Opinion

Honour the aged by all means, but let's be frank about Buthelezi's past

09 September 2018 - 00:00 By SIBONGAKONKE SHOBA

The serenity of that Sunday evening was brought to an abrupt end by a huge bang. Then gunshots rang out, followed by heart-wrenching wailing.
Mvemve Road, where my friends and I were playing soccer, immediately turned into a war zone. Amid the gunshots and screams, war chants grew louder as the impis got closer.
Thick smoke covered that part of K-section in KwaMashu township. There was pandemonium on the streets. I must have clocked the fastest speed in my life as we ran to escape.
We ran deep into the township until we reached the home of the Thwalas, old family friends. That is where my mother, sister and I spent the night. My father and other siblings slept in the bushes.
It was 1993, at the height of political conflict in KwaZulu-Natal.
My family were fortunate to live to tell the tale. Other families suffered worse trauma; attacks that resulted in casualties on both sides of the family divide.
It was not the first or the last time that IFP impis raided the area. Due to KwaMashu's proximity to Richmond Farm and Lindelani, IFP strongholds, the bloodthirsty warmongers often acted on their temptation to show off their shooting skills whenever they marched past the township.
But that Sunday they were craving more action.
We later learnt that our attackers had been bristling for action after being addressed by IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi at a rally in Durban. They were still dressed in IFP regalia, mainly T-shirts emblazoned with Buthelezi's beaming face.
Last Friday I was among the lucky few to score an invite to Buthelezi's 90th birthday party. But as we sat there, images of that day in 1993 kept flashing through my mind.
Buthelezi has always denied any involvement in such attacks, even though testimony at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission painted a different picture.
As per the national mood, I convinced myself to bury the hatchet. I had accepted that Buthelezi, with the wisdom of an elder, played a crucial role in building our democracy. Because of his influence, not only as a politician but also as member of the Zulu royal household, Buthelezi cannot be wished away.
But at the birthday celebration I couldn't help wonder if the speakers were talking about the same man I knew growing up. Of course, no-one expected his son Zuzifa to talk about a Buthelezi who was feared because of his party's reign of terror in many parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Yes, Buthelezi has made positive contributions in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal, many of which - such as the establishment of the Mangosuthu University of Technology - were highlighted in a speech by his anointed successor as party leader, Velenkosini Hlabisa.
Buthelezi has played an important role in parliament as the voice of reason in times of chaos.
But to repackage history by elevating him as an unsung struggle hero is a bridge too far.
When KwaZulu-Natal premier Willies Mchunu was called to the stage, I expected a balanced, frank and honest analysis of Buthelezi and his role in the run-up to democracy and afterwards.
Mchunu, a former unionist and a veteran of the struggle, endured more at the hands of the apartheid forces and IFP-linked militia than many in the province.
But I realised he was also suffering from historical amnesia when he told us that Buthelezi was a man of peace, and that if he was not, "we wouldn't [be] here".
He went on to declare Buthelezi a father figure "to us", and claimed he had played a similar role even during the struggle.
The rest of my table gave Mchunu a standing ovation, but I was astonished by this new version of history. A cabinet minister, obviously also puzzled, asked what I thought of the premier's remarks. I was speechless.
I accept and understand the importance of preaching peace in ever-volatile KwaZulu-Natal. It is even more crucial for leaders to display political maturity and tolerance as the nation prepares to go to the polls.
However, efforts to maintain peace must not include the airbrushing of history.
Mchunu and the rest of ANC in KwaZulu-Natal are apparently nursing Buthelezi's ego as part of a strategy guided by the election next year. He still wields powerful influence in some rural areas, and the ANC wants to remain on-side with voters who would not necessarily vote for the IFP, but who might be alienated by insults directed at the party leader.
Buthelezi may have been friends with Nelson Mandela, but his biography would be incomplete without mentioning the active role his party played in destabilising the liberation struggle as the focus moved from confronting the apartheid government to confronting the IFP. Buthelezi's politics of Zulu nationalism were backward and divided the oppressed even further, which played into the hands of the apartheid government.
It was Buthelezi who participated in and accepted a position in apartheid's bantustan governments when the liberation movements were banned.
He also opposed calls for international sanctions against the oppressive National Party government.
When Buthelezi spoke last Friday, he acknowledged "mistakes". He said: "There are a few things I wouldn't do again if I was given a chance to repeat them. Like any human being I have made mistakes, for which I ask forgiveness."
Maybe if Mchunu had reminded Buthelezi of the uncomfortable truth about his past, he would have explained exactly what it was that he would not repeat.
He might have gone into detail about the "mistakes", about why he felt the need to apologise, and to whom the apology was directed.
The country might have accepted Buthelezi with all his faults; however, the emendation of his brutal past is nothing but a distortion.
• Shoba is political editor of the Sunday Times..

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