Master of Ceremonies, His Excellency the Prince of KwaPhindangene, His Majesty the King of KwaZulu Natal and members of the royal family; Honorable Ministers; members of Parliament and provincial legislatures; amaKhosi, members of the diplomatic corps; ladies and gentlemen: 

Since the mid 80s I was involved in the promoting of constitutionalism worldwide, and came to South Africa from distant shores because of an exciting assignment. I remained here since 1992 because of an extraordinary man the likes of whom I have not met, before or since: Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.  I met statesmen both in my native Italy and my adoptive United States, but in South African I found a man cast in a greatness which deeply resembles statesmanship of a bygone European and American era. 

In this day and age of political leaders cast in the mould of pop stars and actors, one may but remain in awe of someone who can only be measured against the benchmark of the likes of von Bismarck, Metternich, Cavour, Jefferson and Lincoln: alas, a mould broken as the 20^th century marched in.  This is no exaggeration for Buthelezi is a prince not merely by title, heritage and birthright but first and foremost in wisdom, kindness and demeanor. 

I began with the KwaZulu Government in 1990 and have had the privilege of working with Prince Buthelezi since May 1992 when I sat behind him in a meeting of the UN Security Council called to humiliate him during the negotiation process.  In 18 years I saw him exposed to more hardship than a man may be expected to bear.  

I witnessed him being betrayed by his closest friends; lied to by his trusted allies; backstabbed by those he generously elevated above their status; being constantly intentionally misunderstood; and enduring vilest vilification which turned his dedication to nonviolence into either collaborationism or warlord-like conduct, blaming him for the murderous violence waged against his people.  I saw him surviving assassination attempts and, as President Mbeki revealed to the TRC, learning of more orchestrated by those who professed to respect him: all his while burying hundreds of IFP leaders systematically assassinated.  More importantly, I witnessed him bearing the brunt of several family tragedies, a single one of which would have shattered any lesser man.   

In all this I never saw him once losing his temper, his composure, his deep sense of humanity and his decorum.  I have never seen him snapping or heard him using an ungenerous word, insult or malice towards anyone, but only compassion and graciousness towards all.  This is greatness, indeed. 

History often measures greatness in terms of the bloodshed and exploitation leaders leave in the wake of the pursuit of their goals, or by glossing over the human sufferings embedded in cathedrals and other monuments of hubris erected by enslaved or overtaxed populations.  To me true greatness is the one I have witnessed in this extraordinary man whom today we have the privilege of celebrating on his 80^th birthday.   

For six years I carried his brief during the negotiation process from apartheid to democracy through the World Trade Centre and in support of the Constitutional Assembly.  South African history still has to correctly understand and appreciate the Buthelezi constitutional brief.  It was not about KwaZulu Natal or the Zulu kingdom alone.  And it was not about Buthelezi’s powerbase.  It was about ensuring the greatest measure of constitutionalism for all.

 The ANC approached the negotiation process armed with little more than the Freedom Charter which, once liberation took place, gave no further guidance to what the constitution was to contain.  Hence, the ANC originally demanded a totally unitary state with no provinces and did not want a bill of rights; its argument being that a democratic government did not need to be constrained by human rights because it would not violate them.  Buthelezi gave Inkatha the mandate to collate the previous ten years’ work in the Buthelezi Commission and the KwaZulu Natal Indaba and table the first complete bill of rights considered in the negotiation process.  Like it or not, this IFP draft became the blueprint of what is now entrenched in the Constitution. 

It was because of Buthelezi alone that we have provinces.  In September 1993 the Nationalist Party and ANC agreed to have no provinces in 1994 and establish them only after 1999 if the Constitutional Assembly so chose after the report of the Commission on Regionalization: provinces were not meant to happen the same way as the Volkstat Council was never meant to produce a Volkstat, except for the fact that Buthelezi made it clear that no constitution could be enforced unless it established provinces from 1994.   

This was not about Buthelezi or the IFP, but about South Africa. It was because of Buthelezi that this province is now called KwaZulu Natal and is not split in two, as all the other parties had already agreed to do. The list of what the Buthelezi constitutional brief did for South African democracy could go on for hours, but this would not aid this evening’s festivity. 

As his sole Advisor, I had the privilege of carrying Buthelezi’s ministerial brief for ten years when he was often surrounded by Director Generals he could not trust.  I can categorically state that no discussion was ever held on how to enhance our finances or help our friends.  When he suspected incipient corruption, he resorted to the stature of Prof Fink Haysom, Mandela's former advisor, to quash it. 

The Buthelezi ministerial brief was about strengthening the State, serving the people and showing how to run government.  He piloted legislations such as the immigration reform which had nothing to do the IFP, but was only about ensuring secure borders and necessary skills and preventing the wave of xenophobia which Buthelezi correctly predicted. It is no wonder that in his last parliamentary budget address President Thabo Mbeki apologized to him and paid an extraordinary tribute to Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi.  

The Buthelezi briefs included many constitutional battles aimed at protecting the State and promoting constitutionalism, the most important being Premier Mtshali’s action to ensure HIV/Aids treatment for all.  In his criticism of the Labor Relations Act and Nedlac, in his campaign for the moral regeneration of politics and society, his proposal to separate the offices of head of state and head of government and in a thousand other issues Prince Mangosuthu has been proven right time and again. 

There may be ease in being right if you are Mangosuthu Buthelezi. It flows from accepting no compromises in deciding between right and wrong.  No-one here has seen a drop of alcohol or smoke passing his lips, not because he may not like it but because that is what he has chosen.  By the same token, a mixed bag of right and wrong could never pass his heart or decision making. Hence a man who has been right time and again and will continue to be right in the future. 

Among the many memorabilia in his offices, he has two blocks which hold one of his secrets.  The first reads “the secrets to success”.  Below the second reads “hard work”. He has applied this principle mercilessly, and none of us was able to keep up with him, even if decades his junior.  

For ten years Minister Buthelezi read all the Cabinet memoranda, which neither I or his Chief of Staff could do ourselves or believed he would do.  Ministers just not do that in South Africa or anywhere else.  One could go on for a long time about the wonders of this incredibly hard working man who answers himself almost all the correspondence he receives.  But this helps neither the point nor the gaiety of this party. 

II guess one must bow in humility to the judgment of God who saw it fit to stamp on to him a larger imprint of the same humanity, talents and virtues we all share, together with a much heavier burden than our own.  We must also thank God for our privilege to being part of the Buthelezi experience, which will be more fully appreciated as time goes by, and is far from completed. 

Looking forwards to the next chapters of the Buthelezi experience, I am honored to toast to his many more happy returns in continuing good health and strength.    

Ad multos annos Prince Mangosuthu!    

Shenge!