TRC Final Report

Volume 6

Section 5

Chapter 4

Subsection 1

Volume SIX Section FIVE Chapter FOUR

Holding the Inkatha Freedom Party Accountable

1. In its Final Report, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (the Commission) made findings against the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and associated structures and institutions. In particular, it found against the IFP that:

The IFP was responsible for the commission of gross violations of human rights in the former Transvaal, Natal and KwaZulu, against persons who were perceived to be leaders, members or supporters of the UDF, the ANC or its alliance partners such violations formed part of a systematic pattern of abuse which entailed deliberate planning on the part of the organisation.

2. The Commission based this finding on, inter alia:

a speeches by the IPF president and senior party officials that had the effect of inciting supporters of the IFP to commit acts of violence;

b the arming of IFP supporters in contravention of existing legislation;

c mass attacks by IFP supporters on communities and leaders of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and/or the African National Congress (ANC);

d collusion with the South African government ’s security forces to commit violations; in particular, a pact with the South African Defence Force (SADF) to create a paramilitary force for the organisation with the intention of causing death and injury to UDF/ANC members;

e the establishment of a hit squad within the KwaZulu Police and the Special Constable structure of the SAP with the intention of causing death or injury to UDF/ANC supporters;

f training large numbers of IFP supporters, under the auspices of the Self-Protection Project, with the objective of preventing the holding of elections in April 1994 by violent means;

g conspiring with right-wing organisations and former members of the government’s security forces to commit acts that resulted in loss of life or injury, and

h creating a climate of impunity by expressly or implicitly condoning gross human rights violations and other unlawful acts committed by members of the IFP.

3. The Commission made further findings against several groups aligned to the IFP:

Caprivi trainees

4. The Commission found that, in 1986, the SADF conspired with Inkatha to provide the latter with a covert, offensive paramilitary unit (‘hit squad’) to be deployed illegally against persons and organisations perceived to be opposed to or enemies of both the South African government and Inkatha. The SADF provided training, financial and logistical management and behind-the-scenes supervision of the trainees who were trained by the Special Forces unit of the SADF on the Caprivi Strip.

5. The Commission found that this illegal deployment of the Caprivi trainees led to gross violations of human rights, including killing and attempted killing, for which it found former President PW Botha, General Magnus Malan and Dr MG Buthelezi accountable.

KwaZulu Police

6. The Commission found that the KwaZulu Police (KZP), in the period 1986 to 1994, acted in a biased and partial manner and overwhelmingly in furtherance of the interests of Inkatha, and later the IFP, in that:

a through acts of commission, it worked openly with Inkatha, and through acts of omission, it failed to protect or serve non-IFP supporters;

b it was responsible for large numbers of politically motivated gross human rights violations (killings, attempted killings, incitement and conspiracy to kill, severe ill-treatment, abduction, torture and arson), the victims of which were almost exclusively non-IFP members;

c it neglected to observe basic investigative procedures;

d it deliberately tampered with evidence;

e it ensured that KZP and IFP suspects in political violence matters were concealed, often for lengthy periods, in KZP and SADF camps;

f it issued false police certificates and identity documents to members of the IFP who were involved in political violence, in order to prevent their arrest and convictions and to facilitate their continued criminal activities; and

g it took part in killings and purported to investigate the very matters in which its members had been involved as perpetrators.

7 . In conclusion, the Commission found that, although there were honourable exceptions in that some members of the KZP did carry out their duties in an unbiased and lawful manner, the KZP generally was characterised by incompetence, brutality and political bias in favour of the IFP, all of which contributed to the widespread commission of gross human rights during the period under review.

Special Constables

8. The Commission found that the Special Constables were deliberately established and trained to assist Inkatha against the latter’s political enemies, and that Special Constables, acting alone and in concert with Riot Unit 8 of the SAP, regularly committed serious unlawful acts in order to support and assist Inkatha in the period prior to and during the so-called ‘seven-day war’.

Esikhawini hit squad

9. The Commission found that, in 1990, senior members of the IFP conspired with senior members of the KZP to establish a hit squad in Esikhawini Township near Empangeni, Natal, to be deployed illegally against people perceived to be opposed to the IFP. The hit squad consisted of Caprivi trainees and members of the KZP. Its members took instructions from senior members of the IFP and of the KZP to eliminate political activists affiliated to the ANC and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), as well as members of the SAP who w e re seen not to be supportive of the IFP.

Self-protection unit members

10. The Commission found that IFP self-protection unit (SPU) project, although officially placed within the ambit of the Peace Accord and containing an element of self-protection, was also intended to furnish the IFP with the military capacity to prevent by force the central government and the Transitional Executive Council (TEC) from holding elections which did not accommodate the I F P ’s desires for self-determination. Such armed resistance entailed the risk of unlawful death and injuries to persons.