Inkatha Freedom Party (redirected from Inkathata)

Inkatha Freedom Party

Political party in South Africa consisting largely of the Zulu. It originated in 1924 as a cultural movement under King Dinizulu. His grandson, Mangosuthu G. Buthelezi, revived it in 1974 as a political party after breaking with the African National Congress (ANC). Under Buthelezi, Inkatha advocated a struggle against apartheid but a willingness to accept power-sharing arrangements short of majority rule. From the late 1980s Inkatha and ANC followers were regularly involved in bloody clashes with strong ethnic (Zulu v. non-Zulu) overtones. In 1991 the white South African government admitted that it had secretly subsidized Inkatha.