Controlling the police, the legislature, the courts, and other levers of power, he wielded his influence to suppress anti-apartheid groups using tactics that critics claimed mirrored those of the Pretoria regime. This included ordering arrests, disrupting protests, distributing favors to loyalists, and marginalizing dissenters from job opportunities. The consequences were far-reaching, forcing many Black intellectuals and activists to flee KwaZulu – a conglomerate of 40 tribal homelands scattered across the former Natal Province in southeastern South Africa. (Following apartheid, KwaZulu transitioned into KwaZulu-Natal Province.)
Furthermore, historians revealed that Mr. Buthelezi maintained control over Inkatha paramilitary fighters, whose clashes with African National Congress (A.N.C.) militants resulted in the loss of up to 20,000 lives during the late 1980s and ’90s. Alongside financing the KwaZulu government, Pretoria confessed in 1991 to covertly funding Inkatha in its battle against the A.N.C., lending credibility to allegations of collaboration between Mr. Buthelezi and the white government.
“Opinions about Mr. Buthelezi in South Africa are diverse – some see him as an apartheid puppet, a fearless opponent of white supremacy, a tribal warlord, or a visionary advocate for democratic capitalism,” noted Michael Clough in a New York Times review of Mr. Buthelezi’s book, “South Africa: My Vision of the Future” (1990). Clough added, “While he eloquently preaches nonviolence, his followers have been accused of killing hundreds of opponents in Natal Province.”
In 1990, when South Africa signaled its willingness to dismantle apartheid by releasing Mr. Mandela and lifting a 30-year ban on the A.N.C., Mr. de Klerk and Mr. Mandela became the primary negotiators for a new constitution. However, Mr. Buthelezi swiftly positioned himself as a representative for capitalism, education, tribal and ethnic rights, as well as powers for regional governments.
Over the ensuing years, as disagreements and factional conflicts escalated during the negotiations, Mr. Buthelezi frequently boycotted the talks. However, apartheid ultimately ended in hospitals, theaters, swimming pools, parks, libraries, and public transportation. A new constitution emerged, establishing a parliamentary democracy with executive, legislative, and judicial branches, a Bill of Rights, universal suffrage, and 10 regional governments.
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