South African Has Lost Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Conservative Zulu Leader

South African conservatives have recently been mourning the death of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the chief of the Zulu tribe and founder in 1975 of the center-right Inkatha Freedom Party. He had fought against the African National Congress during apartheid because it is a Marxist and violent organization that he rightly feared would dominate South African politics if Blacks were given the franchise, much as a leftist party has ruled neighboring Zimbabwe continuously since independence in 1980 through oppression and rigged elections. Although South Africa is somewhat free and conducts fair multi-party national and provincial elections, its parliamentary elections and most of its regional elections are effectively non-competitive, as the ANC, which governs nationally in a coalition with the Communist Party, easily wins a parliamentary majority in every election versus the fractured opposition, which represents various ethnicities and ranges across the political spectrum. The Inkatha Freedom Party holds some seats in both chambers of the South African Parliament and is the leading opposition party in KwaZulu-Natal Province, while the centrist Democratic alliance, which holds power in the Western Cape Province, which is majority white (Afrikaans and English), is the leading opposition party in the South African Parliament. Zulus are the second largest tribe in South Africa, while members of the Xhosa tribe are the majority of the national population. Just as the Inkatha Freedom Party supports regionalism and tribalism, there is also a secession movement in Western Cape. The pro-Russian ANC, which came to power in 1994, has had a history of corruption. A far-left party has similarly maintained rule in Namibia since South Africa granted it independence in 1990. It is hoped that Buthelezi’s memory would encourage more sharing of power in South Africa and Namibia.