TRC Final Report

Volume 3

Chapter 5

Subsection 53

Inter-organisational conflict: the civic movement

353 The 1990s were marked by intense rivalries and conflicts within the civic movement in the Western Cape. The conditions for these conflicts date back to the historic fragmentation of civic activity in the region, which had been based on specific living conditions and the social divisions created by the pass laws and the enforcement of migrant labour practices. Thus there was the Cape Housing Action Committee (CAHAC) in the coloured areas, the Western Cape Civic Association (WCCA) in the urban African townships, the Hostel Dwellers Association (HDA) in the hostels and Western Cape United Squatters Assocation (WECUSA) in the squatter areas. Efforts to merge these fragmented structures and build a single region of the South African National Civics Organisation (SANCO) in the early 1990s were bedevilled to the point of near failure as entrenched leaders tried to retain their constituencies.

354 WECUSA was launched in 1989 as an alliance of pro-ANC squatter leaders, largely those whose communities had been violently destroyed by the witdoeke in 1986. Hostile and competitive relations with the WCCA were worsened with the increasing incorporation of formerly conservative squatter leaders into WECUSA, particularly Prince Gobingca and Conrad Sandile, who were openly regarded as MI agents by the liberation movements.⁵¹ This was exacerbated by the privileged relationship that WECUSA came to enjoy with the CPA and the IDT (Independent Development Trust) by virtue of their ‘traditionalist’ image and modus operandi.

355 The conflict between SANCO, WCCA and WECUSA in their struggle for political control in informal settlements was most vividly played out in Khayelitsha from 1991 onwards but extended as far as Strand and Somerset West. A further dimension emerged when WECUSA members began working with Lingelethu West town councillors from 1991. The complexities of these conflicts which frequently led to violence cannot be described here but a few examples are given below.

Khayelitsha and Strand

356 Due to hostility from the civic movement and widespread popular rejection, WECUSA was a largely fugitive presence in Khayelitsha. Despite this, it secured massive upgrading development deals with the IDT and the CPA.

357 During April and May 1991, serious conflict broke out between the civic-aligned residents and WECUSA in Macassar, Khayelitsha. During early 1991, residents of a tent settlement known as Green Point – largely refugees from Crossroads – were being moved to a new area called Macassar. The Lingelethu West town council appears to have used WECUSA member Jerry Tutu as a middle man for the resettlement. Conflict erupted as residents realised that the upgraded serviced sites were being sold to non-Green Point residents and suspected Tutu of allocating these sites, to which they were entitled, to his own followers.

358 The ANC and the WCCA began actively mobilising against WECUSA. At least ten people were killed in the conflict, including three adults and a baby who died when gunmen opened fire on two shacks on 7 April 1992 and set them alight. A man and a woman were hacked and wounded. A month later, two people were shot dead and a third was necklaced.

359 Another site of conflict emerged in the Strand area. While the Lwandle township was a SANCO stronghold, WECUSA developed a base in the neighbouring squatter camp of Waterkloof. Tension was caused by a development project for the site and by the alleged refusal of WECUSA to allow ANC membership in its area. A WECUSA leader allegedly went to Waterkloof and urged people to join WECUSA and gain funding for development. He also reportedly urged them to destroy the ANC and ANC Youth League.⁵² Ms Nontsapho Ngesman stated:

In 1991, Mr Nzuzo Nkomo, a WECUSA leader [deceased] said that we must join WECUSA and not the ANC. He said if we join the ANC we must pack up and go from there. People were forced to join WECUSA. The previous week ANC members were attacked by ‘balaclavas’.

360 On 26 April 1992, her husband, Mr Desmond Ngesman [CT00171], was shot dead by men in balaclavas.

361 Hostility towards WECUSA also stemmed from its continued use of the ‘headman’ system in a period when residents of informal settlements no longer faced the perils of migrant labour and the pass system, and no longer depended upon the protection of powerful squatter leaders. In Philippi, residents revolted against WECUSA member Christopher Toise, the traditional leader of the area, rejecting his exploitative practices including financial demands and aggressive informal courts. He was forced to flee the area in early 1993 and take refuge with other evicted squatter leaders holed up in Section 4, Crossroads, with Mr Jeffrey Nongwe. This largely signalled the demise of the ‘traditional’ squatter leadership style epitomised by WECUSA.

362 The conflict between WECUSA, SANCO and the WCCA ultimately led to the establishment of WECCO (Western Cape Civic Organisation) in 1993. The new organisation brought together a range of anti-ANC civic structures as a counter to SANCO. The launch, at the Devonvale Country club in Stellenbosch, was allegedly partly funded by the National Party, channelled through a building company called EU Civils, and was addressed by Mr Themba Khoza of the IFP.