DURBAN - IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi believes that a group of powerful ANC members were behind the cancellation of the eThekwini Municipality’s Social Cohesion Conference.
He alleged that “someone higher up in the chain of command” did not want to hear what he had to say. Buthelezi was scheduled to give a 40-minute opening address on history, identity and social cohesion.
He said his office was informed of the cancellation at 9.30pm on Sunday.
“When my office made enquiries to confirm this information, we were told, quite bizarrely, that no reason had been advanced for the directive,” he said.
Buthelezi said he was qualified to speak on the subject because he had pursued social cohesion and reconciliation for several decades.
He detailed a “pattern of behaviour”, starting from 1989 which he claimed was evidence that the ANC in the province had a history of blocking him from ANC-government-organised events.
In 1989, just before his release from prison, Nelson Mandela wrote to Buthelezi lamenting the violence between IFP and ANC supporters, said Buthelezi.
“He asked that we meet immediately upon his release to find a way to stop the carnage. Of course, I agreed, but for months after his release he avoided meeting with me,” said Buthelezi.
He added that in 1999, then-president Thabo Mbeki recognised the outstanding issue of reconciliation: “He invited me to take up the position of deputy president of South Africa.”
Before this could be announced, ANC leaders in KwaZulu-Natal pressurised Mbeki into placing an impossible condition on the appointment, he said. “They demanded that I first give KZN to the ANC, thus my appointment as deputy president was scuppered,” he said.
He added that one of those leaders was “the same Zuma who then became deputy president”.
“I am not a fool. I have interacted with the ANC leadership in this province for long enough there is a group who hold an enormous amount of power, who are determined never to see old wounds heal,” he said.
Bheki Ntuli, ANC eThekwini chairperson, denied that the party had interfered with the conference. He said the decision was taken by members of council.
“This is an administrative matter, not political,” Ntuli said.
Buthelezi revealed that 500 people, including panelists, facilitators and speakers, were meant to attend the conference. The venue had been booked for three days.
He said the people of eThekwini deserved to know “the real reasons” why the conference was cancelled.
“We need to know how such an enormous waste of money can possibly be justified,” he said.