Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a Zulu leader, died in South Africa at the age of 95

 South African President Mangosuthu Buthelezi, a prominent Zulu chief and former prime minister of KwaZulu, has passed away at the age of 95. He founded the Zulu Inkatha party during the apartheid regime after disillusionment with the African National Congress (ANC). Thousands were killed in clashes between the two parties in the early 1990s. However, he was later welcomed back into the fold and served as President Nelson Mandela's minister of home affairs.

Chief Buthelezi was a controversial politician who disagreed with the ANC's tactics of armed action against white-minority rule and argued that international sanctions would only harm the country's black majority. During the early 1990s clashes, Nelson Mandela's ANC accused him of collaborating with the white-minority government, leading to fears of a civil war and derailment of the transition to democracy.

President Cyril Ramaphosa praised Chief Buthelezi as a "formidable leader" and praised his role in the political and cultural life of South Africa. He was born into the Zulu royal family and played the role of his great-grandfather, the Zulu King Cetshwayo, in the 1964 film Zulu.

Chief Buthelezi was also prime minister of KwaZulu and founded the Inkatha Freedom Party in 1975. He stepped down as party leader in 2019 after 44 years at its helm.