Gatsha Buthelezi: Chief with a Double Agenda by Jabulani Mzala Nxumalo

Foreword by Mandla J. Radebe 

‘[…]Chief with a Double Agenda is not just a book about Buthelezi. It is a book about betrayal, ideology, class collaboration and the dangers of political amnesia. It is about the ways in which colonial and apartheid regimes co-opted segments of the oppressed to maintain power and how those collaborations were rationalised in the language of pragmatism. It is about the limits of reconciliation without justice and the costs of democracy built on silence and expediency.’
From the Introduction by Mandla J. Radebe

Gatsha Buthelezi: Chief with a Double Agenda was first published in London in 1988 but was made unavailable in South Africa because of litigation threats by Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

Operating from within the South African government’s apartheid systems, Gatsha Buthelezi – Chief Minister of the KwaZulu homeland – presented himself as a leading opponent of apartheid but resolutely opposed the struggle for liberation led by the ANC and its allies. He preached a doctrine of non-violence yet headed the Inkatha movement, which was widely accused of using violence against its opponents. In contrast to the call of the worldwide anti-apartheid movement for sanctions against South Africa, Buthelezi toured Western capitals seeking new investments. Who was this man and what did he stand for? Whose side was he on? Mzala examined these vital questions in an analysis using a wide range of materials, including interviews with some of Buthelezi’s contemporaries to investigate a complex political figure.