The Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Foundation Launch – Speech by the Reverend Musa Zondi

Welcoming Remarks by the Reverend Musa Zondi

Spokesperson of the Foundation

His Excellency Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP;

Members of the Zulu Royal Family and of the Buthelezi Clan;

Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of this Foundation, the Hon. Mr Velenkosini Hlabisa, and fellow Members of the Board;

The Hon. Mrs Bongi Sithole-Moloi, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Agriculture and Rural Development;

Mr Ngodup Dorjee, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama;

His Excellency Ambassador Anthony Ho of the Taipei Liaison Office;

Leaders of various faith communities, particularly those who led the opening devotions, Pastor Moodley, Rabbi Friedman, Pundit Singh, Moulana Tariq and Mr Vedan;

Distinguished guests from business, academia, the diplomatic corps, Government, and various organisations and foundations;

Leaders of Political Parties;

Amakhosi aseNdlunkulu;

Members of Parliament and of the Legislatures, as well as Mayors;

Director of Programmes;

Members of the media.

Looking around this room, I think that perhaps one could have dispensed with the opening protocol and simply employed the catch-all phrase: friends of uMntwana waKwaPhindangene.

This room is filled with people whose lives have intersected with Prince Buthelezi’s in some way, whether through personal friendships, or through shared values. It is a singular honour for me to welcome such esteemed guests on this very historic occasion as we officially launch the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Foundation.

I speak this afternoon as the Spokesperson of the Foundation, but I do so on behalf of the Interim Chief Executive Officer, Mr Senzo Mfayela, who really should be taking the spotlight. Mr Mfayela is unfortunately indisposed and has been hospitalised for urgent medical attention. We wish him a speedy recovery, so that he can join us in tackling the challenging, yet exciting task of implementing the first programmes of this Foundation.

I therefore welcome you on his behalf, but also on behalf of the full Board, for we are truly gratified by your presence.

As we set out to establish this Foundation, I was reminded of a very familiar proverb which is attributed to a 6 century B.C. Chinese Philosopher, Lao Tzu, who said: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”.

Indeed, today we take that crucial proverbial one step, as we announce the launch of the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Foundation. We do so for the benefit of all the people of goodwill in South Africa and throughout the world who share a common philosophical outlook and a common vision of society based on some of the hallowed values which have been espoused by Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi throughout his long, illustrious and committed public service; values such as Ubuntu, freedom, democracy, economic development, fairness, social justice and peace.

Today’s event is a culmination of many months of careful planning and preparations for the successful public launch of the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Foundation. We look forward now to what lies ahead, and we hope that as we move forward that you will engage with this Foundation and participate in the conservation that we are opening.

As a first step, I would like to invite you to visit the Foundation’s website, the details of which you will see in various displays on the screens today. Our website is simply thebuthelezifoundation.org.za

In time, this website will be linked to one of the most extensive and remarkable digital archives; but I shall leave it to our friends at Africa Media Online to tell us more about that later.

My task here is simply to welcome you, on behalf of His Excellency in whose name we are doing this work, and on behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi Foundation.

Without further ado, therefore, let me say: friends, you are welcomed.