The article “Buthelezi: the unfiltered truth of a murderous legacy” (City Press, 10 September) by the editor of City Press, Mondli Makhanya – in which he launches a scathing attack on the late Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi – is misleading and unfair. It is a shame that such an attack is launched on a man who is no longer here to defend himself. That is why I feel compelled to reply to Makhanya’s attack.

Makhanya’s misrepresentation of Prince Buthelezi’s role during the political transition is simply a continuation of the ANC’s propaganda strategy at the time to discredit Inkatha. Dr Anthea Jeffery’s authoritative research, as contained in her book People’s War, as well as the documentary Tainted Heroes which can be streamed for free on the website www.afriforumtv.co.za, clearly sets out this strategy of the ANC.

For example, an ANC delegation visited Vietnam in 1978 with the sole purpose of acquainting themselves with the strategy used during the so-called “people’s war” in Vietnam by the revolutionary group to destroy their opponents. The ANC used this strategy with Soviet weapons and funding on local soil, trying to forcibly weaken Inkatha, Azapo and the PAC so that the ANC could finally dominate the scene during the negotiations for a political transition.

In the ANC’s quest to also gain power over communities, this strategy of using violence even led to brutal necklace murders of ordinary black people. In May 1985 the ANC issued a series of commandments to its supporters in South Africa to organise themselves into combat groups, arm themselves, and then “begin to identify collaborators and enemy agents and deal with them. Those collaborators who are serving in the community councils must be dealt with. Informers, policemen, special branch police and army personnel living and working amongst our people must be eliminated. The puppets in the tricameral parliament and the Bantustans must be destroyed.”

This last command was clearly directed, among others, at Buthelezi, whom the ANC regularly denounced over Radio Freedom as a “puppet”, a “quisling” and a “belly crawler”. Alongside such incitement the ANC also sought to give effect to this effort to destroy Inkatha by setting about quietly orchestrating the murders of hundreds of its officials and leaders - something MK Chief of Staff Chris Hani acknowledged at the time.

Buthelezi deserves credit for the fact that he did not, for moral reasons, want to side with the Soviet backed armed struggle, and for his decision to oppose apartheid in a non-violent manner. Indeed, the ANC sought to destroy Buthelezi in the mid-1980s for standing for a political solution to the South African conflict of the kind that it itself adopted following the fall of communism. Makhanya and others will probably never forgive Prince Buthelezi though for refusing that Inkatha participate in the ANC’s People’s War.

Given this well-documented reality, it is therefore misleading to attempt to present Prince Buthelezi as the initiator of the violence of the political transition.

I do not believe that any person should be elevated to a “saint” after their death, but it is simply a disregard of Prince Buthelezi’s human dignity and the grief of his family and followers to defame him with lies about his role during the political transition, so soon after his death.

In his attack on Prince Buthelezi Makhanya fails to mention that he himself, along with other ANC cadres, played a role in the black-on-black violence that took place at the time. As much as it may like to, the ANC cannot wash its hands of all responsibility for the tragic loss of more than 20 000 lives in the run-up to the political transition. Rather than acknowledging the ANC’s role in this violence, Makhanya is now attempting to place all the blame on a man who is no longer with us to present the other side of the story.

Makhanya claims in his article that he was a young reporter at the time who reported on “Inkatha mass murders.” The truth is that Makhanya was much more than a reporter. In her book Jeffery points out with corroborated sources that Makhanya took part in the war against “black” groups that were seen by the ANC as competitors.

For example, according to Jeffery, in 1991 Makhanya wrote under a pseudonym that he burned down houses on 11 February 1990 while his comrades were killing wounded Inkatha freedom fighters. An injured Inkatha man’s eyes were gouged out and his genitals were cut off while Makhanya watched as a participant. Another Inkatha supporter was dragged down the road and set alight while rubbish was piled on top of him so he could not escape.

Jeffery also points out that Makhanya wrote that he did not regard this man as a human being, but as an enemy who got what he deserved. Makhanya also mentioned that he was proud of his role, that he found the clashes exciting, as well as seeing, among other things, how desperate men ran for their lives. It is therefore unfortunate that Makhanya calls Prince Buthelezi’s legacy “a murderous legacy”, while Makhanya and the ANC themselves participated in the tragic murderous conflict of the time.

None of us are perfect. But during the occasions where I had the privilege of interacting personally with Prince Buthelezi, I got the distinct impression of an impressive leader who loved his culture and his people, and who dedicated his life to serving them selflessly. He was also prepared without hesitation to extend a hand of friendship to establish relationships with other groups, based on mutual recognition and respect.

Prince Buthelezi also unashamedly extended a hand of friendship to Afrikaners and recently did so again with a video message to the Voortrekker Monument. This mindset of promoting mutual recognition and respect between communities is an example that all of us who want to build a future for our children here on the southernmost tip of Africa should strive to follow. Precisely because of this, AfriForum will continue to enter into cooperation agreements with the various cultural communities in the country, which also includes the Zulu communities.

As AfriForum we convey our condolences to the Zulu people with the passing of a great leader like Prince Buthelezi. An AfriForum delegation visited the prince’s family to convey our condolences in person and also attended his funeral.

Let us respect Prince Buthelezi’s loved ones and give them the opportunity to grieve. We can do this by speaking out against the callous attacks on Prince Buthelezi by people who are now seeking to exploit his death in order to continue the propaganda battle about the past.

Kallie Kriel is CEO of AfriForum.