Meeting With Mandela and The Elections
Buthelezi at first refused to participate in the first democratic South African elections in April 1994 but chose to enter at the very last minute, after a meeting held on 8 April, when Mandela and de Klerk tried to sway the Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu from his dependence on Buthelezi by offering him a guarantee of special status of the Zulu monarchy after the elections. The offer was not immediately successful, but Buthelezi seemed sympathetic to the idea. The foreign mediation team led by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former British Foreign Minister Lord Carrington were pivotal in reaching a compromise, and convinced the IFP leader to give up the boycott of the elections. Buthelezi therefore signed an agreement with deKlerk and Mandela that guaranteed the ceremonial status of the Zulu king and was promised that foreign mediators would examine Inkatha's claims to more autonomy in the Zulu area. It was probably too late though, because Buthelezi was losing support fast, and as a consequence, his party only narrowly won the elections in KwaZulu-Natal. In May 1994, Buthelezi was appointed Minister of Home Affairs in the first post-Apartheid government, a position he continued to hold following the 1999 elections. He was appointed acting president a number of times during this period.
Though his appointment in the government of national unity was a kind of catharsis, the Zulu King openly lambasted Buthelezi and told many members of the ruling party that he was like Mandela because for 24 years of KwaZulu government he could not operate freely. Buthelezi countered that by saying that His Majesty should not interfere in political matters, rather the Zulu monarchy should be modelled along the same lines as the British one.
Read more about this topic: Mangosuthu Buthelezi
Famous quotes containing the words meeting with, meeting, mandela and/or elections:
“There is no ordinary Part of humane Life which expresseth so much a good Mind, and a right inward Man, as his Behaviour upon Meeting with Strangers, especially such as may seem the most unsuitable Companions to him: Such a Man when he falleth in the Way with Persons of Simplicity and Innocence, however knowing he may be in the Ways of Men, will not vaunt himself thereof; but will the rather hide his Superiority to them, that he may not be painful unto them.”
—Richard Steele (1672–1729)
“I think it is better to show love by meeting needs than to keep telling my son that I love him. Right now he is learning to tie his shoes. He is old enough, so even though it’s hard for him, sometimes I insist. But once in a while when I see he’s tired I still do it for him, and I have noticed that while I am tying his shoe, he says, “I love you, Mommy.” When he says, “I love you,” I know that he knows that he is loved.”
—Anonymous Parent (20th century)
“Together, hand in hand, with that stick of matches, with our necklace, we shall liberate this country.”
—Winnie Mandela (b. 1934)
“In my public statements I have earnestly urged that there rested upon government many responsibilities which affect the moral and spiritual welfare of our people. The participation of women in elections has produced a keener realization of the importance of these questions and has contributed to higher national ideals. Moreover, it is through them that our national ideals are ingrained in our children.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)