World

On ‘black-vs-black’ in South Africa

Lungi Mnganga is a member of the
Women’s Section of the African Na-
tional Congress andis on the localANC
Committee in the Natal region of South
Africa — the site of much recent
violence pitting followers of Man-
gosuthu Buthelezi and his Inkatha
movement, and supporters of the
liberation struggle, primarily the ANC.
Buthelezi’s embrace of capitalism and
his willingness to “compromise” has
won him the stated admiration of
Western leaders like Bush and
Thatcher. The following is excerpted
from a speech Mnganga gave on the
Natal at a celebration of South Africa
Women’s Day in Toronto on Aug. 9:

People are dying every day in the town-
ships outside Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
Natal has become the killing fields of apart-
heid. About 3,000 children and elderly
people have been displaced and are gathered
in halls and churches, hiding from the vigi-
lantes. Thousands have died and hundreds
more are homeless. The media speaks about
black-on-black violence but the violence is
the responsibility of the apartheid regime.

In order to understand the history and
development of Inkatha we need to situate it
within the broader context of South Africa.
During the 1950s a series of apartheid
measures were introduced. These policies
were designed to ensure that the working
class was divided and that their militancy
was held in check. One of the policies intro-
duced for this purpose was the system of
bantustan rule.

In Natal, Kwazulu (one of the 10 bantus-
tans) became the “homeland” for the Zulus.
Buthelezi became the chief minister of
Kwazulu in 1972 and assumed control over
its affairs. The formation of the United
Democratic Front (UDF) in 1983 was not
welcomed by Inkatha (formed in 1975) and
relations between the two deteriorated rap-
idly. An important part of this was But-
helezi’s assertion that the UDF was an ANC
front and that the ANC’s “terror wing” had
a “hit list” of Inkatha members.

The roots of the current war in the Natal
lie in the early 1980s during the emergence
of democratic organizations in the country’s
townships. Since the democratic demands of
the UDF went against the interests of the

chiefs, the Inkatha attempted to coerce
people through threats and intimidations,
but, when these methods failed, they
resorted to more severe methods, such as
arson and murder. With these tactics the
enforcers earned the name “war lords.”

The war lords called upon all residents of
Kwazulu to join Inkatha. If a minority were
reluctant to do so they would be attacked. If
a community was opposed to Inkatha, a
wave of terror would be directed at them.
This intimidation resulted in residents join-
ing out of fear, as well; to have a civil service
job, you either had to be an Inkatha member
or sign a document saying you would not
criticize them.

Inkatha, as the only party controlling the
Kwazulu bantustan, is a natural and junior
partner of the apartheid regime. It is

tunately none of these documents has sur-
vived Inkatha’s attention to them. .

The approach of COSATU andthe UDF
is consistent and clear — we have to address
the concrete issues of violence and co-
operation on this could lead to co-operation
in our struggle against the apartheid state.
COSATU and the UDF, with the backing of
the ANC, have made several attempts over
the past four years to hold peace talks with
Inkatha. All have been sabotaged at the last
moment by Inkatha and/or the Botha/de
Klerk government.

In March, despite Mandela’s call for
peace, Buthelezi called a meeting of chiefs
and told them to “go to war” against the
youth and the ANC-led alliance in general.
Since then the Natal has been turned into a
war zone and Inkatha’s reign of terror has

‘We have decided that peace
talks can only be held once
Buthelezi and Inkatha have
stopped the killing anda climate
of peace has been created...’

Inkatha’s forced recruitment and assassina-
tions of activists that are the cause of the
violence presently being experienced. Al-
together around 4,500 people have been
killed and thousands more maimed and left
homeless in the war in the Natal. In recent
months Buthelezi has orchestrated mass at-
tacks by Inkatha supporters against
UDF/COSATU (Congress of South African
Trade Unions)/ANC-sponsored events. Nu-
merous killings have taken place while the
police have done nothing to keep the peace
— in fact they have participated in attacks
and cover-ups.

In November, 1987 COSATU and the
UDF jointly committed themselves to peace
talks with Inkatha and since then three
agreements have been reached but unfor-

159 children killed
so far in intifada

By JOSIE WALLENIUS

The Swedish-based Save the Children
organization has just released a study cover-
ing the first two years of the Palestinian

intifada Dec. 9, 1987 to 1989. The report, ©

which defines children as 15 years or young-
er, says 159 children are known to have been
killed by gunfire, beatings, tear gas or other
causes related to the intifada.

The average child killed was 10 years
old; the average age of those shot to death
was 12.5 years. Israeli military personnel
were responsible for 94 per cent of the
deaths.

An estimated 50,000 to 60,000 children,
one out every 15 to 20, were medically
treated for injuries due to gunshots, beatings,
tear gas, rubber-coated bullets or other
causes related to the uprising. Translated
into U.S. terms these numbers represent
9,680 American children killed and an es-
timated 3-3.8 million injured.

Beatings were the most common cause
of injuries to children, accounting for 47 per
cent of all injuries, 21 per cent by tear gas,

6 + Pacific Tribune, August 27, 1990

eee ee ee eee ne a a eee Se ee ae a eee

and 22 per cent by gunshot — high velocity,
plastic and metal-ball bullets.

Of the 6,930 recorded beatings, 2,150 of
the victims were under 10, while another
439 were children under five.

Nearly half of the 105 children killed by
gunfire were shot in the head or neck; 17 per
cent died of multiple bullet wounds.

Forty per cent of the victims were either
in their homes or within 10 metres of their
homes when killed.

In 39 per cent of the deaths Israeli sol-
diers obstructed the children’s families or
friends when they tried to seek medical aid.

The Israeli army violently disrupted or in
some way interfered with 54 per cent of all
the children’s funerals. The funerals of
children who were shot were disrupted in 76
per cent of the cases.

This year the U.S. will hand Israel close
to $4 billion in foreign aid, or $848 for each
Israeli citizen. Compare this to $1 for each
person in Sub-Sahara Africa.

spread to other areas of South Africa. In the
townships in Transvaal, many of our ac-
tivists have been attacked, murdered and
their homes destroyed.

After a meeting of Inkatha at Kagiso,
Inkatha members attacked non-Inkatha and
non-Zulu speaking people and killed about
14 people. The ANC has now asked all its
members to leave the hostels where they are
staying to avoid further violence. The In-
katha people are not only hostel dwellers but
unemployed people bussed in from Natal,
accompanied by hit squads.

The ANC has decided that peace talks
can only be held once Buthelezi and Inkatha
have stopped the killing and a climate of
peace has been created. In the present his-
torical moment of negotiations, of talk about

LATIN AMERICA

LUNGI MNGANGA

anew South Africa, it must be clear that the
preconditions for freedom of political ac-
tivity require that the violence in Natal must
end.

Parties at war, in fear of their lives, cannot
negotiate over a new South Africa. The
violence at Natal, and state violence in gen-
eral, must end before a climate of peace can
be said to exist for negotiations. The Natal
war is the worst national crisis of our time
— itis not a Natal issue alone. It is a national
issue.

Inkatha has the right to freedom of politi-
cal organization. But it has to stop the killing
and be disarmed before any climate of peace
between ourselves and Inkatha can be estab-
lished. De Klerk cannot seek the ANC’s
cooperation in building a new South Africa
while his puppets are killing our people with
his support and the police are standing on the
sidelines. It is our task to ensure that there is
enough pressure on de Klerk for him to
realize that, unless he makes a proper choice,
he is committing South Africa to a war to the
end.

A delegation from Natal, led by our dep-
uty president, Nelson Mandela, will meet
with de Klerk before the end of August to
specifically discuss the Natal war.

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