DURBAN - THE IFP hopes to erect a statue of Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi in the King Cetshwayo municipal building in Richards Bay in honour of the work he has done for the people of KwaZulu-Natal and the country.
The King Cetshwayo District Municipality came under the control of the IFP after last year’s local government elections.
The IFP said in the future, it would like to see the statue of Prince Buthelezi, who is the party’s founder and the prime minister of the Zulu nation standing alongside that of King Cetshwayo, the namesake of the municipality, at the municipality’s main building in Richards Bay.
Last week, a resolution was passed at a King Cetshwayo municipal council meeting to rename the municipality’s main building after Prince Buthelezi. The building was originally named after him before the ANC took power a few years ago and changed it.
The name change was approved unanimously last week.
IFP provincial chair Thami Ntuli said the council resolution aimed at rescinding a decision taken by the ANC to remove Prince Buthelezi’s name from the building when they took power.
He said considering Prince Buthelezi’s contribution to the country, it is not enough just to name a building after him.
He said they believed that next to the statue of King Cetshwayo at the building, there should be one of Prince Buthelezi to honour his contribution.
“We believe not enough has been done to honour Prince Buthelezi. He is a black man who built a university. No other black man has done that.”
It goes on to say that Prince Buthelezi had been a prime minister of the Zulu nation spanning three Zulu kings, namely King Bhekuzulu, King Zwelithini and the current monarch, King Misuzulu.
It goes on to state that the naming of the building is part of preserving his contribution to the country and the Zulu nation.
Some parties in the council said they understood the drive to name the building after Prince Buthelezi.
“The building is essentially the address for the municipality, and all the majority parties (those running the municipality at that point) have renamed the building. At one point, it was called the Mandela house,” said DA councillor Sihle Magubane.
He added that the DA did not object to the renaming of the building as they understood the need to honour Prince Buthelezi for his role in KwaZulu-Natal and the role he is playing in the Zulu royal family.
Tholi Gwala, the ANC regional secretary of the Musa Dladla region (where the municipality is located), said they would speak on the issue once they have been briefed by their caucus.
“We are still waiting for the report on what transpired at the meeting, and once we have that, only then we will be able to speak.”
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