Political violence and conflict transformation: The African National Congress - Inkatha Freedom Party peace process in KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

For almost two decades, an unofficial civil war ravaged the Province of KwaZulu-Natal and parts of the Reef in the Province of Gauteng in what became known as black-on-black violence. It is estimated that approximately 20,000 people died, tens of thousands more were injured, and hundreds of thousands were displaced, rendered homeless and transformed into political refugees as a consequence of a conflict involving the African National Congress (ANC) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). In this paper I examine the national institutional attempts at peace making that included the ANC and the IFP and I show why they failed to transform the ANC-IFP conflict in KwaZulu-Natal. I claim that the failure of these processes lay in a flawed understanding of the root causes of political violence which included a misunderstanding of the strategy of the ANC. I show how conflict has subsequently been transformed in KwaZulu-Natal, through a party initiated process that included hiding each other’s secrets. The implications of this include the institution of a culture of peace in the province, but one that is threatened by the specific nature of the process that was followed.