Message of Condolence
By
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP
Traditional Prime Minister to The Zulu Monarch and Nation
Inkosi of The Buthelezi Clan
And President of The Inkatha Freedom Party
Read on his behalf by
Mr Mpikayise K Buthelezi
Inkosi’s Deputy – The Buthelezi Clan
Kwadlamahlahla Palace: 23 September 2018
Director of Programmes; the Reverend Fathers who are officiating at this funeral service; Her Majesty Queen oKaMathe and other Queens of His Majesty present; Members of the Royal Family; Representatives of Government; all subjects of the King who are here to mourn the untimely death of his beloved son; and all of the bereaved.
The tragedy of loss has brought us together in painful circumstances. This morning we grieve the unexpected passing of a young man in the prime of his life. The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
On behalf of the Zulu Nation, I express our deepest condolences to His Majesty the King and to the Queen. How does one come to terms with the death of a son? It goes against nature for a parent to bury a child. Our children are meant to see us grow old. Their lives are supposed to continue long after we are gone. Their generation should outlive our own.
It is doubly painful to be robbed of all that our children might become. Prince Butho was remarkable in that he lived his full potential. He never expected an easy life or easy success. Even as the son of a King, he did not expect things to be handed to him. He saw the reality of unemployment in our country and pulled himself up by his own bootstraps.
In doing this, he set a great example for so many of our youth. He showed that success does not come from who you know, but from what you do. It takes hard work, real commitment and an investment of time. How he showed how upliftment is possible and challenged us by his own success, to do more, and do better to change the circumstances that prevail.
The royal family has good reason to be proud of Prince Butho. Somehow, though, this makes our sorrow heavier, for we are left to imagine what he might have achieved in the years ahead. In our own estimation, his life was snuffed out before its time.
Yet the Lord, in His wisdom, knows the length of our days. He filled Prince Butho’s days with strength, energy and love, enabling him to live a good life in the years that he had. He experienced joy many times over. The joy of fulfilling a son’s duty to honour his parents; and the joy of success by the work of one’s own hands. Even the trial of illness could not take away from the beauty of the life that Prince Butho lived.
There are many who will mourn this loss even outside of the royal family, for Prince Butho was a well-respected man. Despite his success, he remained humble. He was a pleasure to be around. When the news of his passing broke this week, there were many expressions of shock and disbelief. It is difficult, at a time like this, not to ask why. Why are good young people taken when this world so clearly needs their contribution?
There can be no answers; but there can be peace. I have learned, as I mourned the death of my own children, that the peace of the Lord passes all understanding. I therefore encourage us this morning from the book of Hebrews, in which St Paul writes of the promise that we may enter God’s rest. He writes, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Surely there is not greater time of need than now. Grief is a terrible burden to bear. I and my wife, Indlunkulu MaMzila, will pray for His Majesty and for all of the royal family that you might be comforted and experience healing in the fullness of time.
As we lay him to rest we thank the Lord for a wonderful young man.
May Prince Butho Zulu rest in peace.
