Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi was born in Mhlabathini, KwaZulu on the 27th of August 1928.

He is the Prince of the Zulu people and the great-grandson of King Cetshwayo, the Zulu king who fought the British in the Anglo-Zulu War. Prince Buthelezi is the chief of the Buthelezi clan and also acts as Prime Minister to the current Zulu King Goodwill Zwelethini kaBhekuzulu. He holds a degree from the University of Fort Hare.

Due to political activism as part of the African National Congress (ANC), he was expelled from the college. Prince Buthelezi completed his degree at the University of Natal. He began his government career as a clerk in the Department of Bantu Administration. After getting married, he became chief of the Buthelezi clan in 1953.

He became Chief Executive Officer of the KwaZulu Territorial Authority. In 1974, Transvaal leader Harry Schwartz and Buthelezi signed the Mahlabatini Declaration of Faith.

The declaration provided a non-violent plan to racial reconciliation in South Africa. The declaration focused on providing all people economic opportunities regardless of race, non-violence, and respect for ethnicity.

At this time neither the ANC or the National Party were pursuing peaceful solutions. Non-violent activist all over the world applauded the effort. Many of the principles of the declaration were used to form the Democratic government.

Buthelezi founded the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in 1975 with the blessing of the (then-banned) African National Congress. It began as a Zulu cultural organization but became more politically active after the exile of the ANC.

In the mid-1970’s, Inkatha worked closely with the ANC. Inkatha saw itself as the branch of the ANC that operated inside of South Africa. Inkatha’s mission was to create alternatives to Apartheid by working within the government for concessions. The South African government completely controlled other homeland territories from the beginning. Critics cannot make that claim about KwaZulu in the 1970’s.

A clash in ideology between the IFP and the ANC would lead to conflict during the early 90s. It would take a few attemps at peace in order to ensure that the violence eventually subsides.

Many members of the ANC felt that meeting with Buthelezi would legitimize him as an African leader in opposition to the ANC. Other members understood that securing peace depended on Buthelezi’s cooperation. Nelson Mandela and Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi met on January 29, 1991.

Both sides knew the government would not negotiate with either party if the IFP and ANC were not working together. The National Peace Accords (NPA), which was the first multi-party peace agreement in South Africa, was signed on September 14, 1991. The NPA led the way to all party talks.

When violence broke out between Inkatha and the ANC, Mandela wrote Buthelezi a letter to bring peace to South Africa. Prince Buthelezi agreed to meet with Mandela, but ANC leaders would not let the meeting happen. It would take a year to begin peace negotiations.