Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) national chairperson Blessed Gwala says the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi was frustrated while serving in government as Minister of Home Affairs. Gwala says Buthelezi was eventually pushed out as Home Affairs Minister, according to him, because of Buthelezi’s opposition to foreign nationals streaming into the country after 1994.
Gwala says the number of undocumented foreign nationals in the country is an issue that bothered Buthelezi to the end.
“I can think about legal issues all matters that go to court he wins them. You come to the IFP then you’ll understand that there are too many players in the field, not from the opposition but from the government itself. He served in the government of national unity and he was the Minister of Home Affairs but he was frustrated. But today everybody now is talking about people who are not authorised to be inside the country but that was the reason why he was chased away; he was accused of not accepting those people who were coming inside the country.”
Gwala adds that the current IFP leadership who were elected after Buthelezi stepped down as party leader, is capable of taking the legacy of the late party founder forward.
“While we are affected by his passing but we are hopeful that the leadership that he has actually groomed, particularly from the IFP, will take this work which he has done over decades forward. The leadership he has built under the leadership of Velenkosini Hlabisa I think is the best leadership for now that can take the party forward.”
