By: Kwanele Majeke
As the country celebrates Heritage month, the country today is alarmed by the Passing of uMntwana iNkosi Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi who descends from a very rich historical linage in the Zulu Kingdom, who is born to Chief Mathole Buthelezi and Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu, boasts a lineage deeply rooted in Zulu royalty. His maternal lineage traces back to King Solomon kaDinizulu, which makes him to be directly linked to King Shaka.
It is undoubtedly true that uMntwana played a pivotal role in the installation of King Misuzulu kaZwelithini’s ascension to the throne using not just his authority but also his institutional memory as the the longest serving AmaZulu Traditional Prime Minister to three successive Zulu kings, dating back to King Cyprian Bhekuzulu. An icon of note, at least if only the contemporary history was the only thing that made one to be (worthy to be called) an icon.
We need to ask ourselves who is iNkosi Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, so that we can conclude whether, in my view he is such an amazing and angelic being.
This can only be done when we ‘tell no lies’.
Therefore, I can not bore you with all the made available activism and his achievements dating from the time he joined the ANC Youth League in 1949 at the University of Fort Hare, his political, leadership and academic achievements. The mainstream media has perfectly done that.
It is my conviction that I must say the untold. Not the selective telling of his contributions in the South African history.
I strongly believe that uMntwana has contributed immensely on the hatred over traditional authorities and Bantustans by progressive forces in the dark ages of South Africa, what we refer to as apartheid era.
Gatsha was responsible for the formation of Caprivi 200 and their mandate. This is why I can safely say, without any fear of contradiction that , Gatsha Buthelezi is a symbol of all African Evil in the history of South Africa. The man unashamedly and brutally killed innocent lives. He was and/or is responsible for the vicious and brutal killers who tried to frame Umkhonto Wesizwe by butchering innocent civilians, both Zulu and Xhosa. These were not just trained soldiers but were assassin’s who were called Caprivi 200. When they were trained at a secret training base on the banks of the Cuando River that had been set up by the Department of Military Intelligence working hand in glove with Malan and SADF, with one sole purpose which was to butcher innocent lives, pretending and guised as MK so that when all is said and done there could be a civil war in KZN and ultimately the country. The man had plans to deepen the divisions amongst the African led movements, to strengthen the apartheid intelligence system such that after his combatants concluded their training the unit was divided into four divisions namely ‘offensive’, ‘defensive’, ‘ministers aides’ and ‘contra-mobilisation intelligence’. This was all done before they returned to Ulundi where some were required to train other Inkatha members and further the atrocious quest. He is a father of a failed civil war that could have costed South Africa a democratic character.
Gatsha is not just a sellout and a collaborator with colonizer and the apartheid government but a heartless creature who would sacrificed lives just for his own power, hegemony and wealth. An agent that Mzala Mxumalo coined as a Chief with a double agenda. Those who have had live in the hardest times of our struggle, in the ascension of the revolution and at the time when he tried to sink the revolution into the deepest abyss. All, with one voice characterized define Gatsha as someone who was determined to derail the revolution at all costs, including taking of human lives to please and appease his handlers in Pretoria. We may not talk about the train killings, the Boipatong Massacre, the East Rand violent attack by Inkatha hostel dwellers, the brutal killing of uMama Nonyamezelo Mxenge and lastly but not least the failed attempt to kill Walter Sisulu at Shell House (ANC Headquarters),the killing of Nonyamezelo Mxenge. Mzala Nxumalo was spot on in his characterisation of Gatsha. Today, the stories that my late uncle Judge Pumzile Majeke ‘Aah Mvulazehlobo!!!’ used to tell me of what truly transpired when he was serving as President of SASO in the KZN Region (Province) still play on my mind like nightmares, and of cause and many others who did not musk the truth.
As Gatsha dies, we celebrate the lives of those he brutally murdered. Their blood celebrates with joy with us. Today, all innocent victims of his atrocities can finally rest in peace.
For those who wish that we could mourn his passing, it is unfortunate that we cannot rewrite history, and that, history itself does not have blank pages. We will remember Gatsha as the murderer he is.
I know it is said that in Afrika we do not speak ill of the dead. But should we lie and paint a rosy picture because one is dead? I don’t think so.
May his soul never rest in peace!
*Kwanele Majeke is a ward Councillor of ward 8 in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. He writes in his own capacity as an activist, and his views are not those of the Municipality nor the ANC.
