Mangosuthu Buthelezi was born on this day, August 27, in 1928. He is a South African politician and Zulu tribal leader who founded the Inkatha Freedom Party in 1975 and was Chief Minister of the KwaZulu bantustan until 1994. He was Minister of Home Affairs of South Africa from 1994 to 2004.

Buthelezi inherited the chieftainship of the large Buthelezi tribe in 1953, a position he still holds today. In 1963 and 1964, he served as adviser on the film Zulu about the Battle of Rorke’s Drift. Buthelezi also acted in the film, playing the role of his real-life great-grandfather, King Cetshwayo kaMpande, and recently defended the film against claims of racism. Read his statement.

Karsh photographed the directors of Zulu, Stanley Baker and Cy Enfield, as well as the movie’s headliner, Michael Caine, and others.