Mangosuthu Buthelezi

Politician

Birthday August 27, 1928

Birth Sign Virgo

Birthplace South Africa

DEATH DATE Sep 9, 2023 (95)

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About

Under the Apartheid regime, this South African politician served as Prime Minister of his country's KwaZulu territory. In the mid-1970s, he founded the Inkatha Freedom Party and co-authored the Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith (a government proposal that called for a peaceful end to South African racial strife).

Before Fame

While studying at the University of Fort Hare, he became a member of the African National Congress Youth League. He later graduated from the University of Natal.

Trivia

His grandfather, King Cetshwayo kaMpande, led the Zulu Kingdom from 1872 until 1879.

Family Life

His marriage to Irene Audrey Thandekile Mzila resulted in daughters named Phumzile, Mandisi, Mabhuku, Lethuxolo, and Sibuyiselwe and sons named Zuzifa, Nelisuzulu, and Phumaphesheya. Sadly, two of his children died of AIDS in 2004, and a third was killed in a 2008 automobile accident.

Associated With

Though originally affiliated with Nelson Mandela's African National Congress Party, Buthelezi's Inkatha Freedom Party later broke ties with the ANC.