Date: 20/09/2010
Source: The Inkatha Freedom Party
Title: IFP: Buthelezi: Address by the IFP president, on the challenge of being a committed Christian and politician in promoting peace in Africa, Pietermaritzburg

When the leaders of this country gather in the national House of
Parliament, before we attend to the business of the day, we observe a
moment of silence. In this moment, we are encouraged to pray or meditate
as our faiths and consciences dictate. We do not engage in formal
prayer, nor do we make a corporate declaration of reliance on God. As a
Christian, I use this time to silently seek God's wisdom and counsel,
and to ask that He would guide us as we lead our nation. But I am always
left with a sense that this is not enough; that we have somehow missed a
profound opportunity to unleash the immeasurable power of God.

I understand the need for religious tolerance, particularly in a country
whose population is as diverse as ours. I respect the right to freedom
of religion, belief and opinion, as enshrined in the Bill of Rights of
South Africa's Constitution. But I also believe that we will never truly
express the love Christ called us to display, if we seclude ourselves
from one another. For this reason I count myself a friend of Dr Michael
Cassidy, as well as a friend of the Dalai Lama, a friend of the Divine
Life Society and of the Muslim Judicial Council.

Does it make me any less of a Christian that I befriend those outside
the Christian faith? I think not; for Christ sat down to meals in the
house of Gentiles and sinners, and we know that when the Pharisees
questioned Him, He explained that those who are well have no need of a
physician. Wherever we go as Christians, we are ambassadors of Christ,
and where else can our lights shine brightly, but in the very midst of
the darkness? This has been my reference point all my life, as I have
sought to lead and serve my nation.

I wish to thank Pastor Kitutu for inviting me and I thank Dr Cassidy and
African Enterprise for having me to attend and to speak at this
international conference for Peace in Africa. I have been asked to speak
about the challenges I have faced as a Christian and a politician as I
promoted peace on our continent. Perhaps, before I do so, I should take
a moment to tell you a bit about myself and where I fit into the
landscape of South Africa and the Church.

I have served my country in leadership positions for more than half a
century. I was born into politics, as the son of Princess Magogo
kaDinuzulu, the daughter of the King, and Inkosi Mathole Buthelezi, the
traditional Prime Minister of the Zulu nation. I was raised at my
uncle's palace, KwaDlamahlahla, where Prince Mshiyeni, who was the Zulu
Regent, was often visited by Inkosi Albert Lutuli, Dr JL Dube, Dr Edgar
Brookes and other prominent leaders. These men were among the founding
leaders of South Africa's liberation struggle. Inkosi Lutuli later
became the President of the African National Congress and I came to
regard him as one of my mentors. I had the privilege of delivering the
oration at his funeral.

The African National Congress, or ANC, had been founded by my uncle,
Pixley ka Isaka Seme, in 1912. It was only natural that when I entered
the University of Fort Hare in 1948, I became involved in the ANC's
Youth League. I paid a price for my political activities at Fort Hare
University, when I was rusticated together with two other students for
staging a boycott against a visit by the Governor General Dr G Brand van
Zyl. Although his position was that of a titular Head of State, we
regarded him as the rubber stamp of our oppression. It was the first
political price I would pay for having the courage of my convictions,
but it would by far, not be the last.

In a sense, this was the opening salvo in a lifelong battle in which
standing up for what I believed to be right, would cost me dearly. I
continued my political activism against oppression and racial
discrimination when I left Fort Hare and continued my studies at the
University of Natal. It was during my time there that I met Mabel
Palmer, Ismail and Fatima Meer. As a student at Fort Hare University I
had met Mr Walter Sisulu - the Secretary-General of the ANC, also Mr
Oliver Tambo then a member of the ANC Youth League. I was later through
them to meet Mr Nelson Mandela in Durban, who I later discovered was a
friend of my late father-in-law Mr Zacchariah Mzila. Mr Mandela as a
lawyer was later requested by myself to wind up the estate of my
father-in-law.

It is often thought that when I founded Inkatha yeNkululeko yeSizwe -
the National Cultural Liberation Movement in 1975, all communication
between myself and the other leaders of the liberation movement somehow
stopped. But the truth is that I built solid friendships with many of
the leaders of my generation and we worked together for South Africa's
liberation from the moment we cut our political teeth, to the moment in
April 1994 when South Africa was declared a democracy. After that, we
continued to work together in the Government of National Unity.

When the ANC and PAC were banned in 1960, it became clear that the
majority in our country would have no political home. I maintained
communication with Mr Oliver Tambo, the leader of the ANC's
mission-in-exile, and we met as often as we could, in London, Mangoche,
Nairobi, Lagos and Stockholm. We also exchanged emissaries. In 1963, I
met with him in London en route to the Anglican Congress in Canada as
the lay delegate of the Anglican Diocese of Zululand and Swaziland. When
I returned, the South African Government confiscated my passport for 9
years.

I was elected Chief Executive Officer of the Zulu Territorial Authority
in 1970, and the Government then found it difficult to refuse to give me
a passport. Immediately I met Mr Tambo again. I also travelled to the
Vatican and met with Pope Paul VI. To date, he is the third Pontiff with
whom I have had a private audience. I also travelled to the United
States, the United Kingdom and Germany and sought support from world
leaders for our liberation struggle. I continued seeking international
support when I became Chief Minister of the erstwhile KwaZulu
Government, a position I held for 18 years.

I gained a vast deal of experience in administration during that time,
and learnt the painfully difficult skill of balancing needs and
resources. The Government in KwaZulu was on a shoestring budget and we
received proportionally less from the State coffers than any other
Homeland Government. Our administration had to work hand in hand with
its people in order to meet the vast ocean of need in KwaZulu. Every
day, I came face to face with the reality of poverty, distress and
hardship.

In a sense, I fell in love with my people during that time, because I
saw the very worst in human nature expressed through the apartheid
regime juxtaposed with the immeasurable generosity, long suffering and
kindness of a people who had nothing. We worked hard to build schools
and clinics and houses. There were no government hand outs. Ordinary
people; men, women and children, built and ploughed and planted with
their own hands. We exhorted communities to pool their meagre resources,
and then met them Rand for Rand in development projects.

In 1976, at the invitation of former Head of State, General Olusegun
Obasanjo, I met with Mr Oliver Tambo in Nigeria. That year, Mr Tambo
addressed the United Nations General Assembly as the recognised
representative of the South African people, and launched the ANC's call
for international sanctions against South Africa and large scale
disinvestment. The following year, the leadership of the ANC on Robben
Island agreed to appoint Mr Tambo as the President General of the ANC.
It was in that year that guerrilla warfare began in earnest, as the
strategy of an armed struggle was launched by the ANC's
mission-in-exile.

This was the ideological divide which eventually opened a chasm between
Inkatha and the ANC. How could I possibly accept the call for
international sanctions and disinvestment, when I lived every day among
the poorest of the poor and saw the pain that poverty inflicted. I knew
that sanctions would not substantially affect the minority who were in
power, as they would simply consolidate in their laager mentality and
form industrial monopolies. It was the poorest who would suffer. For
holding this view I had to pay a big price.

Moreover, I believed that damaging the economy of our country was simply
damaging the inheritance we would all receive when political liberation
was achieved. I was reminded of the instruction in Deuteronomy 20 verse
19: "When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it
to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an axe to them,
because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down."

But if I was firm about our economy, I was nothing short of zealous
against an armed struggle. As a Christian, it went against my very core
to see blood being shed and lives being lost, particularly for a cause
that I knew would eventually be won through negotiations. I made it
quite clear that I could not support a violent struggle. I knew my
people; they were mothers and sons and uncles and cousins. To my mind,
they were not expendable cannon fodder in a war that was being launched
from a distance. They were children of God with as much a right to life,
as a right to political enfranchisement.

Moreover, this was the view of the founding fathers of the liberation
struggle. When the ANC was launched in 1912, the founding fathers of
the ANC committed themselves to the strategy of negotiation and
non-violence. That is why when I founded Inkatha I stated that it was
structured in the ideals of the founding fathers in 1912.

My stand against international sanctions and the armed struggle met with
intense frustration in the ANC. I was one man; but I had behind me the
support of close on a million card carrying members of Inkatha. From the
very inception of Inkatha, I determined to gauge the actual needs and
interests of my people, rather than arrogantly dictating to them what it
was they wanted. Listening to the heart of the people, I believe they
never wanted an armed struggle.

I held rallies in most provinces. I had rallies in Durban at Umlazi, in
Soweto, in Langa in Cape Town, in Mangaung in Bloemfontein and other
venues. At each rally I would ask the people assembled in their
thousands whether I should support sanctions against South Africa and
all of them would in one chorus respond with a loud "NO". One of the
jokes I enjoy cracking when I speak to President Zuma these days
revolves around the terrible conflict which cost us so many lives,
merely because we disagreed on the issue of economic sanctions and
disinvestment against South Africa. The governing party, the African
National Congress is totally against sanctions against Mr Robert Mugabe
and Zimbabwe. And it is because they argue that it is the poor people
of Zimbabwe who are suffering the consequences of sanctions. And it was
for the same reason that I opposed sanctions against South Africa.

I travelled the world to see Heads of State such as Lady Thatcher in the
UK, Mr John Major in the UK, President Jimmy Carter in the US, President
Ronald Reagan in the US, President George Bush in the US and others to
appeal to them not to support the imposition of sanctions against South
Africa. I still thank God that He opened the doors of all these Heads
of State for me during a time when my international vilification by the
ANC and their allies was also at its height. I was condemned even by
the World Council of Churches and my Bishop and mentor, Bishop Alphaeus
Zulu had been its President.

Rifts were opening between Inkatha and the ANC on this issue, and in
October 1979, Mr Tambo suggested a meeting in London. Seventeen members
of Inkatha's Central Committee accompanied me to that meeting and we sat
with leaders of the ANC behind closed doors for two days. In the end, we
could just not agree. Within less than a year, the ANC launched a
vicious campaign of vilification against me and Inkatha, that would last
for several decades.

The armed struggle was not an issue on which anyone could simply agree
to disagree. It was emotionally charged and people's lives literally
hung in the balance. It was an extremely difficult time for Christians,
because those of us who went against violence and an armed struggle were
branded as traitors to our country. There was also no succour within the
Church, as the mainline churches, to which I belonged, embraced the
notion of a "just war".

The South African Council of Churches produced what became known as the
Kairos Document, which suggested that this was a kairos time to engage
in violence. Christian leaders were outspoken in their support and often
quoted Canon Burgess Carr, who had spoken in Mozambique during the
freedom day and suggested that Christ had sanctified violence through
the crucifixion. I must admit, my Christianity was challenged during
this time.

I realize that the Church is not without its periods of violence. One
need only think of the Crusades and the bloody tempest they awakened.
But in my own heart, in my deepest convictions, I could not find space
for violence against my people. I did not consider my people to be only
the black majority whom I served in KwaZulu, nor were they limited in my
mind to the Zulu nation. My people were all the people of South Africa;
the country of my birth and the country for which I was pouring out my
passion, my sweat and my tears.

In June of 1985, Mr Oliver Tambo addressed a consultative conference of
the ANC in Zambia and called on his countrymen to "engulf the apartheid
system in the fire and thunder of a people's war". At that point, I
sought a meeting in London with the Head of the Anglican Communion, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Robert Runcie. In advance of
the meeting, I sent a memorandum through the South African Ambassador in
which I sought the Archbishop's guidance on the issue of a "just war".
Theologians had wrestled with this issue for centuries. Was this truly
the time?

When I arrived at Lambeth Palace for our meeting, the Archbishop had my
memorandum in his hand, and before we even sat down he asked me whether
other leaders agree with me in opposing the armed struggle. I responded,
"Your Grace, you too are a leader. Do other leaders always agree with
you?" When he did not respond, I then asked him, "Did everyone agree
with Christ?" Needless to say, I did not receive any guidance in that
meeting. I had sought the advice of the highest authority in my Church,
and found myself on lonely ground.

Indeed, loneliness has characterised my Christian walk. I was branded a
traitor and a sell out because I would not lead my people into war. It
was a very painful time. I thank God for a lady by the name of Dr Anthea
Jeffrey, an academic who has engaged in comprehensive research of that
period in our history and has written a seminal work called "People's
War". I would encourage anyone to read it, but particularly those who
seek to understand the true dynamics that shaped the violent struggle
and internecine low intensity civil war that raged in South Africa
during the eighties and early nineties.

"People's War" also details the role of the Church during that time and
notes how leaders of the Church expressed their support for the armed
struggle. I recall that high profile priests would attend the endless
funeral services that were held during that time - let us not forget
that 20,000 lives were lost. But the funerals of members of the IFP,
Inkatha, saw very few prominent clergymen.

It was also difficult for me being poles apart with the head of my
Church, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. We were of directly opposing views. At
the funeral service of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe in Graaf Reinet, the
founder of the Pan Africanist Congress in 1978, in Graaf Reinet to which
I had been invited by Mangaliso Sobukwe's family through his brother
Bishop Ernest Sobukwe and the leaders of the PAC in exile, such as AB
Ngcobo and Potlako Leballo, who phoned me from London, an attempt was
made on my life during the funeral service by a group of youths. In the
aftermath, Archbishop Tutu publically praised these young men, saying
they were a new breed of young people with iron in their souls. This
from the head of my own Church. Where then could I turn for comfort?

When President Nelson Mandela in his Cabinet, of which I was a member,
proposed Archbishop Tutu as Chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, I went on record with my objection, saying that the
Archbishop had been a patron of the UDF in the time of conflict. The TRC
required a non-partisan leadership. Nevertheless, Archbishop Tutu
chaired the TRC. When I appeared before it, I boldly addressed the Chair
and said, "Your Grace, I shall not be judged by you. God is my sole
judge and I shall be judged by Him alone."

In the end, the TRC concluded that I, in my representative capacity as
Chief Minister of the KwaZulu Government and Head of the KwaZulu Police,
and as President of the IFP, was responsible for more gross human rights
violations than anyone else in South Africa - even though I had never
once condoned, sanctioned, authorised or ordered a single violation of
human rights. The pronouncement of the TRC was terribly painful for me
to bear.

Nevertheless, being a Christian is a remarkable thing, because
Archbishop Tutu and I still exchange birthday wishes every year. When
Mrs Tutu turned 70, I was invited to the celebrations, and I went with
nothing but goodwill in my heart. That is the glory of Christ; that no
matter what humiliations and trials are heaped upon his children, they
are able to forgive. People have often asked me how I have managed to
forgive the atrocities committed by the apartheid regime in my country,
or the slaughter of my people by members of the ANC. I have even been
asked how I could forgive God for taking from me four of my children,
two to car accidents and two to HIV/Aids.

During the liberation struggle I was still able to enjoy many Christian
Fellowship meetings in which Dr Piet Koornhof a member of the apartheid
regime was a participant. Sometimes we met in his house. And one of
these men of God was Bishop Alphaeus Zulu who was once the Chairman of
the Board of African Enterprise. At Yale University in the United
States I was castigated by Professor Greenberg for praying with an
apartheid government Minister Dr Koornhof. My response always was that
what reason do I have for judging others, if I believe as I do that
Christ's blood was shed for my sins, to say that Christ's blood was not
also shed for the sins of Mr P W Botha (the then Head of the Apartheid
Regime).

God works in mysterious way. The low intensity civil war that took
place in South Africa between members of the ruling Party the ANC and
members of my Party the IFP, almost torpedoed the negotiations for a
peaceful settlement in South Africa. As you know we as the Zulu Nation
are a Kingdom. There was no clarity as to the place of the monarchy as
an institution in the new dispensation in the new South Africa. My
Party decided not to participate in the first democratic elections of
1994 because of this situation.

The low intensity civil war was raging even while negotiations were
taking place as you can see in Dr Anthea Jeffery's book - 'PEOPLE'S
WAR'. And the armed struggle continued to be used as some sword of
Damocles by Mr Mandela and the ANC. I had suggested that there should
be some international mediation by international mediators on the issue
of the institution of the monarchy. The ANC was opposed to the idea.
But After a meeting we had with Mr F W de Klerk then Head of State, Mr
Nelson Mandela the leader of the African National Congress at Skukuza,
the well known Kruger Park Conservation Game Reserve, the ANC grudgingly
agreed to the idea of bringing in international mediators.

The international mediators actually arrived in South Africa. But
sadly, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa - the Secretary-General of the ANC and Mr
Roelf Meyer who represented the then governing Party, the National
Party, sabotaged the process of international mediation even before it
began. The international mediators included Dr Henry Kissinger, the
former United States Secretary of State. At the time there was present
Professor Washington Okumu, who had been brought to South Africa by
African Enterprise. He was present at the Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg
when the whole process of international mediation collapsed. He had
been a student of Dr Kissinger. He and I had met in Washington at the
National Prayer Breakfasts. We had also struck a close friendship as
brothers in Christ.

Things were grim and the international mediators were returning to their
homes overseas without any international mediation taking place. I also
left for my home in this Province quite pessimistic about any prospects
of there being any peaceful settlement in South Africa. The erstwhile
KwaZulu government which I headed as Chief Minister at the time, had
recently bought a jet in which I travelled. As I drove to Lanseria
Airport in Johannesburg to board the jet to my home, I received a
message that Professor Washington Okumu wanted to see me at the airport.
I then waited for him for a very long time and he did not arrive.
Unfortunately, I had Reverend Sipo Mzimela with me who was a member of
my Cabinet and he was due to represent the KwaZulu Government at a
meeting that the King had with some Church Leaders who included
Archbishop Tutu in Nongoma on that very day.

So as Professor Washington Okumu was nowhere to be found I decided that
we should leave rather than risk that Reverend Sipo Mzimela misses the
appointment with the King. We then took off. It was only after the
plane had taken off that the pilots told us that we had to go back to
Lanseria Airport as there was something wrong with the plane. This was
surprising as this was a brand new jet. When we got off the plane at
Lanseria Airport, there was Professor Okumu as large as life having a
cup of tea. He then took advantage of me getting back and he offered to
intervene in the impasse on the issue of international mediation. He
said that if I agreed with him, he would also approach Mr Nelson Mandela
and Mr de Klerk.

I agreed that Professor Okumu could go ahead. He then travelled from
place to place by plane, seeing Mr Mandela, seeing Mr de Klerk and
communicating with me by phone and also meeting me. Finally Professor
Okumu managed to get the three of us to agree to a meeting in Pretoria
on the 19th of April 1994. The first democratic elections were
scheduled to take place on the 27th of April 1994. Mr F W de Klerk , Mr
Nelson Mandela and I then signed a peace pact and the agreement was that
my organization Inkatha would participate in the general election on
the 27th of April 1994 on the proviso that international mediation would
take place as soon as possible after the general election on the 27th of
April 1994.

That was God's intervention in which African Enterprise had a hand. But
sadly that agreement was dishonoured by Mr Mandela and it never took
place up to this day. We were later to be told that the issue of the
institution of the Monarchy in this Province was going to be dealt with
through the Constitution for the Province of KwaZulu Natal. That
Constitution has never been written as the ruling Party did not want to
arrive at the provisions of such a Constitution by consensus and wanted
to unilaterally impose its version of the Constitution on the rest of
us.

However, the agreement we reached on the 19th of April did help us, to
have a peaceful entry into the new South Africa. But the issue of the
institution of the monarchy was never sorted out to this day. Instead
the ruling Party in the Province passed Act 5 of 2005 and section 17
merely says: "ISILO (the King) is the Monarch of the Province." This is
meaningless in constitutional terms. However the sad part is that
although I served in the new government as Minister of Home Affairs
after elections that final business of reconciliation between the ANC
and the IFP has not yet taken place.

In terms of the Interim Constitution which was in place from 1994 to
1999 any Party with more than 5 per cent of the votes had a place in the
Cabinet. So Mr Mandela appointed me and a couple of other IFP Ministers
and two Deputy Ministers in terms of the Provisions of the Interim
Constitution. It is important to clarify this, because quite often
people interpret our participation in Mr Mandela's Cabinet as a product
of Mr Mandela's magnanimity, whereas it was in fact in terms of the
Interim Constitution. My Party won by a clear majority in the Province
of KwaZulu Natal and we invited the ANC to participate with us in the
government of the Province. One of the Ministers we invited was Mr
Jacob Zuma who today is our President.

After the expiry of the Government of National Unity President Mbeki
offered me the position of Deputy President. This was out of his
magnanimity as the time for the government of national unity had
expired. But unfortunately the leaders of the ANC in this Province
including Mr Zuma asked Mr Mbeki to demand that if I am offered the
position of Deputy President, that I should then give the Premiership of
this Province to the ANC. I would not do that to the voters of this
Province who had given my Party the majority of the votes in 1999.

When the ruling Party, the ANC got the majority of the votes in 2004 in
this Province, they offered positions in the Cabinet only for a short
time. They later dismissed IFP Ministers and said that they wanted to
run as a purely ANC Government.

While there is more peaceful and civilized interaction at the level of
the Provincial Legislature between the ANC and the IFP, the tensions of
yesteryear have not yet vanished. Just last week our IFP member Mr
Gumede in the UGU Region was assassinated and the suspects were arrested
and they are members of the ANC.

But when I consider the life I have lived, the doors that God has opened
for me and the dangers from which He has preserved me, I cannot help but
wonder as King David did, "What is man that You are mindful of him, the
son of man that You care for him?" (Psalm 8 verse 4). I know that I am
nothing more than a redeemed sinner, justified by the blood of Christ.
My own sins have not disqualified me, and neither have the sins of
others which have been committed against me. I am not disqualified from
the race to which the Apostle Paul refers in Hebrews 12, because the
work of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, was finished on the cross.

I know that when God Almighty looks at me, He sees the righteousness of
Christ. How else could He, in His purity and holiness, look upon the
likes of me?

Yes, it has been an incredible challenge being a Christian and a
politician, as I have sought to promote peace in the last 62 years. But
I also know that I could never have promoted peace or fulfilled my
calling in politics had I not been grounded in Christ. When a sage from
India conferred on me the title of 'RASTIA PITA'- Apostle of Peace I was
humbled.

I was also humbled when all the Bishops of my own Church, the Church of
the Province of Southern Africa awarded me the highest honour that our
Church can award to a layman in our church two years ago, the Order of
Simon of Cyrene.

I was also humbled prior to that when the Patriarch of Alexandra and All
Africa of the Greek Orthodox Church awarded me the highest honour that
the Church can award to a layman which is the Order of St Markhus (St
Mark).

Also this year when my Church was celebrating the 140 years anniversary
of the Diocese of Zululand, that my Bishop included me amongst the 5
people that were awarded the newly inaugurated Order of St Michael and
All Angels.

I was equally humbled when the Christians for Peace in Africa also
conferred the title of Peace Maker on me, in spite of all the
vilification I had endured for decades up to the present day.

When our Lord sat on the mountainside in Galilee and pronounced the
beatitudes, He said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called the children of God". I often think of these words when I attend
Parliamentary sessions and we are asked to observe a moment of silence
before the proceedings. If we follow manmade rules, our highest
accolades will be that we were tolerant or politically correct. Yet if
we follow the laws instituted by the Creator of Heaven and Earth, our
greatest blessings are these; that we will be comforted, filled, and
shown mercy that we will inherit the earth and the kingdom of heaven
shall be ours, and we will be called the children of God.

As we as Christians seek peace in Africa, I pray that we will have the
courage to diverge from following the world, and rather follow the heart
of Christ.

I thank you.