IFP has always attempted, without success, to ensure that they cause confusion in society by appropriating the Zulu kingdom into the IFP, directly or indirectly. And that we saw in the past couple of days. 

“He wanted the people of KwaZulu-Natal to understand the IFP as something that is intertwined with the Zulu Kingdom, which is absolutely incorrect,” said Ntuli.

He said the ANC would not allow a deliberate distortion, and asked that the party stop blurring the lines between itself and Zulu royalty.

“At some point there was a perception in society that if you are Zulu you can't belong to any political party but the IFP, which is absolutely wrong,” he added.

Ntuli assured South Africans that the ANC had not sought to derail or influence the succession to the Zulu royal throne. 

The ANC wrath towards Buthelezi follows comments he made on Tuesday, when he sought to associate Prince Thokozani, who disrupted a family gathering where Queen Mantfombi's will naming Misuzulu KaZwelithini heir to the throne was being read, with the ANC.

While Buthelezi did not say Prince Thokozani was sent by the ANC, when asked about the incident Buthelezi said the prince had previously been a mayor and a speaker of a municipality under the governance of the ANC. 

The ANC welcomed the announcement of the appointment of Misuzulu ka Zwelithini Zulu as king. The party's provincial chair, in his capacity as premier, met the king on Thursday. 

Ntuli said this demonstrated that the party had no ulterior motives. 

Responding to criticism that he was using IFP communications infrastructure for Royal House work, Buthelezi said he was "forced to rely on a communications infrastructure that is kindly lent to me" as he had never received a single cent from government to fund an administrative office.

"If Mr Ntuli would like to petition his government to provide administrative support that I have never had in more than 50 years, he is most welcome. It has never stopped me from doing my work, and it cannot be used as a smokescreen now to prevent me from serving my nation," said Buthelezi.

Buthelezi, in turn, said Ntuli's comments sought to separate him from his royal duties, adding that it was in fact Ntuli who who conflated the traditional prime minister with IFP founder position.

"I cannot abdicate my responsibilities because they upset him. I have issued statements on the [royal] family’s behalf, as is my responsibility as traditional prime minister," said Buthelezi.

He also lashed out at assertions that the IFP tried to “appropriate” the Zulu Kingdom and blurred the lines between political party and the monarchy.

Going a step further, he said: "Has he [Ntuli] forgotten that the ANC’s uMkhonto weSizwe targeted and killed Zulu-speaking South Africans purely on the basis that, if they spoke Zulu, they had to be IFP supporters? That violent action of the ANC did more to conflate the Zulu Kingdom with Inkatha than anything."

Buthelezi, who was responding in his capacity as traditional prime minister, added that no one had accused the ANC of deploying someone to a meeting of the Royal Family in order to influence who became the new King. He asked if the ANC's "denial" intended to cast the party as a hapless victim.

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