Zeblon Zulu

{{Infobox officeholder

| party = African National Congress

| office1 = Member of the National Assembly

| termstart1 = 23 April 2004

| termend1 = 6 May 2014

| office2 = Delegate to the National Council of Provinces

| termstart2 = 1999

| termend2 = 2004

| constituency_AM2 = KwaZulu-Natal

| birth_place = Nongoma, Natal
South Africa

| otherparty = South African Communist Party

}}

Prince Bhekizizwe Zeblon Zulu is a South African politician and prince of the Zulu royal family. He represented the African National Congress (ANC) in the National Assembly from 2004 to 2014 and before that in the National Council of Provinces from 1999 to 2004. He is also a published historian of the Zulu nation.

Zulu royal family and history

Zulu is from Nongoma in present-day KwaZulu-Natal.{{Cite news |date=22 April 2009 |title=Zululand is a sacred area for Zulu people |work=IOL |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/zululand-is-a-sacred-area-for-zulu-people-440712 |access-date=19 April 2023}} He is a prince of the Zulu royal house of Mandlakazi and an uncle of the reigning Zulu King, Misuzulu Zulu.{{Cite web |date=2021-05-10 |title=King Misuzulu kaZwelithini a unifier of the Zulu nation: Prince Zulu |url=https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/king-misuzulu-kazwelithini-a-unifier-of-the-zulu-nation-prince-zulu/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=SABC News |language=en-US}} In 1994, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi named Zulu as one of several "latter-day busy-bodies" who were attempting to "vilify" him.{{Cite web |date=1994-09-16 |title=It’s a Right Royal Battle For Power |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1994-09-16-its-a-right-royal-battle-for-power/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

Zulu is also a historian of the Zulu people.{{Cite news |date=24 April 2006 |title=Premier Launches Book to Honour |work=BuaNews |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/200604240957.html |access-date=19 April 2023 |via=AllAfrica}}{{Cite news |date=29 March 2023 |title=UKZN to award seven honorary doctorates to leaders which include a prince, musician and politicians |work=IOL |url=https://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/ukzn-to-award-seven-honorary-doctorates-to-leaders-which-include-a-prince-musician-and-politicians-41776226-b721-447e-b4a3-b6ba41191163 |access-date=19 April 2023}} His most recent book, Umongo kaZulu: The Marrow of the Zulu Nation was launched in 2006 at an event attended by King Goodwill Zwelithini, whose speech at the launch was disrupted by protests, apparently led by other members of the royal family.{{Cite news |date=26 April 2006 |title=ANC shocked by disrespect shown to Zulu king |work=IOL |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/anc-shocked-by-disrespect-shown-to-zulu-king-275508 |access-date=19 April 2023}} In 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in literature by the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Legislative career: 1999–2014

Zulu joined the upper house of the South African Parliament in 1999, representing the ANC in the National Council of Provinces.{{Cite web |title=Bhekizizwe Zeblon Zulu |url=http://www.pa.org.za/person/bhekizizwe-zeblon-zulu/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=People's Assembly |language=en}} In the next general election in 2004, he was elected to an ANC seat in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament,{{cite magazine |date=20 April 2004 |title=General Notice: Notice 717 of 2004 - Electoral Commission – List of Names of Representatives in the National Assembly and the Nine Provincial Legislatures in Respect of the Elections Held on 14 April 2004 |url=https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/262770.pdf |magazine=Government Gazette of South Africa |location=Pretoria, South Africa |publisher=Government of South Africa |volume=466 |issue=2677 |pages=4–95 |access-date=26 March 2021}} and he served two terms there, gaining re-election in 2009. He chaired a local ANC branch in Zululand{{Cite web |date=2004-03-28 |title=ANC gets frosty reception |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2004-03-28-anc-gets-frosty-reception/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} and was also a member of the South African Communist Party.

Zulu's political activity apparently made him a target of attacks in his home province. In 1994, the Mail & Guardian reported that his home in Nongoma had been attacked,{{Cite news |date=9 January 2001 |title=Zulu prince's homestead set alight |work=IOL |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/zulu-princes-homestead-set-alight-57712 |access-date=19 April 2023}} and in January 2001, two huts at his homestead were burned down. On 1 February 2009, during the ANC's campaign ahead of that year's general election, Zulu was shot while leaving a party rally in Nongoma. He was shot in both legs and was seriously injured, and two others in his car, his son and daughter-in-law,{{Cite web |date=3 February 2009 |title=Breakthrough in Nongoma shooting |url=https://ewn.co.za/2009/02/03/Breakthrough-in-Nongoma-shooting |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=EWN |language=en}} were also shot and injured.{{Cite web |date=2009-02-03 |title=Mantashe: ANC did not provoke KZN violence |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2009-02-03-mantashe-anc-did-not-provoke-kzn-violence/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite web |date=2 February 2009 |title=Zulu prince shot at rally |url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2009-02-02-zulu-prince-shot-at-rally/ |access-date=2023-04-19 |website=Sowetan |language=en-ZA}} The shooting was viewed as politically motivated and coincided with other acts of political violence in KwaZulu-Natal, for which the ANC blamed the opposition Inkatha Freedom Party.{{Cite news |date=2009-02-14 |title=S.Africa's IFP election manifesto criticises ANC |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/ozatp-safrica-politics-20090214-idAFJOE51D0BA20090214 |access-date=2023-04-19}}