The Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Harry Oppenheimer Trust was established in 2016 with the primary objective of paying homage to two founders of one of the foremost institutions of higher learning in the country and thus effectively securing their legacy as two of South Africa’s leading icons of the twentieth century.
While these plans to formalise organisation only began 3 years ago, this organisation has been, at least, 40 years in the making, with the founding of the Mangosuthu University of Technology one of the first projects involving the two iconic South African figures, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Mr. Harry Oppenheimer who, apart from being a renowned economist and a patriot, also worked side by side with Prince Buthelezi to improve the lives of our people.
What was initially conceived based on the idea of setting up an organisation that will make it possible for a monument of His Royal Highness who is Prime Minister to His Majesty the King and the Zulu to be erected somewhere in Durban, quickly grew and caught on with various stakeholders to become a fully-fledged philanthropic organisation focused on building a legacy of leadership development in Southern Africa. The Trust was then organized to receive gifts and grants of money and property of every kind.
As a KwaZulu-Natal-based organization, grants are made predominantly to South African youth wishing to further their studies as well as a few national medical research institutions.In order to keep their individual and collective contributions alive for generations to come, I conceived the idea of having their statues occupy pride of place in an institution that is charged with moulding future leaders and inspiring the youth to take their rightful place in the economy and it is for this reason that the Mangosuthu University of Technology Campus was identified to be the ideal site for the statues.