STATEMENT ON A KNEE INJURY SUSTAINED BY IFP PRESIDENT, PRINCE MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI MP

2 March 2014

In the run up to a national election, unpredictable circumstances always arise. In this campaign, just ten weeks before we vote, the President of the IFP, Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, has found himself a victim of unpredictable circumstances.

This week, as he was leaving his office to attend a reception of the US Ambassador, Prince Buthelezi missed a step in the parliamentary buildings and slipped. It was discovered the following day, when he returned to Durban, that he had sustained a knee injury.

Ironically, in March 1997, US President Bill Clinton suffered this same injury when he slipped on a step in Florida.

Like thousands of people every year, Prince Buthelezi had ruptured his quadriceps tendon, the connective tissue that binds the powerful muscles of the thigh to the kneecap. Sportsmen will confirm that this injury is painful and frustrating, as it requires several weeks of using a leg brace to ensure full recovery.

As this injury is fresh, Prince Buthelezi required some assistance to mount the stage at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Durban today where the IFP launched its national election manifesto.

Prince Buthelezi has faced countless challenges as he fulfills his calling to serve his nation. But he is, as Nelson Mandela said, "a formidable survivor" and he has not stopped working for the good of South Africa even in the most trying circumstances.

The IFP offers our support to our leader as he takes this campaign forward with the unexpected complication of a knee injury. We know that it does not affect his message or his leadership. He remains the voice of reason and integrity; the hope of our nation.

Statement issued by Ms Liezl van der Merwe MP, press officer to Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, IFP, March 2 2014

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