Mangosuthu Buthelezi, South Africa Opposition Leader, Dies at 95

  • He founded Inkatha Freedom Party, served in Mandela’s cabinet
  • Political rivalry between Inkatha and ANC led to 12,000 deaths
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi in Durban, in October 2022.Photographer: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images
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Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who founded South Africa’s opposition Inkatha Freedom Party and served for a decade as a cabinet minister after the country’s first multiracial elections, has died. He was 95.

Buthelezi passed away in the early hours of Saturday morning, the South African presidency said in a statementBloomberg Terminal issued by text message. Plans are being made to mourn and honor him as “a formidable leader who has played a significant role in our country’s history for seven decades,” it said.