KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, has called for the establishment of a national monument dedicated to the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
Image: DOCTOR NGCOBO
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Reverend Thulasizwe Buthelezi, has called for the establishment of a national monument dedicated to the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
The prince, revered as the Prime Minister to the Zulu Nation and the Founder and President Emeritus of the Inkatha Freedom Party, played a pivotal role in the nation’s history, a contribution the MEC believes should be acknowledged alongside other prominent figures of the anti-apartheid movement.
The call comes on the heels of a significant cultural recognition by the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which recently unveiled statues of former Presidents Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo at the Moses Mabhida Stadium precinct.
During his keynote address at the 2026 KwaZulu-Natal Municipal Excellence Awards held at the Durban International Convention Centre, MEC Buthelezi said the story symbolised by the two statues remains incomplete without the inclusion of uMtwana wakwaPhindangene.
“Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi was the bridge between the ANC Mission in Exile of Mr Oliver Tambo and the new democratic dispensation of President Nelson Mandela. Prince Buthelezi kept the struggle alive in South Africa. When the apartheid regime had silenced both Tambo and Mandela, Buthelezi was the voice of the oppressed," the MEC said.
He added that honouring Prince Buthelezi alongside other liberation icons would ensure a more inclusive historical narrative.