Nhlanhla Zulu

Prince Nhlanhla Elijah Zulu (20 January 1940 – 15 June 2007) was a South African politician and prince of the Zulu royal family. He represented the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in the National Assembly from 1995 until his death in 2007. A founding member of the IFP in 1975, he also served on the party's National Council until his death.

Nhlanhla Zulu
Member of the National Assembly
In office 1995 – 15 June 2007
Constituency	KwaZulu-Natal
Personal details
Born	(1940-01-20)20 January 1940
Died	15 June 2007(2007-06-15) (aged 67)
Citizenship	South Africa
Political party	Inkatha Freedom Party

Early life and career

Zulu was born on 20 January 1940^[1] and was the son of Prince Nojombo and grandson of Zulu King Dinuzulu.^[2] He was educated as a laboratory technician and from 1967 worked at Sappi.^[3]

According to Zulu's cousin, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Zulu was a founding member of Buthelezi's Inkatha movement (later renamed the IFP) in 1975.^[2][4] He became the chairperson of Inkatha's branch in Mandini, KwaZulu-Natal,^[5] and was a member of the party's Central Committee (later its National Council) until his death.^[2]

Legislative career: 1995–2007

In 1995,^[4] Zulu was sworn into an IFP seat in the National Assembly, filling a casual vacancy.^[6] He served in the seat until his death in 2007, gaining re-election in 1999^[1] and 2004,^[7] and he represented the KwaZulu-Natal constituency.

Personal life and death

Zulu was polygamous, in line with Zulu tradition, and had children.^[3] At the time of his death, all four of his sons were deceased.^[3] He told the Los Angeles Times that two of his sons had been murdered – one shot and the other stabbed – for political reasons, "simply because they were my children", in the aftermath of the 1994 general election.^[5]

He died on 15 June 2007^[8] after spending several weeks in hospital.^[4] His seat in the National Assembly was filled by Narend Singh.^[9]