Mzala Nxumalo

Jabulani Nobleman “Mzala” Nxumalo OLS (27 October 1955 – 22 February 1991) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, intellectual, and author.

Nxumalo held significant importance to the anti-apartheid movement. Nxumalo also played heavy roles in the African National Congress (ANC), Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) while in exile. During Nxumalo's exile, he would serve liberation movements in Swaziland (now Eswatini), Angola, Mozambique, Tanzania, and the United Kingdom. During this time Nxumalo would write plenty of books, all still subject to heavy debate, about South African revolutionary theory. Nxumalo passed away in London in 1991 at the age of 35.

Early life Nxumalo was born on October 27, 1955, in Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal. A son of two teachers, Benjamin and Elsie, Nxumalo quickly became infatuated with learning. Nxumalo would attend school in Louwsburg, then later Bethal College in Butterworth, and he matriculated in KwaDlangezwa in Empangeni. He then would study at the University of Zululand and the University of Natal.

Exile and further activism Following the Soweto Uprising, the apartheid South African regime would mark Nxumalo as a threat. As a result, Nxumalo, like many others, would leave South Africa in exile.

In 1983, Nxumalo would be disguised as a reporter named “Jabulani Dlamini”, working on the Swazi Observer (now the Eswatini Observer). South African scholar Eddy Maloka stated Nxumalo "rode a motorbike that needed only R5 to fill the tank. He always had a pipe between his lips – but it remained forever unlit." Nxumalo would also set up an Umkhonto weSizwe unit in Ingwavuma. In 1984, Nxumalo would, again, be arrested by Swazi police and deported. The book would discuss the controversial former politician, Zulu prince and the traditional prime minister to the Zulu royal family Gatsha Buthelezi’s rise to power. More specifically, the book would be titled Gatsha Buthelezi: Chief with a Double Agenda and be published under the name "Mzala". The book discusses Buthelezi's role in South Africa's political landscape, and his collaborative politics with the Apartheid regime. Nxumalo took issue to the fact Buthelezi's use of the title “prince”. As there were many Zulu royal family members who had not claimed that title. According to Nxumalo, there stands no practice allowing Zulu kings to choose a Buthelezi as a prime minister. "Chief Buthelezi," argues Mzala "has on numerous occasions claimed that his present leadership position in KwaZulu is a hereditary traditional right; that it was not one created by the Bantustan constitution." He continues, "Buthelezi's direct monarchical descent, and hence the claim that he should be referred to as Mntwana or 'Prince' is wrong."

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