| Time | Summary | |
| 18:02 | During the eighties townships under siege hit back in more ways than one. Underground defence units were formed. The armed struggle was taking route inside the country. In 1990 State President FW de Klerk unbanned the liberation movements and released their leaders. But instead of peace and normality, 1990 was the year more people died than in the whole of the eighties, most in mysterious massacres and unexplained violence on commuter trains. Many felt that a third force was at work to destroy the peace talks. The ANC urged communities to protect themselves. Self Defence Units, armed, angry and dangerous, were reborn. | Full Transcript and References |
| 18:48 | ‘Armed and Dangerous: Self Defence Units, Report by Anneliese Burgess’ // By late 1990, the ANC was increasingly alarmed at the inability to protect their people from the wave of violence that was engulfing many townships. | Full Transcript |
| 19:11 | The only way of understanding the suspension of armed operation, comrade Sisulu has gone further to explain, that it means that we are not going to take initiative, but we are going to defend ourselves if we are attacked. | Full Transcript |
| 19:28 | This is a matter of concern to the entire leadership of the ANC. Our people are being killed and violence is escalating. There’s been a loud outcry from our people for arms and for the setting up of self defence units. The National Executive Committee is looking into this issue. | Full Transcript |
| 19:53 | In July, 1991 the ANC held its National Conference against the backdrop of unprecedented bloodletting in the townships. It was decided that the ‘self defence programme be put into action without undue delays.’ Patrick Ndlubini was the commander of a self defence unit that was born in this time. His unit operated in the vast expanses of Gugulethu township in Cape Town and this week he applied for amnesty for some of the operations undertaken by his unit. | Full Transcript |
| 20:32 | Comrade Chris Hani, as he was explaining the complaints from the people, he tell us that we must discipline people so that we can train them, we can show them how to shoot, how to patrol, how to stand in a post in the night, how to change, all those things. So that they can be a self defence unit. | Full Transcript |
| 21:00 | But Umkhonto we Sizwe cadres like Patrick Ndlubini had returned to the country as civilians. Now he was tasked to command a self protection unit that had no weapons. | Full Transcript and References |
| 21:11 | Comrade Chris Hani was explaining that we know how to use initiative to get guns so that we must try to use our initiative. So that is how we started to think that there is a strategy to disarm the police, so that we can get arms. | Full Transcript |
| 21:35 | And this is exactly what his unit did. In the early hours of 13 October 1991 he deployed his unit here in this road in Gugulethu. | Full Transcript |
| 21:45 | On that night we came from the new cross road, I was armed with a R4 rifle, other comrades were armed with shotguns and guns, and then we get to this stop, we see there’s no vans here. We’re sure that the van must stop at this stop, the nice place to deploy, is that place. So we move from this stop and go to that place where I showed you first and we deploy there, we wait for the van. The van was coming straight from Gugulethu towards Nyanga East. Then we started to attack that van. My aim was to shoot at the front of the van, so that the van can be pap and stop so that we can come with our guns and point at the police and disarm them and leave them. | Full Transcript |
| 22:35 | All they achieved in the attack was to wound one policeman. His unit later also attacked the home of a man they believed was involved in taxi violence. Again nobody was killed, but a young girl was left deaf. | Full Transcript and References |
| 22:48 | Yes Mr Cebethwane have shaken hands, because I feel sorry especially for his daughter, if it’s true that she got problem with her ear from that attack. So I’m feeling sorry for that; it was not our aim, our aim was to make sure that he knew he’s not needed in the community. | Full Transcript |
| 23:14 | Not all self defence unit action was this benign. In the townships around Johannesburg self defence units were involved in day to day combat with amongst others Inkatha members and the internal stability unit. Many people lost their lives in the ever spiralling violence and for many the self defence units were no longer only defending. The lack of control over their actions had made them part of the problem. | Full Transcript |
| 23:42 | Didn’t you, the ANC, think it was irresponsible to arm people over whom you had no control? // We did the best we could. I think it’s easy with 2020 eyesight looking back, Archbishop. We did the best we could; we responded to a plea from the community, we responded to a volatile and dangerous situation in which people were being slain. And we believed our people, our own members from MK, giving instruction, giving training, providing that handbook, would be able that way to direct people in the best possible way. We did the best we could and we gave very very firm instructions. And our people who were involved with the communities attempted as best they could to control the situation when there was a breakdown in discipline or when certain people did their own thing. | Full Transcript and References |
