By Norm Dixon
DURBAN — Wandering along the "Golden Mile" — Durban's tacky hotel-lined stretch of beach front, a cross between Surfers Paradise and Kings Cross — and seeing the throngs of South Africans of all races enjoying the sun and surf, it is difficult to imagine that just ten kilometres away, a civil war rages in the townships.
Since the declaration of a state of emergency in KwaZulu/Natal on March 31, the war of the anti-elections Inkatha Freedom Party against supporters of the African National Congress has taken the lives of at least 100 people. The week before a similar number died.
Just across town at the ANC's regional offices, the reality of the life-and-death struggle in Natal is easier to grasp. Yet, in an area where the simple act of wearing an ANC T-shirt in public could be a death warrant, hundreds of people pass in and out of this bustling shopfront doing just that every hour.
Just the week before, the office came under attack by gun-wielding IFP supporters. The IFP's campaign of terror is clearly not intimidating the ANC campaigners here. Sitting in the packed waiting room and watching the enthusiasm and cheerfulness of dozens of people, mainly young but including many older ones too, moving in and out, you would never have guessed what they are up against.
Mpho Seott, deputy regional secretary of the southern Natal ANC, told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly that continuing deaths throughout KwaZulu/Natal are the result of the South African security forces', and the National Party government's, reluctance to enforce the state of emergency against the IFP and KwaZulu Police (KZP).
The announcement by South African President F.W. de Klerk of a state of emergency in KwaZulu/Natal came after mounting pressure by the ANC, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the Transitional Executive Council and the Independent Electoral Commission for decisive action to ensure free political activity in areas controlled by the IFP.
In what is becoming a common feature of South African politics, de Klerk's announcement was preceded by a tussle with the TEC. According to the progressive Sunday Nation, just hours before he went public with the declaration, de Klerk was refusing to agree with a TEC recommendation that the state of emergency apply to the whole of KwaZulu/Natal. De Klerk wanted only parts of the region declared.
Sunday Nation's sources said that members of de Klerk's cabinet were opposed to a crackdown on Buthelezi and had convinced the president to take only minimal action. What was described as a "decisive intervention" by ANC president Nelson Mandela early on March 31 forced de Klerk to agree to the demands of the TEC.
The TEC also opposed the South African Police leading the security operation. The SAP is widely seen as having aligned itself with the IFP in Natal. The TEC insisted that the SADF lead the operation. In the end the SAP and the SADF each contributed one officer to control the state of emergency.
There were also differing interpretations of how the state of emergency would effect the KZP. The ANC believed the KZP would be confined to barracks and their functions taken over by the SAP and SADF. However, the SAP and SADF have not moved against the KZP other than to seek its "cooperation". The KZP is widely accused of being in the forefront of the violence.
Speaking at a packed news conference on March 31 in Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela endorsed the state of emergency in Natal. He said that the declaration was "a last resort measure to prevent the further loss of life in that troubled part of our country ... [It] has one purpose and should have one purpose only: that is to stem the tide of violence, which if left unaddressed will engulf us all.
"It is criminal that the citizens of this country — whoever they are — should be reduced to pawns in the political games of ambitious leaders. People deserve the right to be able to lead their lives without fear of violence. They deserve the right to express themselves without threats of death being visited upon them. They deserve the right to choose for themselves whether or not they will vote in the coming elections."
Mandela outlined his understanding of the steps that were to be taken: "I expect that the security forces will with all deliberate speed take steps to contain the perpetrators of violence and death. All those persons whom investigations have implicated in hit squad activities should be apprehended, charged and brought before the law courts as swiftly as possible. All members of the security forces who have similarly been implicated should be disarmed and suspended from duty forthwith. This necessarily must include the Caprivi Strip trainees who have since been absorbed in various structures of the KwaZulu administration. I expect, too, that the training camps established with the express aim of destabilising that province will be shut down immediately.
"While these drastic measures have become necessary to save life, we must not allow the draconian powers which the state has assumed to become yet one more obstacle on our road to democracy. The mini-state of emergency has been proclaimed so that the elections may proceed in an atmosphere of calm. Its provisions must not be subversive of free political activity nor must they be employed to harass and intimidate the political opponents of the KwaZulu administration. Police units, such as the Internal Stability Unit, that have demonstrably lost the confidence of a wide section of the African community should not be deployed in Natal."
Seott told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly that since the declaration of the state of emergency, the security forces had not moved into the region's "flashpoints". The deployment of SADF personnel had been "very slow". He believed the SAP were the leading force in the operation.
"It is also problematic that the KwaZulu Police are still left to do their work when they are part of the problem ... In the last three days they have tried to attack our offices in Umlazi, using KwaZulu Police cars, and they have also killed one of our members who was attacked at home."
Seott said the reluctance of the de Klerk government and the security forces to take action "is because Gatsha Buthelezi has been a close ally of the government, of the National Party. The SAP in Natal, in particular the Internal Stability Unit [ISU], have been aligning with IFP in this conflict. Those are the people that see the ANC as the enemy and there are command structures at all levels that link the SAP and KZP ...
"In Bhambayi [squatter camp], the ISU has taken sides in that conflict. We demanded that they be removed. They were removed for just two weeks, and the SADF was deployed in their place. No-one was killed during that period, there was peace. But as soon as the SADF moved out, and the same day the ISU moved in, they started to kill people again."
Seott said the ANC in Natal demands that the security forces implement the state of emergency regulations, especially those dealing with the closing down of Inkatha's paramilitary training camps, the disarming its members, confining the KZP to barracks, and action against those who instigate violence in the townships.
The ANC's campaign of mass action would continue, Seott added. He said that the world media were giving "a wrong impression" about the IFP and Buthelezi's support in Natal. "To say that Gatsha is a Zulu leader, therefore all Zulus are part of Inkatha, is not true. The KwaZulu legislative assembly was elected by just 7% of people from the homeland. All polls are showing that the ANC is leading the IFP. They are saying that the ANC enjoys the support of between 45% and 51% and the IFP ranges from 18% to 23%. We have more than 350 branches in Natal, including even in KwaZulu."