TRC Final Report

Volume 5

Chapter 6

Subsection 26

Finding in respect of the killing of IFP office-bearers

145 The IFP submitted a list of over 400 alleged office-bearers who, according to the IFP, had been deliberately targeted and killed by structures of the ANC and its affiliates. The IFP’s submission made it clear that it believed that the killings were part of a deliberate pattern of behaviour on the part of the ANC – or in the words of the IFP, “serial killing”. The Durban office of the Commission conducted an intensive investigation into those incidents that occurred in former Natal and KwaZulu and produced an extremely detailed and comprehensive report.

146 A significant percentage of the incidents on the list fell outside of the Commission’s mandate, in that they occurred after the cut-off date of April 1994, and the Commission was thus not able to investigate these. However, it would be safe to assume, from the nature of the information supplied by the IFP, that the trends and patterns with regard to these incidents would be similar to those which the Commission was able to investigate. As indicated above, those incidents occurring in the Transvaal also fell outside of the scope of this investigation, owing to a limited investigative capacity.

147 The Commission investigated 289 incidents. Of these it was unable to corroborate

136. In many of these cases, despite searches of inquest court records, police dockets and government departments supplying birth and death certificates, no trace whatsoever of the individuals could be found. In each of these cases, further information was sought from the IFP, without any success.

148 With regard to the remaining 153 incidents, the Commission did not verify as to whether the deceased were, in fact, office-bearers of the IFP, and accepted the bona fides of the IFP in this regard. However, in a small number of incidents, death certificates show that the deceased were children, and were patently not office-bearers.

149 The Commission was able to identify the perpetrators or their political allegiance, or both, in ninety of the 289 incidents.

a UDF/ANC-aligned paramilitary structures were implicated in the killing of thirty-nine IFP office-bearers.

b UDF/ANC community members or youth were implicated in the killing of thirty IFP office-bearers. These killings took place within the context of the ongoing IFP/ANC conflict.

c MK cadres were implicated in the killing of seven IFP office-bearers.

d UDF/ANC-aligned extra-judicial tribunals (people’s courts) were implicated in the killing of eight IFP office-bearers. The primary reasons found for these killings concerned matters such as witchcraft, personal relationships and crime.

e Members of the SAP were implicated in the killing of four IFP office-bearers, in the course of confiscating illegal weapons.

f IFP members were implicated in the killing of six IFP office-bearers due to internal rivalry within the IFP.

g Non-political criminals were implicated in the killing of four IFP office-bearers, in the course of ordinary criminal activities such as burglary.

h In three incidents, the deceased died in motor vehicle accidents or as a result of personal/domestic disputes.

i In four incidents, investigations proved that the ‘deceased’ were not in fact dead.

150 Accordingly, investigations reveal that ANC, UDF or MK structures were responsible for the killing of seventy-six IFP office-bearers during the period 1985 to 1994. In only two of the incidents did the perpetrators hold leadership positions in the UDF, ANC or MK. In eight of the incidents, the killings were administered by people’s courts and it was not possible to establish whether IFP members had been targeted because of their IFP membership. However, given the history of the conflict, it would seem safe to assume that membership of the IFP would have been a factor.

THE COMMISSION FINDS THAT, IN SEVENTY-SIX INCIDENTS, THE DECEASED WERE DELIBERATELY TARGETED BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THEY HELD POSITIONS WITHIN THE IFP. THE KILLINGS OF THE IFP OFFICE-BEARERS AMOUNT TO A SYSTEMATIC PATTERN OF ABUSE, ENTAILING DELIBERATE PLANNING, AND CONSTITUTE GROSS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS FOR WHICH THE RESPECTIVE LOCAL STRUCTURES OF THE UDF, ANC AND MK ARE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.