Sixth Session of the Fourth KwaZulu Legislative Assembly. Policy Speech

Citation preview

SIXTH SESSION OF THE FOURTH

KWAZULU

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

6

SON

QOB

A SI MUN YE

POLICY

SPEECH

BY DR.

MANGOSUTHU G BUTHELEZI

CHIEF MINISTER OF KWAZULU

MARCH 1988

DOCUMENTS

04984360

SIXTH SESSION OF THE

FOURTH KWAZULU

POLICY

BY THE

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

SPEECH

CHIEF MINISTER

MARCH

1988

Mr. Speaker , Assembly as

Sir , Honourable Members , we gather together in this leaders of the people and my first message to you at the beginning of this year's work in the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly Our is that unless we do in fact lead , we will perish . strife - torn for It cries out country cries out for leadership . the eradication of eradicate apartheid .

apartheid

and for It cries out it cries out for

leadership the that can for social , economic and leaders who can lead South

political justice and Africa into new era in which social , economic and political justice will be realities for the ordinary man and woman . The people cry out for increased standards of living and they cry out that for leadership which can win political battles in such a way political victories are meaningful to the poorest of the poor .

leadership Political leadership of the people demands from us the that history itself demands as it faces the massive burden of day and age on our shoulders . Our burden is so immense because there are desperately few Black leaders in the country who do in fact

lead .

Johnny - come - latelys

are

two

for a

penny .

Around

every

corner in our townships boastful nobodies strut around posturing in They leadership roles . Celebrity leaders abound in South Africa . live on media acclaim and dance to the tune of political forces are , fact , which people which in the should be employing but their employed by those who disdain the people's right to author own destinies .

Our country is in a mess . The South African Government is milling around on the very cross - roads of history where decisions have people be made and directions have to be struck that can set the poverty , free free not only from apartheid but also free from ignorance led

by

and

disease .

Whites

We have

for Whites .

in

South Africa

We have

a

a White

Government

that

Government sees no

reason whatsoever for White Members of Parliament , who in fact the laws that govern the 80 per cent of South Africans who are White , to seek the democratic powers that they from those who have to live under their laws .

should

be

make not

employing

2

Not

only do we

have

a White

Government

led by Whites

pursuing

the

interests of Whites generally , but we have a White Government which is primarily concerned with the Afrikaners ' future in the country . We in this country daily witness the ludicrous position in which the State President himself enacts his executive State President's role without any mandate from the majority of the people . South Africa

has

a

racist

people cry out affairs .

There that

for

government

pursuing

leadership which

are many who misread the posturing is leadership ,

can

racist alter

objectives

this

hideous

and

the

state

of

think situation who mongering that power is

South African who think

think that political point - scoring among a leadership . Speaker , Sir , Mr. suffering people is Honourable Members , the very first hallmark of leadership is the ability to leadership

and

who

gather people together into a which can be deployed on

task force which whatever front

attention . Leadership that cannot lead people together and directing them is

can be directed and demands immediate

in this a curse

sense of gathering future on the of

South Africa .

Sir ,

Honourable

Members ,

we in this House stand in be danger of becoming blase about urgent imperatives which should on driving us forward in our leadership role . The struggle goes into and on and on and there is a sense in which some are tempted Mr.

Speaker ,

regarding the struggle as a way of life which they are enmeshed in . Because there are some among us who there are no easy victories , behave as though there never will be a victory . They settle into some kind of political stupor not actually believing

down that

things are getting tougher , in the same way as it is darkest the hour before dawn . They are not on the balls of their feet fighting for that dawn . The cookie will crumble and when it does crumble , those who are then leading will continue leading and those who are as leaders , will be cast aside by history as the posturing as political

derelicts that

they are .

gather We for work crisis

together in this House in 1988 to do a massive job of the people in the circumstances created by the deepest this country that Sir , Mr. has Speaker , ever known .

Members , Honourable the South African crisis is a crisis of deep historic importance because it is a make or break crisis . Not make or break for apartheid . Apartheid is doomed . It is finished . It is a politically defunct ideology . White power is real , yes , but a African South apartheid way of life for Whites is doomed . The African South crisis we know today is a make or break crisis because it is in this crisis we are now that experiencing the direction South Africa will take in the future , is going to be What will decided . actually emerges in the foreseeable future determine now see Africans .

the kind of country we live in beyond the horizons we can as we look forward . This is a testing time South for It is a time in which the validity of democratic power

itself is being tested and Mr. Speaker , Sir , our leadership capability is being tested .

it

is

a

time

in which

3

South Africa's White Government is an imposter government occupying undemocratic the institutions of government to the detriment of Speaker , system

Sir , I continue to reject in part and whole . in

the Tricameral The present

constitution must be scrapped . There is no room in it for any of the manoeuvering that the politics of negotiation need to bring an end to a whole era of minority oppression of the majority in this country . For the record , Mr. Speaker , this House about nature the of

I

must re - state the South Africa's

views of present

parliamentary system . It so because we can never

is necessary , Mr. Speaker , for me to do our escape the fact that we exercise

leadership at local level of national politics .

and

at

regional

level within

the

context

What we have done in the Buthelezi Commission ; what we have done in negotiating with the former Natal Provincial Council ; what we have done in the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba ; what we now do in the KwaZulu / Natal

Indaba

and

what we

now do

in the

Joint

Executive

Authority , has always been and will remain focussed on our national role in the struggle for liberation . We have not sat twiddling our thumbs waiting for the day of liberation to come . We have laboured and we have led towards our aims and objectives when everything seemed hopeless and when others were crying out that nothing could be done through non -violent

We were man there were

enough to get no immediate

democratic

opposition

on with the job others rewards in it for them .

to apartheid .

fled from because every Each and

year we gather in this House deeply motivated to fight apartheid wherever it can be fought . We have devised tactics and strategies which have in fact gained us ground . We have employed a twopronged attack on apartheid . In one horn of this attack , we attacked broader

apartheid here KwaZulu / Natal

in KwaZulu region .

and we attacked In the other

apartheid horn we

in the attack

apartheid at the national level and the international level . This direct assault on apartheid is a prime and real reason for our very existence and anything we do other than at the national level has designed always been to increase our bargaining power and the reality of our political power at

I

make

this

point ,

because we must

now

Mr.

Speaker ,

the

at

lead with this

a

national

level .

critical

time

very

firmly

in the

in our

not going to be bought off by anybody at any time . vacating into my national responsibility seduced

struggle

minds .

I am

I will never be favour of in

regional gains which are incompatible with national gains securing people We must now lead the way the we have always sought . that do We must We have a mandate from the people . want us to lead . that if we in any way what the people want and I tell you bluntly , we minimise or water down our involvement at the national level , will be stripped local of all real political power at and the regional

level .

ULUVALETUBAARI

people . Mr. parliamentary

4

Mr.

Sir ,

Speaker ,

Members

Honourable

of this

of

reaching

decisions

blunder of test

in our time .

on

deliberations now our We must now do what

that moralists sense wishy -washy right . is that must do the We

in

House will have

Legislative Assembly , the level of tactics and

KwaZulu

the

sitting

If

strategies .

decisions will not is right ,

this

make

to

the the

not stand right in

sometimes say this is right thing that works

farwe

or right the for for

leadership people . must become increasingly effective in our We if and we can only do so if our opinions are informed opinions and our

feet

Before

remain

firmly planted

turn

the attention

I

discussion employing ,

of

he

advantages

must

of

of this House to a strategies and

tactics

reality .

more that

detailed we are

my perceptions of the broad South African vital decisions . political situation in which we have to make battle field , he Before a wise general deploys his forces on a field battle and gathers information about the nature of that before

I

specific

rocks

on the hard

present

even begins

to

Speaker ,

lie and where stand back for a

political

situation .

Mr.

where his his forces , he knows Mr. his disadvantages lie . We must , short while and review the South African

deploy

Honourable Members , there are situation which we dare not ignore .

Speaker ,

African

realities One

in the

of the

South

fundamental

is that in Speaker , Mr. that we have to contend with , realities politics , Black there is there is White politics , Africa South This is there is Indian politics and there is Coloured politics . Those . rule Party National hideous aftermath of 40 years of the that say that there is no racial struggle in South Africa and who are or only a worker's struggle , is only a class struggle , there struggle Black very essence of the The idiots . for political to Blacks the Black political drive by Blacks for is liberation

apartheid

eradicate

Everywhere

in

for

the

the bestial

world a people

sovereign right to author want to do . Wherever there

that

scourge

have

got

it

their

is .

own

God -given

they their own destinies by doing what has been oppression , history has placed about their about must do something struggle Black for a

the burden on the shoulders of the oppressed to do something their oppression . The oppressed must do something about oppression , and their poverty . liberation

By

far

the If

poorest of the poor do not fight Blacks

there will be no

the most

dominant

liberation

theme

in

South Africa .

South African politics

Black /White issue . White politics fighting amongst Whites themselves reality of there being of apartheid in all

in

is

totally dominated

about

how to

a Black majority in this its hideous elaborations

deal

is

the

by

in-

with

the

country . The whole White man's is

majority . the Black a White man's thing about endeavour to do The Broedertwis now emerging in Afrikanerdom itself is at heart conflict between Afrikaners in the National Party/ Conservative conflict Party the reality . about how to deal with Black The

5

Party Federal in Parliament opposes Progressive the way the Government is dealing with Blacks . The Black /White issue is the dominant issue in every White parliamentary very sitting . The constitution vested itself has been formulated around White interests Blacks . on this question of how Whites should deal with this in untangled are relationships political Black/White Until country there

Mr.

sane politics .

Speaker ,

Black for

can be no

job

Blacks

we gather in this House as Black of work to do which nobody can do for this

in

phase

of the

We have a leaders . We must lead us .

struggle .

Another reality in the broad political scene we are looking at , struggle only the is not struggle that for liberation a

apartheid . It is also a struggle to replace apartheid alternative to apartheid in an altogether new political are simply is a reality that Black leaders struggling not apartheid simply because apartheid is morally

indefensible

but

because apartheid

establish

kind

of

the

does

society they want

not

for

make

it

possible

to

South Africa .

liberation are in fact Black - on - Black confrontations about the kind African society of after apartheid . we are going to have The Party in exile and the South African Communist Congress National a are not simply struggling against apartheid because apartheid is humanity . crime against They are struggling apartheid against because they want to establish a one - Party socialist State . In the they

they

are

see no

African become

their affairs it is patently clear multi - Party democracy in the future .

conducting

room

for

a

that The

National Congress in exile are struggling to return home to the are government in the one - Party State for which they

striving .

In this regard , Mr. Speaker , I must say something about the Freedom Charter . whole For a decade after the old ANC sent a mission abroad to establish an external power base to assist the struggle here at home , we heard nothing about the Freedom Charter . one of the most disowned documents that existed in South

It was Africa .

It was regarded as a wishy - washy nothing and it most certainly was never ever elevated to a position of being a formulation of future political

developments .

In the

early seventies

an

internal

ferment

began emerging in Black South African politics . The ANC in exile was faced with the reality that the masses in South Africa were demanding leadership . the local Still we heard nothing about Freedom Charter .

Right up to the disturbances in Soweto in 1976 the Freedom Charter was a disowned Charter ; It was treated it was an ignored Charter . history as a compromise document formulated in circumstances that

AH 14 Ari

It is a harsh reality in our midst that the hideous Black - on - Black which confrontations take place in the name of the struggle for

way

་ ་་་ ་་་ ་་་

eradicate with an era . It against

is to

6

left

behind .

suddenly

Now

conveniently

latter years

in

it

has

become

a

recalled

document and given the status having of centrality in ANC thinking . The ANC has played fast and loose with this historic document . They have made it a document of convenience in their nefarious politics of manipulative control . The Freedom Charter is what it is - a compromise document that emerged as people strove to find each other across the barriers been that had erected between Black and Black by Blacks in the 1950's .

of the raise the question Members , I Speaker , Honourable. to opposition in the context of the theme that Charter , Freedom morally is more than opposition to something which is apartheid I am pursuing because the Freedom Charter is being which heinous , want as a lump of clay which can be moulded into anything we used Mr. Speaker , is there Nowhere in the Freedom Charter , it to be . claim any rationale which authenticates the ANC Mission in exile's By no stretch of be the sole representatives of South Africa . to

Mr.

the acclaimed who imagination can you say that those anybody's Charter in 1955 were proclaiming it because they supported Freedom the kind of things

that

ANC's Mission

the

in

exile

is

now doing .

What the ANC Mission in Exile is now doing would have horrified the thousands who gathered in Kliptown to adopt the Freedom Charter . What the ANC Mission in Exile is doing is in idiom horribly opposed to the idiom of the people who adopted the Freedom Charter . The ANC Mission in Exile is impoverished in its constitutional thinking . In fact it is worse than the National Party in its of a tell refusal to the people bluntly and clearly what kind constitutional

future

they

Speaker , Mr. challenge Mr.

Honourable

can

expect

Members ,

Oliver Tambo

and

his

should

I

it

win the day .

here in

today

National Executive

this to

House assure

Black South Africa that it is struggling to give South Africans the to form political parties which will have the constitutional right right will to campaign for support among the people and that they an independent a constitution which makes provision for support judiciary

which has the authority to

the question

of

human

challenge

the

Legislature

on

rights .

Mr.

Speaker , I am discussing the issue of there being struggles within struggles in the struggle against apartheid . It is this struggle Black internal struggle which is the sapping for liberation

of vital power to conquer apartheid . The die has been and there is now nothing one can do about it . The Black - onBlack struggle is tragic but there is every reason for me to say cast

that things have gone too far for us to hope to this hideous internecine conflict .

for an

early cessation

In their pursuit of being recognised as the sole representatives of South Africa , the ANC Mission in exile has lost its status of being

7

It was that once . There THE premier Black political organisation . political THE be to it proclaim could I when time a was from Its primary importance came organisation in this very House . ANC's old that the masses really did support what the fact the

Take that support away and you have nothing the have We politicians . posturing of there in the broad political scene we are looking at of realities the We have Indian and Coloured politics . White , Black , being as Afrikaner that White politics is floundering around realities have the We Blacks . on how to deal with Afrikaner confronts

leadership was doing . an shell but empty

reality that in Black politics the struggle for liberation is being the internecine Black - on - Black confrontations about by hamstrung . liberati after have will we on kind of government

Mr.Speaker , Honourable Members , for me to It is important for us , re -state our own position in the broad political scene we are

constitutional

form down.

We have always maintained that no one political organisation , it the ANC or be it Inkatha , can possibly subsume the totality Black political aspirations . South Africa more is than

be

of an

emerging Third World country . It is a country in which there are leaders millions of people who wish to have the right to elect the we That of their choice and support the Party of their choice . . itself must have a multi - Party democracy is ordained by history shackles We in this House and in Inkatha strive only to break the democracy for the that bind in South Africa . We strive only for freedom to present our case to the people and to campaign support

for

our

aims

and

Whereas the ANC Mission

objectives .

in Exile

is bitterly

intent

on

establishing

itself as a government returned home to rule in a one - Party State , we in Inkatha say we will do whatever the people want us to do . I have am on more than one occasion stated very clearly that I not struggling to establish myself as the President of a future South Africa . contender

Inkatha is not struggling to establish itself as the only . I have publicly stated that I for power . will serve under a free Dr. Nelson Mandela if that is what the people want me to do . I would serve under whoever the people wanted me to serve . The people only have the right to ask me to serve under one or another leader if they also have the right to ask other leaders to serve under me . That is ultimately the sovereign right of the people and

that

sovereign

right

is what

we are striving

for .

. In broad perspective then , White politics is dominated by conflicts best White Parties about how the White man's interest can between

………

have never attempted to ram one or another Black South Africa's throats .

་་

looking at . We are firmly committed to eradicate apartheid in such a way that the people will at last have their sovereignty . We are the right of the people to struggling for their the determine own future and to determine what kind of government they have will after apartheid . We , Mr. Speaker , in this House and in Inkatha ,

8

conflict , and in this internal White Afrikaners the amongst themselves how to preserve the dominance of White decision - making . political Nothing the State President has said

be

secured

dispute

and nothing that his Cabinet colleagues willingness to serve South Africa under

have said , indicates their a Black President . They do

not even envisage that as a possibility . We remember only too well how Mr. Pik Botha was given a public dressing down by the State President after he said that under National Party thinking , there could word

well ever

be a future Black President . Ever since that day no escapes Botha's Mr. Pik lips which indicates a willingness amongst members of Mr. Botha's Cabinet to serve P.W. under a Black President .

And by in

also in broad perspective , Black politics has become dominated internal disputes about what kind of constitution we will have South Africa after apartheid . There is a struggle within a

struggle best to struggle

among about how Afrikaners as they vie with each other retain the White man's dominant control and there is a as we within a struggle in forces opposed to apartheid

grapple with the

constitutional

future

of South

Africa .

Mr.

Speaker , Sir , Honourable Members , because of the importance of the debate which we will have in this House about where we go from we here as meet the changing circumstances of 1988 , I must

summarise the salient political Parties in for us to consider clear perceptions other political

I

start

first

features of the political activity of all the South Africa . It would be rank foolishness

our own tactics and strategies if we do not have of the tactics and strategies and intentions of

Parties

and groups .

of all with an analysis

of what

the

ruling

National

In May 1987 Party is aiming to do with its tactics and strategies . a It would serve National Party won a Whites - only election . the election Party's purpose National the we examined useful if and and saw the Government's stated aims and objectives manifesto mandate and strategies in the context of the kind of its tactics the National An abridged version of it sought from Whites . that Party's Manifesto

reads

ABRIDGED

as

follows :

ELECTION MANIFESTO OF

THE

NATIONAL PARTY ELECTION

6

MAY

1987

FULL PARTICIPATION FOR ALL

As ground

rules

for

our

the Preamble to our

constitutional Constitution

plan we as

acknowledge :

a policy

framework ;

9

1

self - determination

common

the

of

right

self - governing

a part

1

equality before representation

the law , for all

the preservation

protection

in

of

been

minorities

built

TBVC

1

participation

of

basis ;

way

of

rights

on

this

on the

by all groups

basis :

1983

constitution ;

self - government ;

and

forums

for

co - operating with

in a new provincial

system ,

services councils

further

institutions

to

and

provide

and processes :

of authority ;

self - governing

territories

as

part

1 Africa until

and

schools

domination by

individual and group

Party now proposes

retention

in own

of

and

countries ,

maximum devolution

and

alia by means

life

against

and regional local government services to all communities ;

National

right

judiciary ;

institutions ,

inter

community

states with autonomous

independent them ;

1

security

achieved

the dispensation

The

and the

interests on an own affairs

a balance between

national

future

a

in

share

an independent

democratic

of and own areas ;

opportunity ,

already

independence ;

discrimination ,

race

and

of group

serving group

equal

to

they themselves opt

for

of

South

independence ;

in communities these outside structures autonomy in metropolitan areas can progress independence ;

government territories ; full

common the

issues

to be

establishment

resolved by of a

National

consensus , Council

without

as a

domination ;

forerunner to

a

་ ་་་ ་་་ ..

protection residential

-

of

matters

self - determination ;

to

of groups

has

over

of South Africa ;

freedom without

individual

territories

other territories to

all

of

dispensation as

Much

co - responsibility

concern ;

right

the

and

10

State ,

of

Council

determination

1

protection

of

the

basis of agreed

rights

individuals

of

policy

with

charged

and

affairs ,

on general

be

will

which

and

groups

on

the

norms .

FREEDOM South

will

Africa

coercion .

not

other sanctions or on undertaken will be based

succumb to

be

to

Reforms

forms our

of Own

and will not judgement . They will remain aimed at power - sharing , result in surrender , as demanded from us by outside forces .

The key further

role South Africa strengthened by :

fostering

cordial

promotion

Africa ,

respect

and

will be

the

for

each country ; exchanges

and

of assistance

offers

in Southern Africa ,

relations

mutual

integrity of

territorial

the

already plays

of know - how ;

of

free trade between

of

the

countries

in

Southern

and

use of

neighbouring

territories

as

1

discouragement springboards for foreign troops , settlement

attacks on each other , the and promotion of

or the harbouring of negotiation in the

of disputes .

PROSPERITY

A positive

economic

climate

depends

enterprise , private competition ; sound

based

trade

international

on : on

ownership

property

and

relations ;

1 availability

of capital ,

reduction

state

of

manpower

activities

deregulation and

wherever

the promotion

of

rules

through privatisation and

regulations

small businesses

By eliminating backlogs

1.

promote the highest

2.

create as many

and opportunities ;

herein ,

and the

the

job opportunities

as

progress ,

informal sector

National

possible growth

stifle

Party aims

rate ; possible ;

to :

11

3.

maintain price

4.

achieve

equilibrium in our

Aids to achieve

-

educational

these

of payments

opportunities ;

training

and

balance

ends :

optimal

and

stability ,

utilisation

capital

of

and

natural

resources ;

geographical

distribution

of

economic

activity ;

a balanced population -

a strategy

for

development programme ,

positive

and

urbanisation .. ་་་ ་་་

SECURITY

In order to achieve the political and economic National Party Africa , proposes for South international

communism must

to In addition industry , social

the and

be

resolutely

objectives which the onslaught the of

resisted .

development

South of constitutional measures

Africa's must be

armaments taken to

counter the ideological onslaught .

The

National

build

Party also pledges

a

well -trained

population groups ,

personnel

national and

equipped police

force

for

all

and

dedicated and maintain navy units , consisting full - time

and

itself to :

adequately armed army , air force and force , of a well - trained permanent a

service

full - time

force ,

regional

citizen

force

and

commando

units .

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , I was totally appalled when I was confronted with this election Manifesto and I said to myself , God help South Africa if this is a mandate that the South African Government is going to get . Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , it is by now historic fact that the National Party was returned to power an electorate which supported this Manifesto . In the first section of the Manifesto under the heading ' Full Participation for All ' , Government seeks a mandate to continue with its hideous the distinction of there being ' own affairs ' for each race group and there being

' common

affairs ' .

Mr. I ask , Speaker , the whole world to see the National Party in its true colours as we look at the constitutional within context which so - called ' common affairs ' are decided upon . The National Party is Coloured

South Africa's governing Party regardless of there being a House and an Indian House in Parliament . The National

12

Party rules South Africa as the Government of the day . It is the National Party which decides issues surrounding common affairs . Common affairs country ; the

include the defence of the country ; the security of economy the of the country ; and in fact include everything that goes to make domestic and foreign policy . The National Party is a ruling Party and it rules over every race group . This is the reality of the situation and then it has the audacity to say that there is a distinction between ' own affairs ' and

common

affairs . '

Speaker , Mr. I was particularly appalled , read in this election Manifesto that the

Honourable Members , to National Party still

punched " the right of self - governing territories to independence . " While the National Party is still manoeuvering to bestow so - called independence on what they call self - governing states , what hope is there for the politics of negotiation . How can you negotiate with people who are blind to the reality that what they are doing is destroying the place .

The

circumstances

South African

in which serious

Government

must

call

a halt

negotiations

to what

it

can take

has

been

attempting to do for 40 years and it must say let us negotiate about alternatives for South Africa . While the South African Government expects us to negotiate within the four corners of the present

constitution

affairs get

and

its

hideous

distinction

between

Own

and common affairs , the politics ground . the off When negotiators

negotiating bring to the

of negotiation will never every meet as equals , to party is quite entitled to bring whatever it wants negotiating table . I do not want to restrict what the

National Party may or may not bring to the negotiating table . I , on the other hand , will not be restricted either . I want to negotiate about one South Africa , with one sovereign Parliament , elected by another one - man - one - vote franchise . There is one or another system system of of nothing

else

Having

to

negotiate

accepted

constitutionally can territories choose , " Other

that

about

the

independent independent continue to

the National territories "

as

far

TBVC

as

I

am concerned .

will

countries

remain

self -governing and that so -called So they opt for independence should

Party's manifesto right have the

then goes on to " share

to state that : in a future

Mr. Speaker , dispensation as a part of South Africa . " I do not strive for the rights of territories . I strive for the rights of human beings ; for the rights of citizens ; for the rights of individuals . for democracy . will

not

The sovereign individual is the only true repository You cannot give territories democratic rights . I

negotiate within the

straitjacket

framework of the

National

Party's

on democracy .

law . Manifesto then goes on to talk about equality before the equality be never will there , Members Speaker Honourab , Mr. le different to the before law if different laws apply differently

The

race

groups .

Equality before the

law in these

circumstances

is a

13

contradiction . on While the Population Registration Act remains The the Statute Books , there can be no equality before the law . Manifesto insists on the retention of group identity in law and under the constitution , and then goes on to tell the electorate what

has been

racial

It

achieved thus

distinctions

cites the

1983

constitution

existence

of

cites

so - called

the

far by the Government

on this

of

basis

and group distinctions .

autonomous

as

an

achievement .

self - government

independent

as

an

TBVC countries

It

cites

the

achievement . as

an

It

achievement .

It claims that there is participation by all groups in a new provincial system . It lauds Regional Services Councils and then , propose Mr. Speaker , the National Party goes on to " Further institutions and processes . " It starts , Mr. Speaker , by insisting the that achievements of apartheid are the beginnings of a new affronts my every political South Africa . The Manifesto National sensibility Party to when the commits itself the " retention of self - governing territories as part of South Africa until they themselves

opt

for

independence . "

I

am

incensed by

the

word fact

" until " in this context . It shows a complete blindness to the Africa is embroiled in an upward spiralling that South of the National Party in precisely because persists violence precisely

preserving the

idiom of apartheid under the new disguise .

Then to add to my sense of outrage , the Manifesto goes on to commit the National Party to creating new elaborations of its divide and machinery rule . The Manifesto commits the Government to establish " Government

structures

in

communities

outside

these

[ so - called

independent and so - called self - governing territories ] territories " and in areas goes on to say that " Autonomy metropolitan can Speaker , Mr. progress to full independence . " And then , the Government

reveals

establishment

its true

of a National

colours by

Council

as

a

committing

itself to

forerunner

to

a

" the

Council of

State , which will be charged with policy determination on general affairs and protection of rights of individuals and groups on the basis

Mr. such

of agreed

norms . "

Speaker , Honourable Members , I will have no part whatsoever in a National Council . This Manifesto smashes all hope that

anybody

could

have

had

that

the

National

Party was

in

fact

moving

towards the politics of negotiation . The National party in this Manifesto declares itself to being nowhere near ready to negotiate about the negotiate

constitutional future of South Africa . It framework of a within the constitution

already decided on . This Manifesto is maintain

the

a

domination

only wants to that it has

Mr. Speaker . The struggle will continue , audience White man's call to a White to of White

The rest of the Manifesto , Mr. will not succumb to sanctions ,

decision - making

in

South Africa .

Speaker , blusters that promises prosperity prosperity ,, promises

South Africa

and promises security . The Manifesto in its totality is appalling , the given given demanding of every should bit which be crisis situation

statesmanship the South African Government

can

muster .

14

Speaker ,

Mr.

Sir , Honourable Members , the outcome of the May 1986 Whites - only general election needs to be understood so that we can bring the whole White political scene into focus . You will remember that generally speaking there was an across - the - board to the right . shift The Progressive Federal Party lost seats to National Party the and the National Party seats lost to the Conservative Party to the extent that Party the Conservative replaced the PFP as the Official Opposition . Further analysis , however , needs to be done before we can understand the shift .

I

believe

National

that it is important for Party actually strengthened

us its

to that understand the parliamentary position in

terms of its involvement in ' real politik . ' Simple head - counting of what Party lost what seat to whom does not tell us the whole story . The shift in traditional PFP constituencies to support for the National Party is an important dimension of White White politics . National Party Within the itself the verligte element was strengthened by this crossing to it from the PFP . The conservative element in the National Party was not strengthened to the same degree .

The hard - line

conservatives left the Party to join the CP and HNP . The cracks in the hitherto granite - like National Party are cracks in Afrikaner support for the Party . The National Party itself is now somewhat more broadly based than it has been in the

past than

because the English - speaking voter has it has ever given it in the past .

given it

more

support

In real political terms the National Party's majority in Parliament does not losing make it remotely vulnerable as far as an the dominating Party election goes . It remains in the White the Parliament and any possible election victory by Conservative Party is

quite

out

of

sight .

The Conservative Party has probably made most of the gains that it can make and I do not believe the Government is seriously right the threatened from to the extent that it can lose an election Party within the foreseeable future . The Conservative would nothing without be the support it has gained from the northern platteland Transvaal constituencies . Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , I will deal with the Conservative Party elsehwere in my policy speech but I just want to remark here that the and

absurdity of its position and cannot be done in politics in

starter as

Yet Mr. in which a right

far as winning

an

its unrealistic view of what can South Africa , makes it a non-

election

is

concerned .

Speaker , Honourable Members , we are faced with a situation the State President continues to look over his shoulder at What is he actually fearing ? wing threat . Why is he

looking over his shoulder ? In parliamentary terms , he is just as flattening capable of flattening the far right as he is capable of the far left . But he does look over his shoulder and we need to understand what is happening in the National Party to make him do

so .

15

Mr.

Speaker ,

Honourable Members ,

the

National

Party's

origins

lie

in the Afrikaner people's struggle against British imperialism . It was a Party formed by Afrikaners for Afrikaners . It is a Party that has always dedicated itself to Afrikaner self- interest . National

Party leaders

have been Afrikaner

leaders who have always

put the good of their Afrikaner Party before the good of the State . While the Afrikaners could do a mop - up operation in South Africa's Own political back - yard , victories in this back - yard broaden the scope of Afrikaner interests . They are in recent history having to face the realities of Afrikaners in Africa and in the rest of the world .

The

Afrikaner

volk

now have a spread

of vested

interests

which

cannot Parties is an

be served within the narrow domains of Afrikaner political and Afrikaner organisations . Every Afrikaner industrialist industrialist in a wider world where narrow Afrikaner nationalism has no value to him whatsoever . South Africa has grown economically and the economy has outgrown Afrikaner control . The industrialists future of Afrikaner depends upon Afrikaners accommodating themselves to South , Southern and Central Africa . It fitting them upon their success stories into an international climate in the outside world as they vie for shares of international markets . Afrikaner businessmen are dependent on the continued importation of technology . Neither the National Party nor the Broederbond can look after the broader interests of

depends

Afrikaner business . Small businessmen have become big businessmen and big businessmen have become captains of industry . In this development the dominating influence of the National Party it elf has waned

Afrikaner

in the

day - to - day affairs

intellectuals

predecessors

in decades

tech nature experience of intellectuals

now also

of Afrikaner businessmen .

have

gone by did

not

to

face

have

a world which

their

The

high-

to

face .

of university research and the qualifications and lecturers and professors who are in - bred , home - grown cannot hold their own in international circles .

Afrikaner universities as repositories of Afrikaner intellectualism interests must also reflect the fact that Afrikaner cannot be maintained within the narrow confines of the National Party and Afrikaner

Afrikaner

cultural

organisations .

churchmen

also having to adjust to a new era of am always very I cautious , Mr. Speaker , when I talk about the Churches . The Christian which defies analytical Church has the hand of God in it work understanding . The hand of God is at amongst Afrikaner

Afrikaner survival . Honourable Members ,

churchmen as well as amongst churchmen of other ethnic extractions . However , over the centuries one can discern patterns of development within the light of the Church . The Afrikaners ' Churches have always

had

to

reach out

of the Gospel

simply

to

non - Afrikaners .

could not

be

avoided .

That

central

In decades ,

injunction and

perhaps

even generations gone by , this outreach could take place within the idiom of the Afrikaners racist interests . There was no harm in establishing

a

sister

Black

Church ,

a

sister Coloured

Church and a

16

sister Dutch

Indian Church . Reformed Church ,

This fitted

in ,

division

racist

easily

into the

for

example ,

South Africa

the

of the

past .

In latter days , however , the Dutch Reformed Church has had to face sister three spirit of revolt against its paternalism in the the a both Churches . We now have the anomaly of Dr. Allan Boesak being of the Church and a patron of the United Democratic Front . dominee itself , like all which in age

The Dutch Reformed Church and day particular the

Churches , has to survive The itself . finds it

Dutch the in out works Afrikanerdom of relevant vested interests of Afrikaners are

climate intellectual The Reformed Church .

Dutch Afrikaner the broad terms , In decision - making . its to moved Church is like a chameleon not only in that it has Reformed has to it to but also in that slowly catch up with the times , change colour as it goes .

Whether we

are

talking

about

Afrikaans

businessmen ,

intellectuals ,

or churchmen , we are talking about the dynamics of inner change However , within Afrikanerdom Mr. Speaker , itself . Honourable Members , the matter does not end here . The ordinary Afrikaner in every - day life , is now perforce having to do things would never have dreamt of doing in his attempts

his to

forefathers serve his

vested individual interest . Afrikaner workers are now working side by side with Blacks in ways which would have been impossible to envisage in the Afrikaners ' by - gone days . They are sleeping in hotels where

Blacks

have

slept

before them .

They are playing

sport

with Blacks . They are standing shoulder to shoulder with Blacks in queues at government offices and post offices . They are not necessarily being served first at cafe and supermarket counters . Afrikaners at the man - in - the - street level have also had to adapt to the on- the -ground changing circumstances . It is they who face reality that

Blacks

are

irradicably present

in their midst .

Across this totality of change within Afrikanerdom itself , there is growing demand for reform . There is also a growing impatience right - wing his with the State President's habit of looking over shoulder . The May election produced confirmation of this in the break - away movement . was not just a small of

The break - away movement that Dr. Worrall led one - off thing . It must be more accurately

seen as an

indice

that which must

Afrikaner

decision - making

has

making in a very authoritarian and the dominees professors

continue

in the past

to

claim

always

importance .

been

decision-

society . What the politicians , said was accepted as the voice

the of

authority . The National Party's own internal decision - making process was seeped in this authoritarian Afrikaner idiom . It has never been truly democratic in the Western Party political sense . There were always lobbies and heeded authorities which swayed the way ordinary Party members voted . That is now changing and the National Party is experiencing grave difficulties in coping with the Dennis Worralls and Wynand Malans of this world . The Worrall

17

break- away internal

a consequence of the National Party's own brand is of democracy . African It just cannot fit in today's South

realities .

Mr.

Speaker ,

about

the State

Honourable Members , I have pondered a great length President , Mr. P.W. Botha . I have spent virtually

the whole of my adult life having the advantage of repeated man - totalks man or eyeball - to - eyeball confrontations with national and international leaders . I have known them all , from our own ANC national heroes to successive South African prime ministers . I frequently walk in the corridors of power and meet with of Heads State and I have become accustomed to summing national leaders up .

from outset Right the P.W. different about Mr. Honourable then Prime

recognised that Botha . You will

something there was remember , Mr. Speaker ,

Members that when Mr. Botha first assumed office as the Minister , I appealed to South Africa and the world not

to judge him by his making this appeal . needed to be given a

The State attempted

I

predecessors . I was right , Mr. Speaker , in I saw something that existed in the man which chance .

President may yet go down in history as the President who so much and accomplished so little ; but history will

never which

be able to rob his image of the bold dimension of character break away enabled him to lay the foundations for a final Mr. from apartheid . There is just no point , Speaker , Honourable

Members , in us indulging in make - believe worlds in which we dare recognise propensities for change for fear that they will materialise . If we adopt that mentality , we will continually be involved in fighting battles that have already been won . We in this House , Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , are committed to the politics of negotiation . We must be alive in our awareness of the potential for negotiation . Our job is to make that potential actuality . We will never do so if we are so Party politically blind that we just cannot understand what the State President is wrestling with as he attempts

Mr. his

P.W. feet

to

move

forward .

Botha has done more than any of his predecessors to point statesmanship . Ironically , Mr. of the direction in

Speaker , Honourable Members , this is not praise for Mr. P.W. Botha . That statement actually reflects a deep - rooted criticism of the man . When a man is so politically inept that he does not know what he is wrong . When , is right and does wrong , however , a man does what is right and does wrong , know then he is very wrong . The State President's lack of courage to walk he has pointed his feet as a statesman , him

as

an

Afrikaner

on the

cross - roads

in the direction in which compounds the tragedy of

of history .

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , the State President is a political Midas gone wrong . A true political Midas will touch something and turn to gold . it will The State President touches gold and it

18

turns to ashes . Where is his reform ? What has happened to his National Council ? Why does he squander the precious time left in this country in which we can reach non - violent solutions to our hideous problems ? Why , Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , does the State President look over his shoulder at the right wing threat which is no parliamentary threat ?

it Honourable Members , Speaker , Mr. can negotiate about nothing with the State

Right now , that

I

has not

the

addressed

is deeply tragic He President .

issue which South African

fundamental

society

It is as though the State President cannot make the quantum faces . He remains locked leap into being a true South African statesman . have Afrikaners do not into the history of Afrikaner leadership . the solution to our country's problems . The State President must cease being an Afrikaner first true South African where South Africa has to desperately open ,

needed

multi - racial

first and foremost and he must become a statesman capable of leading South Africa go . He must cease being a brake on the

progress

our

country needs

to make towards

an

democracy .

Mr. Members , I have made the point before , Speaker , Honourable that South Africa is in all reality a multi - racial society . While we have a constitution which makes it unnecessary for the State and Indian President to campaign amongst South Africa's African , Coloured populations for his political locked in divisive Afrikaner politics .

survival , he will remain We must reach a stage in

this country , Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , where Black , White , Indian Coloured leaders must campaign and for their political survival amongst root level .

Mr.

Speaker ,

my African ability to

all

race groups ,

Honourable

and I mean

Members ,

a

vitally

campaign

important

at

the grass

dimension

of

leadership has always been my readiness , willingness and campaign for support for what we are striving for across

independent the The opinion poll conducted by race groups . all designed to gauge support for leaders Surveys ( Pty ) Ltd. Research in the Natal region of all race groups amongst South Africa's White electorate established that I led the field as a prospective leader The actual results , Mr. Speaker , for a combined KwaZulu and Natal . are as follows :

" OF THOSE THAT LIKE TO SEE

YOU HAVE

INVOLVED

HEARD OF ,

IN THE

WHICH WOULD

LEADERSHIP

A COMBINED KWAZULU AND

( ALL RESPONDENTS )

AND

NATAL "

YOU

RUNNING

OF

19

" Like "

" Not

Like "

" Don't know/ Haven't heard 10%

Dr

Mangosuthu Buthelezi

738

17 %

Dr

Dennis Worrall

52 %

19 %

29 %

Dr

F van

43 %

32 %

258 %

Mr Wynand Malan

29 %

228

49 %

Mr

Stoffel Botha

29 %

26 /

45 %

Mr

Ray

Swart

27 %

18 %

55 %

238

12 %

66 %

Mr Roger

Zyl

Slabbert

Burrows

Dr

Oscar Dhlomo

19 %

13 %

69 %

Mr

Peter Gastrow

17 %

18 %

65 %

Mr

Derek Watterson

15 %

138 /

728

10%

13 %

778 %

Mr Renier

Schoeman

Mr

Nelson Mandela

98

73 %

18 %

Mr

Danie

9%

10 %

828 %

Schutte

Mr George

Bartlett

88 %

138

78 %

Mr

Archie

Gumede

78

19 %

74 %

Dr

Johan

78 %

11 %

82 %

68

79%

15 %

5%

268

698 /

28

10 %

89 %

Steenkamp

Archbishop

Desmond Tutu

Mr Govan Mbeki

Mr

Duncan

It

is

du

Bois

interesting ,

Mr.

Speaker ,

across all white voting groups voters who support the National

that when you

LIKE

THOSE THAT YOU TO SEE

INVOLVED

HAVE HEARD OF , IN THE

A COMBINED

this

response

and compare it with responses Party , that the results still

me as leading the field . The responses by Nat Honourable Members , are as follows :

" OF

look at

( NAT VOTERS

ONLY )

Mr.

AND

NATAL "

RUNNING

from show

Speaker ,

WHICH WOULD YOU

LEADERSHIP

KWAZULU AND

voters ,

of "

OF

20

" Like "

" Not

Like"

" Don't know/ Haven't heard

Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi

69%

228

9%

Dr

Dennis Worrall

44 %

158

41 %

Dr

F

398 %

268

358

Mr Wynand Malan

% 298

47 %

23 %

Mr Stoffel Botha

24 %

278

50%

17 %

238

60%

15 %

138

71 %

13 %

14 %

74 %

13 %

138

75 %

11 %

15 %

74 %

Mr

van

Burrows

Oscar Dhlomo

Mr Peter Mr

Slabbert

Ray Swart

Mr Roger Dr

Zyl

Gastrow

Derek Watterson

Mr Renier

Schoeman

10 %

9%

828

Mr Nelson

Mandela

10 %

98 %

81 %

9%

20 %

71 %

Mr

Danie

Schutte

Mr

George Bartlett

8% /

13 %

80%

Mr

Archie Gumede

4%

218

75%

Dr

Johan

3%

838 %

14 %

28

868

128

28

318

678

28

88

90 %

Steenkamp

Archbishop

Desmond Tutu

Mr Govan Mbeki Mr Duncan

du Bois

of "

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , I am not presenting the House with the outcome of these research findings in any sense of boasting . I present them to the House , Mr. Speaker , simply to underwrite what I am saying about the lack of the State President's willingness to put his political future in the hands of a multi - racial electorate . all race If I can succeed in gaining substantial support across groups , why do Afrikaner leaders , and in particular why does the President , am I not State not follow suit ? I stress that suggesting that conductors makers . I think , however ,

I want to

pause here ,

Mr.

of polls are necessarily political that this survey is interesting .

Speaker ,

very clearly and unambiguously , accused of sabre - rattling . am

lest Mr.

Honourable Members , I be quoted out P.W. Botha is

to

King-

speak

of context and on a suicidal

21

course future because he does not throw himself and his political be a There can only mercy of a non - racial electorate . the at State continuing escalation of violence in South Africa until the Afrikaners just this . his leadership cadres do and President the on cannot survive as an insular group in modern South Africa Afrikaners cannot survive without the Black of Africa . continent Afrikaner volk will be to adjustments rapid

The make

helping hand to assist them to survive . obliterated by history if they do not being in Africa .

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , we in this House and we in Inkatha have offered our hand of friendship to our fellow White South Africans . Our people are dying in defence of that which can save the White

man's

bacon

in

South Africa .

We are being subjected to the most hideous brutality by the ANC's Mission in Exile and by the with UDF and COSATU because we remain as willing as we are to deal the State President and the South African Government around the

negotiating face this

tables . How long , Mr. Speaker , will we be prepared to total onslaught from the revolutionary forces of South South African Government political feet ?

Africa while the from beneath our

Honourable Members , I crisis to give Blacks

Mr. Speaker , South African role Black of

continues

to

only .

When we

do

this

Black

job

Whites as well as the other race groups , we State President and his Cabinet colleagues . an

intolerable

I

could

not

Government

position

in

have warned more

recent

the

I

rug

for the

We have a for the sake benefit

of the

are slapped down by the I am finding myself in

times .

State

clearly than

the

lead as a Black leader in our their historically rightful

in bringing sanity to our multi - racial society . job to do for the sake of South Africa and not

Blacks

pull

President

did

that

and the

the

African

South

present

constitution

would result in the escalation of violence and the deepening of the rifts between race groups in our already polarised society . I warned that the new constitution would radicalise Black politics . Mr.

Mr.

Speaker ,

Honourable

Honourable

Speaker ,

measured being is

terms when I radicalised

Africa

being

is

the Black

man

Members ,

Members ,

say that just as

radicalised .

can

continue

to a negotiated settlement playing one - upmanship and the Government's tragic constitutional

proposals

those warnings were

I

continue to talk

I

I face an Inkatha much as the whole dare not

swallowing

make

in his

about what commitment

of the South African question . I am not just posturing when I say that Indaba rejection of the KwaZulu / Natal is

something

that

I

will

have

Africa

democrat

and

I

will

in Black

heed

which South

determined

my a

quiet ,

assumptions

endorsed out hopes for the

constituency

in

membership of Black

the people . I am not going to be relevance by making assumptions about massive

prophetic .

South

my people

in the

does

to

take

to

of political future which I am not have .

decisions

I

make .

22

I will come back to the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba after I have completed my survey of the current South African political situation . Before I

move on to

have already

Mr.

other said

Speaker ,

knows have

that

political

about

the

Honourable

need

every one

know no

multi - racial ,

a

I

to add to

what what

I

Party .

Members ,

South Africa will

established

groupings ,

National

peace

of us

and

in

House

this

stability

multi - Party democracy

until

we That

here .

is what we are striving for . We are striving for a South Africa in which internal conditions enable every South African to maximise with her his or own benefits in equal competition other South Africans in all race groups . We know that there is one South one Africa which demands Sovereign Parliament and demands a constitution

under

which

a one - man - one - vote

everybody with equal opportunity or to support a candidate of his

franchise

either to be elected or her choice .

to

provides Parliament

determined South Africa's foreign and domestic policies are racial to doomed this country is or another race group one by strife . The only political progress in South Africa is progress groups situation in which South Africans from all race a towards and economic social , country's the in equals as participate

While

We in this House , Mr. Speaker , will never political institutions . multiour final aims and objectives of establishing a relinquish only go as We . Africa South one in racial , multi - Party democracy

any far as to say that there is no Utopian leap into democracy for We are committed to negotiate towards that final objective of us . a we are aware that we will not negotiate a quantum leap into and democratic future .

We are prepared to compromise where compromises can be made that do not destroy the basic tenents of a political democracy . We know of democracy one no worthy of the name which is not a democracy in Sovereign State . We know of no democracy worthy of the name in which

there

democracy

is in

not which

universal

adult is

Parliament

compromise democratic

on these things because future out of existence .

to look at government

alternatives to in a unitary

alternatives had

The

because

franchise . We sovereign not

if we We ,

President

our cherished one - man - one - vote State . We are prepared to

history demands

and

We

that

his

Cabinet

of

no

cannot

do we will compromise a Mr. Speaker , are prepared system of look at

we do so and because

do so without betraying generations of heroes striven for a democratic South Africa .

State

know

colleagues

and

are

martyrs

very

fond

we who

of

saying that those who are prepared to negotiate must be prepared to negotiate without laying down preconditions . Mr. C.J. Heunis , the Minister of Constitutional Development and Planning in this year's No Confidence debate again made this appeal . Mr. My answer to Heunis is that we will lay down no preconditions of any kind whatsoever , provided we know that we are negotiating together with Whites

for

the

establishment

of

one

South

Africa ,

with

one

23

Sovereign

Parliament ,

goal .

is not

It

a

resting

on

universal

This

franchise .

is

our

precondition .

President and his Cabinet colleagues must State The now declare where they stand with regard to the purpose of negotiation . Thus far they have talked about negotiation as a means of escaping racial conflict and the politics of violence . I in negotiating about means to only an indefinite

am not end .

interested I want to

So negotiate urgently . I want to negotiate today and I will do without hesitation if we can reach agreement about the objectives of

negotiation .

Negotiation only becomes

negotiation

in the

real

sense of the word when there is a shared common objective between negotiators . Negotiation should be about how we should achieve an end . What that end is has already been fixed by history - not only the

history of South Africa

but

the

history of

civilised

mankind .

cannot rediscover the wheels of democracy in negotiation . must negotiate about how to make the wheels of democracy work us

in this

I

cannot

We for

country .

and will not

negotiate within the

parameters

of apartheid

or any kind of neo - apartheid . I cannot negotiate with those who do not accept that legal distinctions between Black and White must be obliterated . I cannot negotiate with those who do not accept the inherent equality of man as far as national and civic rights are concerned . I will never negotiate to establish one or another form racist government . of We need to negotiate away from inequality . Unless

we

set

overtake the

this

as

politics

our

objective ,

the politics

of violence will

of negotiation .

Mr.

Speaker , Honourable Members , there will be one South Africa , through with one Sovereign Parliament , whether it is achieved negotiation or through revolutionary violence . The choice is not whether or not there will be one sovereign Parliament in one South Africa . The choice is simply how we are to get there . The South Government African to states its commitment achieve political however , stability through the process of negotiation . That , in our

circumstances

is

just

While

the South African

about

the

need

not

enough .

Government

for negotiation

highway called ' The Grand Avenue Right now what the Government

talks

it

so

easily and

continues

frequently along the

charging

of the Politics of itself is doing is

Prescription . ' digging huge

pitfalls on the road towards real negotiations . Right now it is demonstrating fallacy the of its commitment to the politics of negotiation by attempting to ram down our throats the tricameral parliament's

distinction

between

own affairs

and

common

affairs .

Right now it is attempting to ram the Regional Services Councils And at heart , down our throats . Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , the South African Government is continuing to manoeuver to retain the finally supremacy of White decision - making in everything that mixes to foreign

make

it the

policy .

sole determinist

of the

country's

domestic and

24

Speaker , Honourable that it is

Mr.

maintained

Members , we in this absolutely to vital

always House have the politics of

negotiation that Blacks accept the need to negotiate with the South Government . African We do not live in cloud cuckoo - land and say handing that the only thing to negotiate with Whites about is the over of power to Blacks . We accept the reality of multi - racial South Africa . We do not live in cloud cuckoo - land and say that the South African Government is not a legitimate Government . The South African Government is the de facto and de jure government of this country . It must be brought into the politics of negotiation or we must resort to arms in order to remove it . This is our fundamental quest and there is no escape from it . We have chosen the former .

In

our

situation

of

racial

oppression

economic inequality ; we have , however , we request from the Government and

Government . Registration

We Act ,

do not request Mr. Speaker .

and

iniquitous

social

and

to distinguish between what we what demand from the

the scrapping of the Population We do not request We demand it .

constitution . We the scrapping of the tricameral parliamentary demand it . We back up our demands as demands . We back up Our demands with our involved total unwillingness to be any in negotiations which do not accept the legitimacy of these demands not the and which do contain agendas in which Population Registration Act Registration Act

Mr. very have

can be scrapped . The scrapping is for us a non - negotiable .

of the

Population

Members , Speaker , we come to this House with the Honourable who comrades stained with the blood of our clothes we wear and aims noble our of defence in deaths hideous died

We lead as Black leaders in a very violent situation . objectives . revolutionaries not academic to us because we face is Revolution off across our streets and in our homes as they attempt to wipe us The blood of our comrades will not allow us the face of the earth . compromise the reason for their deaths into becoming ludicrous . to did not die for nothing . They died in defence of the noble They We are in no and we will not abandon that which is noble . mood , Honourable Members , to pussy - foot around the Speaker , Mr. basic issues

Mr.

facing

this

country .

Honour Member , , I could go on to talk about the able s r Party a S t A in the politi n o f h d u r e th ican Governmen al cal t situat we all face today , I b h a d o I u a l r u t ve ready awn t what ion the need to draw out to enable me to presen the Nation Party in t al contex of the nation p s a f a t politi of o c a s s h r l e e i n e t i t cal al cs negoti is concer . M S I , s b s t r p u a y h . e m a y a t m i k a n er g r se ion the Na Party n ie own ini democr at s d caught up in its ti ternal onal atic proble and it is caught up in the changi circum in which ms ng stance s Afri Afrika n s t m t b . T o e o a h e h w e x e n e k i i e m kaner r f ners ise its Party nation has outgro the limita earlie N o a f t i onal wn r tions govern . ments Speake

Nation

Before

I go

on to

talk

about

Black politics ,

I

must

say

a

few words

25

I about the Conservative Party and the Progressive Federal Party . dismiss deserves the Conservative Party with the contempt that it but

Speaker , we dare not ignore the fact that we have fellow in that Party . Africans I dismiss the Party with dismissing of but I will never fall into the trap its

Mr.

South

White

contempt

membership . They are South Africans and somehow or other they must also be dragged into the twentieth century . That is why I have never yet refused to address a White audience simply because it was audience . far - right We need to talk to each other as South a Africans and there is so much to talk about which transcends Party political

affiliations

that

we must

do

so .

the I say bluntly to the Conservative Party that it will never in - an next million years achieve what it has set out to achieve apartheid society run by a Conservative Party government . Black anger will explode into uncontrollable violence before this God there is virtually of the no prospect happens . I thank Conservative

Party ever becoming the government .

say , however , with the added fervent Afrikaner nationalism

statement that finding now

I a a

temper what

great home

deal in

I

of the

Conservative Party is employable for the good of South Africa . The members ' fear of Blacks in government must Conservative Party be dealt with . The Conservative Party's fear that the Afrikaners will not survive radical change in South Africa must be dealt with . If we we eliminate the fear syndrome in the Conservative Party , will convert

it

to

a positive

imperative negotiating table .

that

is

It

when parks were

The

opened

force .

the Conservative heavens

to

all

did

races .

not

Party be brought fall

The

down

heavens

to

on South did not

the

Africa

fall

down

on South Africa when Section 16 of the Immorality Act was scrapped . down the Africa on South when not fall did heavens The The heavens did not fall down on Apprenticeship Act was scrapped . Africa Laws were South when Influx Control regulations and Pass scrapped . Members of the Conservative a new South Africa and like all people , can

which

only be

serviced

in the

Party are already living in they have vested interests.

realities

around

them .

however , Party a parliamentary force , the Conservative is As sterile . Conservative Party parliamentarians can bluster on their feet in the House and they can reduce the No Confidence debate to the political debate that it in fact became this year , but that is all they can do . truth is that Hendrickse

have

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , the political Mr. Amichand Rajbansi and the Reverend Allan more

can possibly hope much

about

what

parliamentary power than Dr. A.P. And that , Mr. Speaker , is not

for .

Dr.

Treurnicht

can only hope

Treurnicht saying very

for .

Party Federal hesitant to talk about the Progressive has who somebody kick to does not want one because fallen down . The PFP is smarting under the way in which it has been side - lined smarting growing the under It is force . parliamentary a as

I

am

very

26

evidence of the White electorate not seeing it as a Party capable vying successfully for power stakes . Its importance is not from the prospects of it becoming a derived major parliamentary of

force .

The

importance

of the

PFP

lies

Whether

elsewhere .

or not

it ever comes to terms with why it could remain important , I do not know . All I do know is that the very best in White liberalism needs protection and needs to be kept alive . The PFP does this .

I

thank

God

history Our were prepared the darkest they keep preservers

Black

for South Africa's is to

noble

liberal

sons and

daughters .

filled with dominating liberal personalities stand up and be counted in White South Africa .

who In Africa ,

hours of threats to everything decent in South flame alive which gives us all hope . a They are of decency which

South Africans

have

are quite incapable of parliamentary force .

is

added

long

since

to the

parliamentary

learned that

White

the

stew .

liberals

constituting themselves into a winning have learnt to value the best in White

liberalism and to live with the worst which inevitably accompanies the sour dough it as White radicals posture as liberals to leaven We have learnt of organisations like the Black Sash and of NUSAS . live to with the extent to which White liberals are so prone to Blacker justify their liberalism by leaning over backwards to be Inkatha , Speaker , Although than anything Black . We in Mr. Members , have not been able to throw our doors open to Honourable White liberalism for various reasons ; we have however , learnt the lessons to do stage

of history which teach us that Whites and Blacks have got a Black job to do

of our

history ,

as we move

towards

a

have got a White in politics at

non - racial

job this

South Africa .

When the history of the transition of South Africa into a democracy finally written , is we will only then be able to see the great As a value that White liberalism had for the politics of change . White national Black leader I cannot look the other way when some liberals ,

particularly

those

who

belong to

the

liberal

left ,

Sometimes a spade must blunder the way they are prone to blunder . be called a spade to stop White liberals using it as a toothpick . in We those Black politics must know where we stand with all we deal with . True genuine White liberalism backs the best that we do

to the

hilt .

I

have

always

appreciated

that

backing .

When

therefore , I register dismay whenever White cover up stupid things , I must be forgiven .

liberalism is used to It is against the fashioned , liberalism must be

anvil of Black politics that White but it must be fashioned by the Black into the White liberals are plough . themselves power

on the

When all

is

to

this

anvils

said and

fashioning of their own

done ,

Mr.

as

hand that beats the spear just as subject prone to they are prone to fashion Black

making .

Speaker ,

Honourable

Members ,

it

is

the National Party which Black South Africa has to deal with in the So It is of power and in the whole process of change . corridors of tragic that the State President has come so near to being a man

27

actually becoming a without history could as a Black leader have done I

man of to make

history . it

more What possible the for

State President to negotiate with Black South Africans about things vision of really saw realities way beyond the I that matter . present the and South African Prime Ministers White successive I refuse to become trapped into the dead end road State President . politics and I have kept alive the utility I have to my country of When the time comes that Whites recognise the need for of birth . Blacks with

Mr. 1988

real

I will be there .

power bases ,

Speaker , in surveying the South African political I now turn to Black politics .

We are all in our

political

own

leaders

in our

politics .

It

in which we liberation .

ourselves make our Unless we are

is vital

organisations are what we do . in sensitive stake Black

own

constituencies

constituencies within the broad

to the

to

understand the

context Black

own contribution fully aware of

situation

of

lead

and we

of South African

political

situation

to the struggle for what other Black

doing and why they are doing it , we will blunder There is too much at stake for us to be Black political

for us to be able to leaders .

situation

ignore the

and there

reality

of the

is

too

input

much at of

other

Whenever

I think about Black politics in this country , I think of the context of the vital necessity for Black politics to the soft underbelly of apartheid and to score political victories where the South African Government and White politics blunders . Every blunder which the South African generally it in attack

Government makes should give rise to a Black political gain . We are engaged in a struggle against apartheid . We are politically opposed to apartheid and to the ruling National Party which is the custodian of apartheid . Our first responsibility as Black leaders can in the struggle for liberation is to attack apartheid where it be attacked and to score against the National Party we wherever can .

I make these observations , Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , because the there is so much rhetoric in Black politics these days that country whole world is confused about what Blacks in this are doing . As I sum up the Black political situation , I want to avoid all polemic statements and present this House with an objective over-view of what is happening on the Black political front . Everything I say about Black politics will be guided by the thought that Black politicians should be in business to attack apartheid where apartheid can be attacked . We need to sharpen our focus on the

vulnerability

of the

South African

Government

because

imperative for us to attack the Government where it is I will assess Black political organisations against the of this statement .

it

is

vulnerable . background

28

Right the outset , at further observe that

Honourable Members , Speaker , fundamental question of what

Mr. the

I

must

kind

of government we are going to have after apartheid must constantly be kept in mind . One of my first observations about ANC , the the United Democratic Front and the Congress of South African Trade Unions , COSATU , is that they do not attack apartheid where it is most vulnerable . Their attacks on apartheid are motivated by an over - riding need so to attack it that they end up ensconcing the ANC Mission in Exile here in this country as a government returned from exile .

I must say very clearly that we in this House and we in Inkatha are not jockeying for power advantages to form a government of the future . Future governments will be elected by the people . It is they who will decide who will govern . We struggle to give the We this right . are therefore free to attack the South people African Government where it is weakest and to mount the tactics and strategies which will be most propitious for the emergence of people's

power at the polling booths .

Some very fundamental differences have emerged between the because we look to give ANC /UDF / COSATU alliance power and they look to give the ANC power . disadvantages because we are committed to racial electorate the sovereign right of This

fact

is a

that

is

frequently

so

Inkatha and people the

We suffer all sorts of giving a future multiwill . electing whom it

ignored .

When

you look across the media treatment of Black you politics , are generally will find that journalists and media commentators Party totally preoccupied with dramatic reports about Black advantages . political vying They portray Inkatha and the UDF as each other in the power stakes . with They make assumptions about Inkatha's motivation which are totally invalid . They are blind to the realities which demand analysis in terms of the contributions making the various political organisations are towards the emergence of a democratic

Inkatha

is

South Africa .

lambasted because

it

does

not

involve

itself in

school

boycotts .

Inkatha

is

lambasted because

boycotts ,

which are

basis

general

of a

not

Black

it

is

destruction

consensus .

lambasted because of Black

not

involve

discussed with us

have not been involved in the on the basis of intimidation .

Inkatha

does

local

That

and

itself

are

in

consumer

organised

on the

is the only reason why we

Consumer Boycotts which are organised

it

does

authorities .

not

involve

itself

in

the

29

Inkatha

There

is

lambasted

is

because

cheap

a

it

journalees

boycotts ,

opposes

sanctions .

that

assumption

boycotts ,

school

the and authorities They judge matters . really in participate to which they

of

destruction consumer sanctions is what of effectiveness by the extent Black organisations the

local

these things .

media ,

African South portrays a Black speaking , generally there is situation in which readers are persuaded that

political widespread Black agreement strategies . and tactics

just

ordinary Black which are

In in

these this

from which Inkatha exempts itself in its the about media make assumptions The The not

valid .

circumstances I must survey the Black political situation country by analysing the effectiveness of the tactics and

strategies where it

of different Black organisations in attacking apartheid and is weakest , and the effectiveness of the tactics

strategies of different Black organisations towards a multi - racial democracy .

The

Black

moving

South Africa

situation is a complex one and I am not going nice - sounding making over - simplify for the sake of of concept to go further than linking the have I

political to

attempt to statements . attacking

in

apartheid where

it

and the

is weakest

moving

concept of

I have to weave the South Africa towards a multi - racial democracy . attacking of mix the governments into international of input a towards it is weakest and moving South Africa where apartheid multi - racial

I

must

democracy .

add

this

dimension

because

foreign

intervention

in

the

confrontation internal Black - on - Black is assuming ever greater proportions . Not only has apartheid been internationalised as a interests but the vested foreign policy civil rights issue , of Western , and African Governments are always there in the USSR background .

I

must ,

in

however ,

be

such a way that

careful

simple

not

to

talk

statements

are

day - to - day politics

about lost

in the

complexity of

have been enumerating . We need precise perceptions about other and Inkatha in this House stand and about where an I will therefore adopt organisations stand . political Black at look and approach organisation for each organisation briefly SO I have that parameters the within organisation

factors I we where

sketched .

Mr.

Speaker ,

ANC /UDF /COSATU presently by

Sir ,

Honourable

alliance .

design

and by

Members ,

These three intent .

I

start

organisations

Together they are

with

the

hang together committed to

UNIV

The

30

the eradication of the free enterprise system . are Together they committed to making South Africa ungovernable . Together they are committed to remaining outside all possible negotiations with the South African Government . Together they are committed to magnify multiply and to incidences of confrontation and Mr. Speaker , Honourable in Exile

The

Members ,

as

the

representative

Exile

in

Mission

ANC

together they seek to

sole

organisations .

claim COSATU and the Commission

Internal

In the

establish the

ANC Mission

of Black South Africa .

be

to

UDF

their

Commission

- The

Report

prepared on Strategy and Tactics of the African National Congress , National African the 1985 , June in consumption internal for follows , on Consultative Conference spoke of the UDF as Congress page

11

of

" ... 1 ( h )

that

document

The United

:

Front

Democratic

1983 , has grown at an in rate , unprecedented and organising millions of our people throughout the

UDF , The mobilising

formed

country . Today it has over 700 affiliates representing over 1.5 million people . The regime has acted viciously against the UDF and its affiliates . Hundreds have been arrested , many killed and many charges , including facing the 16 leaders who are facing treason charges , the main content of the charge being that they were the front

section

Today the

ANC / SACP / SACTU alliance .

of the

main

issues

confronting

1.

Consolidation

2.

The necessity to bring

of

especially the

organisational in other

organisation

3.

Regional

4.

Work among

5.

African

leadership

6.

Debate

over

differences the

the

rural

UDF are :

structures . constituencies

of the working

on questions

of

into the

UDF ,

class .

strategy

and

tactics .

masses .

of

UDF structures .

whether

the

becoming an organisation

UDF

should

accepting the

change

from a

front

Freedom Charter as

to its

programme .

7.

The

necessity to

have

programme

a

of action

strategic

i.e.

planning . 8.

Does

9.

Necessity

UDF

involvement

10 .

Criticisms leadership

train

to

ideologically of

weaken grassroots

and

activists

and

organisations ?

cadres

politically ,

organisationally .

some

' populist '

sections and

of UDF

' socialist '

petty bourgeois .

-

that

UDF

31

Recommendations : 1.

We support both on

the

campaigns

regional

of the

UDF around which

and national levels

is

mobilisation

planned .

High cost

of

living

Education Militarism

Forced

removals

Influx

control

New Zealand Land

-

In

Rugby Tour

issue

Treason

trial campaigns

those

particular of

in

which are

with line defiance

of

spirit

a

generating

strategy

the and

2.

The

UDF

should tactics for the 3 .

We

base . its and does not narrow We on internally a position paper based the stage , at this united front and the necessity , front

remains a distribute of a

existence

continued

establish ANC

leadership .

of

such a

collectives within affiliates

These would not

act

sections of our movement fighting consolidation of the UDF .

4 .

We

take

initiatives

differences ,

front .

real

and

to

as

factions but

for the

resolve the

otherwise ,

as well

exist

and

the

as organised

strengthening

regional

that

as

of and

' idealogical '

within

the

UDF .. "

External ( The January Tambo boasted that they 1987 Mr. in and mass " these called he what had created of ANC ) Mission He stated " we have also succeeded to create revolutionary bases " . mass democratic organisations representative of these conscious and UDF , the masses ranging from Street Committees to COSATU , active the NECC and other affiliates and other democratic formations " .

ANC Mission in Exile has declared war on Inkatha and the UDF The and COSATU have done everything in their power to break the power Right Inkatha and to destroy its political credibility . from of was the outset the UDF declared war on Inkatha . The day that it launched the UDF leadership excluded possible co -operation with Inkatha . Right from the outset COSATU rejected Inkatha . It too declared war on

Inkatha

on the

day

it

was

launched .

ULNU

ungovernability .

32

There

against

only an ANC / UDF //COSATU alliance

is not

apartheid ;

The political there is an ANC / UDF / COSATU alliance against Inkatha . conflict between Inkatha , the UDF and COSATU was stage - managed into conflict has been nurtured ever since the UDF and The existence . launched .

COSATU were by the

It

has

The ANC / UDF / COSATU alliance They have reinforced vendetta

been

magnified

every possible way

in

COSATU .

UDF and

has

been demonstrated

publicly

abroad .

shared platforms in international forums and they have as each has waged its own each other international

against

Inkatha .

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , we on the other hand have held out our hand of friendship to all these organisations . not we who set the vendetta ball rolling . Black unity within a multi - strategy for

We have always pleaded approach in which each

organisation can do what each organisation circumstances . The totalitarian idiom of establish

itself

wants no other not control .

as

an

undisputed

organisation to It rejects a

always It is

can best do in its the ANC which wants

government

in a

one - Party

own to

State ,

develop a power base which it does multi - strategy approach in which

different Black organisations play different roles apartheid . They want a whip hand in everything

in opposition to that is done in

Black politics .

I must pause responsibility

here to go back to my statement that our first as Black leaders in the struggle for liberation is

against to attack apartheid where it can be attacked and to score the National Party wherever we can . I must now address the question

In

my

of where the

analysis

South African Government

of the National

Party ,

I

is

the weakest .

pointed

out

that

the

National Party is no longer monolithic and that social and economic are creating divisions in the Party's hitherto undivided realities no can I pointed out how the National Party loyalty . Afrikaner businessmen , the vested interests of many Afrikaans serve longer intellectuals

The

central

respond

to

and

churchmen .

theme the

of White politics is

problems

created

development . defence of

The CP / NP conflict the National Party's

apartheid . defence of

The how

towards

NP/ PFP little

for

now them

how by

Whites Black

should

political

is dominated by the rejection and gravitation away from classical or conflict is dominated by the rejection is moving or how much the National Party

reform .

Let us look at the National Party as government and ask where it is the undisputed political

it faces the responsibility of most vulnerable . In broad

fact the South African Government is condemned by every Party in in this country and by every Government the

33

world

of

because

its

apartheid

policies .

It

vulnerable

is

diplomatically .

In

South African Government

fact the

undisputed

broad

ability

normal

has

lost the

administrative

and

through govern It can in fact now only govern the way it governs under It is vulnerable to the democratic state of emergency . that it itself upholds as ideal and it is threatened by

to

processes . a national

legal

procedures Black democracy which pursues these procedures .

In broad undisputed fact the South African economy suffers terribly of the in South Africa and across the length and breadth because African the South in lack confidence of a is there world , The present rising hopes that we are entering a phase Government . further by dissipated overnight be could growth economic of political upheavals .

internal

In

broad

undisputed

fact

there

is now a

total

It

is

undisputed

fact

that

the

National

economic

in Blacks forming a Inescapably Blacks of the White man's vulnerable on the

Ani

dependence on Blacks . This inescapably results eat and sleep . majority wherever Whites work , are not political enemies who can be driven out The domains . South African Government is economic front .

White

Party is

experiencing

its

own internal problems . The breakaway movement was witness to this and the verlig / verkramp conflict is there in the National Party It itself . is there in the Church as the NGK struggle with White right wing Afrikaners who do not want to accept the equality of man in the eyes of God . It is there in Afrikaans universities and it is there in the business community . The South African Government has constituencies which are divided and these divisions work their way

right

Mr. the

Speaker , Honourable Members , South African Government

increases It

can do

up

into the

National

its towering just

what

it

Party caucus

as opposed on these

strength on the likes

and

cabinet .

to the vulnerability of levels , constantly it

military and police

in neighbouring

States

front .

and believe

me ,

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , we in this country have not even begun to see what security measures the South African Government could take inside the country . Given the massive powers it could use , should the scorched awesome .

it be driven to earth policies

really putting its back to that could flow from this

the wall , power are

repeat , Mr. I Speaker , Honourable Members , that when I look at Black politics in South Africa and when I look at Black political only groupings , I I look at them from the point of view of their utility which

in the cannot

struggle exploit

for the

liberation . weaknesses

Party A Black political African of the South

34

Government's position is worth nothing at all . Party that pits senselessly itself against strength and

ignores

its weaknesses ,

is

A Black political the Government's

stupid in the

extreme .

I make the broad statement when I talk about Black politics and the vulnerability of the South African Government that where the South African

Government

combined

Black /White

is

most

vulnerable ,

onslaught

against

it

is

most

apartheid .

vulnerable I do

to

not want

a to

digress too far here but I must just elaborate to say that Whites will close ranks against real threats to their physical well - being The more Whites are threatened and to military and police power . by acts of violence in revolutionary tactics and strategies , the more they will close ranks . It is tactics and strategies which where there are attack the Government where it is most vulnerable , the

best prospects

effective

I

action

make this

of producing

against

point

to

a united Black /White

front to take

apartheid .

say that

when

I

look

at

the

vulnerability

of

the Government and look at the utility of Black political forces , I Black forces which alienate themselves from White society as see being extremely short - sighted . No one the destiny of this country . This is a

race group will ever author multi - racial country and we

must

a multi - racial

use multi - racial

As a democrat , Black political

forces to produce

Honourable

Mr.

Speaker , organisations

and

Members ,

I judge their

future .

when I utility

look at in the

struggle for liberation , I must also necessarily look at the extent Ultimately it the to which they are rooted in the people . is people who have power and it political Parties power . organisation strongest ,

attacking and

Mr.

the South African

which alienates

and further has no

I now turn ,

isthe support of the people who give When therefore I find a Black

real

roots

Speaker ,

itself

in the

Government where

from White

masses ,

then I

Honourable Members ,

to

South must

it

is

Africans ; reject

look at

it .

specific

I do , however , have a difficulty here . Black political groupings . to have just again been witness to the State exercising powers We Spea Mr. must , I ker , organisations . political Black crush say very clearly that I as a Black leader have Honourable Members , of banning the banning of organisations and the rejected always . anyb for gain poli ody real no s achi Bann tica . eve individuals ings l been The United Democratic Front and other organisations have now banning actually without the South African Government restricted them .

They are

effectively banned .

The action taken against the UDF , COSATU and other organisations is action which will be detrimental to the politics of negotiation . broad point that for as long make the as the South African Government thinks that it can control Black politics by coercive on of the State , power on the part the basis which violence continues

to

spiral upwards will

remain

intact .

The only answer to

35

the politics of violence is the liberalisation and the unshackling of Black democracy .

Mr.

Speaker ,

I

am

in a difficult

position

of political

control

of not wanting to

kick an

organisation which is down . I cannot rejoice that the UDF , COSATU and other organisations are crushed under a jackboot of the State . these I cannot hold my tongue in criticism of On the other hand , using ordinary people , as organisations for and children even , cannon fodder and for bashing their heads against a solid brick wall . They have stupidly attacked the South African Government where their

it is strongest and their noses are now bloodied and it is fault . They tried the impossible and failed . We as Black

South avoid , action failed

The

Africans as by us ,

will be seen

as politically

stupid

if

much as possible , inviting the Governments continuing to follow tactics and strategies in the

we

do

not

predictable have that

past .

problem always

is

that when the

politics

of violence

leads

to

the annihilation of a political organisation on the ground here in this country , the whole struggle for liberation is set back . For a decade now Black politics has under - achieved in this country as the strength of Black South Africa has been dissipated on our street on corners in Black - on - Black confrontations and in futile attacks the military and police might

of the

State .

Honourable Members , Speaker , there are times when one cannot Mr. that I do not count my words today when I say count one's words . and leaders of kind of the purged is politics Black unless the at which blunder and blunder and blunder again organisations continued . the struggle , of the people's suffering will be cost of is one Black body politic and the defeat of any one part There of annihilation The makes the whole of it suffer some loss . it All the SASO and BPC in the 1970's is still fresh in our memories . talk at in the world by the leaders of these organisations brave another the time did not help these organisations survive to fight day .

I

want

to

make no predictions

about

what

will

happen

to

UDF ,

COSATU

and other organisations . I am merely pointing to the fact that in the history of this country Black group after Black group has its become annihilated on the ground because of the stupidity of relevant , by leaders who blundered until they ceased to be following tactics which play

I

must

whole

pussy - footing

the hands

of the minority Regime .

Honourable Members , Speaker , address the without Black politics in South Africa today issues , around some simply because altogether

therefore , question

into

Mr.

of

unacceptable action has

been taken against

17 Black organisations .

36

The

whole blame

be laid at Honourable

for the deplorable

Pietermaritzburg situation

the feet of the United Democratic Members , I will now analyse two

Front . Mr. documents in

draw attention to the deep ingrained deficiencies that the UDF . It is these deficiencies which led it to do do

must

Speaker , order to

are there in what it did

in the Greater Pietermaritzburg Area .

first

The

of these

dated 19 November his reply . The

letter

I

wrote

documents I

1987.

is Mr.

Archie Gumede's

had written to

to him was

as

letter

I want

him and

to

to

me

analyse

follows :

Mr. A. Gumede President

18 August

1987

United Democratic Front PO Box 48060

Qualbert ,

Dear

Mr.

4078

Gumede ,

whether it be at the local , believe that the right of a leader , for his or her own options present to , level regional or national I

I lies right at the core of democracy . the people to the people , other what to have got God - given democratic right to object a to alternatives and to seek support for advocating are leaders You as a those that they are advocating . When we thrust these rights same right .

Black leader have got the into the reality of South

must recognise that Blacks will not speak with That healthy difference of opinion which always different , altogether something is democracy Internecine conflict arises when however , to internecine conflict . by democratic rights for other Blacks are not allowed fundamental of It is not differences another Black leader or group . or one

African politics , one single voice . characterises a

we

apartheid . opinion which weakens Black South African opposition to is the killing of each other because of these differences which It undermines Black power .

I

make this

point

towards journey today because I

which

the

Black unity must proceed . I am writing to necessity believe it is an urgent national

you that

because

I

believe

it

is

a

point

from

Blacks now commence on that journey . I have long argued that the only Black very unity we can possibly have for the foreseeable is Black unity resting on the acceptance future a of a multistrategy approach we that once

in the Black struggle for liberation . I believe multi - strategy have accepted a approach the

multiplicity of strategies of purpose builds up hamstringing

If

history

will gradually dissolve as a real between organisations which are

unity now

each other .

demands

one

should employ , then democratic consensus

day that

we must that it

there

is

only

one

strategy

arrive at that one strategy is the strategy which needs

all

through to be

37

There is no short - cut to that consensus . violent drives it away and intimidation

employed . political drives

further away and does

it

Everywhere for Black

I

Every act of intimidation

rapidly .

so more

go I am increasingly coming across unity National in response to the

a grass root demand Party's landslide

victory on May 6th . I want to make the point to you that I would failing in be turn over my duty to history itself if I did not writing I am every possible stone in the search for Black unity . to you as President of the whether there are asking whether

UDF , some

from me as the President of Inkatha stones that need to be turned over

that you cannot turn over on your own and I cannot turn over on my Do we not need a joint commitment to seek Black unity between Inkatha and the UDF as our contribution to the development of an overall

Black

unity

of

purpose

in

the

Both you and I know that the intensity lives of your members and my members

struggle ?

of political moments have implications .

in the These

moments of intensity occur in an atmosphere charged with tension . This the makes halting of violent confrontation between Black brother brother and Black and Black sister and Black sister , intractable problems . I believe they have to be tackled present and they can best be tackled once there is a shared recognition that they must

be

tackled . A

here to stay . It cannot be for better or for worse , and those who challenge its right to exist and its and right to serve its aims and objectives , democratic believe do I do I Inkatha is not the struggle , challenge the struggle itself . just Both the UDF and Inkatha as much as the UDF is not the struggle .

Inkatha wished

is , away

servants of the struggle . The only point I am making is that ace It is Inkatha will be there in the struggle whichever way it goes . the extreme to of life which can only be ignored fact given a disadvantage

Inkatha sovereign system of

struggle

of the

strives

itself .

one South Africa ,

for

parliament franchise .

in

which

in which there is one and I believe these objectives

is

there

universal should be

one

adult shared

by all Black organisations , however they may differ from each other of cornerstones how give practical effect to these vital to on democracy . they believe ultimately the people must decide how I the The people will be governed in the end must be given effect . of they want to be governed . way All Black organisations worthy the

should

name

determining

I

am not

have

voice as

they

common choose

purpose in their

giving

the

people

a

destiny .

one of those who naively believe

that the oppressed

can be

expected to band together simply because they are the oppressed . the It is the very intensity of our oppression which has led intensity Black unity of views as to what we should do about it . will not fall like some kind of manna from heaven . It will have to

38

we be striven for . We will have to work for it night and day and will have to put it as one of our very highest priorities if it is ever to be achieved . I am writing to ask you to strive with me for its achievement .

I know that there have been ongoing discussions at different levels between Inkatha and the UDF . I see these discussions as neither detracting nor enhancing from Inkatha's political standing , nor do I see them as enhancing or detracting from the UDF'S political simply striving them first standing . I see as the towards consolidating to Black power in opposition apartheid . It is itself itself

history

that will

distill

out

of the Black

struggle

that

which is finally going to win the day . The day will be won and the are forces that going to be most relevant to victory will be distilled in Black is

It

inevitably going to be ours .

child

and

again on the question

intend

not

do

in

can best

how we

about

ordinary the love for motivates my approach to

for my country and it is in South Africa that

love

is

woman

I

Delays which

out of the totality of Black political endeavour . unity simply heap up the cost of the final victory

of Black

this

unity .

letter

go about

to

to

advance

enhancing

from your side advance Black unity .

endorsement

simply an can be done

man , you

of a

elaborate

Black

unity .

commitment

suggestions I

seek

in

it

to do whatever

Yours sincerely ,

( SGD . ) MANGOSUTHU G. BUTHELEZI PRESIDENT OF INKATHA

Mr.

Members , Honourable this letter reflects always been there in whatever we have done . held out the hand of friendship and appealed

Speaker ,

which has constantly

democratic right their views and

something I for

have the

of all leaders and all organisations to present tactics and strategies to the people for

arbitration .

I make this point again and again . I will never meet with leaders behind closed doors and decide on the destiny of South Africa .

The people must

their God - given right . them . If people have

author

their

own destiny .

other Black This is

I will not be party to taking it away from then got this God - given right , a multi-

strategy allowed

approach flows from a God - given right . If people are not Parties , to choose between their leaders and their they

have got

no

rights to

author the

destiny

of the

country .

39

I

make the

point ,

Mr.

Speaker , to

will defend its rights it costs us . whatever attitude the in

that My

on my part struggle .

Inkatha

that

Honourable Members ,

people exist and to campaign amongst the This statement is not a reflection of any Inkatha is the only political organisation and to right to defend my right to exist

it if amongst the people would be entirely hypocritical campaign others was not at the same time the right to defend the rights of If I denied them that to exist and to campaign amongst the people . By the same token anybody I would deny myself that right . right , the amongst campaign right to exist and to the denies me who people ,

denies

themselves

that

right .

Mr. Speaker , I will come back to this point shortly . Mr. to read the House the so - called letter which

I want Archie

now to Gumede

Speaker , Mr. signed in response to my letter . I say so - called , because the first I heard of it was when it was reported on in the editors media . It was written as an open letter and given to without

me

even seeing a

eventually

to

extract

copy of

a copy

it .

from Mr.

It

took me

days

of endeavour

Gumede .

cheap of It is a hideous piece a genuine letter . not is This international and national the UDF for by authored propaganda The Mr. Speaker . analysis , detailed needs It consumption . am

to which I

document

referring

reads

as

follows :

UNITED

DEMOCRATIC FRONT PO Box 48060

Qualbert Durban 4078 19

November

Dr.

M.G.

1987

Buthelezi

President PO Box 1

of

Inkatha

Mahlabatini 3865

Dear

Dr.

Buthelezi ,

Thank you

for

your

letter

dated

18

August

1987.

Given the

nature

of its contents and the importance of some of the aspects raised in your letter , I referred it to my Executive and all township - based affiliates of the United Democratic Front for comment . This process has synthesise discussions .

been some

partly of the

completed and this letter attempts to elements essential raised in these

40

The is

UDF affiliates were particularly insistent in principle in favour of discussions and

that while the UDF negotiations about

ways to resolve the violence presently being directed against our people , any such discussions occur must within properly a structured democratic framework . In this regard , the UDF prides itself

on

the

leadership , all levels .

fact

that

before

decisions

very wide consultation is Such consultation is at

are

taken

by

the

undertaken with affiliates at present very difficult given

the fact that the South African Government , the KwaZulu Government and Inkatha have in various ways restricted the opportunities available to our membership to meet , discuss and deliberate on various issues .

We in the United Democratic Front certainly agree with you that central three questions aced by anti - apartheid organizations

the at

present revolve around unity , strategy and democracy and that attempts to advance these must be wholeheartedly supported .

any As

will

become

clear

in

my

letter ,

however ,

believe

we

your

understanding of , and methods of achieving , particularly unity and democracy appears to be limited , and limiting . In brief , one might UDF's contrast your calls for ' Black unity ' with the call for your national unity . Instead nonracial of ' multi - strategy ' approach to removing apartheid , the UDF has consistently And while we unity in action ' in removing apartheid . agree that democracy is a God - given freedom require that there be of freedom of association , expression , freedom of Government

limited

would I letter ,

movement . done

have

freedoms we have

like and

right , democratic practices expression , freedom after freedom of organization , and

We believe that Inkatha very little to cherish

struggled

The UDF . sparing no

and and

the

KwaZulu

preserve

the

in in of

your

for .

points to reflect on some of the this indicate to you the through

of the affiliates tradition of rich

called for certainly

UDF is effort

raised feelings

the proud heir to the long in mobilizing and uniting

the and all

apartheid sections of our people for a determined struggle against South democratic non - racial of a united the establishment and yet another in expression , an was UDF birth of the The Africa . for people form , old desire of our oppressed centuries the of through learnt have Our people dignity . and freedom , justice bitter experience that freedom and democracy do not sky - they have to be struggled for and from the

descend simply have We won .

guns and death squads of the apartheid regime . overcome the jails , We have overcome every effort on the part of our detractors both in our country and the capitals of the West to disorganise and disrupt us .

The quintessence of the UDF has been unity in action in our march to a democratic South Africa . Our message unity of action against breadth of our

long and

every form of apartheid spread across the length and beloved land with incredible speed . Our people were hungry for freedom . They were eager to unite . If need be they are willing to die to rid themselves of the scourges of the apartheid

41

monster . individual Since

its

UDF does not belong to any one person or to any to any leader . It is the people's organization . inception the UDF has been embraced and nurtured by all

The or

Africa . sections of the people in every part of South has It higher for become quest a vehicle for our people's historical levels allies

An Our

of unity among the oppressed in the white community .

and their

increasing

number

of

essential pillar in the building of non - racial unity has been consistent efforts to engender co - operation and united action

among all

organizations committed to a democratic South Africa . In the UDF grew phenomenally . Since late 1985 , first year alone , struggling masses have laid the basis for a formidable working alliance among major national organizations : COSATU , SACC , NECC , SACBC . We have never turned away the hand of friendship and Co-

the our

operation from any organization with a genuine and proven mobilisation and action against apartheid .

As

keen student of history you are aware a never has movement had any difficulty in

operating within the political structures regime . Our watchword has always been

that

of our

of

democratic with people

set up by the apartheid to build unity in and the our victory demands

through action . We remain convinced that unity in action of all the oppressed people and democratic forces of our country whatever their of and regardless secondary differences they themselves on questions of policy , strategy and unity therefore to continue work for this prerequisite

the

working

record

the patriotic and organized strength among might have tactics . We shall as a fundamental

victory .

however , must forces convinced that all these equally are , We the enemy , their common our on direct and attacks attention costs and and at all its imperialist allies , regime , apartheid and the fratricidal strife which the enemy seeks to provoke avoid a now is case of Sabata Dalindyebo in the Transkei The abet . our people history . of To all the struggling masses of In the mid - 1970's too there was no problem in died a hero . supporting the struggle of the Labour Party to destroy the CRC from within . Nor has there been any contradiction in the UDF sharing a matter Sabata

platform with Enos Mabuza

of

Ka Ngwane .

decisive question therefore is not necessarily that of working The the What is decisive is or outside the state structures . within pursuit united ,

of the aims of the national democratic struggle to create a Specifically , this nonracial and democratic South Africa .

includes ,

inter alia

the

isolation

of the

apartheid

non - collaboration with and the

repressive

security

regime

isolation

forces

on of

every all

front .

sections of

42

the development

of people's

organizations

fighting against all forms of racism and tribalism . Ours is a struggle to end the forcible denationalization of the African

ending

majority .

the bantustan

system which

the apartheid system . federal , confederal designed to

is

the

cornerstone

of

This involves the rejection of all other and regionalized solutions

perpetuate

minority

rule .

In the light of these aims it is important to analyse the practices of officials of Inkatha in order to understand the basis upon which differences . our we might resolve It is the divisive and undemocratic

practice

and

provocative

rhetoric

the greatest impediment to any meaningful leadership and the democratic movement . practice of democracy be addressed .

and

support

of

Inkatha

that

is

unity between the Inkatha In particular , Inkatha's

for the apartheid

system need

to

The practice of democracy

democracy The practice of conditions are met :

requires

1.

Freedom of

association ,

2 .

Freedom of

expression

3.

Freedom of

movement ,

4.

Freedom of organization .

Unfortunately , for the UDF . the exercise

in

and

Natal / KwaZulu

that

freely

One could of many

pre-

four

expression ,

freedom after

such pre - conditions do

not

exist

Not only are the affiliates of the UDF restricted in African of these fundamental freedoms by the South

Government , but elements of Inkatha and an active role in ensuring that members to

least

at

associate ,

speak ,

move ,

the KwaZulu government play allowed of the UDF are not

organise ,

and ,

indeed ,

live .

cite numerous instances in support of this statement , in these were noted by our affiliates questioning

and the

sincerity of your letter . We have enclosed some appendices wherein me further claims are itemised , but to refresh your memory let provide you

with a

few

fairly well - known

directly involved in restricting rights . Lest you claim that the UDF freedoms I would like to has been brought to

point trial

instances

in which

Inkatha

people's God - given democratic also actively inhibits these

out that no senior member for restricting these

of the UDF freedoms .

Regrettably , this contrasts with the case of Inkatha where of senior officials have been convicted for such offences .

a

number

43

( a)

Officials

organization

of

Inkatha

have often

forced people to

its

join

and/or pay dues

In many parts of KwaZulu - Natal there forced people of Inkatha have to

have been reports that members join the organization . In

addition , threats have been given by you to people in the employ of the KwaZulu Government . Only last December , for example , you made it clear that it is Inkatha " policy to expect our [ KwaZulu ] civil servants to identify with us " , and that UDF members were " unwelcome in state employ . " Forcing medical practitioners and students to constitutes pledges sign also in mind my an unreasonable infringement enforcement

of fundamental people's of this loyalty pledge

rights . We believe has caused clashes

Ulundi where pledge . the

that the even in

many Government employees have been unwilling to The situation has reached a most unfortunate allegations where are made that your security officers interviewing to check on government employees ' trustworthiness

to

sign stage are their

Inkatha .

There

instances are even where law - abiding ( and sometimes apolitical ) citizens have been victimised when refusing to succumb to the pressure from Inkatha officials . Take the case of two residents of Lindelani who refused to pay the following dues to an

Inkatha Central Committee member : " R5 for an Inkatha subscription fee , R1.50 the Inkatha Women's Brigade , for R3 for the United Workers Union of South Africa , R2 for the Inkatha Building Fund , and R3 for Tshabalala's bodyguard Having fund . " successfully defended in court their right to not pay these monies , their house ( including all their belongings ) was burnt down by Inkatha vigilantes . result As a action , this of law -abiding these citizens , who belong to no political organization , lives and have not returned to Lindelani .

(b) the

Officials UDF

and

of

Inkatha ,

other democratic

and particularly you ,

feared

are

for their

intolerant

of

organizations

You have often attacked our democratic organizations arguing that our style of politics would produce a one - party state . But the very practices and product of Inkatha appear to characterise what you interpret as the worst features of a one - party state . Included here would be Inkatha's control over the KwaZulu legislature , the prohibition of opposition parties in KwaZulu , the suppression of organizations

( such as COSAS )

long

before the

apartheid

regime

So, the concentration of power in your hands , and the like , all which do not really indicate Inkatha to be a democratic party

did of in

operation .

I believe it is not an and Inkatha generally ,

understatement to say that you personally , are more hypersensitive to criticism than

the South African Government . Witness here , the fact legal action against almost anyone criticising you or

that you take Inkatha . And

44

your

statement

over the

tragic

Ngoye affair

could

also be regarded as overly sensitive : " continuing to label me as a sell - out is going to have ugly repercussions . We know just how powerful we are . We know we walk onto the campus any day of can and the week do whatever we want to . "

Inkatha's intolerance of democratic organizations is evidenced also Mr. by statements made by senior Inkatha officials . For example , argued that " he longed for the day that there will be Tshabalala open war between the UDF and Inkatha - it will prove who is who in gun alone the political war . " Tshabalala continued , saying his would " leave hundreds of UDF supporters dead on the battlefields . " when , King Goodwill Zwelithini has made this intolerance clear in attack on the ANC , an he said any criticism of you was " an insult to

himself and the

entire

Zulu

nation . "

The

attacks Inkatha on highly by respected individuals within communities is well documented . Take , for instance , the case of a Methodist Minister in KwaMashu , who said in 1985 that : " I was made to

walk down the road in broad daylight ( by Inkatha vigilantes ) . of the men were armed . I was forced to wave my fist in the air , and chant , " The UDF is a dog . ' About a hundred yards from my home , I saw Mr. Tshabalala of the Lindelani area . He is a well known Inkatha figure . He was with a large crowd of men . Only when I agreed to come to the stadium on the following Sunday , they did

Many

agree to life . "

This

release

me .

intolerance

of

I

no

longer

democratic

live

in

KwaMashu

organizations

has

as

I

often

fear

for

my

resulted

in

the violent breakup might remember the

of UDF meetings by Inkatha . For example , you organised meeting at Hammarsdale , welcome to Robben Island prisoners , back and which was broken up by Inkatha members who attacked UDF supporters cars . and burned their Apparently , kill it !

your

response was

that

when

people

see a

rabid

dog

they

And the sad history of areas such as Hambanati and Mpumalanga where Inkatha violently drove out UDf activists provides further evidence of Inkatha's intolerance of democratic organizations . As a JORAC pointed out a few years ago : " JORAC went to reason with official Inkatha , stating that oppressed people ,

the war we were waging was not against fellow but against the Nationalist Government .

Opposition to incorporation in KwaZulu was against the government's ideology aimed at making people lose their citizenship rights . But Inkatha

The

refused

to

understand

NECC conference

last

year

our

point

also

of

view . "

indicated

the

lengths to

which

Inkatha must go to remove democratic organizations . You claimed violent events which " took place there were not orchestrated Inkatha ! " Yet , buses transporting the vigilantes were booked another Inkatha , vehicle was traced to the KwaZulu Department

the by by of

45

Works and even the South African Police indicated the in the violence was " backed by Inkatha . " You claimed central committee member organised " was directly linked to it .

the

leadership Inkatha's has consistently tactics democratic organizations . of

violence

yet

impi involved " no [ Inkatha ] Mr.

Tshabalala

strategy opposed the and The opposition of widely-

supported stayaways in the Transvaal ( 1984 ) , Eastern Cape and Natal ANC ( 1985 ) were opposed by Inkatha on the basis that the UDF and were hijacking the unions ! In November 1984 you warned that you would " crush those trade union leaders who allowed themselves to be used as pawns to get at Inkatha and its leadership . " In September 1985 Inkatha opposed the consumer boycott in support of dismissed BTR Sarmcol workers and in 1987 Inkatha bussed Ladysmith to break the consumer boycott of the OK

supporters to Bazaars retail

chain . The violence used by Inkatha leaders and members against the UDF and COSATU activists in the tragic events of Pietermaritzburg also indicate the lengths to which Inkatha has democratic of traces all crush and to remove order in gone

organizations .

(c)

Inkatha's

tribalism

Inkatha's intolerance of democratic organizations often becomes displayed as opposition to non - ' Zulus ' . While using the rhetoric of non - racialism you and Inkatha members have repeatedly used racial and ethnic terms to attack democratic organizations . Frequently , members Inkatha have claimed non - Zulu agitators are strategy the behind and tactics employed by democratic organizations . " Xhosa and Sotho lawyers " were accused of paying school - children in KwaMashu in 1980 to Similarly , boycott . you opposed incorporation the of Ingwavuma into Swaziland because " Zulus would never live under Swazis " , when democratic organizations based their opposition not on tribal arguments but on the fragmentation and denationalization that would result from such incorporation .

addition , In you often couch political conflicts in ethnic terms . For example , you referred to the Anglican priest and UDF patron Xundu was " abusing Mcebisi as a " Xhosa priest troublemaker " who Xundu Reverend was you . Zulu hospitality " by criticising eventually forced to leave Natal because close down his Lamontville church .

King this

Zwelithini's inflammatory He claimed in tribalism .

want to drive the Zuluness out will be eradicated one by one . forged

as

a

people

statements for 1984 ,

of threats by

Inkatha

to

of are further examples example , that " those who

of the souls of the people of Durban We are the people of warrior blood ,

in war and peace .

46

Your continuing

attacks

in my view provide

2.

Inkatha's

strategy On the

other

support

Your and Inkatha's apartheid regime

on

' Indian '

instances

of

within

racism and

for the apartheid

participation in the is no longer another

approach necessitated by contrary , participation

administration has become and has

leaders

the

UDF

and

ANC

tribalism .

system

bantustan structures manifestation of a

objective political in and control of

of the multi-

conditions . the KwaZulu

been consciously developed as the foundation your designs to , political fundamental

of , and

ambitions .

It is a matter of profound regret that an organization which showed such immense promise to mobilise our struggling people against the used to Our Vorster /Botha regime was instead direct people's energies towards

aggrandisement

creating greater attacking student

is

no doubt

helped

to

avoid the

eliminating

and

that

strategy

divisions within

and political

people who you There

failing

a

of

say

organizations

and

refusal

ranks of the people

democratic

should be given a

your

farce

the

of

absurdity

civic ,

' determining for

independence of

the

Ciskei ,

believe

that

Inkatha's

weak

democratic

and

very

voice . ' KwaZulu

Transkei

other homeland governments . The edifice of apartheid , not about to collapse because of this strategy .

We

youth ,

created by the

however ,

and is

anti -apartheid

credentials arise out of the Inkatha's participation in , and active development Inkatha of structures within , the apartheid system . has actively accommodated itself to participating in the apartheid participation Community Inkatha's system . in the Councils , administration , bant ustan the promotion of ethnicity , the opposition to democratic organizations such as the UDF , and the like has not served to undermine these structures , but in fact has credibility given them among supporters of the South African Government .

Overall ,

in

the

liberation of our beloved country needs to be addressed . indeed , the people are the deciding factor and their will

I

would

submit

to

you

that

Inkatha's

role

If , the

cornerstone of democracy , then we must submit that any liberation that is , strategy must be based on the role of the people , united mass action .

47

be

can

There

no freedom without

struggle ;

no

struggle

without the

sacrifice . No strategy which avoids appropriate context with short enemy regime can have any hope of success both in the long terms .

This

is not

a

mere

elite in an organization . This to - day struggles , victories and

strategy

devised

by

a

leader

is the course chartered defeats of our people .

and or an

by the

The violent confrontation between sections of our people to the " intensity of political moments " but is a direct

is not result

day-

due of

political strategy . your Violence against our people by Inkatha , vigilantes , and the security forces separately or the together was inevitable . The attached Appendix 2 provides a few examples of this violence

directed

by

Inkatha

towards our

organizations .

eager However we are for unity among all anti - apartheid peoples , interpreting however and generous we may be in the violence UDF , in any directed towards the can we meaningfully engage workers , discussion on joint commitment to unity while daily our families of activists and people generally youth , and are being terrorised by

Do

we

not

commitment

and the

security

forces .

commitment of type different a - a maximum of conditions for the moulding our against apartheid and all sections of

need instead to create the

among

unity

Inkatha

all

forces

people ?

If there is a genuine desire on your part for unity in our quest to willingness dismantle apartheid , there must certainly also be the climate to address and act on the following urgently to create a for peaceful

co - existence .

At the very least you need to take 1. unleashed by Inkatha aggression and the of out and in both affiliates of harassment and with interference

steps to stop the violence our of members against Here , the townships . youth , civic , democratic

women's trade union and other community - based organizations must be and disciplinary measures taken against publicly condemned by you , KLA especially Inkatha Central Committee and any Inkatha members , members who violate these of democracy .

2.

In

the

interests

basic

of

freedoms

unity you

necessary

should

for

the

publicly

yourself from the intimidatory actions of the KwaZulu and should resolve to never collaborate with the SADF

practice

distance

police force , and SAP . At

to decisively the Inkatha leadership should act time , same the incitement of with and collusion encouragement , any condemn local and death squad actions against our activists and vigilante

48

Moreover,

leadership . Minister of commitment

Police

to

in

many KwaZulu

democratic

feel your

affiliates is

as portfolio ged alle your

contradictory with

practices

and overthrowing apartheid .

3. You and Inkatha spokespersons should desist from all forms of COSATU , public attacks on the UDF , their affiliates and other democratic channels

organizations . We would be happy to criticism , communicating for any

create appropriate suggestions or same our affiliates . At the freely practices to operate

apprehensions about the actions of time , you should allow democratic without fear of recriminations , whenever

criticisms are made of Inkatha . Your obsession with seeking legal redress whenever public criticism is made of you should stop in the interests of public

debate .

4.

You

should

actively commit

yourself to the

development

of

and democratic community genuinely representative and political This would include allowing all organizations among our people . democratic organizations the use of facilities under the control of the KwaZulu government ( halls , meeting places , etc. ) for the purpose of strengthening their organizations and the democratic process . The Our

development for

struggle

of mutual a

commitment

non - racial

to

democratic

the

building

South Africa

unity

in

is going

to

of

Those of us be a long and strenuous process as you have observed . tolerance and humanity steadfastly to pursue that have the vision , impediments this process must do everything necessary to clear all to walk easy this " no aptly called , Mandela comrade what on freedom . " The

UDF ,

its

numerous

affiliates

majority of our people have action , not only in words . have paid a freedom .

heavy price ,

and

allies

and the

overwhelming

clearly demonstrated this commitment in patriots Many generations of gallant

even with

their

lives ,

in our

struggle

for

A decisive hour is at hand . I ask that we set aside our personal desires and ambitions to put the interests of our people first . leadership The art of every true is to endeavour make to acknowledge the errors of the past , recognise the need to remove those impediments within one's control and contribute everything possible

for

the

advancement

of our

suffering

masses .

We will be eager to pursue the quest for unity once your commitment above in to Our the can be seen by all who live and observe struggle . Sincerely ,

( SGD . ) A. GUMEDE President United Democratic

Front

49

I

have

it

read

into

the

Honourable Members ,

Speaker ,

Mr.

records ,

Future analysts to put the record straight . today will see it for what Africa South in on a path to nowhere and the future actually however , it is hideously Right now , true .

of what it is .

happening is UDF The is

be will show this to Black destructive of

of The document has a kind history now so demands . which unity When , do . glib plausibility about it as all pieces of propaganda only not you , detail you take it apart and look at it in however , start that it is a piece of political propaganda but you also see inadequacies as it seeing a mirror reflecting the deep the of inadequacies its of foolhardiness and the criminal Front Democratic United : paragraph second the in sentence this , example Take , for bravado .

is

" The UDF affiliates were particularly insistent while the UDF negotiations about principle in favour of discussions and in

to ways people ,

resolve the violence presently being directed discussions must within occur such any democratic

structured

Mr.

framework . "

immediately

Gumede

or against a properly

goes on to

say that

the

UDF

leadership

and at all levels before making decisions present say that such consultation is " at

its affiliates consults immediately on to goes

very difficult given the fact that the South African Government and restricted the KwaZulu Government and Inkatha have in various ways. and ip discuss , e meet to membersh ities our to availabl the opportun "1 deliberate on various issues .

Mr.

Speaker ,

who could election .

not In

there is

not

one

single

elected

member

of this

have been opposed in his constituency during fact Independent Candidates stood against

House .

the last Inkatha

Candidates . There is nothing in KwaZulu's constitution and there is nothing in practice in KwaZulu which necessitates Inkatha having to win every elected seat in the House . There was nothing at all to have stopped the UDF from presenting its case to the people and being

elected

to

this

Assembly .

It is the UDF which has endorsed itself out of the political power advantages winning that come with fighting an election , it and controlling always the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly . We have struggled can lead

for a multi - Party democracy . in an elected body facing an

come because

that

is what

we are

committed

the It is UDF's insistance on political principle that has led the people . Not only this , Mr. the It

UDF is is

itself structured

an affiliate

so

organisation

I yearn for the day when I That day opposition . will to bring

raising non - participation to a to its inability to consult with Speaker , Honourable Members , but that

it

and no

cannot

UDF

consult

leader has

before a grass root membership to account for his The UDF does not want to consult with the people . where committees connive in committee structures , committees

which

represent

yet

about .

other

committees .

the

people .

ever to

stand

or her actions . It only wants to represent other

50

deep

This

of separating

malady

leadership

the

from

root

grass

of the country has its origins in the trouncing of the BPC , people these of Leaders 1970's . other organisations in the and SASO set themselves confrontationist tasks in which their organisations not bloodied because they tackled that which they could God knows how I abhorred through to its logical conclusion . take which the brutality of the State which crushed the ANC and PAC and This 1970's . in the in and other organisations BPC the crushed

noses were

abhorrence

of

brutality has ,

State

however ,

not

driven

to

me

and power Because the State had the brutal insanity . political confrontationist crush to necessary power brutal used the State , the many violent opposition from courting organisations an have leaders indulged in the romanticism that you could Black organisation without

They argued

in the

members .

late

1970's

that

putting a man or a woman's

name

on a membership list gave the State a name and address to attack . There was the romanticism which thought that political constituencies can be dispensed with as though Black leaders have got some kind of magic access to the hearts and minds of people and could read what was in them . We , Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , even know that that is political balderdash . We know that hard , the revolutions have to start with grinding work of organising people . political power .

We know that

there

are no short

cuts

to

lasting

The ANC itself became intensely aware of its failure to properly mobilise people prior to being banned . Mr. Oliver Tambo himself sent me a message after the 1977 bannings urging me to learn from the into

history of the ANC . He pointed out that after they had gone exile , they suffered the terrible disadvantage that they had no viable structures inside South Africa . He said that the ANC was leadership attention structures .

heavy and that they should have paid a great to the need to develop local and regional

I did not have to be taught this lesson by Mr. part of the ANC structures and in the 1960's I nothing on the ground to support what they abroad . I myself had learnt the lesson and I as

I

organised

Inkatha

and

organisation with democratic local and regional leaders .

developed

it

procedures

to

as

deal leadership

I was Oliver Tambo . was knew that there were trying to do applied that lesson a

membership - based

ensure the

importance

of

There is another bit of political reality which I must bring to the same Black members . In the 1976/77 period , the attention of leaders who were abandoning membership - based organisations were actually convinced that the South African Government was on the run that the struggle would be over within a year or two . They conceived of themselves as being supported by some kind of totally invincible historical surge forward of Black power . How ismally and wrong who they were . They abandoned the people

51

yearned

to be organised .

They abandoned the people who had

been

more than a decade in which there were no viable political through for demand a was There this country . in here organisations express could the people themselves which within organisations their

their aspirations and direct

We You see

leaders .

1983/84 had a repeat of this kind of euphoria in the period . only have to read the ANC's broadcasts from Radio Freedom to the documentation of this view that the end had at last come

within sight . The euphoria spread and spread and once again Black leaders saw themselves being pushed forward by an invincible tide history . of UDF complains that it Now the has difficulty in consulting with the people .

I make a further point , Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , I will not be gagged because the UDF , COSATU and many other organisations have betray been battered by Draconian measures . I cannot the now membership of Inkatha and I cannot betray the millions of Black sitting silent South Africans who look to me for leadership by because the UDF , COSATU and other organisations are facing yet again a South African situation in which those with double agendas orchestrated by elitist leaders out of sight of the people have been battered so brutally by the State . This in itself is a matter of great

regret

to

all

of us .

Mr.

Speaker , Honourable Members , we continue the struggle to give the COF , COSATU and whoever the right to exist and the right to present their case to the people . If the UDF ever does survive to enjoy the right to consult the people , it will be because we on our side drove forward into the future never abandoning the cause of liberation . The objectives we seek , much for the UDF and COSATU as we do

go I on document :

that

to

the next

point

I want

Mr. for

to

Speaker , are ourselves .

pick

up

in

objectives as

Mr.

Gumede's

"We in the United Democratic Front certainly agree you with the three central faced questions by anti -apartheid

organizations at present democracy and any that

revolve around unity , strategy these attempts to advance must

wholeheartedly supported . As will become clear in however , we believe your understanding and of , achieving , particularly unity and democracy and limiting . "

appears

and be

my letter , methods of

to be limited ,

Mr. Gumede says that while I call for " multi - strategy " approaches , calls for " unity in action . " He again complains that the UDF KwaZulu and Inkatha have restricted the freedoms on which unity in action must

depend .

He

says

that :

52

I

Inkatha

people

That

I

that

UDF members were

I

1

forces threaten

force

to

people

medical

join

it .

employed by the unwelcome

practitioners

in

KwaZulu

State

and students

That my security officers are interviewing their trustworthiness to Inkatha .

1

That citizens succumb .

That

have

been

victimised

houses who

burn down people's

I

Government

and

employ . to

sign

people

when

pledges . to

they

refuse to

establish

refuse

pay

to

Inkatha

fees .

subscription

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , it is because Mr. Gumede lives there in some political cuckoo land that he is totally unaware

out of

democratic practice throughout the free world . Nowhere in the free authority employ world does any State department or any local anybody who is committed to undermine the State violently , murder for

political

Everywhere

purposes

in the

and to destroy the

free world ,

civil

property of the

servants

whatever Party they want to join , but nowhere civil servants allowed to use their official Party political

aims

hostile

to

the

are

State .

allowed to

join

in the free world are positions to further

administrations

they

serve .

I will continue to insist that we in this House are responsible for money that Blacks are spending money that is rightfully the to . it the Black tax payments ; entitled It is is the Black contribution to the profitability of companies ; it is the Black involvement

in

the

economy

itself which

entitles them to

a

fair

share of the wealth of the State . We do not have a fair share and we will never have a fair share while there is taxation without representation . The burden of responsibility we bear to do the best we can with the little that we do get , demands that we do the best we

I

can with the

will not

tolerate

strategies aimed people of KwaZulu . to

little

any

that we have got .

civil

servant who is

party to

tactics

and

at destroying KwaZulu property and killing the House I simply demand a pledge to assist this

carry this burden .

Mr.

Speaker , Honourable Members , Mr. Gumede is just unreal as the idiom goes . modern He paints a picture of Inkatha having a mass because membership the we extract membership fees from people at

point

of

a gun .

Mr.

Speaker ,

Honourable Members ,

if

it

possible to do this , if it was possible to gather a membership over the short space of ten 1.5 million in years through

was

of the

politics of intimidation , the ANC / UDF /COSATU alliance would long since have had a combined membership of more than 25 million . It is they who specialise in the politics of intimidation . It is the ANC which exhorts Black South Africans to kill their fellow Blacks

53

who

disagree

them

with

politically .

It

is

the

ANC

which

is

attempting to popularise the slogan : " Every combatant a patriot and every patriot a combatant . " It is the ANC which is attempting to multiply incidences of Black - on - Black confrontation in their attempt

Mr. of

to

be the

Speaker , looking

ability to

only political

organisation

Honourable Members , at Black political

attack the

South

of

note .

I constantly come back to my theme organisations in terms of their

African

Government where

it

is weakest .

As a leader locked in the struggle for liberation , the only merit I could ever find in any Black organisation is the merit that it has to

make

we must

a

contribution to the

attack the Government

One of the gravest

areas

of

eradication where

it

concern

I

of apartheid .

To

do

this

is weakest .

have

always

had is a

concern

that apartheid could be strengthened by the Government establishing political arenas in which it trounces all Black opposition . The Government's homeland policy has had to be opposed . Where did the non - participation principles succeed in trouncing the Government in the arenas that the Government has created for its own . victories ? How did the non - participation principle assist the millions of our brothers who were abandoned in the TBVC regions ? What would have happened in KwaZulu had we in Inkatha not trounced the South African Government here in this arena ? What could the UDF have done for the people of KwaZulu as the Government attempted to cajole and force persuade , to accept its offer of so - called independence ? We have done our job of work here and we have gone do the next job . on to We have defeated apartheid here in this House . We not only were victorious here in this House but we then used

We

this

victory

continue to

as

a

springboard

mobilise

for

the people

further

victories .

in opposition

to

apartheid

and

we continue to expand Inkatha's horizons to go on to break down the barriers between Black and Black as well as between Black and other erect . race groups which apartheid has so desperately attempted to We smash down these barriers in the politics of negotiation and is real for the first time in the history of South Africa there politik on the ground in a major race group jointly support the replacement

Our

by a

opposition

whole of South

multi - racial

in

region in which members rejection of apartheid

society .

participation has

Africa

depends

in the stirring political KwaZulu / Natal region has

on .

Mr.

Gumede it

structures .

has

to

can be He says :

the

fought ,

the

of the

UDF

have taken place in of real politik .

the Now

The non - participation

developments that endorsed them out

deny

which

been an opposition

they complain that they are not able to

wherever

every of its and

consult

importance

of

whether

is

it

the people .

apartheid fighting outside or inside

54

" The

is not

decisive question therefore

that

necessarily

of

What is decisive working within or outside the state structures . the pursuit of the aims of the national democratic struggle is to united , a nonracial create and democratic South Africa .

Specifically ,

this

includes ,

inter alia

the isolation of the apartheid non - collaboration the repressive

with and

security

the development

regime

isolation

on every front . of all

sections

of

forces .

of people's organizations .

fighting against all forms of racism and tribalism . Ours of is a struggle to end the forcible denationalization the African majority .

1

ending

the bantustan

the apartheid system . federal , confederal

system which

is the

cornerstone

of

This involves the rejection of all and other regionalized solutions

designed to perpetuate minority

rule . "

Speaker , Mr. I am always so infuriated with the lack of political We cannot sophistication amongst so many Black political leaders . about thing first idiots who do not know the blundering afford One of the problems that I again and again have to face objectives with Black leaders so often confuse aims and strategies . and an is apartheid of isolation The

politics . that is tactics

The development Non - collaboration is an objective . objective . forms Fighting all is an objective . people's organisations racism and tribalism is an objective . The ending of bantustans an objective .

Mr.

Gumede

agrees with me .

He

calls them

of of is

" aims " .

The people want more than the aim of isolating apartheid . They want and to know how it is going to be done . They want tactics strategies

Those who They want

which

can do

so .

this want non - collaboration want more than objective . Speaker , to know how it can be brought about . Mr.

Honourable Members , we strive for non - collaboration ourselves with everything we have got . We strive to prohibit the South African Government succeeding in making us party to our own subjugation . are succeed . Where the We have tactics and strategies which tactics and

strategies

of the

UDF which succeed ?

People want more than the objective of fighting all forms of racism and tribalism . Racism to us is hideous and if tribalism is what Mr. Gumede makes tribalism out to be , then it too is hideous . We have got tactics and strategies which attack racism and which attack the fragmentation of South Africa where each fight for their own benefit . Speaker ,

Honourable Members .

We

have

groups into so many small We have succeeded , Mr.

turned

KwaZulu

into

a

bastion

55

of

strength in the

done

for

struggle

South Africa

foremost as do better situations

and

for

in

liberation and everything we do ,

everything we do we act

South Africans . How does Mr. Gumede than we have done when he endorses in which it can be done ?

first

is and

think that he himself out

can of

their of the UDF Screaming that only am utterly sick and tired struggle the comprehend the totality of strategies and The UDF's leadership does not have tactics and against apartheid . I

tactics

they Protest , goals . specific capable of achieving strategies , those batter ; confront , scream they confront , ; protest scream , UDF the way and confront the don't protest scream , they who and as though so long as there is protest protests and confronts ,

Everywhere Mr. the

the

Speaker , document

in the struggle

headway will be made

confrontation ,

UDF

for

screams that the Freedom Charter

liberation .

says

it

all .

Honourable Members , I respect the Freedom Charter for is that it is , but I never delude myself that it a

Charter of action or that it even approaches being a constitution . There are in it only broad objectives that were set in the 1950's phase of the struggle for liberation . It was never authored to be a Charter for political action in the 1980's . It simply reflected the mood of the people who met at Kliptown in 1955. The UDF has more to do than uphold the Freedom Charter . It has to devise tactics the

and

strategies which can bring about

Freedom Charter

Where

the

in

brother

against

sets

for

objectives

which

them .

Freedom Charter

is

Black brother ,

and Black child against is there a mandate

the

there a

Black

mandate

sister against

Black parent ? Where to do everything

to

set

Black

Black sister

in the Freedom Charter possible to produce

actually What the UDF internecine Black - on - Black confrontation ? Then does on the ground is alien to the politics of the 1950's . Black South Africans struggled with the ANC to bring about Black political unity . They struggled with the ANC to join peasant and townsmen into one united whole . the ANC was a quest which was highest Blacks .

In

possible political

the document " The

Mr.

practice

Gumede

This whole quest for unity around democratically pursued with the

value being placed on unity between all

signed as a

of democracy

letter to me ,

requires

that

at

he

least

says : four

conditions are met :

1.

Freedom of association ,

2.

Freedom of expression

3.

Freedom of movement ,

4.

Freedom of organization .

and

freedom after

expression ,

pre-

1

56

Unfortunately , for the UDF . the

exercise

in

Natal / KwaZulu

such pre - conditions

do

exist

not

Not

only are the affiliates of the UDF restricted in of these fundamental freedoms by the South African

Government , but elements of Inkatha and the KwaZulu government play an active role in ensuring that members of the UDF are not allowed to

freely associate ,

Mr.

Gumede

charges

Opposition

speak ,

Inkatha

to what

the Transvaal

in

1

With threatening

move ,

calls

he

indeed ,

live . "

Eastern Cape

the

stayaways

" widely - supported "

crush trade

and

Natal

in

1985 .

in

unions .

Opposing dismissed

the BTR

consumer boycott Sarmcol workers .

in

Breaking

the

consumer boycott

of the

in

and ,

with :

1984 , to

organise ,

September

OK

1985

in

Bazaars

in

support

of

Ladysmith

1987 .

Going

to

extreme

lengths

in the

use

of

violence

in

the

1 Pietermaritzburg area

against

the

UDF and COSATU .

Speaker , Mr. Honourable Members , Mr. Gumede does Inkatha was not consulted about any one of these

not mention that confrontationist

manoeuvers .

it

The

UDF apparently believes

that

once

has

dictated ,

the whole of Black South Africa must say yes sir , and support what they are doing . It is the UDF which has rejected Inkatha from its very inception and it is the UDF which does not want Inkatha involved in what it is attempting to do . Our members are to involve themselves in stayaways and boycotts because dictates that of democracy .

they do so . It dictates

supposed the UDF

The UDF's action amounts to travesties and then it intimidates to ensure that

what it attempts can succeed . Democracy is based programme to the people and in persuading them to choice .

on presenting a by accept it

we are looking at the value of Honourable Members , Speakers , can attack the South African which organisation Black UDF as a I have never ever argued that the Government where it is weakest . in of workers and Black consumer power should never be used power

Mr. the

I was , in fact , the first Black leader to talk about our struggle . and I I have only insisted , strategies in the seventies . these and that the successful use of consumer power again insist today , the power of labour will depend entirely on there being Black unity There will only be Black unity behind them when Black behind them . confer with each organisations with grass root membership support , done be should what and what should be done jointly about other independently .

The UDF endorses Inkatha out all discussion about tactics sheer

of all political and strategies .

naked audacity to attack

Inkatha

as

discussion and out of Then the UDF has the

being

undemocratic .

The

57

UDF is not interested in Black democracy . It wants confrontationist tactics state of ungovernability cannot be done as I have has to be used and the Government where it

Mr.

Speaker ,

is

Black unity . It is not to gather together cannon and in

interested fodder for

in its

strategies which aim to bring about a That , Mr. South Africa . Speaker ,

said before , by use of violence

playing attacks

marbles . Violence African the South

strongest .

Honourable Members ,

we

set

ourselves

the

objective of

establishing a mass grass root membership - based organisation and we succeeded in establishing Inkatha . We set ourselves the objective ensuring of that KwaZulu is not manipulated into accepting the ridiculous quasi - type independence the South African Government has offered we us , and succeeded in finally making the Government recognise that Black South Africans are South Africans and that is what of they objective shall remain . We set ourselves the establishing negotiating bases at the the same time work for negotiation at succeeded at the local and regional yet succeeded at the national level , other organisation African Government

are

levels and while we have we have done more than

in the whole of South Africa its own petard . with It

negotiating with Blacks it wants to negotiate , negotiations

changed

pitiful

history ,

at We not any

to hoist the South that says it is

and while it can pick it cannot ignore the replicas

of what

as long as KwaZulu and Inkatha are not the Government wants us to negotiate .

We have

regional level while we the national level .

Mr.

and choose with whom reality that those be negotiation ought to

willing to negotiate

Speaker ,

the way

Honourable Members ,

by the

way in which we held our own on the question of KwaZulu accepting the Government's ridiculous quasi independence . It was my refusal to be involved in the Black Advisory Council which the State President wanted to establish when he established the President's Council . Committee

It was my refusal to be involved in the Special Cabinet which made the State President attempt to establish the

non - Statutory Negotiating Forum . It was my refusal to be in both of these that is now leading the State President attempt to establish the National Council . His National will not

get

off the ground

unless we are

involved

in

involved an into Council

it .

This gives emphasis to my contention that each organisation must do what each organisation can best do in its own. circumstances and that Black unity should be based on a multi - strategy approach . Had we not stood firm where were did stand firm , Had we not stood would be a confederation . stand firm , Had we not

today stood

KwaZulu would be a so - called independent firm where we did stand firm , the South

Government would not be its escaped present endorsement

South Africa today firm where we did

for what

it

country . African

hung with its own petard and it would have needing dilemma of desperately Black is

doing .

58

The UDF endorsed

because these issues it standing firm in which

could never have stood firm on itself out of the politics

actually strategies

achieved something . It is Inkatha's tactics and achieving these in which were effective major It objectives . was Inkatha which successfully attacked the South African

Mr.

Government

then

Gumede

characteristics

at

these soft points

goes on to

of

Inkatha .

complain He says :

on

its under - belly .

about

what

he

sees

as

the

" You

have often attacked our democratic organizations arguing that our style of politics would produce a one - party state . appear But the very practices and product of Inkatha to of characterise what you interpret as the worst features one -party

state .

Included

here would be

Inkatha's

control

over the KwaZulu legislature , the prohibition of opposition parties in KwaZulu , the suppression of organizations ( such as the COSAS ) long before apartheid regime did so , the and the like , concentration of power in your hands , all of which do not really in operation " .

It

is

a blatant

prohibited

It

a

is

political

blatant

UDF is not

political

Inkatha

lie

to

that

be

a

democratic

opposition

party

Parties

are

in KwaZulu .

man

lie

lie

political

It is a blatant hands . The

indicate

enough to

that we

I

that

survive

suppress

organisations .

concentrate

in honest

and

power in

open

my

elections .

It can only specialise in double agenda political work which can be The UDF has sought refuge in carried out in the dark of the night . the non- participation principle because guts to participate and win .

it

hasn't

got

the political

for We do not suppress organisations . We risk our lives fighting right the to of organisations to exist and to present their case people . the We are only intolerant of killing for political purposes ; and of necklacing , burning , looting and other acts of political barbarity

In

the

Gumede

against

defenceless

people .

with interview which ' Leadership ' magazine conducted ed he emphasis that UDF leaders were not real leaders

Mr. and

that the people did not listen to them . Now he complains got have political power and do command the kind of respect Speaker ,

which makes people want Honourable

abhor power power . It power . It

Members ,

I

to

serve

do

not

the

cause I

have power

because I political Mr. serve .

in my

hands .

I

in a Party political leader . It is the people who have which is the electorate in a democratic society has is the members of Inkatha who have power . I just do

their bidding as

their

servant

but

this

is

a

brand

of politics

from

59

which Mr. the

Gumede is alienated . of the people . It

power

backs

of

the

opportunist

suffering

masses

the

right

and

to be the

which thinks

organisation

from being at forward .

The UDF has not sought to harness has only to sought to ride on the

place

at

the

that

right

kind

of

political

time

as the

political

power

comes

masses

move

Having accused Inkatha of being undemocratic against the background Africa , Mr. South own politics of prescription to Black its of . " tribalism Gumede then goes on to attack what he calls " Inkatha's

He

says

that :

intolerance

Inkatha's

becomes displayed

as

of

organisations

democratic

opposition

I and Inkatha repeatedly use democratic organisations .

to

often

non - Zulus .

racial

and

Inkatha frequently That accused behind strategy agitators the

and

ethnic

non - Zulu

terms

of

tactics

to

attack

being

the

employed

by

democratic organisations . That

I

base my opposition to the

Swaziland because

" Zulus would never

That I labelled troublemaker . "

the

1

he That of Zulus

1 Mr. of

inclusion

That

I

Speaker , violence

Reverend

live

Mcebisi

of

under

Xundu a

into

Ingwavuma Swazis . " " Xhosa

priest

attacks His Majesty the King for defending the to retain the Zuluness in their souls .

attack

Indian

leaders within the

right

UDF and ANC .

Honourable Members , whenever there have been outbreaks Pietermaritzburg in the Greater Durban Area or in the

Area , it has been reported to me that many of the activists involved do not even come from the place where violence has broken out . They have been imported there as agents provocateur from elsewhere . They have been imported as trained activists capable of instigating violence which the UDF then passes off as local Black anger . We know that kombi loads of students arrived at the University of Zululand from the Transvaal to orchestrate the antiInkatha

violence

there .

We know that

political

activists

have

been

transferred from the Eastern Cape and Transvaal to ferment violent conflict in our townships . Even in the recent violence , activists Pietermaritzburg from been have transported to KwaMakhutha , KwaNdengezi ,

Estcourt ,

Mnambithi

in

order

to

foment

violence

in

those areas .

I would be reneging on my responsibility as a political leader if I did not draw attention to the fact that these activists could be distinguished by the language they spoke . has set about making one or another area

Again and again the UDF a no - go area for Inkatha .

60

They had to

import

activists

to

do so and

then they

had

the

gall

to

say that the explosions of violence were proof of local populations turning against me . Of course there are those in our Black townships who are pro - Inkatha and there are those who are antiInkatha . Inkatha has never demanded uniformity of mind and heart and we have never field .

losses

however ,

comes ,

When it

of

ever pretended

to

face when activists

to be the

that

claims foment

only organisation

Inkatha

violent

in

the

landslide

suffers

confrontations as

they

that is an on the legitimate grievances of the people , capitalise The United Democratic Front would have entirely different matter . in engaged as free as Inkatha to campaign for support if it been grass -root tactics and strategies . We will not have non - violent by trained imported political activists by destroyed democracy Black brother , revolutionaries to set Black brother against Black sister against

Black

sister and

Black

child

against

parent .

Black

I am totally disgusted at the cheap propaganda Mr. Gumede tries to make against me when he says I base my opposition to the inclusion of Ingwavuma into Swaziland because " Zulus would never live under Swazis . " Of course Zulus would refuse to live under Swazi rule . of course they would refuse to be torn from the land of their birth and put under a foreign government . When I said that Zulus would never live under Swazis , I was making no ethnic comment . I was that we would die rather than agree to simply saying being sold like a huge herd of Black cattle to a Swazi bidder . seizure on these words shows the depths to which he order to

attempt

to

make

political

points

against

Mr. has to

Gumede's sink in

me .

Members , Mr. Speaker , Honourable we in this House are primarily concerned with developing democratic structures at grass root levels . Any local population has the right to hang together as community and to develop communal responses to their environment and to their

political circumstances . Wherever there is democracy in the world , the local community is a vital structure . Everywhere in the world where there are democracies there is local government , regional

government

and national government .

People indigenous to any particular area respond to their circumstances as people

have a sovereign right to of that area . We in this

country

migrant

have

been

faced with a

hideous

labour

system

in

which the members of local Black communities have been dispersed by the need to escape starvation as they seek work wherever it can be found . them .

They There

had been precluded from taking their families with is a dynamic in local politics which revolves around

the fragmentation of local communities by apartheid . eroded the will of the people at the local level to responses

to their

circumstances .

Apartheid has develop local

61

local communities expand and Also everywhere in the world , shrink community . as some of its members leave and new - comers enter the Where this happens , communities constantly adjust and re - adjust as they seek to find common cause that binds them together . I have already pointed out that this process is disrupted by activists who are drafted in from other areas by the UDF to usurp the right of local community to do what that local community wants to do about its

circumstances .

which they treat what

to think and

The

local

UDF

has

a

residents as

told what

to

do

hideous

kind

" kaffirs "

for

who

of paternalism have

in

to be taught

their own good .

and he did come from Reverend Xundu was a political activist , He never as he came from the Republic of the Transkei . outside , He the things in the Transkei which he was doing here . attempted abusing perpetual not have the fact that in KwaZulu we did was The

emergency such as those which apply in the Transkei . regulations , When he returned to the Transkei he was in fact locked up by the He is a Government under those emergency regulations . Transkeian Transkeian , I had but was not his being Xhosa - speaking that it who We have tens of thousands of Blacks in Inkatha trouble with . are Xhosa - speaking ,

plus others .

I

never attacked

him as

a

Xhosa

I was simply pointing to as Mr. Gumede is now distorting my words . in fact that he was not an indigenous member of the community the is There which was fermenting Black - on - Black confrontation . he particular a the moral perception that any man or woman has also of responsibility to the community from which he or she came . kind their for own of do activists question political what The We Africa . is a vitally important question in South communities became community and again how community after again seen have country engulfed in violent activity as activists moved across the In any case , can Mr. Gumede tell us to cause maximum disruption . the of " independence " Xundu did to stop the the Reverend what Transkei .

It

is apartheid which has

politics apartheid people .

divided Black from Black . It is hideous to this for Blacks to fall victim divisiveness of and turn KwaZulu's urban people against KwaZulu's rural The

smear

of tribalism which Mr.

Gumede so

happily uses

makes him one of the most tragic victims of apartheid . Black Africans belong together . Their political organisation and political tactics and strategies ought which apartheid has attempted to place

to on

transcend them .

the

South their

limitations

There is no Black community anywhere in South Africa which does not live within the boundaries of Government - created structures . Soweto created by the South African Government . Anybody who lives within Soweto is living within an urban homeland . There is no escape

from a

law which makes

every Black South African a member of

one or another ethnic group . This is what we struggle against . We we in Inkatha are deeply committed so to conduct our affairs that contribute significantly to the scrapping of the Population Registration Act . happen , Inkatha

This will happen , Mr. Speaker , and when it does in will have contributed to creating a situation

62

which it will not be possible to distinguish between Zulu and nontribalistically constitutionally . Zulu , legally or If we were inclined , Population we would campaign for the retention of the Registration Act as Zulus .

These

are not

knows

how

which gives

us

a

legal

and

constitutional

identity

simply propaganda statements . The whole world seriously we strove to reach consensus in

now

the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba . The Indaba's constitutional proposals which we have thus far supported in principle , contain not one single element which can distinguish between one Black and another Black . If we were tribalistically inclined we would have argued for the recognition of the right of Zulu people as of Zulus to form a constitutional structure within first and second tier government .

I

have always

because them to

I

abhorred the Government's

abhor

oppose

it

the

that

I

accepted the

structures

which the

homeland people's

It

policy . demand

Government

at

that

the

I

time

is lead was

foisting on us . We opposed the introduction of Tribal and Regional the length and breadth of Authorities . I personally stomped mobilising KwaZulu the people against the introduction of these Finally , structures . the South African Government simply told us had no choice in the matter and foisted these structures on exactly in Black the same way as they foisted the structures of townships

on Blacks

have been a

living

political

in them .

coward had

of carrying on the fight . these structures in some

I

not

Given this

reality ,

accepted the

I would

responsibility

It is the non - participation regions of South Africa that

of Blacks in led to some

areas being afforded so - called independence . Had those who these structures as vehemently as I opposed them not sought

opposed an easy

out by espousing the non - participation principle , and had instead remained in their respective areas to fight this evil from within , they would have achieved what we in KwaZulu have achieved - the first

Mr. He

stage

defeat

also

Gumede

His

attacks

the Zuluness in Zuluness

of

the

homeland

policy .

has

the

audacity

to

Majesty

for

defending

attack

His

right

the

Majesty the of

Zulus

to

King . retain

His Majesty is beyond Party politics . in their soul . whatever in the soul of Zulus gives Zulus a quality

We are a proud people with a political Party they choose to serve . cultural heritage . to That cultural heritage adds vitality rich Our whole struggle against apartheid . again how our and again demonstrat ed and then racism . oppose first imperialis m our has

I was born

a

Zulu ,

Mr.

Speaker ,

history as a Zulu people us unity worked to help

Honourable

Members .

I will die

a

Zulu . I am proud of my Zuluness . It adds purpose to my being and it adds meaning to my life . It adds strength to my determination to

fight

for

the

eradication

of every

form of

racism

in

South

African politics and in South Africa's social and economic life . proud Zulu is not precluded from being a South African first . in

fact

assists

him or her

to be a

South African

of note .

It

63

It

is

only

in

dictatorships

socialist / communist

regional

that

Culture makes people walk cultural forces are seen as threatening . of politics the of victims against being them arms It tall . and think to what told being arms them against It prescription . flotsam It arms them against being turned into the how to think . and

seas

in the stormy

jetsam

of Party political

There

strife .

is

no contradiction between being a highly cultured person and being a this make to want Those who Africa . in South patriot true ve successi the l with side reality politica a contradiction South just do Governments which have always striven to African this . turn the hideous work of apartheid as they on carry They Black against

brother and Black

child

Black brother , against

against

Black sister

Black

sister

Black parent .

Mr.

the Gumede also complains that I attack Indian leaders within UDF and the ANC . Nowhere in anything I have ever said do I deny the the Indians right that God has given them to participate in that they choose to espouse . always I have democratic politics urged Indians to fight side by side with their Black brothers and sisters for the good of South Africa . I have never treated the Indian community as a community of political lepers . All I have and ever done is to abhor anybody who participates in the tactics strategies which set Black brother against Black brother . There is a political reality about the hideousness of this when it emanates from other race groups which are in fact much better off than Black turning South Africans . There is something hideous about that Blacks into a pack of dogs who kill each other for the bones are

lying around .

condemnation

of

I

can withdraw no word

Indians who have been guilty

I

have of

ever

doing

uttered

just

in

this .

who There are a great many Indians , a silent majority of Indians , deeply appreciate many of the things I have about said Indian troublemakers Black politics . in The Indian community of South

Africa

wants

a just country and it wants a country in which there will be equality for all before the law and the constitution . They know that I strive for precisely this and that my political victories will be victories which in the end will scrap the Population

Registration

Act

individuals

in their own

right

and

give

with the

sovereignty

them

right

to

pursue

as whatever

they want to pursue as individuals . The Indian community at large knows that I am not a racist and that I fight for the country they would wish to see emerge . One of my closest political partners is Mr. Yellan Chinsamy who remains South African Black Alliance .

standing with us

to

this

day

in the

Mr.

Speaker , Honourable Members , I have in fact already said more than enough to show Mr. Gumede up for what he is . What I have said totality refutes the of Mr. Gumede's letter must , to me . I however , to bear in mind that this was not in fact a real letter is me . a It propaganda document . I have to set the record straight every We on what section in it . kind know of an organisation

the UDF

is and

I need

to

take up more

of the valuable

64

Assembly available to us in this year's KwaZulu time Legislative session to look at the remaining sections of the so - called letter .

Having attacked me for furthering tribalism , Mr. Gumede goes attack me for " Inkatha's support on to for the "1 system . Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , let me first in summary : 1.

Apartheid

has

striven to

establish

a

divided

incredibly apartheid

South

of all

say

Africa

and

to hive off Black ethnic groups to form their own governments to achieve in which a South Africa will there be one dominating central White State surrounded by dependent Black satellite states . cherishes the ideal of a one - man - one - vote system Inkatha of we government in a unitary State and in any compromise are to prepared make for the sake of South Africa and all its people ,

we

insist

on

there being one

South Africa

there being one sovereign there being one

electorate

there being universal

being

there

Parliament

no

adult

legal

and

between people on the ground

2.

franchise

constitutional of

race ,

distinction creed .

colour or

to to use the divide and rule principle attempted Apartheid South Black divided opposition and to give a Black weaken Black ethnic interests which would undermine national Africa unity .

has

Inkatha

opposed

it

opposed this

divide and

it

rule policy and

has

effectively .

confrontations with successive In eyeball - to - eyeball African Prime Ministers and later with the present South State President , I have insisted that take a horse to the water , it cannot that

Black

even make

if the law can it drink , and

South Africa will never participate

in

its own

subjugation . Inkatha is a product of history in which Blacks insist on defy their rights to form political organisations which every boundary apartheid

It

was

Minister my face

not

long after

ever attempted to

Inkatha was

formed

of Police , Mr. Jimmy Kruger , that he would not tolerate

erect .

that

the

then

told me bluntly to the activity of

Inkatha beyond KwaZulu's boundaries . I rejoindered by saying bluntly that Inkatha would continue to do so as a national liberation organisation .

65

of

support

the

After

spreading

began

Inkatha

and

1 spreading attempted

and spreading , Information the Department of resistance to KwaZulu internal to ferment

Inkatha by

funding the

has

Inkatha every

formation

mobilised

overture

make us accept

and

of the

the whole

every pressure

so - called

Spear

Shaka

to

of KwaZulu

Party . reject

from the Government to

independence .

kind any done anything to give never has credibility to the Tricameral Parliament as a divide rule instrument .

Inkatha

1

I criss - crossed the campaigning against referendum . I

refused to have which the

Council

of and

length and breadth of South Africa new the constitution during the

anything to do with the State President

Black Advisory

attempted

to

set up to

constitution superficial Black give the Tricameral died still - born because of my support . It refusal to participate .

1

I

would

have

nothing to do with

Committee which was

set

up to do

Cabinet

Special

the

exactly the

thing .

same

Non - statutory nothing with the do have to would lement the ing h supp was set up to whic Forum Negotiat failing Special Cabinet Committee . I

1

I

have declared my total

opposition

to

Regional

Councils which the Government attempts to make legs on which the Tricameral Parliament rests .

Services one

of the

I now declare my total opposition to the kind of National Council which the State President is attempting to set up and to because he refuses to unshackle Black democracy issues make possible national Black unity around the are going which must be negotiated if we to reach consensus

on the

future

of South Africa .

1

Inkatha's own membership is open to all Blacks and every whatever his or her ethnic background may be , is Black office the eligible for election to every in organisation . I established the Buthelezi Commission I defied the When insistance that the Commission only look at Government's separate of within framework the KwaZulu affairs development . now

say

bluntly to Mr.

Chris

Heunis and

the

State

1

I

President that I have made the Government's acceptance of there being a reality majority the Black of in the whether country a fundamental issue in any negotiations , Indaba the they be negotiations about KwaZulu / Natal

66

else or anything proposals constitution of South Africa .

1

I have met the State the nine years of his

to

with

do

future

the

in President formally only thrice term of office and I have only met

him informally once . I have now nothing to say to the State President other than what I have already told him face , to his namely that he must release Dr. Nelson Mandela , Mr. Zeph Mothopeng and other political prisoners Africa , and that he must accept that there is one South with one

I

people with one

successfully

destiny .

opposed the South

African

Government's

intention to excise the Ingwavuma area from South Africa inclusion for in Swaziland . The matter went from the Supreme Court to the Appellate Division and I trounced the South African Government's determined intention to further its divide and rule policy . has been successful

Inkatha

in

opposing the

Government's

fronts . rule policy on a very wide range of and divide to able I have been in this regard , importantly Most Indian and Coloured constituencies develop strong White , to intention apartheid's of defiance complete in Black Of all the me in KwaZulu politics . encapsulate organisations to develop Coloured .

in the

country ,

White , Indian cause between Black , and strategies I adopt at tactics

common The

has

most and the

Conferences , are which racial gaps

General Annual Inkatha's of demand which bridge and strategies tactics the Government

done the

Inkatha has

so desperately tried

to

create .

Inkatha has has played a very valuable European awareness West the of

role in heightening North American and something about governments that they now need to do For decades these governments paid lip South Africa . Inkatha has service to the struggle against apartheid . most give democratic done more than to hope that opposition to apartheid will something worth backing .

succeed . The West If there is no

now has hope of

democratic forces succeeding , the West would have adopted a condemnatory hands - off attitude towards South Africa . They now adopt a condemnatory hands - on attitude which would

not

be

the case

if they had

to

choose

between

apartheid and violent revolution . It is this recognition of Inkatha's importance that has led to invitations to me to When consult with Western Heads of State . I met Ronald Reagan , President Mrs. Margaret Thatcher , Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Prime Minister Jacques Chirac , I met them at their request because they wanted to this express Western hope that sanity would prevail in country and that we would avoid

After all

this ,

Mr.

Gumede

has the

a bloody

effrontary to

revolution .

state

that :

67

"2 .

Inkatha's

Your

and Inkatha's

support

for the apartheid system

participation

in the bantustan

structures

of the apartheid regime is no longer another manifestation of a multi - strategy approach necessitated by objective political conditions . KwaZulu the

On the contrary , participation in and control of administration has been consciously developed as foundation of , and has become fundamental your to ,

the

Mr.

political

designs

Speaker ,

I

and ambitions . "

again

remind

that

Members

Honourable

our

prime

political concern is to eradicate apartheid for the scourge that again I say that we can only judge Black is . organisations

it in

terms of their utility in the process of again say that we can only judge Black

I of

the

extent

to which they attack apartheid where

is absolutely true that It " control of the KwaZulu developed . "

eliminating apartheid . organisations in terms

Of

is weakest .

and participation in consciously been has

my and Inkatha's Administration

course we have developed

it

this

control .

Of

have established ourselves in a commanding position There is nothing wrong with us having done this but

course

in KwaZulu . instead of

conferring accolades on us for this success , Mr. Gumede says that my " and Inkatha's participation in the bantustan structures of the regime is no longer another manifestation of a multiapartheid regime strategy approach necessitated by objective

political

conditions . "

believes . Mr. Gumede is politically illiterate if this is what he In the National Party's election manifesto it still undertakes the so - called work so - called independence of for homelands or national states . As recently as the 29th of February Mr. Klerk , the leader of the National Party in the Transvaal senior member of Treurnicht , leader

P.W.

Mr. of the

told

Cabinet ,

Botha's

Conservative

Party ,

in

front

F.W. and

Dr.

A.P.

of millions

of South African viewers , that the South African Government had attempt national its to get Blacks in the states abandoned accept

If

we

so - called

de a

not to

independence .

vacated our positions

here

in this

House

today ,

the

South

African Government would tomorrow begin for begin manoeuvering for emergence of a KwaZulu Legislative Assembly which would accept

the its

offer of so - called independence . Objective conditions demand our continued resistance to this divide and rule policy . We will not South African struggle the for renege on our commitment in liberation

to block

the

South African

Government

at

this

level .

At root cause Mr. Gumede's and the UDF's opposition to apartheid can be traced to their deep envy of the political might of Inkatha and its entrenched position in the struggle for of our tactics and strategies and because of the created a bastion

of strength against

liberation because fact that we have

apartheid here

in

this

House .

68

Our

success

proves

them wrong .

They smart

under

the

political

Of course we will do everything that we are teaching them . in power to strengthen our bastion against apartheid here ng power to in everythi will do course we Of House . this develop our our opposition to apartheid as we constantly expand lessons our in

participatory opposition tactics . for . That is why we were elected Owe not only Zulu the country .

The

UDF has no

move to attack the

Government

South African

succeed ,

and we

its power in the people ,

roots

and they become

relies

neither

it

solid political base because

membership and

direct

do so ,

South Africans

That is what we are in business This is what we to this House . in but every Black South African

where

it

on it

nor does is weakest .

We

jealous .

insanely

Mr.

Speaker , Honourable Members , it was Black politicians and socalled leaders of Mr. Gumede's ilk who condemned Inkatha in the 1976-78 period , just as Mr. Gumede is condemning us now . He is Gumede , saying nothing new . We have heard it all before . Mr. however , now becomes all sanctimonious in his so - called letter to me by saying :

" It

is a

matter

of profound

regret

that

an organization which

showed such immense promise to mobilise our struggling against the Vorster/Botha regime was instead used to our people's

energies

aggrandisement

towards

of a

creating greater

people direct

failing

strategy

divisions within the

ranks

of the

people

attacking and eliminating democratic civic , youth, student and political organizations created by the very people who you

Mr.

Gumede

suddenly

say should be given a

now

says that

' determining

Inkatha showed

such

voice . "

immense

promise to mobilise our struggling people against the Vorster / Botha we We are doing now what How hypocritical can you get . regime . Mr. Gumede should see now the promise which he sees that did then . We face the same threats now from apartheid as did have then . we had apartheid The same soft under - bellies that then . faced we then ,

are

there to be attacked

today .

In

fact

they

are not

there but the soft under - bellies of apartheid which were there are now much softer because of Inkatha's attack .

with change We fly - by - night leaders who chop and not are No matter how hard the road to publicity wind . prevailing

only then

each final

We see a tactic through to we follow that road . victory becomes , We have sunk our teeth into the final successful conclusion . its Mr. Gumede expects us and we will not let go . apartheid problem ,

69

to

everything and

abandon

rush to do

what

new - fangled

new - fangled organisations with new - fangled tell us to do .

Honourable Members ,

Speaker ,

Mr.

Gumede's

so - called

answer in great

there

letter which are

depth .

Having

tactics

some

are

leaders

strategies ,

and

sections

Mr.

of

really beneath my dignity

accused

us

in

of bolstering

to

apartheid

by participating in it , he goes on to say we aggrandize a failing strategy , create divisions within the rank and file of the people , attack and civic , eliminate democratic , youth , student and political

organisations

created by the people .

How dare Mr. Gumede talk about organisations created by the people when he himself is a President of an organisation which committees out formed of the blue in Cape Town in 1983 ? How dare he talk of about organisations created by the people when he is President an

organisation

have annual to

the people

He has the tactics

which is not

conferences for what

they do

sheer audacity to

and

membership - based

at which he and

strategies

are

and which does

not

others are held accountable

and say?

say that

we

are

scorned by the

divisive . people

The

until

UDF's

they

battered and bruised into doing what the UDF tells them to do . is against this battering and bruising of ordinary people , and is against this hideous form of political dictatorship that we Inkatha within

direct the

our

opposition .

are It it in

We are democrats who work entirely

framework of what the people

instruct

us

to

do .

a The UDF in a very sick way aggrandizes apartheid by saying only successful revolution can topple the South African Government . They best

aggrandize apartheid by making it appear non - violent tactics and strategies which

so powerful that the Black South Africa

can mount , will fail . However they talk out of both sides of their much they squirm , mouths and however they cannot escape the ANC implications of their commitment to establish the as a government

returned from exile . They are fetch - and - carry boys for primary an organisation which has declared the armed struggle the of uses bringing about change in South Africa and which means whether or not it violence in South Africa for political purposes , is

violence against

public places

Blacks

regardless

or Whites ,

just

of whom the bombs

as

they plant

bombs

in

kill .

UDF has South declared its intention make to Africa The ungovernable and has declared its intention to annihilate Inkatha . It

is

the

UDF's

involvement

supported by intimidation , to Black South Africa that which Mr.

Gumede now

in the

politics

of

confrontation

and it is the UDF's attempt to dictate is the root cause of the divisiveness of

complains .

70

Mr.

Gumede

then goes on to

there is

" If

a

say :

genuine

desire on your

part

for

unity

in

our

quest to dismantle apartheid , there must certainly also be the willingness address and act on the following urgently to to create a

Mr.

Gumede

1 .

That

climate

for

then makes the I

stop the

against

members

peaceful

co - existence . "

following demands :

violence of UDF

and aggression

unleashed

by

Inkatha

affiliates .

2.

I should distance myself from what he actions of the KwaZulu Police Force .

3.

I and Inkatha spokesmen should desist from all forms of UDF , on attacks the COSATU , their affiliates and democratic

4.

this It

as

Honourable Members , letter to say the though he has learnt the

that if you say one thing in three people just believe what you say .

There

has

never

aggression

he and

organisations " .

so - called is

public other

commit myself to the development of what representative and democratic community

Speaker ,

Mr.

" intimidatory"

organisations .

I should actively calls " genuinely political

calls the

been

unleashed by

and

there

Inkatha

Gumede is now beginning in Mr. same thing over and over again . lesson of political propaganda different

never

against

places

will

members

be

in one

document

violence

of UDF

and

affiliates .

is Inkatha which faces organisations committed to use violence only against the State but also against Black South Africans who dare to disagree with them . Inkatha will defend itself to the death . It not

Wherever the KwaZulu Police are permitted by law to operate , Blackon - Black confrontations leading to Black killing Black are quelled . We all know that if KwaZulu Police had jurisdiction to operate within the Greater political killings

Pietermaritzburg Area , the most hideous spate of The in living memory would have been averted .

KwaZulu Police support every attempt to establish non - violent and means of bringing about radical change . If the UDF

ways were

bringing about change through committed to non - violence , KwaZulu police would be its greatest friend . It is against violence unleashed by members of the UDF and its affiliates

the

KwaZulu

Police

the that

act .

Then , Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , Mr. Gumede demands that I be defamatory hideously the politically gagged in the face of the UDF which and its affiliates launch political propaganda

71

against me before he is prepared to talk with me about Black unity . then it If the UDF wants me to stop attacking it publicly , must first

cease attacking me

publicly .

It

must also

first

cease being

involved in inhumanly hideous political practices . Wherever I find which that is hideous in politics , I will condemn it . We in Speaker , Inkatha and this House , Mr. wage an honourable struggle for liberation which enables us to walk tall before all men . Speaker , Mr. are attacked , Honourable Members , because demonstrate the power of the hallowed values of the struggle liberation

as they gather people

We we

for

together .

On the question of Black unity , I want to make the additional point that Inkatha has unified more Blacks in South Africa than any country . organisation has ever done in the history of the Inkatha's

over

speaking ideals .

1.5

million members

are

united

Black

South Africans

with one voice and striving for the same commonly held Inkatha is not riddled with internal problems and it

shows none of the tendencies to split and split again which has so Black are characterised political organisations which not membership - based and whose leaders are not elected directly by the people and held accountable to them . We do have internal dissent and then , now and always try to settle our problems through structures

set

up

for the purpose

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , Gumede in depth . letter from Mr.

in our

I I

constitution .

had to deal with this so - called have done so in the context of

surveying Black South African organisations involved in politics . The deepest poverty of the UDF , however , cannot be exposed in my responses to the so - called letter signed by Mr. Gumede . I want to stand back and take a broader look at the UDF and its tactics and strategies .

Speaker , Honourable Members , I earlier expressed my anger at Black political lack the of political sophistication in so many leaders ; to that some of the problems I again and again have and face are the problems created by Black leaders who confuse tactics

Mr.

and

strategies

with aims

and

objectives .

this we continue looking at point as and the action they take organisations they attack

apartheid where

it

I

want

again

is weakest .

Protest Protest

must must

be made wherever a proud be made whenever there is

valuable

in the mobilisation of people .

however ,

has

in

political

ground towards

tactics

and a

keeps alive the and draws the country . this

people face injustice and

its greatest political

included

up

pick

judge Black politics and not in terms of whether or

Protest against racist discrimination is vital . It values hallowed of the struggle for liberation world's attention to how Blacks are treated in

Protest ,

to

strategies which are clearly defined

subjugation . protest is

utility when designed

objective .

It

to is

it

is gain

one

of

72

the sicknesses of South Africa's Black body politic that protest originated which as one facet of a multi - pronged attack on a objective ,, lives on to become a way of life . Protest particular objective for the sake of protest takes over to delude those involved that they that

are struggling for the liberation of their country . is indiscriminate in its targets is protest for the

Protest sake of

protest .

A local community that finds a rent hike or a bus fare hike totally has God - given right unfair and intolerable a to air their grievances in protest . There are many examples of constructive protest used by aggrieved communities alleviation from one or another burden .

which have achieved Having achieved the

objective , however , something aside as circumstances . The protest

does

take

the protest action concerned will then be put that was used successfully in particular danger is genuine is ,, however , that wherever there are place aimed at a particular objective ,

always high profile celebrity and media - created leaders who leap to claim the protest as their protest fore and to present the themselves as heroes of the people . for protest prominence and turn all

They develop a kind of hunger protest into schemes of self-

aggrandizement .

Mr.

Speaker ,

Honourable

Members ,

some

of the

maladies

in

Black

South African politics are difficult to uncover because they are often clothed in all the trappings of the liberation struggle . the double agendas is the sickness I action

of those involved am talking about .

so It

protest that gives many a the Protest politics is

happy hunting ground for Black leaders who have not got the guts or is It stamina to establish viable political constituencies . the flames of hunting ground of those who want to fan the happy the the make to violence because they want to leading confrontation Worse still , it is the happy hunting ground country ungovernable . to grievances genuine political prostitute to who want those of all at not are groups which for gains political make Party interested who are

in the grievance ,

genuine

nor are they

interested

in the

people

in their protest .

Rent boycotts ,

bus boycotts , boycotts of commercial centres which been protest have hi - jacked by civic genuine protest originated in length affiliates across the organisations and other UDF and country . grass the breadth of The UDF does not have a root constituency . It is not a membership - based organisation . It cannot

direct

people

in

discipline

drives

towards

achievable

objectives . The UDF reaches out for the stars , postures as being committed to achieving what is impossible and emerges from it all as the darlings of Western Europe and North America . The UDF breeds celebrity leader after celebrity leader who trot around the world and posture on international platforms as the saviours of South Africa ,

whereas

they

gains and take the struggle

cannot

come home to

forward .

accumulate

political

73

The

1976/78

period

was

re - lived

in

the

1984/86

period .

Confrontation leading to violence which we saw so frequently in the 1976/78 period 1976/78 was repeated in the 1984/86 period . The period saw the media - created

emergence of a wide range of self - appointed leaders and celebrity leaders , just as the

leaders , 1984/86

period did . The 1976/78 period generated a dangerous euphoria that the South African Government was on the run and militant protest leaders were well on the way to leading the country to a final victory .

The same

euphoria developed

in

the

1984/86 period .

We have seen it all before self- righteous posturing of those who condemn Inkatha because we are adamant in our commitment to the tactics and strategies that achieve contempt for what we do because our

political objectives - sneering strategies have not yet finally won the struggle for Black South Africa because we will not jump on bandwagons that go nowhere . Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , we have seen it all before . The 1984/86 period in South African political however , history , saw a growth in the solidarity and determination of Inkatha , just as the 1976/78 period did . Our commitment again has and again been reconfirmed as the correct commitment

by those who sneer at us one day and who are lost to the struggle the next day . The correctness of our approach to politics has again and again been demonstrated by the fact that Inkatha has

moved

ever

closer

to the political

centre

of

gravity

of

South

Africa .

is true we have lost an individual here or there . It emerged entirely unscathed from the politics of

We have not intimidation This conducted at the height of these passing euphorias . I say internally today Inkatha is more coherent and however . ev er be en characterised by a deeper sense of solidarity than has the case before . Inkatha has emerged to stay as a political force in

South African

politics .

I despair when I begin to realise that the United Democratic Front is the pawn that it is in the wider political battle which it neither controls nor understands . One thing everyone can be quite of is that the ANC will do everything in its power to crush sure any rival organisation in this country . It postures as the sole representative lead to the

of Black South Africa and it real struggle . Our brothers of Mission the ANC are terrified

claims single - handedly and sisters in the

External

of

any

kind

of

Third

Force development . Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , we love Third -Forces , Forces , Fourth Fifth Forces - any amount of forces because we struggle to give Black political organisations the liberty people

to campaign amongst the people and we struggle to give the the liberty to support whichever organisation they want to

support .

This

is not the

case with the ANC Mission

in

Exile .

The

power-

mongers in it are only interested in ensuring their total political supremacy which will give them total command over all South Africa .

74

They are using their political

the United Democratic Front affiliates as pawns game . They know that the UDF is not structured

political decisions and to give commanding forces on the ground .

make

Mr.

Speaker ,

Members ,

Honourable

effect

Mr.

Speaker ,

ungovernability

by

street

and

they cannot be sent on the Black public

from which the

ANC

alone

Members ,

UDF burn the yet will out Inkatha . When ironically will be tragic for up the the UDF should be involved in picking

Honourable

politically but that day the comes that pieces that put should

of

decisions

instrumental in setting unto They themselves .

they cannot be disciplined ; They can only be unleashed

to help create the kind could possibly benefit .

these

groups of comrades

corner committees which the UDF is being up , will ever - increasingly become a law cannot be directed ; out and recalled .

to

in to

they smashed that right

asunder , and when the day comes when which they put wrong , be will they

they but

nothing , capable We will have to pick up the of doing nothing . put to We will have pieces that the UDF is scattering asunder . mop up the UDF We will have to that which they put wrong . right to dir so UDF are the bec do The ANC will not mess . ecting ause they be in way any passing phenomena with no lasting value which a threatens them . The ANC's manipulation of the UDF is revolutionary callousness

The

ANC

value

at

has

its

very worst .

declared war

on

of being permanently

Inkatha

involved

because

Inkatha

has

in the South African

all

the

struggle

for liberation and of being an organisation in which the people themselves determine what we do and what we do not do . The ANC does not want the people to determine what political organisations on the ground in this country do . The ANC only wants to dictate what we should do and how we should do it . The ANC attacks Inkatha because Inkatha is growing politically ever more powerful . Inkatha also threatens the ANC with real prospects of being able to pull the South African situation together sufficiently to enable the politics of negotiation to establish a new society in which the will be but one of many organisations entitled to campaign

ANC for

power .

where Government it The ANC Mission in Exile attacks the strongest and it wants to destroy every organisation capable succeeding in attacking the Government where it is weakest .

of Mr.

Speaker , Honourable Members , I these things . I constantly hold

say all

Black organisations , my face and reject

suffer deep pain as I have to out my hand in friendship to

is

including the ANC , but they constantly spit in my right to lead the way the masses in South

Africa demand they be led . It is the ANC which has Inkatha . It is the ANC which is moving events to there could only be a fight to the finish . It is orchestrates the killing puts a price on my life .

of

Inkatha

members and it

declared war on the point where the ANC which is

the

ANC which

75

Mr.

Speaker ,

Honourable

Members ,

Inkatha to has the survive in onslaught directed against it . Too many things are at stake this the country for us to lay down on our backs in submission to dictates of revolutionaries . I do not care two hoots whether I have

any political

role

after

the struggle

for

liberation

has

been

achieved . I struggle for my country and I struggle for the people of South Africa . I struggle for justice , whoever may lead a just not It is government . personal ambition that drives me on to in that which I am doing . persevere anything I never want to be step than other an elected leader and if the people want me to have aside , they will have the freedom to ask me to do so when I what personal vendettas achieved I want for them . I have no against the ANC or any of the members of the National Executive of the Mission in Exile . They are my brothers and sisters and I yearn for their safety and return to this country . I feel the pain of knowing their pain in exile . If I could do anything to return them to the land of their birth for which they so yearn , I would do it today .

I would , however , be irresponsible to the people who elected me to if office I did not take issue with the ANC's Mission in Exile about some the of the things they are doing which people who me would elected to office reject in part and in whole . I be want , if allowed the things the people irresponsible I to be destroyed

by

the

ANC

Mission

in

Exile .

Here ,

Mr.

Speaker ,

Honourable Members , I want to pause and look at some of the things South our brothers in exile , together with the UDF and COSATU in Africa ,

are

Inkatha's

endangering .

internal

solidarity

and its

real

political

strength

enable it to go beyond self - preservation to attempt to do something for the people of South Africa . When I set up the Buthelezi Commission , Inkatha per se had no need for that Commission . The Buthelezi Commission was all race groups and to Speaker ,

of

friendship which

organisations I

in

this

personally stepped

I

held out

country . aside

on with its work without influencing it . as a forum for opinion in my commitment to of negotiation , whatever the outcome

negotiation would be

is

hand

all

Honourable Members ,

Commission get the Commission the politics

There

my

for me

and

to

let

to Mr. the

I created establish of such

Inkatha .

with love in that if you are In the same way , if love yourself . power true know never you will

an old saying which says

love , you will never know true with power , love in are you

and lasting power comes as a by - product Real yourself . which is historically right and ethically correct . that

doing of Real and

of ripeness also comes only to a few in a certain power lasting to done been have done what ought to have others because time what lead to do I, Speaker , Mr. create that ripeness of time . The regardless of who will finally benefit . ought to be done now, objectives was called into being to achieve Commission Buthelezi UDF Yet the ANC and the beyond Party political objectives . far of done everything in their power to destroy the credibility have

76

this

meeting

historic

of

minds

across

racial

and

political

Natal

Provincial

barriers .

When

we

set

about

negotiating with the

then

Council to establish a Joint Executive Authority , we again involved something South attempts to do for Africa . We ourselves in existence . attempted to negotiate an historical breakthrough into value The of what we negotiated finally would be there for South whether Africa , or not I continued as a leader or whether or not there was

an

there

for

the people .

Inkatha .

When

we went

on as the

Our

strength

KwaZulu

enabled

Government

us

to

to do

something

negotiate

about

out

the

emergence of a Joint Legislative Authority in this region of South Africa , we took an even bolder step which was totally unrelated to any Party political ambitions Inkatha may have . The Joint Authority would be Legislative supported , Speaker , Mr. by the House , this Members of whether or not the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly continued to exist or was dissolved . We in this House are committed

to what

is good

for South Africa .

We supported the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba's constitutional proposals in right the principle because they started to move this region in direction . We supported them in principle because the full weight of we

the hallowed values of the struggle for liberation demand that always put the State before the Party . We in this House have been prepared to enter a new era in which the hallowed values of our struggle would become a reality for the people , whoever held high office .

the ANC , UDF and negotiated Joint

Yet the

COSATU have done their damndest to discredit Executive Authority and the negotiated

constitutional proposals of the Indaba . They have sullied that which was a beautiful beginning . They have trampled under foot deeply hallowed values and they have done so because they see no Party political gain in the moves for themselves . The ANC most succeed . certainly does not want the politics of negotiation to The UDF as the fetch - and - carry - boys for the Mission in Exile have never participated in the politics of negotiation and they have ground the never make worked on with us to the politics of reality , negotiation a not only because they do not have the political weight necessary to obedient to Lusaka .

do

so ,

but

also

because

they

I believe we have now to stand back awhile and re - examine what between have negotiations done in the Buthelezi Commission , l l u cia nci n al Zul al vin and in the Kwa Cou the Indaba . / Nat Nat Pro all these endeavours to reach out to our fellow South Africans

to

reach out

very

to

all

political

extremities of the

groupings ,

compromises

we

we had to dare

venture

make without

to

are

we the

In and the

betraying

77

the

people .

for

everyone

Let

us

list

The extent

of our

daring

must

now clearly be

stated

to hear .

the

compromises ,

Mr.

Honourable Members ,

Speaker ,

so

that we put a name to what we are talking about . In the Buthelezi Commission , in the negotiations with the Natal Provincial Council and in the negotiations in the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba , had to we compromise to keep negotiations alive and to In all these negotiations we knew : voice .

1.

The

winner - takes - all principle

in

speak with a

our

cherished

one - man - one - vote system of government in to have be re - examined if compromises promised to

2 .

meet

us

consensus

dream of

a

a unitary State would from the other side

half way .

the in originated liberation for struggle to Westminster model and the Black demand of the we knew with growing we negotiated , As included in it . be an alternative to look for would have we that certainty in bridge the gaps were ever to model if we constitutional prepared to look at federal We were polarised society . our our search for the supreme forms in and other constitutional

The

Black

acceptance

Indian and Coloured into White , joining Black , objective of one sovereign with the right to establish electorate one in one sovereign country . Parliament

3.

We

who have suffered so terribly under the hideously unjust racial laws of South Africa have come to know that the finest form of group and cultural protection is to be found in the

protection of the individual . The more we negotiate , however , the more we realise that those who had not suffered oppression but were in the past the oppressors , were mortally afraid of the of monster racial domination that they themselves had used , would be used against them . We realised that this was a fear

unto

death

in

scorched

earth

policies .

compromise and look seriously at allying a a system of minority right protection .

4

What

is

so

seldom perceived ,

Mr.

Speaker ,

Bill

is

We of

had

to

Rights with

that

we had to

on the time factor in all the negotiations we were compromise involved in , whether they were in the Buthelezi Commission or the KwaZulu / Natal in or Natal Provincial Council the in ruling passion of the struggle for liberation has A Indaba . if been the achievement of a once and for all victory always Africans South Black soonest . then at the very now not have been deeply sceptical about delayed gratification always Blacks want political victory and they in political matters . say to to we had In all our negotiations , want now . it ourselves that compromises would have to pave the way and that we hoped have to give South Africa more time than we would would be necessary .

78

5 .

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , when we talk about compromise real politics , to we in cannot confine ourselves constitutional matters . The idiom of politics itself must into come play . Expectations of people , whether they be realistic or unrealistic , must come into play . many leaders and Parties turn to promise tomorrow which make serious

That is why so people Utopias

they know can never be produced . We had as political compromises we declared

to our

stand aside and forego the political preparedness to political gains for that could be achieved by campaigning amongst the people final

We

political

in

this

rejection compromises

victories

now .

House and we in Inkatha have to risk a degree of the because by we were saying that people which will delay will have to be made the

cherished hope that political freedom would give rise to country . early massive redistribution of wealth in this

an Mr.

Speaker , Honourable Members , we had to risk being prepared to task would leave the make the compromises which us of campaigning amongst the people to accept that political victories would not bring stricken situations .

Mr.

Honourable

Speaker ,

immediate

Members ,

I

relief to their

have moved to

look

poverty-

at

the

have we compromises in my point been prepared to make at this the speech while I have been looking at Black politics and Policy particular , I point UDF because I want to look at this last in listed very closely . To win a debate around a negotiating table or live thing . with But those to one is compromises make to is compromises among the harsh realities of constituency politics , another thing altogether . of democracy . enemy the

Everywhere in the world mass poverty is democracy this in It is the enemy of

country .

Mr.

Members , my am totally immovable in I Honourable they are only Not Councils . Services Regional are foisted on us in the politics of dictation but they will under which the masses of the poorest of the poor a with charged gain to justify us being little too

Speaker ,

rejection structures structures experience

of

willingness destitution . there

is

an

to

consequent participate in our subjugation and our that Services Councils ignore the reality Regional

unconstituted

massive

squatter

population who will

have

Not Councils . no form of representation in the Regional Services only will the dominant White local authorities in the RSCS continue to get the lion's share of whatever value can be found in them , and the in will the large White local authorities dominate only not RSC's decision - making process , but the unconstituted poorest of the poor in the squatter areas will feel abandoned by our participation we would be If we accepted involvement in the RSCS , in the RSCS . seen to be doing a lot for the haves and very little for the havenots .

79

I

am

quite quite

prepared

to

support

compromises which

will

lead

to

but I am just not prepared to support political gains yet to come , forthcoming and in which political gains will not be compromises ordinary tangible masses experience Africans will not of the Councils are to The Regional Services their lot . improvements designed

as regional Parliament stands and reason as well .

Mr. with

Speaker , Honourable Members , we which we will not be able to

people Africa

we up tomorrow .

and

Tricameral and local legs on which the hated this I will have nothing to do with them for

a

just live

dare not make compromises politically because the

represent reject them . We have never led the garden path . We have never promised

Black them

We have always inculcated in them a spirit of realisation that political victories will not give

South Utopia

self - help each and

every one a big bank balance , a well paid job and a beautiful home live to in . We are prepared to grapple with the reality that political victories can do no more than give people freedom to pull themselves

up by their own boot

straps .

Mr. Speaker , Honourab Members , which When we make compromises , le neither result in tangible improve i t l of the n h i e f e style ments people , nor set them free to do someth e f t f or hemselve , fective ing s then we will be committ We will experie ing political suicide . nce a terrible backlas h from people who regard our compromises as acts of betraya b o of politic o u r t n l al weakness .

When I listed the kind of compromises we have to make to keep politics of negotiation alive and to reach consensus across gaps in our polarised society , I said we had to compromise time - scales within which people expect to reap real rewards political gains . If the compromises led to political gains political these gave people an immediate awareness that

the the

on the after which gains

enhanced their ability to do something for themselves , they would be prepared to suffer a little longer because they were now in a however , our position to do something about their suffering . If , compromises are not met with compromises from the other side , and would perceive lead to no real political gain which people as setting them free to do something about their poverty , we would endorse

When

ourselves

we

go

a

out

step

of

relevance .

further

and

have

to

compromise

on

our

compromises , we can only end up on terribly dangerous ground . We have been deeply earnest in our attempts to establish compromise solutions and as I said a little earlier , we have gone to the extremities of our ability to compromise . If we could have compromised negotiation

further to ensure greater prospects of the politics of getting off the ground and becoming successful in the

eyes of the people , we would have done so while we negotiated . really are in not the position in which we have compromised sufficiently to win the day but still have further compromises up our sleeves which we could bring out if things got tough . We have

80

given

compromise

dare We majority

we

that

all

on are

give .

to

had

things we

dare

The things we not

compromise

have

refused

to

on .

there is a Black on the reality that If the South African Government wants

not compromise in this country .

force us to make this compromise then I say enough is enough will withdraw all the offers of compromise that we have we

to and made .

The Regional

Services

Councils

demand

recognition

that

the

present constitution is right in distinguishing between own affairs and common affairs amongst a range of minority groups in South Africa . The present constitution denies the existence of a Black majority .

Mr.

Chris

Heunis

rejects

proposals because these proposals that there is a Black majority .

front

I

of us which I

say

pick

up

the

Indaba's

constitutional

are formulated around the reality He has thrown a gauntlet down in

today .

Chris

bluntly to Mr. rejecting

statement

the

Heunis

that

we see his

press

formal

KwaZulu / Natal

Indaba

constitutional

to a

decision

in

the

South

African Cabinet . I say bluntly to the State President a is Black majority in South Africa and that unless

that he he

there begins

proposals

giving

as

negotiating

effect

reality ,

around this

negotiate with him . The have been thrown in our

consensus

there

is nothing

great cost and such great earnestness must be from the side of the South African Government .

Mr.

Speaker ,

I

would

wish to

compromises we have been prepared to face and the best we have done at

Honourable Members ,

I

met

return now to

with

make such

compromises

continue

looking

at Black politics in terms of the utility of Black organisations in attacking I weakest . is South African Government where it the democracy . of that spreading mass poverty is the enemy reiterate It is the terrible destitution of the people which has always given a field day in who are too clever by half , leaders , fly -by -night people promising which to whip up emotions and gather support by The UDF elements impossible early victories and Utopias tomorrow . Pietermaritzburg mobilising the people in the Greater were which the Area would never have gained a foothold there were it not for massive

Wherever

poverty problem

there

in the

area .

is mass poverty ,

the

UDF will move in

to

ferment

internecine Black - on - Black strife . It will move in with its double agendas to capitalise on genuine protest to make Party political gains on behalf of the ANC . It will move in to taunt people with their poverty and woo them into the politics of confrontation which inevitably culminates in violence . The UDF will move in to ferment our discontent with the best that we can do and they will exploit vulnerability to the very fullest because we are prepared to make compromises .

We must never delude ourselves that there is not a time the the between politics of negotiation and

race against of politics

81

violence . does

Nor

anything

must we delude ourselves other

than

retard the

political

that

emergence

of

the

violence democratic

in this country capable of bringing about radical process in Undoubtedly of the Conservative Party can rise the

change . be part

traced to the upward spiralling of violence inside South Africa and South isolate to of international campaigns escalation the to The CP economically , diplomatically . and politically Africa represents White

South Africa

running

a laager .

into

Undoubtedly the retarding effect of the rising right wing activity Black - on - Black of effects South Africa is reinforced by the in claiming are Africans South White Fear - filled confrontation . capable of not that Blacks are fears their for justification the commitments democratically . whatever Undoubtedly behaving they change African Government had to bring about whatever South We can anticipate that the have now been weakened . had in mind , local nation -wide part of this year before the October remaining the

far

us . around cannot carry on blind to what is taking place We delude ourselves that any tendency the Government may cannot affect not will reform stalling programmes on now of detrimentally . ever The Government is further than it has

have us been

authority right .

before has to

elections

will

be spent wooing

and appeasing

We

from recognising that there is a Black majority and that it reality . The address fundamental issues arising from this

State President's much publicised National Council has already been Afrikanerdom . wing right make it innocuous to to down watered hostility towards South Africa will also undoubtedly International The rug will continue to be pulled from beneath my feet increase . by the Government Blacks hope .

Unemployment

as

it

refuses

and the spread

to

move

forward

of poverty will

fast

enough to give

continue to

erode

the

politics of negotiation . Black anger will continue to rise and be which is ever more difficult to harness in constructive action it capable of attacking the South African Government where is weakest . A difficult year lies ahead and we should carefully take stock of the realities around us , lest what could be constructive for us to do in the near future , or in the medium term , is destructive when done

in the short

term .

Perhaps we

more deeply about standing firm where we are cautious in forging ahead as we have thus far

Timing is have yet

ought

to

and to be a bit planned .

think more

critically important in effective political action . We to see what the effect is going to be of the action

recently taken by the Government against the UDF , COSATU and other Black organisations . For the last two years failed violence and were the disillusionment of those who drawn into violent confrontation by the

UDF and

COSATU ,

have

created the

circumstances

in which Inkatha can take another leap forward . Backlashes Against We saw failure always rebound to strengthen the relatively strong .

82

this

after the

1984/86

period .

I

want

now

1976/78

to

period

summarise

and we will

briefly what

I

again

see

have

said

after

it

about

the

Black

politics in present day South Africa . I have pointed to the fact that Black organisations are divided between those which attack the South African Government where it is strongest and those who attack the South African Government where it is weakest . have , I however , also drawn attention to the fact that in a very real sense those who attack the South African Government where it is strongest not only have the effect of making the South Government African stronger yet where it was already strong , being but of also of counter - productive for those who have seen the soft under - belly apartheid and have been homing in to attack the South African Government where it is weakest . Inkatha's cause has undoubtedly been hurt by the escalation of violence , the rise of internecine Black -on - Black violence giving rise to Black killing Black for political

purposes

and by

the

swing

to the

right

in White

politics .

and also indicated possible future dangers to Inkatha have I to this House , Mr. Speaker , if we stand by the compromises we offered make if there were matching compromises from White South Africa to There is when these matching compromises are just not forthcoming . Speaker , that we can do just so much to assist White Mr. a sense , Own its and fears to come to terms with its own Africa South problems .

I have Indaba . them to

repeatedly said that the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba is not my Whites can are like human beings everywhere - you take There is a very the water but you cannot make them drink .

real sense that the politics of negotiation now entirely depends on If they Whites at last recognising the value of what we are doing . reject what we are doing and sabotage the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba of its political effectiveness , I do not see why we should bear the We are all encouraged brunt of paying the cost of their blunders . the by the by extent to which independent research commissioned Indaba KwaZulu / Natal has shown relatively widespread support for Attitudes are , however , its proposals among the White electorate . one thing . It is political action that counts in the end . Perhaps we have to wait and see how political attitudes which were changed work by White the Indaba KwaZulu / Natal negotiations out in politics .

Speaker , Honourable Members , Mr. there are many things which are One fundamental to my whole approach to politics in South Africa . of these is that at heart we have a Black /White problem and both and Whites Blacks must be involved in the solution to South Africa's problems . historic This perspective tells me that the burden of political responsibility that Blacks must bear as Blacks because it is they who are the victims of oppression , of drawing Whites into the political solution .

is

the

burden

83

perception stands out in stark contrast to the perception of that the Black struggle must produce a Black Blacks victory establish a Black government which will then deal the with

This some and

White problem . It is this perception that has in the past formed rationale behind the need for an armed struggle to return the the Africa as the ANC to South Black government in power . The perception Black - only victory over a White of a government and White

society

the politics

This

through the

employment

of negotiation

perception

of the

in

need

recent

for

a

of violence ,

has

bedevilled

years .

Black

victory

over White

society

has led to very substantial international backing for the ANC's struggle armed attempt and for its to isolate South Africa diplomatically . economically and seen Again and again we have talking spokesmen of national and international prominence as

settlement though the only settlement that there can be will be a the ANC and the National Party . between Once you have moved to perceive need for a Black victory over White society , the it is natural think

Mr.

to gravitate to

can

lead Blacks

Speaker ,

to

look

for a

that

victory .

Honourable Members ,

dominant

Black group

I say now that

whom

you

there will be no

There can only Black military victory over Whites in this country . be a final scorched earth policy confrontation on both sides which nobody and leave the will destroy everything victor . This perception of the need for a racist victory over White society only continue to escalate the upward spiralling violence . only continue to retard and eventually annihilate the politics

can of

negotiation . If we want a victory over apartheid in this country victory which establishes a just fair and race - free to be a we primary society , then must abandon violence as cause of bringing

We in

about

radical

change .

saw how the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group became entangled that thing the myth that an ANC/ NP rapprochement was the only

We have again and again seen this for the future . leaders as businessman like Tony Bloom and Church the Reverend Allan Boesak and others like Archbishop Desmond Tutu , being credibility Black THE of ANC the the to give work triumph over which alone can ensure that there is a organisation

would give hope evidenced view

apartheid .

This myth must be abandoned because it is dangerous for everything value in this country . of any Other myths associated with this myth must also be abandoned . It is sheer myth that in real political terms the ANC is striving to mount a multi - racial response to the South African problem . However much they campaign for multi - racial claim support and however much their allies in the UDF and COSATU to be multi - racial organisations , the ANC remains committed to a Black victory by Blacks to establish a Black government capable of dealing Whites . victory with shared They do not want a with

Whites .

They want

to

employ the

utility

that

some Whites have

for

84

them . end

They want it

is

a

to

use them as

pawns in their power games .

Black victory through violence

Black government

that

is

to

establish a

In the powerful

their total preoccupation .

want such There are some Whites , Indians and Coloureds who a victory and who are working to make the ANC such a victor . This bit of reality , however , does not gainsay the fact that what the ANC and its allies are doing further polarises South Africa into Black /White political camps . It does ANC may use Whites in its tactics and a Black /White partnership at any real

I said that which were politics .

not gainsay the fact that the strategies but that it abhors political level .

we would have to wait and see how political attitudes out shaped by the KwaZulu/ Natal negotiations work in There

is

undoubtedly a groundswell

demand

in

White

society for the normalisation of South Africa as a modern , Westernindustrial State . There is undoubtedly a propensity amongst type South there

African Whites to is no apartheid .

start thinking about a The independent market

society in which research done on constitutional proposals

attitudes to the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba clearly documents this .

These are reliable and of people now . What future , the however ,

independent surveys of what is in the minds overt political action they give rise to in cannot

be discerned

in the survey

results

themselves . Black and White politics simply cannot be separated in country . this What what happens in Black politics will affect happens in White politics . The reverse is obviously just as What the South African Government does will either be seen time will

in the future as be seen to have

to

Black / White

a

Mr.

Speaker ,

that

sowing a whirlwind that it had to taken courses of action which are

rapprochement

in the politics

Honourable Members , history in making the latter

we were wanting

Government we move ,

true . some

reap , or it beneficial

of negotiation .

in the

end must

not

find

course

of action by

the

to wants the South African Government If possible . a for We remain committed to work will move with it .

negotiated future in which Blacks and Whites can be joined together all take part in watershed events which eradicate apartheid in to The White

its

entirety .

this

direction than

I

am on

record as

is

electorate

is

far more

ready to move

in

in

the

generally perceived .

saying that

one

of the

underlying

factors

governing President receiving a massive mandate to continue State reform . is the White expectation that he is capable of introducing It is the reality of this gave him a blank cheque to do so . They Conservative mandate which has given rise to the ascendancy of the in find I Parliament . in Party opposition official the as vexing to again and again have to defend the politics of extremely White negotiation on the grounds that majorities in both Black and that and ground the off get to reform of society want the process

85

both this

are

ready to make the

kind of

compromises

that

will

enable

happen .

to

This is not the image of South Africa which is conveyed in the media across the length and breadth of the world . Generally speaking , the political recalcitrance of the State President and National Party his is laid at the feet of all Whites . Generally speaking ,

a

governments will globe ,

picture of South Africa and political activists have to apply coercion

is

painted in

which

foreign

in pressure groups around the to bring about change in this

country .

These perceptions of the need for a Black /White partnership in the grounds eradication the of apartheid and the defence of them on that the majorities in both Black and White society are ready to negotiate a new South Africa , are however not fixed dimensions of African politics . South I am as aware as anybody that the time could arrive when these dimensions become as doomed as apartheid society itself now is . The readiness of Black and White to we negotiate a new South Africa has been created by history . If now spurn

that

which history

on and the sun will

That

is

why ,

set

Mr.

has

offered

to

us ,

history will march

on the day of negotiation .

Speaker ,

Honourable

Members ,

I

told

the

Honourable Minister of Education and Development Aid , Dr. G. van N. Viljoen , at the opening of this Session , that the time has come to say enough is enough . The South African Government must now move be doomed with the apartheid that it knows is doomed but will not abandon .

It to

will be truly historically tragic if we Blacks are one day going be held responsible for the fact that we did not grasp this golden day of history in which Black and White can still find each other . Black politics to White initiatives . ultimately calls the death assume

is no longer reactionary politics responding Black politics has come into its own . It tune . Black politics now dare not play a to march as a political anthem . Black politics must move the on full responsibility which political power places

Black shoulders .

I have said that there will only be a really meaningful future for South Africa if it is produced by a Black/White partnership and I and now add that if there will be no future worth having , Black jointly will be White responsible for that as well . The Black -on - Black confrontations now taking place violent internecine in South Africa negate any notion of Black political Blacks are just as capable of screwing up the responsibility . as Whites are . future of South Africa

86

It is in the context of these thoughts , Mr. Members , that I want to look at the hideous

Black confrontations that have now been Pietermaritzburg Area for many months .

cause The real and immediate Pietermaritzburg area is the alliance's

attack on

Inkatha .

of

Speaker ,

Honourable

internecine

taking

place

political

in

Black - on-

the

in

violence

It

was

a

Honourable African wishful

Area a

no - go

really desperate Members ,

Government thinking .

area

for me

attempt

because

the

multi - dimensional UDF / COSATU / ANC are The background factors which

very real and very hideous would have remained background were it not for the immediate cause which can be traced UDF /COSATU / ANC alliance's desperate attempt to make the Pietermaritzburg

Greater

was on the run has The escalation of

Inkatha .

their

on

their

and

1983/84

factors to the Greater

part , boast

Mr.

that

Speaker , the

South

since been proved to be sheer violence ever since 1984 has

not made the political gains that the perpetrators of political violence promised the people . They could not turn June 16th in 1984 and in 1985 into for launching victories days by the militantly violent . Those who attempted to do so attacked the South African Government where it is strong and they were battered by the strength they attacked .

The

people in the Greater

Pietermaritzburg

Area who had been

drawn

into the politics of confrontation courting violence paid the price of failed violence for no political gain . There was a backlash against violence as the ordinary worker and peasant said enough is enough as they first did in the SARMCOL saga and as they later did and action designed in reaction to failed consumer boycott action , disrupt One of the factors of this to the educational process . was backlash to general move by the people in the area join Inkatha .

Not

only

therefore

did the

UDF/COSATU / ANC

alliance

the

suffer

people promising being proved politically stupid in of ignominy they did and not only could not deliver , they which that get it when they attacked the South African Government where battered is strongest , but they saw a move by the people to join and support desperate They mounted a vicious attack on Inkatha in a Inkatha . attempt

These

to

maintain a political

immediate

causes

for

foothold

the

in the

escalation

area .

of

Pietermaritzburg Area do not , however , negate the which provided the circumstances in which the could take looked at .

Mr.

effect .

Speaker ,

violence at

I

We must

have

this point

look at

chosen to

violence background immediate

them because they demand

talk

about

the

in my policy speech where

the

in

causes causes to

be

Pietermaritzburg I was dealing with

87

of the fundamentals establish joint a

political position , namely the need eradicate to partnership Black / White apartheid . I have done so because I went on to look at the we behaviour of reform - minded White South Africans and noted that White would have to wait and see what the political attitudes way produced by the Indaba's research would give rise to by of

one to

White political

There

are

of my

action .

Whites

who point

to

the

Pietermaritzburg

violence

as

reason enough to withhold demands on the State President that he his reform moves faster in programme . Political violence in Pietermaritzburg has most certainly given impetus to the rise of Africa . far right wing Afrikaner thinking in this region of South It

has

certainly

contributed

to

Party began getting jittery and elections decided to constitutional

It

is

as

proposals

for

the

climate

in which the

National

about the October Local Authority the reject KwaZulu / Natal Indaba

public

consumption .

though Whites who are primarily responsible for the Pietermaritzburg which factors produced the

background

circumstances

in which

immediate

causes

of violence

could take place , feel they can now point a finger is Whites who produced the apartheid circumstances

against

Inkatha

at Blacks . It Black in which

democracy

is shackled . It is Whites who produced the apartheid circumstances in which poverty drove factions of the Black masses to adopt desperate means to improve their lot . It was Whites who produced the political recalcitrance which made many Blacks lose hope .

the are they though now to sit back as right violence say and in that pure of the purest democratic a in partners unworthy Blacks are Pietermaritzburg that proves

Whites

no

have

Inkatha South Africans must realise that it stands adamantly firm in defence of the many Whites themselves aspire to .

future buries

White democracy . its dead because

things

that

so

White South Africans must recognise that attacks against Inkatha in Pietermaritzburg the Greater Area are in actual fact attacks democracy multi - Party and against enterprise the free against system . democrats

In Pietermaritzburg Whites should have seen how are ready to die for their political beliefs .

better proof could they want future of South Africa ?

that

Blacks

are worthy partners

Black What in the

Mr.

Speaker , Honourable Members , I must register my total disgust with the UDF and COSATU , and with the ANC , for mounting a hideous and deliberately planned and executed campaign to hold Inkatha responsible for the Pietermaritzburg violence . It is this campaign to discredit Inkatha that has had such terribly detrimental effects White the on perceptions of Black politics . Whites are denied which truth that Inkatha's members died in defence of that is

88

noble . Inkatha

They are fed war - lords going

dramatised news stories out to kill for political

about so - called purposes . They

know

that the ANC kills for political purposes . The ANC claims responsibility bombs it plants in public places . for They know the that ANC deliberately has adopted policy a in which distinctions are no longer made between soft and hard targets . They know that the ANC has in which they train Blacks

A

great

many

Whites ,

military to kill .

camps

in Africa

continue to

however ,

and

believe

in the

USSR

that

the

majority of Blacks are different and reform programmes should be mounted to move South Africa away from apartheid . It is residual belief in the decency of Black South Africans that hideous UDF /COSATU / ANC propaganda against Inkatha attacks disillusions .

now this the

Mr.

Speaker ,

Honourable Members ,

disillusioned about

Inkatha by

White

these

opinion - makers

attacks .

It

is not

and

been

have

only White

The activists who now argue that Inkatha is responsible . radical Whites accusations permeate through all levels of society and many considerable influence - whether they be clergymen , professors of or businessmen

These

-

attitudes

now argue the

blaming

same .

Inkatha

for the

violence that

is

taking

Mr. Speaker , place in Pietermaritzburg emerged in strange places . taken have that like to share with the House exchanges would I between myself and the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce . place The Chamber mounted a peace initiative in which it presented itself and as an honest broker between the UDF and COSATU on the one hand an with This initiative co - existed the other hand . on Inkatha was he Desmond Tutu announced that Archbishop which initiative launching of group other

less

and it clerics

a that later also co - existed with an initiative and with announced that they were going to make ,

publicised

initiatives .

This was the first time that a CHamber of Commerce in South Africa had seen itself in the role as an adjudicator in Black political disputes

and one

must

assume

that

the Pietermaritzburg Chamber

of

Commerce , dominated as it is by rational businessmen , was serving its own business interests by mounting the initiative . Chambers of Commerce are not altruistic organisations which themselves mount their humanitarian projects . They may support them morally or members may contribute to projects financially , but there was something very different about the interest of the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce in the violence in its area .

Pietermaritzburg violence

would

businessmen

were

well

aware

that

spreading

not leave their undertakings and enterprises untouched . They were also well aware that the kind of political forces in the Greater Pietermaritzburg Area which were being drawn into violent confrontations , were dominated by the UDF and COSATU

89

in

which

organisations

there

were

activists

always

ready

to

mobilise consumer boycotts . to consumer boycotts mount

They knew that attempts had been made they in the Pietermaritzburg area and

were intensely aware of the result of UDF initiatives .

difficulties SARMCOL experienced as

Mr.

Speaker ,

Members ,

Honourable

I and every member of

Inkatha

would have welcomed any initiative made by anybody which could have the in violence of cessation the to contribution a made Pietermaritzburg for abhor violence area . all We political for hostilities and we of all people had the most to gain if purposes We between Inkatha and the UDF / COSATU/ ANC alliance came to an end . Chamber tackled had however , that the realise , soon to came Preliminary handle . was to ill - equipped it which something

meetings

served only to the Chamber was

problem

UDF/COSATU

alliance

to

define the intractable nature facing . It was being used

cast

aspersions

on

Inkatha's

the

of by

the

sincerity

in

seeking peace .

into elements the UDF /COSATU drawing was Chamber While the conducting themselves elements were so discussions , these same of case initiatives that it was really a Chamber's the outside political interested

be While the UDF was professing to Hydes . being were vicious propaganda programmes Elements in the press and villifying us . Inkatha ,

Jekylls and peace , in

mounted against

media were being manipulated in well - orchestrated propaganda smears The Courts were being used as political platforms as Inkatha . of and bearers office injunctions against Inkatha sought UDF the members . side the

In the discussions which took place those Inkatha soon realised that Whites and of

involved Indians

from were

initiatives . emerging as important spokesmen for the UDF in peace Chamber was not negotiating with the people most The involved in confrontation , nor was it negotiating with people who had violent would have any any right to claim that whatever they did and said , effect whatsoever on the levels

Then to article

compound the Chamber's problems , in the New York Times publicised

Manager , Commerce . war - lords schools , relief

of violence

taking place .

F. Burns John the attitudes

Mr. Paul van Uytrecht , of the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of He was quoted in the New York Times as saying : " Inkatha Zulu had tried to enforce loyalty to the group at

hospitals and work places , even insisting that disaster after floods in October be channelled exclusively through

its hands . " communities

He was also quoted as saying : were that not politicised

" Over a period have begun

spontaneously against Inkatha . Now things have swung very unsatisfactory to Inkatha , is and they may in with very

When

an in of the

the

of time turning

in a way that fact be left

little . "

Chamber's

President ,

Mr.

Stewart

Smith and

President Mr. R.H.D. Pater came to see me in Ulundi on Mr. this year , Paul van Uytrecht was not with them .

its

Vice-

25th January Mr. I told

90

Smith

Mr.

and

Pater

that

Pietermaritzburg

the

violence

was

symptomatic of the consequences of the raging battle for minds which is taking place in South Africa . I told them that there was a race against time between the forces of democracy and the forces of violence and that the forces of violence led by the ANC simply did not want

the

politics

of negotiation

to

succeed .

I pointed

out

that the UDF and COSATU were allies with the ANC in a desperate bid to eradicate Inkatha entirely . The Pietermaritzburg violence is Pietermaritzburg violence in a very much broader context than the Chamber

of

Commerce

seemed

When therefore I read I was particularly

to

Burns ' Mr. incensed .

Chamber himself taking sides purporting to be neutral . was

Smith , the follows :

Mr.

President

Stewart

realise .

of the

article

quoting Mr.

Uytrecht ,

van

Here we had the Manager in a situation in which the Mr. I therefore wrote to

Pietermaritzburg

of Commerce as

Chamber

Smith

of the Chamber Stewart

2

February

1988

President Pietermaritzburg PO Box 65 Pietermaritzburg

Chamber

of

Commerce

3200

Dear Mr.

The

Smith ,

blunt

truth

raging battle

for

is

that

minds

South Africa

being waged .

is

in

a

mess .

There

is

a

The South African Government

is deploying troops across the country's borders . Whites have been of militarised and the battle for minds takes place in the context the upward spiralling of the violence of insurrection and the Government emergency national which under the African South attempts

to govern .

Africa , Black length and breadth of South the Across townships township Black Some witness outbreaks of violence . repeatedly along the on function and others are teetering cannot councils Violence moves its centre from place to place of collapse . brink harsh its under down Government clamps the and much however continues violence emergency , of within a state laws security because the

root

cause

of violence

has

not yet

been addressed .

this situation of a national emergency It is in and nationwide violence , of sporadic outbreaks to that as I have lead the President of Inkatha and as Chief Minister of KwaZulu . It is in brutally this situation Inkatha members are that murdered and suffer forces

awesome intimidation . Inkatha is a particular target of violence and insurrection because it is committed

politics

of

negotiation and

is prepared

to

thrash out a

of the to the

compromise

91

solution

with White African Government .

In

the battle

for

South Africa

minds

which

is

in general

raging ,

and with

those

the

committed

South

to

the

through struggle armed and the bringing about of ungovernability the politics of violence , attack Inkatha because it is relevant to the process of reconciliation and central when it comes to the politics of negotiation . These are the facts of the matter . Revolutionaries detest anybody or any group which is capable of inputs real into the non -violent resolution of South making real Africa's problems .

The ANC , and those in the UDF and COSATU working in tandem with it , not only want to escalate violence in Black areas but also want to spread violence to White areas . In and other places , in Dar - es - Salaam South Africans to do what those Pietermaritzburg

are

in

fact

broadcasts from Radio Freedom Black the ANC weekly exhorts responsible for violence in

doing .

They

claim the

UDF as

" their "

organisation . Prominent UDF leaders share international platforms with The UDF and COSATU receive very substantial funding them . from agencies abroad on the strength of ANC recommendations to these agencies . There is a working and COSATU leaders and the ANC . nailed their flag to the ANC mast . be their

This

is

leaders

not

imagination .

and to be the true Black

political

propaganda .

It

a

is not

the facts of the matter , writes and broadcasts themselves say .

In

the

relationships between these UDF UDF and COSATU leadership have They claim the ANC leaders to South African

It is

justification

not

for my

a

leaders .

figment

existence .

of

my

It

is

fully substantiated by what the ANC itself UDF and leaders and what the COSATU

totality of the South African

situation

violence thrives most where there is the most confusion about who is responsible for it . I make the point that the ANC has been in exile for over a quarter of a century and for that quarter of a century it has been in schooled the art of revolution by people like Arafat , Yasser Fidel Castro and Colonel Qhadaffi . For this quarter of a century it has had the full backing of the Soviet Union . Its cadres are trained in the Soviet Union . It is supplied with arms by the Soviet Union and its allies . The ANC's Mission abroad has turned into a butchering leadership which now does not distinguish between soft and hard targets and which directs their forces to escalate violence , whether it be Black - on - Black violence or Black - on - White violence .

I am sending you under cover of this letter a batch of the British Broadcasting Corporation's transcripts of ANC broadcasts . Please look these at decide whether the points and am I making are figments of my imagination or whether they are simple statements about the truth of the matter .

92

In the cross - roads of history where South Africa is now located , a distances , great , great deal hangs in the balance . I cover vast not only in this country but across the length and breadth of Western Europe and North America , doing whatever I can to salvage us . South Africa from the ruins of violence which now threaten Violent confrontations can only lead to scorched earth policies opposing scorched earth policies until there are things As now going , are the best we can hope attrition

which will

stretch out the

South African

Government

Mr.

am a

Smith ,

I

and the

serious

time which

South African

politician .

to direct Inkatha in such a way that violent political situation , but

it it

For

a

only ashes left . for is a war of it takes for the

economy

decade

to

collapse .

now I

have

had

not only survives in a remains committed to

very the to relevant

politics of negotiation and becomes ever - increasingly the whole process in which we can achieve national reconciliation in South Africa . I have had to be a hundred people at once as multitude of strategies and involve myself in a constituencies in every race group in the country .

as I Above

develop all , I

have had to survive , and I have had to keep Inkatha intact in the face of the abysmal failure of the South African Government to address the root causes of South Africa's drift towards a souless and mindless blood - letting which would be

all - destructive .

In 1975 I started to put Inkatha together . It now has over 1.5 for million members . succeeded I building in up a force in circumstances in which other Black leaders reconciliation did membership - based mass a to attempt to establish dare even not of Minister have handled my portfolio as Chief I organisation . KwaZulu

over

this decade

to

trounce the South African

Government

again and again in its terribly dangerous attempt to fragment South Africa into one central White dominant state and ten mini Black states related to the White State in a confederal structure . The which the components South African Government envisaged during Verwoerdian politics were the components of a time bomb which would have to explode sooner or later . I have kept KwaZulu out of the clutches of the apartheid ideologues and I have developed it as an area

in which

of negotiation

real a

initiatives

could be made

to

make the

politics

reality .

produced the Buthelezi Commission and after it had established I Provincial its report I directed negotiations with the then Natal Authority My lieutenants now serve on a Joint Executive Council . nce conseque Another from those negotiations . resulted which of ration Administ / KwaZulu those negotiations was the Natal Provincial where circumstances was doing these things in I While Indaba . I criss - crossed the country other people dare not try to do them , as meeting with international Heads of State such the globe , and Kohl t Helmut Dr. , Reagan Ronald Presiden Margaret Thatcher Mrs. , and Mr.

Jacques

Chirac .

93

I am serious about my commitments to a new South Africa will be a multi - Party democracy , there a vibrant free system

and

a

Black ,

White ,

Indian

and

in which enterprise

Coloured population

making

the national effort to conquer poverty , ignorance and disease after do . political victories have been won . I am serious about what I do it with vigour . I I do it with sustained commitment and each year I build up on the

When ,

therefore ,

gains

John

F.

of the

Burns

previous year .

publishes

an article

world's largest mass circulation newspapers , which that he Paul van reports Uytrecht

in one

of the

The New York Times , in Pietermaritzburg the

Chamber of Commerce's Manager , says " Inkatha war lords had tried to enforce loyalty to the Zulu group at schools , work hospitals and places , even insisting that disaster relief after floods in October be channelled exclusively through its hands " I am appalled at the kind of organisation which the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce must be . Mr. van Uytrecht is reported to have said : " Over a period of time communities that were not politicised have begun turning spontaneously against Inkatha . Now things have swung in a way that is very unsatisfactory to Inkatha , and they may in fact be left with very

little . "

I write this letter to request you , Mr. Smith , meeting full of the Pietermaritzburg Chamber declare where

the

Chamber

stands

as

publicly as

to lay it before the of Commerce and to Mr.

van Uytrecht's

views were stated . How can your chamber play peace - maker when it has already taken sides and made Inkatha the villain of the piece ? Your Chamber has either tried and condemned Inkatha and sentenced it to case .

oblivion

or

it

has

not

done

so .

I

need to

know which is the

There is too much at stake not only in the Greater Pietermaritzburg area , and not only in the whole KwaZulu/ Natal region , but there is much also too at stake for the whole of South Africa for me to stand idly a nefarious

by while the Pietermaritzburg Chamber role in a life and death situation .

of

Commerce

plays

A great many around me are shocked by Mr. van Uytrecht's reported statements . It is being repeatedly said to me , and I convey the idiom of what is being said , that the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce is covering its arse because it is shit - scared of the UDF and possible commercial boycott action that the UDF so desires to specialise in . Is the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce simply the tool of small - minded businessmen who think they can make a few bucks extra by appeasing revolutionary forces ? Has the Chamber already accepted the demise of the best that there is in South African

society , and does the Chamber now behave in such a way that it is trying to ensure the best possible place there can be for its businessmen in the kind of socialist economy that the ANC and UDF

want ?

94

These

tough sentiments

are

express ,

I

and I

convey to

you ,

Mr.

They Smith , that they are sentiments which are arising around me . must be tabled and I believe that the Chamber of Commerce owes it to itself and to its difficult situation .

members to

call a

halt

to

blundering

in a

very

the that thought not would bother to write this letter if I I were objectively which are around me , sentiments I convey to you , South of of my great sources of hope for the future One valid . Africa , lies in my perception that now at last economic forces are to bring beginning to work in tandem with Black liberation forces , all an end to the hideous apartheid era under which we have about today . Africa South the terrible impasse we see in at arrived the lay What we now do will will go . It must go . Apartheid have . will for the kind of post - apartheid society we foundations the length and breadth of South Africa captains of banking , Across and and industry and organised interests of big commerce mining , now is a formidable chunk of reality that business , form small on the

heavily

pressing

South African Government .

the alienation permanent thing in the world I want is last g bur Chamber of Commerce . Inkatha and the Pietermaritz between I matters , using blunt language about difficult this letter , write The

hoping

that

can be

the air

cleared .

sincerely ,

Yours

( Sgd ) MANGOSUTHU

G.

BUTHELEZI

CHIEF MINISTER OF KWAZULU PRESIDENT OF INKATHA AND

text The 1988 was :

of

Mr.

Smith's

reply which he wrote on

the

11th February

Dear Chief Minister ,

Thank you for your letter which we have noted . We

do

not

wish

to

be

of the

2nd

involved

February

in

a

1988 ,

the

protracted

contents

of

debate

by

correspondence in regard to all of the points which were raised in your letter , but we do wish to make the following points , and the position

The

of the

passages

Pietermaritzburg

from the

relevant

Chamber

of Commerce ,

article which appeared

Times , and which have been attributed to the York Chamber , no in Pietermaritzburg way express the Pietermaritzburg

Chamber ,

and

I

am assured

by Mr.

very

in

manager policy

Van

clear .

the of of

Uytrecht

New the the that

95

he has been inaccurately quoted , certain of the alleged quotations reported did not emanate from him and the quotations are certainly inaccuracy out of context . Given the of we the reporting disassociate ourselves from the report as a whole .

The

position

of the Pietermaritzburg

Chamber

is

one

of

complete

impartiality and neutrality . The Pietermaritzburg Chamber became this mater in the position of " honest originally involved in broker . " The members of the Pietermaritzburg Chamber in its Committee , members , Executive as also naturally all of our are extremely concerned by the trouble which exists in the greater Pietermaritzburg hardship , area and are deeply concerned by the the upon suffering and loss of life of so many people following recent

unrest .

Our Executive Committee has had a number of confirm its position in the process , and to

as one of absolute non allegiance is unanimously confirmed .

to recent discussions position reaffirm its

and neutrality ,

and

this

position

I would also mention that I have had discussions with very senior these senior members of the Board of Management of ASSOCOM and members , as also the Chief Executive of ASSOCOM , Mr. Raymond Parsons , hardship have reaffirmed ASSOCOM's concern for the and suffering of the people of Natal / KwaZulu . Mr. Alec Rogoff , the President Mr. Raymond Parsons National of ASSOCOM , and other members of the Board of Management of ASSOCOM will be embarking upon a

fact

finding

tour of the

region next week .

If there remains Pietermaritzburg

any doubt in your mind as to the position of the would Chamber in regard to the Peace Talks , I

sincerely welcome

a

Yours

further

communication ,

or contact ,

from you .

sincerely ,

STEWART

SMITH

PRESIDENT : PIETERMARITZBURG CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

The question I had to ask myself was obvious . If the Chamber was neutral , truly why did it not then repudiate its Manager ? It cannot be neutral if its Manager is reported across the length and breadth of the world wherever the New York Times is read as blaming The Chamber , Inkatha for the violence . however , continued in its initiative without remedying that which was wrong . Stewart Smith , received the above letter from Mr. to me enclosing the UDF's proposal about how a Inkatha and the UDF should be conducted and asked

The day after I Mr. Pater wrote meeting between for

my

comments .

96

following

The UDF

is the

proposal and was to take place .

letter

Pater wrote

Mr.

under which the

conditions

to

me ,

as well

meeting they

as

the

proposed

Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce P.O.Box 65 Pietermaritzburg 3200 12

February

1988

Buthelezi

Dr. Mangosuthu G. of KwaZulu

The Honourable Chief Minister

" KwaPhindangene " P.0.Box 1 Mahlabatini 3865

Dear Chief Minister

Further to

the

talks which Mr.

Ulundi on the 25th January , UDF /COSATU Alliance .

For

purpose

the

of the

Chamber at Leaders as

no stage a demand

Please

us

We

let

at short

to

notice

Stewart

Smith and

enclose

a proposal

record we would

presented the from Inkatha .

have your

would like

we

response

take this

on the

issue

as

held with you received

like to

state

of the presence

from

that

in the

the

of National

soon as possible .

opportunity

25th and

I

to

thank you

for the hospitality

for

seeing

afforded

to

us us .

Yours sincerely

( Sgd ) ROBIN H.D.

PATER

VICE PRESIDENT :

PIETERMARITZBURG

CHAMBER OF

COMMERCE

PROPOSED FORMAT DOCUMENT TO GOVERN THE CONDUCT OF A MEETING BETWEEN INKATHA/ UWUSA AND

COSATU/ UDF

In the meetings with the Pietrmaritzburg Chamber of Commerce on the 8th , 15th and 28th January and from press statements it has become clear that Inkatha believe that national office bearers of Inkatha

97

and

Cosatu/UDF

believe violence

should be

talks will not we make the

continue

INVOLVEMENT OF

1.1

National

The

unless we

" Peace

Talks " . Cosatu /UDF to solve the problem of it would appear that the

accommodate

NATIONAL OFFICE

office bearers

attend the next

to

in the

best able However ,

Inkatha .

To this

presence replace

BEARERS

organisations

respective

of the

will

meeting .

of such national

existing

office bearers

delegations

or

local

is

office

not

intended

bearers .

2.

DELEGATIONS

2.1

In order to keep the meeting within manageable proportions is proposed that 10 delegates represent Inkatha / UWUSA and delegates

2.2

end

following proposals .

1 .

1.2

involved

that local people are in Pietermaritzburg .

represent

it 10

COSATU / UDF .

It is proposed that that 6 delegates

4 delegates be national office bearers and delegations local be either existing

delegates .

2.3

The choice respective directly

of the parties

subject

to

in the area will be

3.

AGENDA AND

3.1

It

3.2

3.3

political

policy

However ,

it

3.4

The

purpose

and

agree

The

to

there

that

be

a

incidents

delegate .

substantial

are

differences

of

used

to

between the organisations .

of the

of

meeting will be to

common actions

violence

agenda

exchange

action concerning violent

is agreed that the meeting will not be resolve these differences .

or

present

legal

eligible

CONDUCT

is acknowledged

debate

individual delegates would be left to the who person with the proviso that no is

in the

should

that will

establish

lead to

a

common

cause

cessation

of the

Pietermaritzburg area .

facilitate

such

recriminations by the

a

discussion

parties .

and avoid

any

98

3.5

The

parties

agree

overrule points

4.

CONVENORS ,

4.1

The

spirit

convened by Mr.

be

meeting

The

chair

Chamber

be

will

of this

be

agenda .

of

Paul Van

Uytrecht

Dave

Mr.

meeting

5.

as

Robbins

chaired

and

of

the

of Paul

Van

Commerce .

by

Rob

Mr.

Pater

Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce assisted by Mr. Uytrecht and Messrs . John Radford and Phil Glazer of

4.3

to

empowered

AND OBSERVERS

CHAIRPERSONS

meeting

their

outside the

Pietermaritzburg

4.2

that

Rev.

Ben Nsimbi

continue to

the

IMMSA .

attend the

observers .

VENUE

The venue shall the Convenor .

be

in

Pietermaritzburg at

a place to be decided

by

6.

PRESS

6.1

In the event of there being agreement or partial agreement in the meeting the format of any press statement will be agreed in the meeting .

6.2

In

event

any

prejudice

COSATU/ UDF

-

confidentiality

discussion will be

MIDLANDS

and

principle

of

without

respected .

REGION

1/2/88

I wrote

to

him as

follows :

Mr. R.H.D. Pater Vice - President , Pietermaritzburg Chamber PO Box 65 Pietermaritzburg 3200

23 February

of

Commerce

1988

99

Dear Mr.

Thank

Pater ,

you

for your

letter

of the

enclosed a proposal

received

You

have

will

Stewart have agree which the

no doubt

Smith on the

read a

2nd

12

February

from the

copy of the

February

1988 with

UDF / COSATU

1988

which

you

alliance .

letter

to

I wrote

and you will

also

no

Mr. doubt

read his reply to me dated 11th February 1988. You would with me that issues have been raised in this correspondence are still somewhat hanging in the air . I cannot comment on

UDF / COSATU proposals without

referring

to these

issues .

I accept the bona fides of Mr. Stewart Smith and accept the honest intentions letter conveyed in his that the position of the Pietermaritzburg Chamber one of Commerce is of complete and neutrality . impartiality I must , however , express disquiet when Times that an international newspaper such as the New York with its mass circulation publishes the stated views of Mr. Paul van Uytrecht as an officer of the Chamber , Mr. Smith can that Mr. van Uytrecht was misquoted without taking any ensure that the damaging article in the New York Times countered by setting the

We

are

record

straight

for

its

assure me steps to has been

readership .

talking about

very serious matters when we talk about the Pietermaritzburg . We are talking about life and death in a very real sense we are talking about issues which will determine the future of this country . The same issues that we face in the Pietermaritzburg situation are being faced elsewhere in South Africa and have been faced ever since 1976. Whether the Pietermaritzburg Commerce is truly Chamber of neutral in its interfacing is role between Inkatha and the UDF / COSATU alliance violence in issues and

important .

neutrality This is a double - edged sword and time that somebody told the Pietermaritzburg the

case .

In

my

reported statement I - that him around

letter

to

Mr.

Smith

I believe that it Chamber that this

about

asked whether the thoughts the Chamber is taking out

Mr.

van

is is

Uytrecht's

expressed by people insurance policies

How against UDF /COSATU victories which they anticipate , can the Chamber be truly non - aligned in the conflict between Inkatha and UDF / COSATU , when the UDF / COSATU alliance with the ANC is committed to bring about the total destruction the of free enterprise system and multi - Party democracy ? If the Chamber is neutral towards the formally stated intentions of the ANC and UDF /COSATU alliance , then it is not neutral as far as Inkatha d concerne .

the is

I must therefore ask myself whether the Chamber can put its vested interest aside and act as an honest broker and show no evidence of influencing discussion

between

Inkatha

and

the

UDF /COSATU alliance .

100

The

Chamber certainly does not show evidence bein of really of be ing g Mr. neutral when it does not repudiate the reported sentiments of Paul van Uytrecht , which are terribly detrimental to Inkatha .

There are unresolved issues between myself and the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce which need to be addressed .

however , Beyond these issues , we face the nitty gritty of what is provisionally happening on the ground and I comment on the and UDF /COSATU proposals about how the meeting between Inkatha UDF/COSATU should be conducted . I accept your Chamber did not precipitate these proposals UDF /COSATU

that

organisations

Inkatha

insists

concerned being

on

national

involved

statement that by conveying leadership

the to

of

the

in negotiations .

The UDF / COSATU alliance states that they believe that " Local people the are best able to solve problems of violence in Pietermaritzburg . " If it was a situation in which violence could be traced to what locals were doing , then I would agree with them wholeheartedly . This is , however , not the case . The violence in Pietermaritzburg taking the area echoes violence which has been It

place across the length and breadth of South Africa . different intensity but it is not different in Political violence is being championed across the breadth of the repeatedly

country by the

stated

its

public

ANC ,

premier Black organisation . committed itself to make South cannot said before , this be neutral on the issue Chamber " ungovernable " ,

and the

commitment

to

may be origin .

in

length

and

UDF /COSATU alliance the

ANC as

the

has

country's

The UDF / COSATU alliance has Africa ungovernable and as I done by playing marbles . Is of whether South African is

also have the made

or not ?

The

origins of the Pietermaritzburg violence are not to be found Pietermaritzburg in itself . For this reason national leaders will

have to

I

pull

together to

have also the

discussions

bring about

unfortunate

with the

UDF

and

a

cessation

experience its

allies

of hostilities .

of having in the

been

involved

Greater

Durban

in Area

where those who came together agreed on courses of action subject to those courses of action being endorsed by the UDF'S national executive . This endorsement has never yet been forthcoming . The find yet Chamber will that the troubled waters in which it attempts to mediate recognises .

I turn now to proposals . I

are very much deeper

and more

turbulent

than

it

some of the more detailed aspects of the UDF /COSATU to another meeting be accept that if there is

convened

by the

Chamber ,

will not

replace

existing

the presence delegations

or

of

national

office

office

bearers .

bearers

101

I

no

see

reason ,

representing productive ,

however ,

to

limit

number

the

delegates

of

either side . we then must

If discussions are going to be full and ourselves to commit having the having all necessary people there . I am quite sure that the Chamber agrees with me that it is capable of reducing a greater number of people than

I

manageable proportions .

20 to

state

must

clause

2.3 .

clearly that

very In it

they

insist

I

am affronted

on the

proviso

UDF /COSATU'S

by the no

" that

who

person

is directly subject to legal action concerning violent incidents in UDF /COSATU The delegate . " will be eligible to be a area the further to made shaming attempts to use our Courts has alliance smear to attempted have They . propaganda political political distorting orders restraining for urgent applications filing by Inkatha free then

to have whoever I am afraid the

I want to have must Chamber

against me with

Inkatha . If I am not in the negotiations ,

count me because

I have personally been a party in the Supreme out . Where does Inkatha as a movement was sued by them .

Court that

place me ?

If

I

do

bringing

attend about

any meeting

a

cessation

of

convened by hostilities

the in the

Chamber

aimed

at

Pietermaritzburg

area , I will need to go free to make any point that has to be made . The reservations the UDF /COSATU alliance has in wanting to bar any discussion of substantial differences between the organisations is present , may act to debar the kind of exchange of views which essential for the sake of the UDF /COSATU alliance

peace . make

unrealistic

as

and

it

is

just

I simply cannot understand why totally this demand . It is

unrealistic

for me ,

who would go to

such a meeting with every intention of ironing out difficulties and establishing peace , as it would be to anybody else .

The UDF / COSATU alliance demands that Mr. Paul van Uytrecht convene for meeting . the I have already raised the question of the need him to establish his bona fides as far as we are concerned . To have him included as convenor , and to have him included as one who will assist you to conduct the meeting , may prove an insurmountable for me problem and Inkatha members who were so maligned in the words

attributed

to

him .

I do not wish to follow suit and give the Chamber my side , On an tum ultima such as a list of preconditions before I agree to go to If I go at all , I will go with a total commitment to the meeting . and rely on the Chamber to conduct can be done , the whatever do proposals , UDF / COSATU My response to the properly . meeting however ,

has to be

made .

I would also advise the Chamber to clearly ascertain whether national leadership of UDF and COSATU concur with the contents We have so the document which has been presented to it . that found at the national level the UDF in particular

the of

repeatedly does not

102

back

up what its office bearers commit themselves to at local and regional levels . I have again and again found that it takes months before the attitudes of the organisation's national leaders become known . Mostly , things fail by default as they do not respond at all .

I am sending a copy of this letter to you , to Mr. Stewart Smith . I owe him a letter in response to his last communication with me and I believe that I have said everything that I need to say to him in this

letter

to

I will

you .

of

course

under

send it

a

short

covering letter .

sincerely ,

Yours

( Sgd ) MANGOSUTHU PRESIDENT

G.

BUTHELEZI

OF INKATHA CHIEF MINISTER OF KWAZULU

I also wrote to Mr. Smith on the 25th February to express the view Paul Van Uytrecht was that a private assurance that Mr. wrongly quoted by Mr.

Dear Mr.

Burns was

I

said :

Smith ,

you for your

Thank

insufficient .

letter

of the

11th February

It

1988.

to hear that the Pietermaritzburg Chamber gratifying disassociates itself from the New York Times article I John Burns . van Paul Uytrecht is quoted by Mr.

very

is

Commerce of Mr. in which certain , am

that when you reflect further on it , you will see that the be left there and that a private assurance to me that cannot matter and van Uytrecht was misquoted Chamber is satisfied that Mr. the

however ,

quoted out

of context ,

will not

suffice .

The

New York Times article referred to was in fact followed by a further article a copy of which I enclose for your information . If Pietermaritzburg the Chamber of Commerce Mr. van accepts that

Uytrecht was inaccurately quoted in both these articles , then it should damage feel bound to do whatever can be done to undo the that

they have

caused .

As I explained to Mr. Rogoff and those who came to see me in Ulundi short yesterday , nothing of a disclaimer which is given as much to publicity as the original article received will suffice establish the bona

fides

Since

receiving

your

Pater

to which I

had to

of the

letter , reply .

Chamber .

I

have I

received

informed

a

letter

him in

my

from

reply

Mr.

that

I

103

would send you a copy of the letter I wrote to him under cover of a short letter . I believe that I have said everything in that letter which I need to say to you and I sincerely hope that we can now move

to

a

proper

resolution

between myself and the

of the

difficulties which have

Pietermaritzburg

Chamber

arisen

of Commerce .

by Right throughout my political career , I have been supported ASSOCOM and the various regional Chambers of Commerce . I have always valued the friendship of South Africa's business community . and strive for a South Africa that businessmen themselves want there should be a great deal of common cause between myself and your Chamber . That common cause now needs to be established beyond the doubt

Yours

that

Mr.

van

Uytrecht's

reported

remarks

have

created .

sincerely ,

( Sgd ) MANGOSUTHU G. BUTHELEZI CHIEF MINISTER OF KWAZULU AND PRESIDENT OF INKATHA

of ASSOCOM came On the 23rd February Mr. Alec Rogoff the President discussions about see me here in Ulundi . We had frank the to Pietermaritzburg Chamber peace of Commerce's involvement in initiatives the

and

following

Dear Mr.

I

day

followed in which

this I

discussion

up with a

letter

to

him

wrote :

Rogoff ,

Discussions were It was good to see you again yesterday in Ulundi . not easy but I am afraid that realities have to be faced in forthright is too talking and honest exchanges of views . There However much at stake for us to pussy - foot around central issues . much my convictions remain strong that South Africa can sort out own its problems , and however much I believe that there is sufficient

goodwill

between Black

of negotiation really to goodwill is not located there in the hearts and political developments

and White

to

enable the

politics

get off the ground , I make the point that in an impenetrable bastion . It lives out minds of the people and is vulnerable in see orchestrated by revolutionaries who

goodwill

as

unnecessary or

Goodwill

is

vulnerable

in

even as

a stumbling block .

situations where

violence

is

on

an upward

spiral . in this

However much you and I know that there is enough goodwill country for us to get together as Blacks and Whites , to I find solutions to the country's problems , we need to protect it . country's always have appreciated ASSOCOM's and the various regional me .

I

Chambers do

not

of Commerce

appreciate

this

for the

support

support

as

they

have

Party political

given

to

support .

104

I

appreciate

objectives

that

decency

support

the

because

to which Inkatha does

exist

is

it

is

support It

committed .

in White

hope

I

made

it

absolutely

clear

in our

and

cease to

for

such

society which has been

great preserver of goodwill . When Whites then that goodwill is threatened .

I

for noble aims this support

is

support

a

decency ,

discussions yesterday

that

honest brokerage cannot be pursued either if the broker is partisan or if it talks out of both sides of its mouth and acts on the disputing parties . ground to support one or another of the I called attention John Burns

to

an article

quoting Mr.

van

in the New York Times written by Mr.

Uytrecht .

I

enclose

a

copy

of a letter

I wrote to Mr. Stewart Smith , the President of the Pietermaritzburg I Chamber of Commerce together with a copy of his reply to me . also

enclose

a

copy of a

letter

I

received

from Mr.

R.H.D.

Pater ,

the Vice - President of the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce , and my reply to his letter . You will recall that in our discussions , I insisted that the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce disassociated itself from the reported statements of Mr.

Last

received

I

night

John Burns written

New York Times

article

by the

in which ,

Mr.

same

amongst

other

jeopardy

Mr. This

and that

moderate Whites

The

copy of another

Paul van Uytrecht is quoted as saying : " The Indaba statement is put in an article the gist of which is base political shown that my has Pietermaritzburg

things , dead . " that

a

for the

publicly Uytrecht .

the

and

Indaba

major

Pietermaritzburg

about the

Pietermaritzburg

no

in

future because the gap between

Black groups

Chamber

declare publicly where it Mr. Does COSATU ? and

has

is is

has not been bridged .

of Commerce

now

really

does

need

to

Does it hold a brief for the UDF stands . views van Uytrecht reflect the Chamber's violence

and about

the

Indaba ?

that when so - called honest brokers Mr. Rogoff , and principles and political moral importan on trample to t have very brokerage is then their important commitments , on renege I am totally taken aback that the General Manager of destructive . making Pietermaritzburg as Chamber of Commerce is reported the I

make the point ,

utterances which gives the average reader the right to believe that enterprise sides with those who have vowed to destroy the free he system . The Chamber's General Manager is appointed by the Chamber more do The Chamber must now is answerable to the Chamber . and was Uytrecht van Mr. me to privately saying that write than misquoted . Burns makes

John This second article in the New York Times by Mr. copies enclose of I . ever than this more imperative

both articles

My

demand

by Mr.

John

Burns .

that the Chamber publishes

a

itself from the reported utterances of Mr. concerns for the future of South Africa . Pietermaritzburg role in is probably

statement

disassociating

van Uytrecht rests on my The Chamber's mediating an rapidly coming to

105

unsuccessful

Pietermaritzburg end . The violence in the Greater area will be terminated with or without its assistance but the I Chamber's position on fundamental issues will continue to be significant . What businessmen now do in South Africa and how they about go their participation in the process of change is very important .

I

raise the question of Mr. van Uytrecht's reported attitudes in broader South African context . A battle for minds is raging

this

I in South Africa

and

all the

country's

Chambers

of Commerce

now

can

no longer remain ambiguous . The crisis of Africa is living through demands that we all stand up and be counted . Business cannot take #a middle of the road position hoping to curry sufficient favour on : both sides to enable it to benefit from whoever wins .

There

are businessmen

like Mr.

A.

Bloom ,

and

others ,

who have done

a great deal to give credibility to the ANC , UDF and COSATU . In minds . I doing so they have participated in the raging battle for as They are opinion - makers and they acted opinion - makers and influenced opinions , just as Mr. van Uytrecht ranks as an opinionThere is maker who has influenced opinions by his statements . a difference between a Mr. Bloom of this world who is entitled to whatever he hold whatever opinions he holds and to campaign for Mr. wants to campaign for , and a constituted Chamber of Commerce . van

The

Uytrecht's

formal

Pietermaritzburg

enterprise system . and COSATU make

position

Chamber

on the

Chamber

of Commerce

must

cannot

be

believe

ignored .

in

the

free

It must be appalled by any headway the ANC , UDF in turning mass Black opinion against free the

enterprise system . see that the free

The Pietermaritzburg enterprise system can

Chamber of Commerce must only survive in a future

South Africa in which there is a multi - Party democracy and the rule of law . It must be appalled at any gains which revolutionaries make towards establishing a Black demand for a Marxist /Socialist , One -Party State . Why then this ambiguity by the Pietermaritzburg Chamber Commerce's General Manager ? of My confidence in the Pietermaritzburg now Chamber of Commerce as an honest broker only be

restored by the Pietermaritzburg

space in

" The

New York Times "

Chamber

and putting the

of

record

Commerce buying straight .

I think it is fair to say that the businessmen who are dominant South Africa today owe their dominance to their participation apartheid society in which they did more to make profits than bring

about

radical

political

change .

I

think

it

is

in in to

fair to say that there is a demand in the air that business now pays the price for its earlier gains . Black politics is deeply divided between those who want that price to be the extinction of business ' free enterprise hopes , and Blacks who are willing to work with business and help business pay the price that business has to pay for its past . I adopt the point of view that only bold action in favour of forces working for the peaceful solution to South Africa's problems and the retention of the free enterprise system in a multi - Party democracy , will be acceptable to the latter .

106

If

this

bold

necessitates

action

ANC/UDF / COSATU alliance , business pays the price must be paid . and at the same forces working

I put these value most

for

a

thoughts

I

that

the

my total

context

I

of

I

must

South

quibbling

am not

image .

personal

South Africa .

in the

itself wants .

Rogoff , in order to gain the had we discussions Ulundi in Mr. van Uytrecht's rejection of

context .

concern about

for

business

Mr.

intense

in a broader

have no

Pietermaritzburg

Blacks

the put

to

is best

by what

future

on paper ,

of

out

reported position words .

of

If in taking it , then that price

Business cannot appease the ANC/UDF /COSATU alliance time take bold action in support of Black political

and

yesterday

condemnation

bold

then it must be taken . of ANC / UDF / COSATU anger ,

I

see what

Africa

as

about

am only driven is

happening in

a whole .

in the Greater Pietermaritzburg Area will never ever

forget

detergents drink way in which ordinary people were forced to the for a cooking and call for because they dared disobey the UDF oil Blacks in the Greater Pietermaritzburg boycott . commercial Area never

will

forget

the

hideous

intimidation

that

was

meted

out

to

confrontation . of them during UDF attempts to produce situations was It decency in ordinary Blacks that broke the action boycott No Chamber of designed to damage business and the White community . Commerce that has been subjected to the UDF are and what they stand who

UDF action should No Chamber for .

forget ever Commerce of

should ever delude itself that the UDF cam be successfully appeased that each UDF the strengthen each and act of appeasement will only until appeasement more of that which resulted in do to resolve business

Mr.

is

itself

Rogoff ,

if

I

annihilated .

could ,

I

would put

business has to swallow . I and I can now only do what enterprise

system

survives .

more

sugar around the pill that

cannot turn the clocks is possible to ensure That

of history back that the free

possible may not

always

be

as

palatable as businessmen would like it to be , but they must always remember that I strive for a future they themselves would like to see materialise .

Yours sincerely ,

( Sgd ) MANGOSUTHU

G.

BUTHELEZI

CHIEF MINISTER OF KWAZULU AND PRESIDENT OF

INKATHA

On the

Mr.

8th March ,

Rogoff

replied to me as

follows :

107

Dear Chief Minister ,

Thank you for unable been

your letter of the 24th ultimo . I regret that I have week to answer it sooner as I spent most of last in

Cape Town on Assocom business .

I

am telefaxing

my

soon as possible

reply to you

but

in order that

will post the

you

original to

may

you

receive

it

as

as well .

in Assocom , were most distressed to read of the quotes van Uytrecht in the New York Times and I have discussed the Assocom's with Board of Management . Let me state

we ,

by Mr. matter quite

categoricall that we in Assocom disassociate ourselves completely y from the remarks attributed to Mr. van Uytrecht . We feel that they were totally uncalled for and were a serious breach of the " honest Pietermaritz role being broker " played by the Chamber of burg Commerce .

We have indicated

our

views

Assocom recognises the vital role the free enterprise system and

to them .

that you are playing in in seeking a solution

upholding South to

Africa's problems through peaceful negotiation and dialogue a positive attitude towards the KwaZulu/ Natal Indaba .

I

discussions

had

have

Pietermaritzburg Chamber and President members of a repudiation for wishes York Times .

the

with

President

outgoing

of

necessary statement is now in the process Pietermaritzburg Executive .

of being

Let me once again say how much I regret that these remarks been published and I sincerely trust that it will not affect cordial

relations

that

exist

Yours

have the

between yourself and Assocom .

Thanks once again for meeting with our your warm and kind hospitality .

Kind

the

the incoming of Commerce together with your indicated I have its Executive . New the of these remarks to be sent to

The

drafted by the

and has

delegation

in

Ulundi

and

for

regards , sincerely ,

( Sgd ) ALEC ROGOFF President

Mr.

Speaker ,

exchanges

I

Honourable

Members ,

I

have

gone

into the

have had with the Pietermaritzburg

detail

Chamber

of

of the

Commerce

108

about their role as honest brokers lessons to be learned here .

because

I

believe

that

there

are

Firstly that in the politics of negotiation it is always dangerous to talk through intermediaries . Inevitably the intermediaries act as as more than conduits of information . They filter information they pass it on . There can adjudicate in Black

is a danger of Whites political disputes .

believing that However much

they one

appreciates honest peace - making initiatives in violent situations , nothing of lasting value will be achieved until Black democracy is and of unshackled the masses themselves can settle the who's who Black

leadership

and decide which organisation

articulates

their

aspirations .

The second

more valuable

lesson

that

I

think we must

learn

from the

Pietermaritzburg Chamber's attempt to play honest broker is that honest brokerage amounts to more than suspending one's own beliefs the for How can or attitudes sake of negotiating . the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce act as an honest broker when it is dealing with the UDF /COSATU / ANC alliance which has threatened total destruction to the free enterprise system and the kind of society to which the

office

bearers of the

Chamber are

committed ?

Honourable Members , Speaker , which there are some things in honest - minded other men and women can adjudicate , but there are which things in they can only participate . it When comes to

Mr.

dealing with forces committed to the destruction of everything one holds valuable , how can you adjudicate between them and others ? not UDF it now time for White South Africans to realise that the South Africa and COSATU are committed to bringing about a future which is the antithesis

White religious businessmen are some terribly radicalised cease will

I

call

hope

them into what they are and be what they now are . to games with the

on all White who

whites

are

for ..

leaders , White professors at championing the cause of the it is is misguided belief that it

terribly dangerous

Those

of what

in

South

favour

future

universities and White UDF in this country in apartheid which has they that after apartheid , These Whites are playing of our

country .

Africans

of the

support such initiatives as the convey their inner thinking to stand up must and be counted

to stand up and be counted . politics of negotiation and would

KwaZulu / Natal Indaba , must not only those who conduct surveys . They and in their own social political

environment . They must tell the State President to get on with the job of reform . If they dilly - dally too long keeping their opinions private , they will find that the worsening security situation gives continued momentum to the upward spiralling violence which in turn State President to move ever will cause the further away from mounting

real

reforms .

109

Those

Whites who

feel

that

they have

to be bold and

have

come

out

in favour of the UDF must re - think their position . If they want a Africa in which there will be a free enterprise new South system and in which there will be

a

multi - Party democracy ,

they must back

Black forces which are committed to these ideals . They cannot hope for the future they want if they set out to strengthen the forces future intent destroying prospects ever that are on of that emerging .

Mr.

Honourable Members ,

Speaker ,

rather

there are Whites who are

They chameleon like when it comes to the shades of Black politics . caught they don't want to be don't want to stick their necks out ; out and amongst in cross fires they leave Blacks to fight it themselves .

The time has

Speaker ,

Honourable Members ,

saying about the need to add that Blacks erosion of political

these people to

for

know that

they

is burning .

are fiddling while Rome

Mr.

come

in the

context

of what

I have been

for Whites to stand up and be counted , I want also must now stand up and be counted . The options has narrowed political alternatives .

We face a future in which apartheid will be annihilated by violence and those who do so will set up a socialist / marxist one - Party State eliminate the free enterprise system , and or we face a future in which

apartheid will be

to give will be

There

rooted

out by the politics

us a multi - Party future in which the liberated to work for the benefit of

are very subtle

shades

that

of

negotiation

free enterprise system the total population .

chameleon's

can

adopt

and

there

are very many ways in which people can hedge their bets . The time has come to say boldly No to Mr. P.W. Botha when he refuses to get to say on with the process of reform . The time has also come boldly No to the ANC Mission in Exile in its headlong drive to establish

its

sole

right

to

political

power

in

a one - Party State .

This brings me to a statement I must make , Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members . I , as the Chief Minister of KwaZulu and as the President Inkatha , of any see no earthly use in longer hoping for constructive discussions with the ANC Mission in Exile . I want to aims pause awhile to look at what they themselves say their stated conducting objectives and are and what they themselves say in a vicious

Mr.

vendetta

Speaker ,

political

to

the

death against

Honourable

situation ,

I

Members ,

have

me

in

and

Inkatha .

looking

drawn attention

to

at

the

current

certain aspects

of

Black and White politics and it is against the background of the that I have already made , remarks that I now turn my attention to the African National Congress . I am not going to indulge in Party political The time and Mr. the ANC .

rhetoric . I am not going to make polemic statements . has come for me to address some very fundamental issues Speaker , Honourable Members , I am not going I am going to address Mr. Oliver Tambo and

to talk about I am going to

110

his National Executive and I will send this section of my Speech to Mr. Tambo so that I from my side have been politically open and honest . How he responds is entirely up to him .

address Policy

I

am not

addressing

Mr.

Oliver Tambo

in order

to get

response

a

from his time

him . If he does nothing about what I send him , then that is response . The time has come to call a spade a spade . It is for straight some talking . through It is time to cut political bull - shit and stop playing to galleries . It is time to stop pussy - footing around some very fundamental demands that we all declare where we stand and Tambo

and his

National

Executive ,

I will spell

issues . History Mr. in addressing

out where

I

stand .

I feel obliged to express my thoughts , feelings , perceptions and to formally draw a line and say so far and no further . I do so deeply aware of how terribly difficult it is for Mr. Oliver Tambo and his Executive to members of nearly 28 advantage me . When

keep their feet on the ground . his Executive have been outside

Mr. Tambo and senior South Africa now for

years . For that period of time he has not had the that Inkatha's and KwaZulu's democratic structure gives speak Lusaka , I about the National Executive in I

refer frequently to them as the ANC's Mission well be that history will one day reconstitute

in Exile . It may the real ANC after

Dr. Nelson Mandela and others have been released from jail can after Black democracy has been unshackled and the ANC again have the life - lines that it used to have to the hearts minds

Mr.

and once and

of the people .

Tambo and his

Executive

live

in alien

environments .

They have

to survive where they are and they are now sleeping in the bed that they themselves made . I know just how difficult it was for our brothers and sisters who were sent into exile to prepare for a future situation in which the ANC could not operate legally in this country . any kind

I know how difficult it was for Mr. Tambo to establish of base abroad . I speak to him man to man with a understa of how difficult his role has been rstandin nding sympathetic unde g and how Godforesaken he must have felt when he went out into the world

as a nobody .

I

know of the difficulties he experienced

in getting backing

from

Western industrialised nations for what he was attempting to do . know that he had to survive somehow and that in the end it was the Soviet Union and its allies which eventually came to his rescue . know that this harsh world in which he had to take what he could in get from whom he could get it was more than instrumental the armed of the ANC's Mission in Exile to declare the decision struggle to be the primary means in this country .

of bringing

about

radical

change

111

am I Tambo

Mr. which extreme difficulty with . inta ct to keep the ANC's Mission in Exile am I

deeply aware

also

managed

of the

which aware of the extent to which he had to preside over factions inevitably evolved in the harsh and alien world in which his mettle am I tested . the mettle of his colleagues was so terribly and adju and of whic dicating extent the to h the aware deeply colleagues Own reconciling role that he had to play amongst his a Nyerere , a Kaunda , prohibited him from evolving into a Kenyatta , right These great sons of Africa led in their own a Machel . or was Tambo Mr. they put their own stamp on history itself . and right own this opportunity of emerging as a leader in his denied

Africa and

Mr.

he of Africa , tread the soil

unlike these great sons country ; he could not

because his own

to

Speaker ,

command

forces

could not operate in of his beloved South

on the ground .

Honourable Members ,

has

my heart

gone out to

always

Tambo because I was always aware of the extent to which he did armed Having opted for the lead nor did he direct Umkhonto . not ANC's the , change about struggle as the primary means of bringing Mission in Exile left Mr. Tambo in a position in which he had to be nor him on lieutenants who neither consulted dependent entirely him about

informed

I

have

the Mau

what

doing

they were

always also been deeply aware Mau ,

or

unlike

Frelimo ,

on a day - to - day basis .

of the

the

extent

ANC's Mission

a single organisation . Not only did Mr. and decision - makers of Umkhonto always

in

Exile was

Tambo have the there in the

prescribing the circumstances in which he had necessity of working also faced with the

unlike

to which

to lead , within

an

ANC /SACP

alliance . There was a time when serious moves were being made relieve him of his post and to establish a one or another kind triumvirate to divide the ANC's executive power between those whom the ANC was

dependent

for

its

very

not

commanders background was but he to of on

existence .

Honourable Members , Speaker , it is this understanding very difficult role that has always guided Tambo's I leadership . his about him and said I have whatever Mr.

Oliver

of Mr. me in

never That expected more from him than I knew he could actually deliver . is why , Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , nowhere in anything I have said right across all the years of my leadership have I ever ever

attacked Mr.

The time

has

organisation on position person ,

my

Tambo's

person ,

nor

have

I

ever

insulted

him .

his He and for me now to say enough is enough . Tambo's Mr. have responded to this understanding of my against attacks with the most hideous part my

come

integrity and my political

leadership .

Tambo , Mr. the time has now come for me to say to you that unless you now forthwith return a semblance of Black dignity to what your lieutenants saying about and followers me , are the KwaZulu Government and Inkatha , we will be forced to regard you and your

112

Mr. with as fit to sit around any table us . not be Tambo , You must will need to sit around a table with us . you You aware that Dr. Nelson Mandela will sit around a table with us . said must also be aware that he knows that I will be there and has this . are not going to go away . going We We are not just to disappear Whether it is you , or I who in the end into thin air . influences to about bring more final the the exert powerful

organisation

of apartheid ,

eradication

me

is to

irrelevant .

We both know that

is apartheid Whether it is before apartheid will be eradicated . I will eradicated or whether it is after apartheid is eradicated , have to deal with you . Whether you yourself retain the leadership leadership ANC's Mission in Exile and whether or not your the of and I continues after you and your colleagues return from exile , Inkatha will be there

to

be

dealt with and

to

deal with you .

Mr. If

Tambo , I make no assumptions about your future leadership role . in there is finally a military victory in some distant future Africa , South it is your generals who will be in the executive of

If there government . is not finally a military victory , as I believe will be the case , there will be yourself and Dr. Nelson formed . Mandela and others to form whatever executive needs to be me When therefore I speak to you about you having to deal with before or and your

after liberation , I want you to bear in mind that how you colleagues conduct yourselves now will influence who sits

with whom to

talk

about what .

It is terribly tragic , Mr. Tambo , that you and your colleagues made that the assumption you could drum Inkatha out of political existence . It is a reality and will remain a reality whether I as lead it or not . You are stuck with it . The reverse is just obviously true . We are all stuck with you . There is no South African destiny

in which we will not

both

share

equally .

you hold I Tambo , Mr. accountable , for what you your and organisation say about me . As far back as 1973 the Third Quarter edition of African Communist said that Chief Buthelezi is a black mercenary . 1979 which attacks ' Sechaba '

on in

After that last discussion we had in London in October was attended by your people and my people , personal me began multiplying . In your February edition of 1984

it was

member of the Special Gatsha Buthelezi has September issue stated continue to slander

stated

that :

" Gatsha Buthelezi

Branch . " And in the an illogical mind .

spoke

same issue , it said same In the year ,

that " Chief Gatsha Buthelezi believes he and distort the prestige and image of

movement for ever with impunity . " slander the ANC Mission in Exile .

as

a

that the can our

It is a lie , Mr. Tambo , that I The statement was then followed with words which were calculated to insult . The statement went on say to that I could continue slandering the ANC " because the ANC simply does not have the time , resources and energy to waste in acts of terrorism against individuals . " I have never said you are a nobody .

Why do you

say

it

of me ?

113

In

same

the

I

saying

issue

( he )

of

' Sechaba '

" cynically

you

further and

condemns

attack my

threatens whole

integrity

by

communities

done because the leaders of the Labour Party and Reform Party have this And more than to really follow [ my ] leadership example . " no his turned has Buthelezi of Sechaba also says " Chief Gatsha issue : said It . " struggle the back on the strong and proud tradition of It . " people the of Buthelezi betrayed the cause Gatsha " Chief " Buthelezi desperately seeks prestige and credibility by all said : a "What Buthelezi does turns him into It said : means possible . " clown who will never deceive anyone except the hand that political an is Buthelezi " Chief Gatsha it also said : And him . " feeds opportunist

A year honour

and double - talker . "

later in September 1985 the ANC made scathing attacks on my and my integrity in a radio broadcast beamed to Black South

Africans

and the whole world .

It was broadcast

that :

" Anybody who

wiped mobilises Zulu - speaking people is regarded as a rival to be from the scene by Buthelezi . " And the broadcast made me to be most treacherous when it was stated : " Buthelezi's choice swear words are rather directed against the people's forces than against the " enemy .

TWO months later your official magazine ' Sechaba ' again went on an extravagant spree of insults . It stated that : " Looked at from the eyes of the people Gatsha Buthelezi is far from being a moderate . He lacks modesty , he is a tyrant . " It said : " Gatsha Buthelezi is than his his Inkatha . " jealous because the ANC has become more popular than And went on to say : " The people have decided to render South Africa ungovernable . To Gatsha this is a nightmare . "

in January 1986 , you yourself were disdainful of Two months later , " It is Chief Gatsha Buthelezi who is fighting his You : said me . the own battle against the ANC but the ANC is too preoccupied with Why , . " saying is he what of notice much Mr. take to struggle if this is true , Tambo , time and money insulting

In

the

do

you

me

as

and I

your organisation spend so am showing you do do ?

much

today

third

quarter edition of the African Communist in 1986 another hideous statement was made about me . The statement is : " In 1961 when the ANC called for a national convention to include the government in of the day , in the belief that the government could still be brought to reason by peaceful negotiation , Chief Gatsha Buthelezi then working as a clerk in the Bantu Administration Office in Durban ... kept on the sidelines with [ his ] arms folded while the apartheid monster unleashed terror and havoc against the members of the ANC and detained its leadership . " How hideous can your political

propaganda

get ?

A couple of months later in November the ANC whole world to hear said : " It is clear that being groomed by the West

and the

racist

in a broadcast for the this puppet Gatsha is

regime

to become

a

Savimbi

114

in

a

future

free

South

Africa . "

This

places hideous

connotations

on my leadership but the statement which immediately follows passes all bounds of decency . In a broadcast it was said : " The onus is on the people of South Africa to neutralise Gatsha , the snake which is poisoning the people of South Africa . It needs to be hit on the Mr. Tambo , Where , head . " is your dignity as a son of Africa ? Aren't Don't you squirm? you ashamed ? You do not have the political guts to face me and you present me to the people in such a way that you obviously hope that either your organisation or some deal maniac roaming around will kill me so that you do not have to with that me . Why present me as something so hideous as a snake needs to

be

hit

on the

head ?

The next month , again in a broadcast , you malign me by saying that ... will fail together with other " puppets of the bantustans , I, get yourself you You know that to support of the people . " the passed telling

eighties messages on to me in the late seventies and early well me not to rock the boat too much and you know bloody

that during those years you were telling your executive that nobody could with the difficult role I had been entrusted with entrusted the in position You know that I took up my better . done have politics in which I have remained ever since after full discussions Why now talk with Chief Albert Lutuli and his senior executives . about me as a puppet ?

Some months later puppet . Again in referred broadcast

in May 1987 you continued this attack on me as a ANC a broadcast for the whole world to hear the the same puppet . " to me as a " well - known Botha In the referring to my demand for the release of Dr. Nelson

Mandela the

ANC

said

that

I

" just

want

to

use

our

leader's

name

for

his opportunistic intentions . " It is the most hideous form of personal insult to ascribe hideous motives to honourable deeds . know You very well that I yearn for the release of Dr. Nelson ANC Mandela and that I campaign for his release in a way that the quite is incapable of doing . You are aware that I never make commitment political capital out of my behind - the - scenes constant to campaign for his release . release a precondition for

You are aware that I any involvement I

have made may have

his at

negotiations about the constitutional future of South Africa at the national level . I do not make cheap propaganda out of it and at the same time profit from his continued detention . You , Mr. Tambo , and your ANC will not break the walls down of Dr. Mandela's jail . him to be released . You cannot effect his South Africa needs release .

For

God's

sake

let

other people who

can possibly do

not get on with the job you can't do . Don't be jealous . We are release gain anything in order to for campaigning for his ourselves . We do so for the sake of the people of South Africa .

A

month

later an ANC broadcast

again went

on

a

slandering

attack

against my honour . A broadcast referred to me as the " trusted regime the committed puppet " which entrusted with " all murderous that police are operating in townships under the done KwaZulu government . " called The broadcast said they had

and the so-

So

115

because

his " Mangosuthu Buthelezi has over the years demonstrated commitment to the maintenance of the apartheid system . " The broadcast said that " Gatsha went to Adriaan Vlok to beg for these powers " and said I " wanted to use them to wipe out the offensive of viciously against the people . " The broadcast said that I " spoke our to render the country and people's drive ungovernable the apartheid system unworkable . "

The same broadcast continued to indulge in every excess possible to have a " Gatsha " , as said referring to me I, malign It me . be " will It said that I against the patriotic forces . " " brutality allow and to used strengthen the enemy's hand within the people your When Mr. people , . " blacks them to speak of blacks killing bombs in public places killing women and children in plant Tambo , soft and distinguish hard between to determination not your people are involved in blacks killing blacks . Tambo , demands the spreading of the violence euphemistically South Africa in the development of what you so in to Tambo exhort Blacks Mr. Your people , call the people's war . township kill to them exhort they as Blacks fellow their kill and anybody else they determine to be opposed to their councillors not a is dare you pretend that there How . intentions violent

targets , you and your Mr. Your propaganda ,

Black - on - Black responsible

In

for

in

confrontation

this

country and

that

you

are

it .

the

same broadcast , following the traditions

Mr.

Tambo ,

of the

the ANC says that I am " not heroic Kings of Natal , of Zulus . "

The broadcast said that I am " a stooge placed there by imperialism and reactionary circles in our country . " The ANC goes on in its broadcast say that " emotions that Gatsha portrays to illustrates again only once not his fears of the masses but his rank opportunism . "

slandering This hideous attack in June 1987 over the air was d followe the next month by another attack on my honour your in official publication ' Sechaba . ' Buthelezi , The ANC said " Gatsha Chief so - called Minister of KwaZulu bantustan , is one of the opportunists so far exposed by the revolution currently going on in South Africa . " The article said " The Boers have been and are making Gatsha look like one of the prominent leaders of the bantustans . He has been allowed to say anything he likes about apartheid : says that

and its upholders . " Mr. Pretoria " Through Gatsha

Tambo , your official magazine Buthelezi " ... " commits Inkatha

to such atrocities " because " the Boers want to justify their blackon - black violent slogan " and to " confine our struggle to townships and thus prevent

The are

the

struggle

from spreading

into white

areas . "

article went on to say that " On the part of Gatsha atrocities aimed at intimidating our people in and around KwaZulu

bantustan into supporting his divisive and dangerous actions . He him a is also thereby defending apartheid which monthly gives see purse I Every time through the bantustan scheme . " . bulging

116

something

like this I think that your people could not possibly Mr. lower , Tambo . But they continue time and again to show which they that there is no bottom to the barrel of muck from

stoop

me

scrape up the dirt they sling at me . If you are so why do you not meet me head on in political clashes say you

could be sure

that

the

people will

support

opposed to which in

me , you

you ?

You and your people malign me like this because you are politically empty - handed as far as the people on the ground inside the country are concerned . The massive base of support that I have built up threatens viability . you with its You cannot confront it politically . saying been lieutenants

You will , however , in the end find that what you have about me you have been saying about not only all my every but member of Inkatha and every Black who supports my leadership in KwaZulu and in South Africa . In the end you will find that these slanderous attacks against me are the The weakest form of political opposition that you can offer . people will hold you accountable have been saying .

This

attack on

sting in it . misread it Buthelezi ,

me

in

' Sechaba '

The article

for what

in

says

July

you and your

1987

organisation

hideous

comes with

" History has no

mercy

for

those who

nor does it have sympathy for those who pretend . Gatsha the Chief Minister of the KwaZulu bantustan circus and

commander in chief of the regime's vigilante's base in Natal , learn a lesson he will never forget , " and then threateningly " if he survives . " Why do you want me dead , Mr. hideous personal attacks against me your are deeply in

insult

their

Black

South

millions .

You

You

Africans .

know that

Inkatha

Tambo , if you well - founded ?

know that has

will adds

a

they

think You

support

membership

that

me the

ANC could ever only dream of . Are you making all these millions of Black sons and daughters of South Africa idiots who support the kind of person you say I am ? I say enough is enough . I do not tolerate the sons and daughters of South Africa being insulted in this way . You and your organisation are showing just how emptyhanded forms

Later

you

are politically when you

of political

in

1987

in September ,

continue the attacks against world again to hear the ANC over

police

Mangosuthu

powers

Gatsha

have

broadcast enlisted

to

such hideously

your organisation

This

crack the

stooped puppets

very

again

turned

my honour . In a broadcast for said that " The Pretoria regime

in the KwaZulu

Buthelezi .

using those powers to in the area .

The

resort

low

propaganda .

bantustan to

avowed

UDF

low when

and

it

like Buthelezi

its

puppet

loyal

enemy of democracy

other

said

democratic

" Police

which they

and

use to

to

all the handed

is

now

formations

soldiers terrorise

black people . " The broadcast went on to say about me " Today his task in selling out our people's birth right has become complete . " The broadcast referred to me as a " demagogue that attacked a meeting from in 1979/80 and feathered and tarred " somebody the

117

South

African

hideous

racism

ghosts accused

of me

Council in

of Churches .

threatening

The broadcast

Indian people with

accused

me

" resurrecting

of the

the 1949 riots . " And in this context the broadcast of murder . It said " Then came the Griffiths Mxenge rt of pa murder and again the hand of the Wellington [ sic ] Sabelos , the Inkatha impi , was present . "

Straight

after this

again issue

to of

attack me in the 1987. In this

there cream

in the KwaZulu seat of power like a fat cat and done precisely nothing to has lead

opposition one lunch of your

attack in

' Sechaba '

against

' African Communist ' issue it was stated

me

the ANC

the up licking the people in

to apartheid except to make endless speeches and The political invitation from President Botha . "

colleagues ,

In this article I abandoned the two

Tambo ,

Mr.

turned

in its third quarter " Buthelezi has sat

decline imagery

is nauseating .

" Having am accused of betrayal . It is stated key principles which have been the basis of ANC

and liberation politics unitary state , in a

throughout this century , universal suffrage difficulty in Buthelezi has had little Tambo , This is a political lie , and you Mr.

abandoning others . " know it . You know that

I

have always been prepared

if necessary to

die striving for one South Africa , with one sovereign Parliament , based on one universal adult franchise system . I know that you are touch with what is really going on in out of politics in South text every of but Africa you have got access to copies of the speech I

You

and

have

ever made .

your

people

know that

you

lie when you say that

one with abandoned the ideals of one South Africa Parliament . Unlike you and your organisation I regard

I

have

sovereign it

as

the

people's sovereign right to finally decide what form one sovereign Parliament in one South Africa will take . You are not in the new political ball games now dominating our country . You have endorsed process . process , yourself out of the internal political That however , the goes on without you and you will find in end , Mr. ordinary Tambo , it that is a process which will really give the South about .

African the sovereign the people The in

Westminster - type

model .

rights the struggle has that end may decide

They may decide

that

always been need they a

they need

a

federal-

type model or another type model . I have never ever for one moment one doubted that the people will want one sovereign Parliament in Africa , South nor have I ever doubted for one moment that in the end , we will have a multi - Party democracy . I know that you and your lieutenants are totally preoccupied with returning to South Africa as a government returned from exile . I know that you can only achieve this if you bring about the circumstances in which the people are robbed of their sovereignty and a one - Party State can be foisted on them .

This

' African

regurgitates

Communist ' past

edition

propaganda

of

against

the

third

me when it

quart 1987 er says " President

118

entrusted fit and proper person to be the of Durban's in laws apartheid rents it will be Buthelezi's job now to see that For townships . agitators smashed , strikes collected , bus boycotts broken , are to Buthelezi is now pledged and carted off to jail . rounded up

Botha with

considers Buthelezi administration the

a

maintaining side by side with Botha's military and police in work of politics the and violence and eradicating order and law intimidation . "

In

issue your

this

Inkatha

members

"puppet ferment

was who unrest . "

As

recently

despicable

as

Nzo , called Secretary - General , Mr. Alfred who was " thugs " and called me their leader a to working with agents of the Pretoria regime

February

attempt

this

malign

to

year ,

the

ANC

my person and

continued destroy my

in

its

honour .

Again in a broadcast for all the world to hear , the ANC said " It has become clear to the majority of the people as more lives are lost that the apartheid regime is being actively assisted in its attempt to fighting prolong the by none other than Gatsha Also Mangosuthu Buthelezi . it is clearly in Gatsha Buthelezi's that self - interest the fighting must continue . " And added that forced " The people's confrontation with the apartheid regime has Gatsha Buthelezi to take a clear position in support of his employers . "

We have met

with you ,

Mr.

Tambo ,

several

times

in Europe and

in

Africa all these years , and I was even then the head of the KwaZulu Were an as meetings me at all these meeting Government . you On all employee of the Pretoria racist Regime , or as your brother ? these occasions were you

embracing

organisation and your partners now portraying me to be ? are the

fact

that

I

the stooge

of Pretoria

that

your

in the South African Communist Party to Have you just suddenly awakened

am all these things ?

The broadcast went on to say that for me " to take part in the people's struggle against the apartheid regime is to deny Gatsha Buthelezi a monthly salary that he receives from the apartheid the bantustan policeman of regime as a puppet and an active regime . "

Do you

realise

that

the

Zulu people will

find

it

difficult

ever

to

unless there is some rapprochement , forgive you for these insults , for after all it is their money which makes up my salary . In the last financial period alone , more than R300 million of our budget Even the rest came directly from the Zulu people's revenue funds . of

our budget

is our

money after all ,

as

citizens

of South Africa

who contribute to all developments which have taken place in South Africa . We pay taxes like anybody . We do not even get our full share and that is what our struggle for liberation is about . We do nearly not blame you for not having contributed anything for 30

119

years of your life abroad , as we know that it is apartheid which is responsible for your being there . But the sweat from our brows has while continued to produce the wealth of South Africa , you are abroad . Are you really blaming us for continuing to struggle here at home ?

Tambo ,

Mr. You

must

I

am speaking

hear me

for the

to

you

personally .

I

sake of South Africa .

am addressing you . Political

honour

in

the hearts and minds of Black South Africans has always been beyond destruction by apartheid . Honour was not smashed when the old ANC Africa , and its leaders jailed . was banned You left South Mr. Tambo , with a deep sense of South African honour . Where in the history of the old ANC would any national lieutenants stooping tolerated his to propaganda that you accepting

leader in use the

it ever have low political

your organisation is now using ? I could understand you if the kind of language your people are using

yourself saw them walking around with hands dripping with the blood of innocent people because such language would only be expected from been

people . such The involved in should

thus dripping with blood always relied on .

You

and

your

kind of propaganda that your people have only be expected from people with hands they shed which

colleagues

in your

is

blood the

collective

wisdom

struggle

has

decided

to

attempt to make the armed struggle the primary means of bringing radical change . about Mr. Tambo , were you yourself in in South Africa , you would have been deeply shocked by any political leader who tried to tackle the military might of Pretoria and failed and then turned to planting bombs in public places . We in South Africa We are are shocked by the ANC's attacks on soft targets . shocked by the politics of violent intimidation . We have been shocked by the fact that the ANC has resorted to killing Black town councillors because it disagrees with what they are doing . We have been

shocked by the

soft

question of necklacing . from hideous method this remain shocked

We

are

that

line you and your

the

took on

However much you now distance yourself purposes , of killing for political we

you ever saw

shocked by the

colleagues

fit

callous way

to

condone

it

politically .

in which the ANC's

Mission

in

Exile orchestrat es the increased poverty of Black South Africans in campaignin fo disinvestm You are setting yourself apart from r g ent . the people . We are shocked by your total inability to deal with Inkatha politicall . We ar sh by a lo el be . I ask e oc t se si ke de d s y you , Mr. Tambo , what political purpose will really be ultimate ly served by the ANC's attempt to lay at my feet that which it itself is

trying

to

do ?

Even as I address you now , Mr. Tambo , I address you as a brother in the struggle . I have made no single attack on your own integrity . I have asked you questions but I have done so in the context of understanding under which you the severe limitations have to survive

in your

leadership .

It is tragic

that

the ANC

has

been

120

progressively endorsing itself out which process could lead to ever

of the only kind an honourable

of political victory over

apartheid . I have never said that what the External Mission of does in our struggle is irrelevant . Why try to endorse me Inkatha out of the struggle ?

Mr.

You know ,

Tambo ,

as

as well

I

know that

Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging would

like the

a White

have

organisation

facilities

its

at

which there

and would have the training in sabotage and killing disposal if make the ANC's best look like amateurish bungling would You know as well

military victory over apartheid .

was ever a

ANC and

as

I

have time - honoured values of the struggle that the hallowed , do always demanded and continue to demand reconciliation between South endorsing is The ANC's Mission in Exile groups . race Africa's into reconciliation the process of bringing that itself of out timethese abandone it has Why d by what it is now doing . being for you , If the job is too tough and hallowed values ? honoured people

to

leave

it

Even

now

I

acceptance

me who

like

can get

on with

it .

unity based continue to appeal for Black on Deny of the need for a multi - strategy approach .

the that

need at your peril . Deny that need at the expense of the honour of the ANC . South Africa is a different kettle of fish entirely to Mocambique Models of the struggle in these States or Zimbabwe . will

not

have any long

term

utility

in

South

Africa .

You

will

find , Mr. Tambo , that the present re - thinking about the ANC and its role in the struggle now emerging in Moscow will not stop with the present level of questioning . Perhaps the ANC's Mission in Exile existence is perilously close to being given some kind of tenuous Don't put by African States and other States for old times sake . in yourself in a position in which you are pensioned off somewhere Africa

as

a

friend who

failed

to

make the grade .

Tambo , actually know how harsh the realities are here in Mr. and Afr You know that I have survived these realities . ica South of amo No . rel unt pol evance itical I have an ever - increasing that You ,

I bases . slanderous attacks against my honour can erode my power you need I because you as I am addressing addressing not am I am addressing you as a brother in anything from you politically . world who has lost his way out there in the outside struggle the and who land of

stands in the his birth .

If there is anything would do it . The

real

danger of being

finally alienated

in

the

that I could do to help bring you back home , I make attacks that you and your organisation

against my honour are , however , so offensive to people at the grass root level who support me in their masses that I am beginning to the doubt that the people will ever permit me to bring you in from cold . There will be no military victory . There will be a political victory . Black South Africans no longer doubt this . tables . History There will be negotiating tables and conference has ordained this . Begin now to work with history and not against it .

121

There

was

time

a

in which you yourself were

concerned

about

the

cheap organisation . your and nasty propaganda used against me by That time appears now to You have and I have talked about this . because the in you yourself are now beginning to indulge same language . In a broadcasted statement made on the 13th January year , Tambo called for the cessation of carnage you Mr. this in Pietermaritzburg . You said that fighting must end and that we must Tambo , you Mr. unite our forces against the oppressor and then ,

passed

As recently as charged me with fanning and promoting the conflict . Pietermaritzburg of this month in speaking the third the about " This is a racial war . you said : situation In actual fact it is black using the fighting blacks in a camouflaged way by Whites And you said to agents look as if blacks are fighting blacks . " put an blocked to that been have attempts end to the Pietermaritzburg violence "the as by the racist regime as well You said that the regime of Inkatha Mangosuthu Buthelezi . " leader now using promote is the Inkatha movement as an to instrument killings . " and conflicts thousand You said that about a people Inkatha . arrested all of them from the UDF or COSATU and none from You said " The recent ban on organisations included UDF and COSATU not You added that " This goes to prove but Inkatha . " the that regime Brutus ?

Mr. the

has no

Tambo ,

I

cause

to act

against

am putting aside the

the

Inkatha

feeling

of

movement . "

revulsion

Et

tu

I have for

kind of vicious propaganda that your organisation has levelled at me ever increasingly in recent years . I have to do so because the struggle liberation does not hinge on what you for or your organisation think of me and Inkatha . I now want to address you ,

Sir , on some questions of tactics and ANC Mission in Exile's verbal attacks

strategies which underlie the on myself and Inkatha . They

also underlie the physical attacks to which we are being subjected . I bury my dead , Mr. Tambo , and I address you in the vein of one who is talking about life and death issues .

You will by now have come to realise that Inkatha is not the pushI am over that the ANC Mission in Exile may have thought it to be . quite sure that if you had heard me at the time when I told you that Inkatha was rooted in the hearts and minds of millions of Black South Africans , violent attack against considered assessment

your organisation would not have mounted its It did so , however , in the illInkatha . that Inkatha could be wiped off the face of

the that

earth . Having started the violent vendetta against Inkatha in was started , your organisation may now be trapped a to its political action which it can only abandon at great cost prestige .

You ,

Mr.

decisions

Tambo ,

know

were made

to

very

well

annihilate

that Inkatha

in

your

and

to

inner use

councils

all the

means

It would be really tragic for everybody around necessary to do so . along you if you and they are already past that point of no return Own There are some my of road a fight to the finish . to the addressi colleagues ng am I as you addressi would regard me ng who

122

a waste of time . They would say that we have already passed the point beyond which addressing the issues between us must give way to the survival of one or the other organisation on the

you today as

ground . They would say that the ANC Mission in Exile has already committed itself and those who support it in South Africa to place the annihilation of Inkatha as the ANC Mission in Exile's highest priority . in South

ANC spokesmen have described Inkatha as its major Africa . It is intent upon destroying Inkatha and

Inkatha's

destruction

as

essential

to

the

achievement

of

its

enemy sees other

objectives .

I

address

you

today ,

Mr.

Tambo ,

in

such

a

manner that

you

can

find

reprieve for your organisation in commitments to destroy itself by attempting I therefore concentrate to destroy Inkatha . some on underlying tactical and strategic issues which are there in your attacks on

Inkatha

It

ANC Mission

is

the

and

my

leadership .

in Exile which has

raised

non - participation

principle . Participation or non - participation remain tactics circumstances . must You changing decided on ever be in was yourself know that you participated in the ANC support there to a and for

my entry

been

into

to

participatory opposition

unswerving to the same

commitments

I

had

apartheid .

I

at the time you

have and

participatory supported me when I first entered colleagues However much you You know this is true . opposition to apartheid . distorted this reality in talking about Inkatha at the Consultative 1985 , started you yourself have recognised that I in Conference

your

doing what

I

am now doing with your

full blessing .

Who are you , Mr. Tambo , and who is any one of your colleagues , or who are you collectively , to dictate to millions of South Africans here on the ground in this country that non - participation must be raised to a principle ? You are not elected to office by the masses as I am . You are not answerable to the masses as I am answerable to them each and every year when I stand before Inkatha's Annual General Conference to be held accountable and to be judged . I tell Mr. you now , Tambo , that the people themselves in their millions refuse to be obeisant to your demands to elevate non - participation to the level of a principle . If we don't fight apartheid where it us , we strangled . will be don't If we fight is strangling apartheid in the arenas apartheid creates to subjugate us , we will be subjugated .

Where

did

Transkei ,

your

non - participatory principle

Bophuthatswana ,

Venda

and

Ciskei ?

land

the

people

Where would your

of non-

participatory principle have landed the people of KwaZulu if I had not been there to save them from the fate that Pretoria had in store for them? You are now attempting to make no - go areas for me in the KwaZulu / Natal region . You would not have been able to do Where are your this if I had not kept Black democracy alive here . no - go areas governments

in Transkei , Bophuthatswana , Venda and Ciskei ? Are the in these areas more than a match for you and you can't

123

even put a foot in them? No , Mr. Tambo , non - participation has been raised to a principle by the Black people of South Africa you will have

Again

as

to

live with that

far back as

not and

reality .

1973 while you were

still

fully

personally

the that

what I was doing , supporting quarter issue of 1973 stated ve weapon found against effecti

African Communist ' in its third most " Chief Buthelezi is the on the State Department's critics

the left . " In the October issue of 1984 ' Sechaba ' Gatsha Buthelezi has become a far better defendant for the status

quo

than

anyone

stated " Chief apologist and

else . "

In a broadcast by the ANC in August 1985 , against the international is " Buthelezi

your organisation stated apartheid of isolation

South Africa and is virulently opposed to the armed struggle and is name to justify the violence of the apartheid system in the happy that broadcast ANC the month same the In . " order and law of apartheid posts within salary from his draws " Buthelezi institutions created by Pretoria to perpetuate the criminal system ANC the of white minority rule . " A month later in September 1985 , again broadcast that " Gatsha spends all his time attacking the ANC , In doing so he serves the objectives and interests UDF and COSATU . of the Botha regime . "

In June 1987 the ANC again broadcast attacks against Inkatha . Your organisation said " Gatsha must be exposed for what he is . He is following not not a leader of the Zulu people . He is the traditions of the heroic Kings of Natal , of the Zulus . He is a stooge placed

there by

country . That argue for more

imperialised

and

reactionary

circles

in

our

now and again sends him to America to to go campaign against and the That is why we disinvestment in America and the Western countries . see him hugging Margaret Thatcher from time to time because he is their

is why Botha investment ,

running dog ,

he

is a lackey . "

the July issue of ' Sechaba ' stated that I A month later , aimed at intimidating the people and said " He atrocities thereby defending apartheid which monthly gives through the bantustan scheme .

him a

committed also is

bulging

purse

in before the ANC started attacking me for my participation t of notice gave ' Communis d African ' on the to aparthei , my oppositi In the third quarter edition what is to come as far back as 1973. that stated Communist ' it was ' African " Chief year's that of that is a prisoner of the bantustan set - up " and " Chief Buthelezi that " Chief stated It is the system . " within works Buthelezi Again

Buthelezi and the

Nixon . " ANC .

allows This

himself to

be used

' African Communist '

to

further

voice was

the aims later

of Vorster

picked

up

by

124

The came

September out in

issue his

of

' Sechaba '

true

colours

stated

in

" Chief

1976 as

an

Gatsha

Buthelezi

apologist

of

the

apartheid system and spokesmen of US imperialism . " It stated that " Chief Gatsha Buthelezi misleads people into believing that he and his tribally based Inkatha disagree with the ANC and its millions of supporters only as far as the question of armed struggle is In reality he uses this as a smokescreen to continue concerned . serving his masters in Pretoria and Washington . " It was stated that " Chief Gatsha Buthelezi and Inkatha are basically serving and interests system the apartheid and of the imperialism . " And that " Chief Gatsha Buthelezi turned the in favour of the hated bantustan system . "

world

upholding

Mr.

Tambo ,

the attack

involvement

on my

in

the

scales

KwaZulu government

I continue to be attacked for waging has continued unabated since . The waged . struggle where you yourself agreed it should be the Buthelezi is " Gatsha 1985 stated November of issue ' Sechaba ' He has increasingly playing the role in a literal sense of Botha . 11 learnt a lot from him .

In

in

broadcasts

May

1986

the

ANC

said

" Gatsha

Buthelezi

is

a

puppet of the capitalists " and strengthen apartheid " to the

said that I opposed disinvestment economy . " opposed It said that I apartheid wanted to make the system In those who unworkable . force December 1986 the ANC broadcast that I use " death and

vigilante

In our

June

squads "

1987

people's

an

in

ANC

" the

interests

broadcast

drive

to

render

said the

of

apartheid . "

that I " spoke viciously against country and ungovernable the

referring to apartheid system unworkable . " An ANC broadcast said , me as Gatsha , that " He will be used to strengthen the enemy's hand of within the people " and that I serve " objectively the interests the Botha regime . "

The next month , in September 1987 , ' Sechaba ' said that Inkatha " has become an extension of the regime's army and police . " In September 1987 the ANC said , again referring to me as Gatsha , repeated in a broadcast that I served " objectively the interests of the Botha regime . "

The the

' African Communist ' in its third quarter accusations by saying that " Buthelezi

state apparatus of the Botha regime " , that state apparatus ever since I was installed

issue of has been

1987 part

I have been in 1950 and

repeated of the

part of the said that

" the power of Inkatha has never been used to mobilise the people in any campaign of opposition to apartheid . " In February 1988 the ANC said in a broadcast that I was prolonging the fighting in the Pietermaritzburg area

to

actively assist

the

apartheid

regime .

125

Mr. Tambo , there are major differences of opinion between you and I about in tactics and strategies that should now be employed the struggle . At sure to what

least I think this is the case . I extent you really lead the ANC and

can never be quite actions that its

and stances are determined by you . Whether you originate action or whether you have to concur with those who do , you remain the head of the Mission in Exile and you are held responsible for what the they ANC does . Differences of opinion between us whether are actually differences between differences between you and I or much . myself and your organisation , does not really matter that You with . The differences are there and they have to be dealt cannot

go

you about

For

round what

condemning tactics

Blacks

of

millions

and

absolutely nothing

for

people to death because strategies

inside

them to do

need

be

Africa ,

South to

to

they

there

would

We know that

of comrades .

if the the

You may bluff they could only do what you wanted them to do . but you cannot bluff your fellow South Africans here on world control country . We know that you do not this in ground do you that We know townships ' corner committees . street control groups

be

liberation

in their

assist

differ with

employed .

although you

our not

fan the

can

erupt nor South of

flames of violence , you do not control violence that does The people stop you it even if you wanted to . could Africa will have to do that .

You are not in a position to ram non - participation as a principle down Black South Africans ' throats . It does not help you one iota when your organisation swears at those who oppose apartheid with everything they have got inside this country in the very arenas Pretoria

created

to

drum you

and your

colleagues

out

into

exile .

must speak bluntly , Mr. Tambo . I cannot pussy - foot around You issues . death cannot author the whole of the South political process by the way you and your organisation Surely you have by now seen that what Inkatha has done altered the

course of

history

in

South

I

life and African

swear at me . already has

Africa .

Were it not for my participatory opposition to apartheid and if I did not pick up the challenge of doing battle against apartheid in the arenas apartheid created , South Africa would not today be in the state of flux that it is in . If I had sanctimoniously stepped aside and allowed Pretoria to make KwaZulu a so - called independent state , there would by now have been a African states which would have included be facing a totally different ball game

confederation of Southern Swaziland . We would all and the clocks would have

been set

time .

back to Vorster's

or Verwoerd's

SOand

Had I not opposed Pretoria's hideous plans to make KwaZulu would not now be called independent state , there national international Africans on the been

recognition

that

Black

South

Africans

are

and would stay South Africans . I have done more to Government's homeland policy than anything you have

able to

do .

Participatory opposition

gains which you yourself profit

to apartheid has

from politically .

South stamp ever led

to

126

Had I not opposed the new constitution in the way that I did oppose it , and had I co - operated with Pretoria the tricameral parliament would have been a mill - stone around every Black South Africans ' neck . I refused to do anything which would legitimise it . I to State refused participate in the Black Advisory Council the wanted President to set up when the President's Council was authoring the present situation . I refused to have anything to with the Special Cabinet Committee the State President set up ensure

that

Blacks

provided the

present

do to

constitution with a degree

of legitimacy .

You

I

know

campaign

relentlessly

for

one

South

Africa ,

one

for Mr.

Tambo ,

and for a universal adult franchise system . for the decades that the ANC was operative in South Africa , no real South White built between it and institutionalised were bridges uential inconseq were who outs The ANC only had White drop Africa . You know that the name of the game even for in their own society . My reconciliation . racial been always has old ANC the it make to apartheid has done more to opposition participatory Parliament ,

you possible to reconcile South Africa's race groups than anything The political reconciliation of race groups is now have ever done . a

looming

Mr.

reality with no thanks

Tambo ,

I

to what

ask you directly to your

you

face :

and the

ANC

done .

have

Is it because

I

have

been moving ever closer to the political centre of gravity of South Africa , and is it because my participatory opposition to apartheid hates had important results , that the ANC Mission in Exile now Is it because you have none of the real action which is moving this country forward that you want to destroy everything that those If you feel so far out in the cold , who are succeeding have done ? and it is because you have done the wrong things at the wrong time Africans South Black brutalising to turned have you with has me ?

indiscriminate bomb blasts and because you have left your fighters loose to instigate violence freedom so - called neither control nor direct .

bands that

of you

In everything I say , Mr. Tambo , I still refrain from maligning your person . I sympathise with your plight . I sympathise with the fact that you cannot exercise true African - style leadership in your Own control organisation . I sympathise with you because you cannot your this

own people here on the ground in this country . I carry all ever sympathy for you as a Black brother and I will never You do very , very stoop to attack your honour or your integrity . stupid things politically . You are mistaken in your analysis of White of South Africa . You are mistaken in your understanding South Africa . things are all

You are mistaken in your reading of history . These there for all the world to see . But I still say, a however stupid you may have been politically , I address you as brother and I do not insult your person .

Mr. will

Tambo ,

when

continue

to

I see you doing I cannot fail ,

something that look the other

which is failing you way . When

127

blunder , There is a certain sense in Black South Africans suffer . which revolutionaries in your organisation , committed to violence they are , which think that they are justified in taking risks as involve other people dying . They set themselves up as though they were commanding generals with troops that can be sent into battle where there will be casualties . That is all very well for those Black

South Africans who have

crossed

armed struggle . They have made their lose their lives . They have placed When

therefore they

try to

they are battered , that and their consciences .

is

confront

our borders

and

joined

choice . They have themselves at your Pretoria's

something which

military

rests

on your

the

offered to disposal . might

and

conscience

That is however , failed and you know it . Your armed struggle has , you turned from conducting an armed struggle in South have why Africa

to

generals not or

fanning the it in

is not terms

flames

of

violence which

important whether the gains . of political

may

erupt .

For your

violence achieves anything Africa South want You

ungovernable and violence , just any violence , no matter who are the commanding from generals move Your you . benefits casualties , lives troops who have enlisted for active service to spending the They . objectives your and you to of people who have no commitment there are who poverty by desperation to driven people ordinary are for

you

to use in the politics

of confrontation which

inevitably

becomes violent .

it but can romanticise about what you do as much as you like You We Africans . does wash with me and millions of Black South not When those who die We know what you are doing . know who you are . with play pawns in your lethal game of cowboys and crooks who as the South African army and South African Police , their bereaved during That is why friends turn to me and Inkatha . their trebled doubled , membership Inkatha's bloodshed 1976/78

and the and

It is your blunders that have recruited Inkatha's mass quadrupled . over one and a half million members reject Inkatha's membership . violence your armed struggle and reject your fanning the flames of which has

erupted which you did not

plan .

Mr. Tambo , I can mention things which When I address you directly , Both you and I know that you and I both know are absolutely true . in Exile by surprise and Mission ANC the 1976/78 violence took the Black ation that demonstr major first the was It really shook it . the es because g themselv for somethin do to turned Africans South You and I both know that SASO and ANC was doing nothing for them . Inkatha emerged at the BPC were not formed as allies to the ANC . cut You . ANC the with unity same time in contrast to them seeking claim and platform a on up a pathetic figure when you stand rather because I had to form Inkatha you told me to form Inkatha . that you were doing

Mr.

Tambo ,

pursuing

the

nothing

you

for

emissary I sent emissary after establishing Black unity based on a

know that

ideal

of

my people .

abroad multi-

128

strategy

approach .

You know that

the

1976/78

violence

shook

the

External Mission of ANC down to the ground and you and your people were shocked at the massive evidence that Black South Africans were taking political action quite outside anything the ANC was doing or planning . The emergence of a possible alternative political drive Instead of learning for victory in South Africa really shook you . a lesson of history that was being taught to the ANC , you began about having nightmares about what you and your colleagues talked as

" third

a

force

What you were to of

development . "

regarding

as

alliances and to the each doing what each

a threatening third

force

could have

led

pursuit of common purpose on the principle the can do in their own circumstances in

pursuit of common objectives . You rejected the possible advantages no were common of parallel political action because there objectives possible between yourself and myself . In hindsight I have the wisdom which clearly tells me that a common objective between us was impossible because I was striving for the right of and their Black South Africans to choose their leaders organisations , only one

It

choice

is this

very

and you were striving to - the choice of the ANC .

fundamental

give

Black

South Africans

issue which actually divides

us .

I

and

many millions of Black South Africans will die rather than see our democratic birth rights destroyed . The Black South African liberation has always been a struggle to give struggle for Black South

Africans

freedom

association ,

of

freedom

of

political

association and equality before the law and the constitution . reject any equality before the law and constitution which does go

hand

in

hand with

freedom of political

association and

I not

freedom

of political expression . I reject the politics of prescription . I and millions of South Africans will not be dictated to politically . You could not do what had to be done to eliminate apartheid in all entirety its and then take your chances before a liberated No , you dream and your lieutenants could only of electorate . returning

to

South Africa

as

a

government

returned

from exile .

Mr. Tambo , however much you have suffered in exile and however crosses you have borne , everything you have suffered will be in the end , nought if , what you have done only results in a struggle The Party State . in South Africa is about establishment is engraved

ideal

that

of a multi - Party in the hearts and

the people will

This is the democracy . minds of the people and

ideal

it

is

many for onethe that

an

accomplish .

I said that I would drop personal feelings and move to address you on questions of tactics and strategies . My tactics and strategies are designed to liberate South Africa and to liberate it in such a that reconciliation between South Africa's race groups way begins enough to during the process of eradicating emerge strongly enough a apartheid , that multi - Party democracy becomes possible after tactics and strategies claim now the rights which My apartheid .

129

created

gave us when He

God

- the

us

right

to participate

working out in the destiny of the land of our birth . of South Africa cannot be decided by the ANC's Mission

in

the

The destiny in Exile .

Tambo , the ANC's Mission in Exile is no more and no less than Mr. concerned . are Party as far as South Africans political another country's being the about ANC the pretentiously very talk You ANC's the You talk very pretentiously about movement . in Exile being the sole true representative of Black South thrashing Your tactics and strategies must include the Africans . have South Africans to make them accept that which they Black of Inkatha or any the PAC , Whether it be the ANC , always rejected .

vanguard Mission

address

I

play political

you directly

as

I

conformity .

into

people

thrashing

position of power by

When

the enjoy at a arrive

to

organisation will survive to people if it attempts the

no

organisation , of support genuine

other

am now addressing

you ,

I do

not

You have at your disposal

one - up - manship with you .

a multi - million dollar propaganda machine . the pennies that come out of the pockets poor .

Your

propaganda

that you yourself are

Whenever Black ,

violence

machine

committed

did

your propaganda

erupt

has to .

in

machine

laid

On my side I only have of the poorest of the the at my door violence

You know this

the

between

South Africa

laid the blame

is

at

case .

Black

my door .

and

In the

February issue of ' Sechaba ' it is stated " Supporters of the Inkatha headed by Gatsha killed Buthelezi students five and injured hundreds " at the University of Zululand . The issue stated that people had to flee from Inkatha at an ABRECSA Conference for fear of their lives . It was stated " Gatsha Buthelezi justifies the violence of Inkatha against other blacks " and Buthelezi "Gatsha protects his honour at the cost of innocent young lives and injuries to many others . " talk about non -violence violent

In

the

Gatsha which

against

This issue of ' Sechaba ' said is just empty talk because he

" Gatsha's very is

blacks . "

September Buthelezi innocent

issue

sent and

of

' Sechaba '

1984

it

was

stated

" Chief

his henchmen to violently disrupt meetings in unarmed people including stalwarts of our

struggle were maimed and killed and he put himself at the services of the South African Defence Force and Security Police . " Prior to the negotiations breaking down between us in London in 1979 , your propaganda machine stepped up Inkatha and my leadership .

its In

hideously ' Sechaba '

foul propaganda against in October 1984 I am

accused of using violence for political purposes . ' Sechaba ' stated " Inkatha has been instrumental in breaking up several UDF meetings and

many activists

opposed to the

In

an ANC

press

organised gang

have been assaulted .

regime

are

statement attacked

No activities

tolerated

in KwaZulu . "

in

1985

August

students

at

Ngoye

the

ANC

said

" An

genuinely

Inkatha-

University College

during

130

1983 and inflicted serious injuries leading to the death of some of their stated also victims . " This press statement " Organised Inkatha groups ruffians brandishing spears and other lethal of meetings weapons have attacked political rallies , and even funerals . "

In

Inkatha

broadcasts

in

the

same

month the

beamed to

ANC

continued

South Africa

its

attack

on

the

world .

In

and

these broadcasts it was stated " Buthelezi commands Inkatha , and tribally based political force ,

a para - military does which not

hesitate to beat up or murder Buthelezi's opponents " and that " Mobs inspired by Chief Buthelezi have been responsible for a pattern of in the Natal beatings vicious beatings , armed attacks and even murders this region . " In broadcast referring to me as ' Gatsha ' it was stated

The It

that

I

am a Botha

' henchman

and

trenchman

next month in September 1985 ' Sechaba ' " Buthelezi has been terrorising stated

and

returned the in

hatchet

man . '

to the attack . sense literal

anybody who differs with him although he claims to be a leader " and non -violent his about the of Gatsha Buthelezi " All talk that ent to comes use it when viol ces very is he beca air hot is stan confronting unarmed UDF members , students of Ngoye University and ministers

of

religion

such as

the

Reverend

Xundu . "

Tambo , these kind of attacks are not attacks on tactics and strategies which you have a democratic right to They make . are hideous lies aimed at hitting foul blows below the am belt . I asking Black South Africans to pass judgement and you can believe

Mr.

me that they will do so . These vicious distortions shame Black South Africa .

The attacks continue . returned again to the stated " Prince loads of armed attack houses , to terrorise , too

the In Victoria terrorise

Two months later in November attack of accusing Inkatha of

smash windows injure and to

and doors of houses Mr. Tambo , kill . "

You know that

Prince

of ordinary people who were

and who were

based

on

lies and

1985 ' Sechaba ' violence . It

Gideon Zulu left the Shaka Day rally with three supporters of Inkatha to travel to Lamontville

disgusting .

the lives

attacks

being brutalised

of ordinary people this is altogether

Gideon went having

by UDF - inspired

there to

their houses

and

UDF activists

and

I

protect

plundered

mob behaviour .

of same issue of ' Sechaba ' Inkatha is accused using employing death squads and of Mxenge , people

bus to

am accused

murdering thugs

to

of murdering .

Again two months later in January 1986 you yourself said in a press conference that Inkatha has been instrumental in breaking up You several UDF meetings and many activists have been assaulted . stated " No activities genuinely opposed to the regime are tolerated in KwaZulu . " It is not only your propaganda machine which is doing demean your something out there . You yourself have stooped to stature .

You are getting

Your health is not

all

that

on in years , good .

Mr.

We all

Tambo ,

hope

that

like

all of us .

God spares you

131

but why in your older years when wisdom should be so stoop to sully your own image ? It is sad .

do you

emerging ,

In August 1986 the ANC broadcast that " Police and have soldiers enlisted puppets like Buthelezi which they use to terrorise Black people so there is no question of Black against Black , it is the question of the enemy on the one hand with his troops , policemen , and

puppets

Mr.

Tambo ,

against

the

whatever

people . "

real

your

position

of power

is

ANC

the

in

Mission in Exile , you are at least in direct knowledge that the ANC kept are doubt You no annihilate to decided Inkatha . has South in about what your activists are actually doing uninformed any itself . You are not their commander on the ground in Africa real sense and those who do command do not share details with your You may personally Executive . National be not organisation's responsible for each and the KwaZulu Government . You know that arms the intention and the KwaZulu made on attacks

every act of violence against Inkatha and You know , however , that they take place . caches have been found around Ulundi and that it to use arms and explosives against me , Inkatha Government . You know that the ANC is behind KwaZulu Government You property . attempt to

destroy KwaZulu buildings and motor vehicles . The ANC has attacked the homes of Inkatha members . The ANC has given licence to all and sundry they to kill Black town councillors and anybody else who condemn to death by passing

You

must

be

contents

foreign · Amsterdam formally

aware

that

my

the

office

verdict

of

collaborator

in Amsterdam was

destroyed . You carry your attacks soil and you have never denied that office was made by the ANC . decided that Inkatha must be

on

them .

attacked

and

against me the attack

You know that destroyed .

the It

it.s

on on

to

my has ANC is your

that propaganda that tells Black South Africans that I am a snake That is why it was must be killed . Enough is enough , Mr. Tambo . absolutely essential for the Black struggle for liberation that I took personal

Inkatha

is

Africa

has

comes to because peaceful

control

not a

of the

going to be

Police .

annihilated .

or

You have already

longer

found

track

No Black

that

record

leader

than

in

South

when it It is commitments to non - violent tactics and strategies . I am committed to the politics of negotiation and to the of want me solution South Africa's problems that you

destroyed .

stronger

KwaZulu

mine

tragically you were wrongly

advised that Inkatha was a push - over organisation . For God's sake years . learn the lessons of the history of the past number of KwaZulu Stop now this hideous violence against Inkatha and the Government . I unashamedly say that we will defend what we do with our lives if necessary because we are exercising God - given rights in doing what we are doing . We are striving for the upholding of We are all the hallowed values of the struggle for liberation . in pursuing ideals which the history of the struggle has inscribed All that you do the very soul of Black South Africa . can by

132

Inkatha

attacking

in

anger

violence ,

and

to

is

prolong

the

struggle .

Your

organisation attacks Inkatha brutally and threatens the lives of ordinary people and I respond in self - defence . Then you accuse me of being violent . You accuse me of using the KwaZulu Police to ends of apartheid . further the You yourself know how I abhor yet apartheid and you still stoop so despicably to present my defence

of

perpetrated

the to

hallowed

support

values

of

the struggle as

violent

acts

apartheid .

In

a radio broadcast in June 1987 the ANC said " The apartheid regime decided to hand over to their trusted and committed puppet Gatsha Buthelezi all the murderous police that are operating in townships the so - called KwaZulu government " under and that I

wanted

to " use them to wipe out the offensive of the people " In of July 1987 Sechaba ' said that Inkatha has become " an extension the regime's army and police . " In July 1987 ' Sechaba ' said that In " Gatsha requested Vlok to arm Inkatha vigilantes openly . "

1987 an September ANC broadcast over police powers handed in the puppet Mangosuthu

In

Gatsha

the third quarter

stated

" On

June

of

' African

Communist '

all police

stations

in

Botha

Buthelezi

regime

of apartheid stated that

has been part

charged with the maintenance

and police . "

It

policeman

of the

and

region "

stated that

that

Durban

Inkatha

" has

was were by

controlled Since June

apparatus

of

of the political

I was a

it

1 the

system was It a's Both

active and extension an

" puppet become

regime's army and police . "

Tambo , you Mr. tell me let defenders of democratic rights ; of

State

1987

and the administration of apartheid laws . " I am " now pledged to work side by side with

military

of the

of the

of

Greater

taken over by the KwaZulu administration which is Buthelezi and his Inkatha organisation . Mangosuthu therefore

regime loyal

Buthelezi . "

edition

1st

said that " The Pretoria KwaZulu bantustan to its

movement ;

they

are the

the are Police that the KwaZulu freedom they are the defenders of

defenders

of

the

rights

of

political

association ; they are the defenders of the lives of the people and they The KwaZulu Police are welcome wherever their property . of They are a proud The masses daily call for their assistance . go . in Force which will ever increasingly play a positive role Police you much as Rant and rave as Black struggle for liberation . the the know they people are solidly with me because like but the hideousness

The

of political

ANC's subterfuge

know that

the

ANC has

violence

really is declared

perpetrated

transparent to

against

the

the armed struggle .

the

people .

people .

They

They know that

They know that the ANC has not got the armed struggle has failed . springboards from which to mount a telling armed struggle . They know that there are no liberated zones in this country . They know

133

that every road system that every bridge in the country is intact ; is intact ; that the country's electricity and water supply systems intact ; are that the rail transportation system and the country's harbour ANC's systems are intact . Evidence of the failure to

conduct

armed struggle successfully is South African to see wherever he or she is .

every

there for

Black

Black South Africans also know that the ANC which has been whipped around by Pretoria's military might is now creeping and crawling townships

corner their

committees and groups of young comrades to own hands and to go on the rampage against

Mr.

Tambo ,

you are

the people . action such unaware witness disobey

in the dark hours

far away

of the night

encouraging

Black

and do

not

have

take the ordinary

direct

street law into people .

feed - back from of are You are

You carry on unaware of what the consequences as those taken to enforce consumer boycotts .

of the

revulsion

ladies being a group of

it

creates

in ordinary

people

they

when

forced to drink detergents because they dared to enforce kids who want consumer boycott

action .

You

aftermath are unaware of the deep revulsion that is the of a tying persons hands together with barbed wire , placing a tyre over his or her head and dousing them with diesoline set be to alight die to an unspeakably agonising death . This of sense revulsion transferred is long to the ANC which for so condoned necklacing and was responsible for the climate in which Black - onconfrontations

Black

take

place .

Being

unaware

these

of

things

because you are far removed from the actuality of the struggle here on the ground , you will not be able to appreciate the very real support

that

Ultimately speaking know that

there

is

amongst

the

for the

people

KwaZulu

Police .

Mr. Tambo , and generally comes to the cost , people The hideous failures come with hideous costs . you do not pay the cost . Your Mission in Exile does not everything

pay the cost . It is the poorest of the poor here , the real victims blundering . apartheid , must bear the brunt of your of who You cannot go around annihilating the people you purport to lead . You why cannot blunders . That is escape the consequences of your Inkatha is here to stay and there is nothing that you can do about it . I know that if there is anything that you could have done to destroy Inkatha that you have not yet done , you will go ahead and attempt you that

to

do

In everything have

it .

if you

been

I

I

throw down

really want

have

said

a

the

fight

gauntlet , you

in talking

constantly concerned

have

to you

about

the

got

Mr.

Tambo ,

and

tell

it .

today ,

Mr.

consequences

the

Tambo ,

I

conflict

between your organisation and my organisation has for the struggle for liberation . We have the strange anomaly that ANC propaganda . maintains that I am spurned and rejected by the masses , whereas in Inkatha is the largest Black actual fact political organisation ever to have emerged in the history of the country . If Inkatha was what

you make

it

out

to be

in your

propaganda ,

you would

in

fact

134

not have to attack it . You attack Inkatha because it is powerful . You attack Inkatha because it continues to grow vigorously . Those who want to please you may mislead you , but you can take it from me ,

Mr.

Tambo ,

that

people nowhere ,

after

Inkatha's

every outburst membership

Your attacks are not destroying political life . You know this , because I am suing for peace . and say concern that

if you want is for the

internecine

of

takes

violence another

that

leap

leads

the

forward .

Inkatha . I am not fighting for my Mr. Tambo . I am not addressing you That is why I throw down a gauntlet

you have got one . a fight , No , Mr. Tambo , my struggle for liberation and both you and I know Black -on - Black confrontation delays the day of

victory . You know that Inkatha will not go away and that it cannot conference be driven away . I ask you again to think about future tables and the fact that you and I and I and others will have to deal with each other . This will never happen if the Exile continues with its slanderous campaign against

ANC me .

Mission

in

In June 1987 in a broadcast beamed to Black South Africans , the ANC enemy Mission in Exile said that I am being used to strengthen the and that I am now using force to impose myself and Inkatha on the Gatsha people and then added " The emotions that portrays illustrates once again not only his fears of the masses but his rank opportunism . " The next month ' Sechaba ' said that " Inkatha vigilantes on the orders of Gatsha Buthelezi on behalf of the Boers has committed many crimes in a futile bid to destroy the UDF . "

This slant emerged in ANC propaganda fairly soon after the UDF came into existence . The UDF was formed in August 1983 and from the day inauguration , its of it set out to discredit Inkatha . The ANC Mission in Exile leapt to take the gap and began accusing Inkatha of hideous atrocities against the UDF . In speaking directly to Tambo , you , Mr. I tell you bluntly that you may fool some people some of the time but you cannot fool all the people all of the time . The ANC Mission in Exile's screams of abuse against Inkatha are cheered amongst the converted but it deepens Inkatha's solidarity and encourages ordinary Blacks to think again about Inkatha .

Mr.

Tambo ,

the more Blacks

In

the

think

October

issue

the growth of Inkatha's membership about

of

Inkatha ,

' Sechaba '

the

in

more

October

" Inkatha has been instrumental in breaking and many activists have been assaulted .

shows

they turn to

1984

it

join

was

up several UDF No activities

that it .

stated

meetings genuinely

opposed to the regime are tolerated in KwaZulu " and that " Inkatha being is used against the democratic forces and not against the broadcast that regime . " In August 1985 the ANC Mission in Exile " In 1981/82 the boycott

In

January

Buthelezi took it upon of schools in Natal . "

1986 ,

you entered

person attack against

me .

the

himself

scene

In singling me

to break up and

to make out

for

suppress

another person special

to

treatment

135

workers when said " Other homeland leaders have not attacked you hit it They did not attack the ANC when strike . on went they They did not attack members SASOL . They did not kill students . this is you speaking to me . Tambo , Mr. of the UDF killing them . " conducted For a great many years you What has happened to you ? a as in a manner that encouraged people to describe you yourself It is unbefitting of you and it soft - mannered gentleman . benign , stoop certainly unbefitting of your role for you personally to is Tambo , are you simply a dog that has Mr. Or , to this low level . new shaken How do I distinguish between the by its tail ? been always I The man and the man I always knew? Tambo perplexing loved ,

the

man

I

always

respected

as my

elder brother .

South Black Africa has always known the extent to beholden the SACP and to the USSR for the receive . The SACP speaks and you must concur .

to which military The

you aid

are you

third quarter

issue of the ' African Communist ' in 1986 stated that " The power of Inkatha has never been used to mobilise the people in any campaign of opposition to apartheid but has been directed again and again against the ANC , SACTU , the UDF and any other organisation which has tried to challenge the apartheid regime through direct action . " Is ASAPO and other Black - consciousness movement organisations not opposed to apartheid ?

In

June

1987 the

Why are

they

ANC broadcast

not

in your

list ?

today " Gatsha statement that UDF the the prog , ress ive ANC ,

the

spends all his time attacking the trade unions , and community leaders . "

I

am talking

from late .

Mr.

to you ,

what you have been May I remind you

You will

continue

to

Tambo ,

when I

doing against that you have

fail .

Let

me

say

that

you

must

Inkatha before it failed to destroy

tell you bluntly that

divert

is too Inkatha . you

ought

to know that historic forces are all powerful . History is at work in South Africa and history itself will mould circumstances to Exile does ensure that the ANC's Mission in not succeed in Black destroying all opposition . It is also at the same time moulding

The

circumstances

founding

fathers

to

bring

of the had

an

Black

old

ANC

and White

and

unshakeable

its

together .

leadership

faith

that

for

many

history would

in South Africa in the end produce a multi - racial democracy in our country . You are Political Parties rise and fall a script - writer for history . not in the course of history . I am always terribly conscious of the You need to move as history moves . are , Mr. Tambo , personally

decades

painfully aware of how long it took you to travel right through Africa and to eventually temporarily sojourn in Egypt before you began putting together in Exile . You did

international support not set out to gain

for the ANC's Mission that you the allies

eventually ended up with . Every Black leader in one way or another at some time or another shares what you experienced .

136

It

would

be truly tragic

if Black

solidarity

in the

struggle

for

liberation continued to be so totally unobtainable that the Blackon -Black confrontation eventually necessitated the South African question being settled one way or another without Blacks being the united task force that directed South Africa into the future . It is Blacks who are the most oppressed . It is they who bear the real Mr. Tambo , responsibility to do something about their oppression . stop thwarting history and make it possible for them to do so . You would have no need whatsoever for foreign allies if you stopped being Africans divisive and participated in bringing Black South together .

Historically the time You know as well as I already ensured has

is

happen . right for this to The struggle apartheid is doomed . now is that All case . is the each what Black do organisation to

now absolutely

know that that that

each Black for is required is All that best do in its own circumstances . can organisation will You . approach is that we accept a multi - strategy required You will neither will I. never ever win the struggle on your own ever succeed if you allegiance to your

never blind

make Black unity a question of total and powerful very I have a organisation .

I advantage over you and that is that I do not attempt to do this . have you which have working partners in South Africa potential in course History will work its that you do not have . ensured developi are is ng Inkatha that alliance the and South Africa s Inkatha is that will stand the test of history . alliances Own their in there are which change to forces working for at a one forces The ANC Mission in Exile has to create these

Mr.

Tambo ,

decades

if

hence ,

you have your way a decade or perhaps two country locked will still remain this

or in

allied right . time .

three that

equilibrium of violence which neither the government of the day nor Break out of the sterility the day can escape . revolutionar ies of constantly force wh in si a in ic lo being of tuation to h equal cked meets

equal

force .

Mr. Tambo , I have addressed you in front of the people because what You are very aware I have said is a matter of deep public concern . of the fact that opinion - makers across the length and breadth of and across all race groups , South Africa think that you and I should get together . I have chosen to address you here in the KwaZulu is

Legislative Assembly

for

all to

hear because

an Assembly of men and women who have grass - root

this Assembly

constituencies .

That is why they are here . They actually represent the people you claim to be yours . Those people have a right to hear me talking to Tambo , these Mr. am I now going to stand before you . representatives

of the people gathered

here

today

and

debate the things I have been saying and to formulate you from the people of South Africa themselves - the people ,

the

victims

of apartheid .

ask them

to

a message to grass root

137

Mr.

Sir ,

Speaker , Mr.

addressed personal will he

Members ,

Honourable

Tambo as

I now

high time

it was

remembers

When he

done .

have

It is he who now brother . like a Black brother .

faces the

I

past

have said , a Black

himself behaving

of

challenge

I

what him

contacts we have had and he thinks about as a Black I have addressed that know

that the

I have often wondered how the ANC Mission in Exile would have developed , were it not for the South African Communist Party's influence in it . Exile always leaps and

the

SACP ,

to

so much so

thou dost protest senior members

too much . " of the

Communist / Nationalist Nationalists

We

know

there Black

The National Executive in the ANC Mission defend the fraternal relationship between

have

that

one

entitled

to

say

" Me

thinks

I know from personal discussions with ANC Mission in Exile that the

division

frequently had

our Black brothers

is

in it

is

a

to

toe the

and

very

sisters

real

in

division

line

or

exile

face

and

we

and

that

axing .

know

that

is something at South Africa

work which has made some of them as alien to as they have become . The South African Communist Party in large measure most certainly is responsible for the alienation of some in the ANC Mission in Exile and Black South Africans .

Communism

is

an alien policy to

I

us .

am not

talking

here

only

in

The very idiom in the way in which Communists in political terms . is the ANC Mission in Exile relate to each other and deal with us , account alien . it goes a lot deeper than ideology can Somehow for . ideological on Africans South Black between Debates Black differences can still be debates between Black brother and about . Black sister and sister Debates Black brother and take to need economic structures and political socialist - type It is not the political differences between the SACP and us place . It is that gives rise to my sense of alienation when I meet them . It is as though they do not belong here in Mother than that . more Africa .

Black

cost States communist that have learnt to their African ideologies do not prevail against poverty , ignorance and disease . Black communist with Black State which started off after State liberation , begin to after ideals had in the end have wooing beg to in assistance . Western industrial nations for financial and technical

I

have

even thought

never

of

castigating

my

Black

brothers

and

sisters in other African States for choosing to establish communist sovereign a Every people have their countries . in governments tha obs I sim . des own the t the USSR right to choose erve ply tiny ir ensuring than far more useful in producing violent revolution is that

successful

I remember Hotel where

revolutions

the I

end

up benefitting the

demonstrations was

addressing

which " The

took

World

people .

place Affairs

outside Council

the of

138

California ,

in

San

Francisco

1986 ;

in

and

remember

I

demonstrations which were staged in Vancouver when I after touring the United States on the same trip .

the

Canada

visited

A group of Caribbean Blacks , led by a local representative of shouting of ANC San External Mission were in Francisco Buthelezi Botha's Lackey Buthelezi , " , ; Botha's Lackey " and so

the it

rhymed !

These demonstrations

had

that

sense

of alienation

about

them which

I am talking about . On both occasions I later heard that the prime movers in the demonstrations were members of the American and Party . Canadian Communist It is as though they move in to contaminate

Black

politics .

the official journal of the South African mud - slinging in the forefront of any always Party , Communist in the ANC tone the provides which SACP aimed at me , the is and it It is unKwaZulu and Inkatha . Mission in Exile's attack on me ,

The

African

Communist ' , is

Those who are more vituperative in their attacks on me in African . the of Mission of ANC are invariably those members External the African South the of members also are who Mission External Communist Party ; people like Joe Slovo , Mac Maharaj , Chris Ham and others

Mr.

of that

Speaker ,

ilk .

Honourable Members ,

I

have

said what

I

have

said to

Oliver Tambo makes a very passed

a

in front of you because it is now time that this House clear statement . As far as I am concerned , we have point in time in which there is now nothing to be gained

by pussy - footing around issues in the hope that somewhere , sometime my lieutenants and Mr. Oliver Tambo's lieutenants could begin preliminary discussions about future Inkatha / ANC relationships . That time has passed . enough I have drawn a line and said is enough and this will remain my position until the ANC Mission in Exile approaches us for talks with convincing evidence that are serious about the need to establish Black unity in country .

Speaker , Honourable Members , Mr. I Minister of Education and Honourable of Inkatha , Dr. O.D. Mbeki in order to set remember remember

his how

they this

remember with disgust how the Culture and Secretary - General

Dhlomo , engaged in discussions with Mr. Thabo I dialogue . up Inkatha / ANC Mission in Exile

I because very responsible endeavours with disgust our and Health and the Honourable Minister of he

National Chairman , Dr. Justice , the Reverend Welfare and Pensions ,

F.T. C.J. Mr.

of the Honourable Minister Mdlalose , of Mtetwa and the Honourable Minister E.S.C. Sithebe , all travelled to London

1987 to meet with Mr. Thabo Mbeki and others as had been They Mbeki . Mr. arrived in London to find no sign of to Dhlomo who had also been a go - between talked Albert A . Hotel in the to them see come not did and them only by phone ,

in October arranged . Mr. Even

139

cock - and - bull story about not having flights from Lusaka was told . A suggestion was then made as to whether my colleagues could not consider stopping in Lusaka on their way home . Quite clearly they could not fall into that booby - trap ! This was not only an insult just to my colleagues who were fouled in this way , but to the masses

that

they

represent

here

at

home .

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , every leader of Inkatha , including myself as President , is elected to office by representatives chosen and by the masses . In KwaZulu we have genuine and open elections those of us who are elected to this House represent the people . An insult to a leader is an insult to those who elect him and follow him .

Inkatha's alienate in Exile first attempted to ANC Mission The such . as leadership from the Movement but did not attack Inkatha When they failed to get Inkatha's members to reject the Movement's Political attacks have now leaders , they began attacking them too . The ANC has declared been turned into murderous physical attacks . war and Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , all honour demands that we Cowardly open . force the ANC's hostility against us out into the insinuations and direct statements that it is Inkatha which attacks That the contempt that they deserve . in chapter and verse which shows that it is the ANC Mission in Exile which has initiated and maintained a The ANC Mission in Exile is the divisive vendetta against Inkatha . or divisive They must stop being factor in Black South Africa . our alternatively , Africa must cut this cancer from South Black

the ANC must be rejected with why I provided the detail is

country's Black body

politic .

Mr.

Speaker , Honourable Members , I have exposed the ANC Mission in Exile's vindictive vendetta against myself , Inkatha and the KwaZulu There are Government because the record must be set straight . a great many South Africans in all race groups who have been deceived by the political propaganda of the ANC Mission in Exile and the Communist Party . actually These deceived people South African believe that the ANC Mission in Exile is the vanguard force in the see being Black struggle for liberation . They apartheid as invincible to all else and they turn to work with the ANC and sometimes for it .

these people who have

of

they they

want to be deceived . It is as though in their frustration , which is as dramatic as their want action , any action ,

repugnance repugnance

for for

been deceived are

deceived

because

Some

genuine strange how demands . It is can lead some people to join in action

apartheid apartheid

against apartheid simply because it is dramatic action and they appear to the world as participating in a heroic struggle .

The

thing

E compulsion

that to

strikes

me again and again is that in dramatic opposition to

participate

some

can

inner

apartheid ,

140

wisdom . smashes Rights and wrongs are only within sought the framework action and always sought in of dramatic high profile in which celebrity leaders so like to come into their Africa has produced one crop of celebrity leaders after

roles South

own . the

other , created by the media and supported by the media . Those who dramatically most claim to support the ANC Mission in Exile have themselves rejected the opportunity of crossing the border and freedom fighter , becoming a as they would see it . Some of Our clerics

Mr.

fit

into

this

mould .

Honourable Members ,

Speaker ,

that real politics begins and I know that constituencies .

I

political

am a

leader who

knows -life

development of real leader worthy of the

ends in the every Black

name

has done back - breaking work at grass root level unifying people and I also know that leaders who giving them common purpose in action . most when they are upon stages with international TV cameras shine focussed on them mostly shine

least

at

the grass

root

level .

Dr.

Boesak is the epitom Allan celebri posturi , high y of a ty ng publici - loving , g m p Speaker , i M l o . olitica mposter r. ib uthed ty l Members , Honoura he speaks for you and he speaks for the grass ble root communi He himself , howeve , has no ties which you represent . r constit w h h b h u f nothing and e into a u i turned p r s i c o l h m t uency somethi . H i a p o one e s w o f p f h l l p r o its itical ortunis om ng t committ to another and one forum to anothe , s o b p n e e h aking alf ee r of the people he does not lead .

Boesak survive and what would become of him if he in How would Dr. on and resigned from all committees he serves action bold some South Black into went and acclaim ceased campaigning for limelight his of to start up a new political movement communities African the to say he peasants would what , would say to he own? What oppressed and what would he say to the most poorest of the poor , and thought they what them tell he could no longer attempt to if of position a in had to put himself he If felt ? they how articulating only what people told him to articulate , in structures So , would we he had created with them to enable them to do that says of behalf he on says he . what reject now what We respect of Africa with contempt because he speaks on behalf South Black people

cannot

who

worth noting

Dr.

to

Boesak is

enable

a patron

Mr. Archie Gumede UDF'S leadership spelt

out

that

speak

for

themselves speak

them to

of

the

UDF

has spelt out does not lead

people

do

not

and

he

has

done

nothing

for themselves .

and

the

UDF's

for all the world at the grass root

listen to

UDF

National to hear , level .

leaders .

Chairman , that He

He has

the has

even !

spelt out that members of the UDF's affiliate organisations do not listen to UDF leaders . Yet Dr. Boesak is feted across the length from and breadth of the world and jets from country to country and one lime - lit venue to another speaking on behalf of the oppressed .

141

ease An articulate manner and a stage -grooming that makes a man at on a public platform where he says what people want to hear is just Honourable Members , Mr. Speaker , when a committee not enough . elects a committee which elects another committee and you become chairman

of that

other

committee ,

which was

elected by a

committee ,

a committee election away from another committee , which in turn is you ? an election away from yet another committee , just who are you press Whom do represent ? When Dr. Boesak stood up at a conference with Archbishop Tutu soon after action was taken against 17 anti - apartheid organisations , and said that the South African Government forces more people to work underground and brings more and

more people to the

persuasion

that

violence

is the

only

left , on whose behalf was he then talking ? He cannot come a grass root meeting in this country to tell the poorest poor that he

had

gone

abroad

to

do what

the

people

asked

thing back to of the

him to

do .

against disgust with the Government's action However , We are all disgusted by it . I do Black masses that to say on behalf of the without telling us on only thing left , whose

I do not question his Black organisations . right question his violence

is

mandate he

and

Again

the

is declaring

in

again

that

kind

of violent

South Africa we

have

war ?

seen

how

leaders

of

by committees are very destructible elected by State there has been crop after 1976 since Ever crop of recognised by the media and the outside world leaders ,

committees brutality . Blacks

the fact that they lead nobody because they have nobody to despite lead . There is a malady in the politics they pursue . Some kind with comes always which rotteness inbred deep of claimed a these It is in leadership which has nobody to lead . committees the all elected by committees that committees by elected newfangled

too - clever - by - half

leaders

emerge .

Members , the Speaker , Honourable I have spoken my mind on I action the Government recently took against 17 organisations . did so the in this House on the day that Dr. Viljoen performed opening ceremony for this Session . I abhor Government action of the kind that was taken . I can , however , not be silenced by this condone the abhorrence and the political action against which

Mr.

Government

took

this ,

Mr.

Yet

such

hideous

steps .

Honourable

Speaker ,

Members ,

is what

the

world

Particularly in the outside world , the hallmark Africa South only gained when you so behave in you If do . South African Government smashes what you

expects me to do . recognition is of that

the

oppose apartheid in such a way that the Government cannot smash you you are cursed because you are not seen as and dare not smash you , There is something very wrong politically victim of apartheid . a finally ever kind of thinking . How on earth will we this with leaders vanquish apartheid for the evil scourge that it is if only to vulnerable State the point of being totally to blunder who brutality are

recognised

as

leaders ?

142

That , am I

Speaker , Honourable Members , going on a personal rampage

is a very serious question . against Dr. Boesak . In Honourable Members , I am talking

Mr. not

Mr. talking about him , Speaker , about a deep malady in Black politics which concerns every one of am us . I talking about the romanticisation of the on struggle cuckoo new international platforms which creates a and national of

land

against

politics

quite

apartheid here

It is my duty opposition to betraying situation viable rightly

incapable

on the ground

at this point in apartheid that

my calling in South

of

making

in this

progressive

country .

history to call for actually does lead .

leadership I

committees elected by committees who speak on Africa with no real political right to do so .

leaders

have

would

if I did not do so . It is now in this Africa that we so desperately need a

leadership capable of leading the people on the condemn those who are chairmen of committees

Speaker , Mr. leadership I

gains

crisis real ,

ground . elected

behalf of

in be

I by

Black South

Members , Honourable the problem of the am talking about runs very deep . These

kind kinds

of of

some way

or other and at some time or another , to back claims of being leaders by some visible action on is when this need arises to their substantiate leadership self - appointed roles that they encourage the kind of politics of confrontation politics the in which of violent intimidation naturally emerges . It is when leaders do not lead up their spurious ground . the It

grass which

root for

forces that they turn to mobilising bands the duration of a particular action is

intimidating

Mr.

Speaker ,

the

real

victims

Honourable Members ,

of my adult life . I have real political movement . action and

of apartheid

movement

it

I

have

into

been

and groups capable of

submission .

in politics

seen real political action . I Whenever I have seen real

has been

produced

by an upsurge

the

whole

have seen political

of peasants

and workers and of the poorest of the poor who are the real victims when of apartheid . The old ANC had fallen into severe disrepute Chief Albert Lutuli first emerged as a leader of the future . He elected did not rest on being a member of by a committee a committee Members ,

When

elected by a because

I

Chief Albert

committee .

was there when

Lutuli

know ,

I it

Mr.

Speaker ,

Honourable

happened .

realised the

extent

to which the old

ANC

had fallen into disrepute , he did not begin with the re - election of Chief committees . by committees elected by elected committees , Albert Lutuli returned to his home area and began mobilising people his of success It was the massive level . grass root the at that programme here in this province of South Africa mobilisation up . ended him that very distinctive authority with which he gave times by committees elected by committees may at elected Leaders exert

influence

among

other

committees

elected

by

Boesak is not a man Dr. they have no authority . certainty he has not based his political because

committees

but

of authority and action on

grass

143

the World Alliance

of Reformed

Again

Speaker ,

I

say ,

Mr.

요냉

not is That he himself has mobilised . which President his Church leadership position as the

support root underestimate

to of

Churches .

Honourable Members ,

I

attacking

am not

the integrity of Dr. Boesak himself . I am pointing to a malady in Black politics . It is a malady which spreads very viciously and corrupts the genuine struggle for liberation . I must deal with it . Unlike the ANC Mission in Exile which is terrified out of its mind Black what it fears as third force developments , I want other by leaders to

Mr.

emerge with massive grass

Speaker ,

the

malady

that

root

support .

am referring to has been

I

greatly

They do not want what they encouraged by the ANC Mission in Exile . They want no other call the Third Force to emerge in South Africa . They right . organisation to emerge as powerful in its own Black by chairmen elected committees of vulnerability of the know encourage they by committees and that is why elected committees when a man is about to Members , Speaker , Honourable Mr. them . So do must on I must shout out a warning and I a snake , tread whether

I

have

or not

I believe

warned Black

the

man will

South Africans

hear .

in the past ,

I warn

and

again today , that the ANC Mission in Exile bent as becoming the only real political force in the country ,

it

is

them on

only needs

cannon fodder and it only needs the support of high - profile leaders who can be axed at any time . This is why the ANC Mission in Exile given has such encouragement to the development of the UDF and COSATU . threats they They hold no to it because are not All their power is a politically powerful in their own right . borrowed

power which can be Exile decides to do so .

I

am appalled

at

the

extent

reclaimed whenever the

clerics

to which some

do not see the real vicious intentions of They romanticise about freedom and about

the the

ANC Mission

in

South

in

Africa

ANC Mission in Exile . freedom struggle for

ANC the in in the hands of those wiley minds pawns become and subterfuge Mission in Exile which are schooled in the politics of and In this Policy Speech I have given chapter and verse deceit . myself , Inkatha of the ANC's vicious political propaganda against clerics join the KwaZulu Government . Some of South Africa's and in this

propaganda by presenting

themselves

as

earnestly holy .

The South African Council of Churches has now for many years housed ANC- type these clerics . It is the SACC which has spearheaded the vendetta against me and Inkatha and the KwaZulu Government . The African Inkatha as am informed , listed SACC , has I a South Government the to

the

apartheid organisation .

Only

recently Dr.

Boesak

and

SACC attempted to get the German donor agencies and government sponsor a conference of all South African parties involved in struggle

for

liberation .

They specifically

said

that

they

144

Inkatha .

excluded because

I

in

this

am myself a

the

This

case they did not

deeply

committed

fellowship and the

from the

Church .

I

get

the

Christian

succour

have

did not

conference

that

I

get

off

the

backing they

and

have

I

have

ground

sought .

always valued fellowship

received in

never

attacked the CHurch , nor have I ever movements which draw the Churches of the country together in common purpose and in a common discovery of the meaning of Christ in this day and age in South Africa . I have only lamented the lack of unity amongst Church leaders , and I have only lamented those from the clerics who have gone so far out in despised

genuine

front that they South Africa .

When

I

ecumenical

cease

received a

Pietermaritzburg were mounting , Speaker ,

to be

relevant

to

circular

from the

Reverend

Church's development

K.E.M.

Dr.

in

Mgojo in

about possible peace initiatives that some clerics I had to seriously consider the approach . Mr.

Honourable Members ,

THE PRESIDENT

the

OF

the

letter

I

received was : 10.2.88

INKATHA

Dear Brothers ,

On behalf undersigned

of

the

have

South

been

African

Council

requested to

of

convene

a

Churches meeting

I

of

the Natal

The meeting Church leaders with organizations engaged in conflict . will be held at KOINONIA Conference Centre , Old Main Road , Botha's Hill on

Tuesday

This is members

a of

23

February ,

follow - up Inkatha

1988

meeting and

from

on one

UDF .

The

9

held purpose

explore ways and means of implementing in conflict with one another in Natal , violence .

Tragically

the

is

meeting

to

killings

consider ways

a.m.-

continue

5.00

between of the

p.m.

Churches meeting

is

and to

the recent call by parties to stop committing acts of unabated .

The purpose

of dealing with this

of

fact .

As this is such a critical issue and affects the lives of us all we to your look forward attendance and contribution to the discussions .

information invitations your For INKATHA , organizations : UDF , representatives of the Pietermaritzburg of Pietermaritzburg

Teas

and

have been sent COSATU and

Church leaders in Natal and Durban Chambers

Council

of

Churches .

lunch will be provided .

and of

to the UWUSA

following including

representatives Commerce , and

145

Yours

faithfully ,

REV . DR . KEM MGOJO CONVENOR

I

just

had to

Churches was

ask myself how genuine

in

making

the

South African

Council

of

this approach through the Reverend Mgojo .

I

had to ask whether it was worthwhile sitting around a table talking about painting were life and death issues with clerics who a me the picture of and Inkatha across the length and breadth of showed us to be the perpetrators of world which apartheid which ultimately for is responsible the violence that erupted in Pietermaritzburg .

I

am on

record ,

Mr.

Speaker ,

Honourable Members ,

as saying that I would talk to the devil himself if that would help the struggle for liberation . I have , however , at least to be sure in my own mind that in talking to the SACC it would help in the struggle

I

and would help to

therefore wrote as

defuse the

follows

Rev. Dr. K.E. Mgojo , President /Chairman of Natal West District , Methodist Church of Southern P.O. Box 2539 PIETERMARITZBURG

Dear

Rev.

to

Pietermaritzburg violence .

Reverend

the

Mgojo :

15

February

1988

Africa ,

3200 .

Mgojo ,

Thank you for your letter of February 10 , 1988 and your invitation , on behalf of the South African Council of Churches , to attend the February meeting , 23 , proposed as outlined , in Botha's Hill on

1988 . I the sentiments expressed and the desire to resolve applaud my conflict . You can always be assured of hideous present

operation

in any

So much brutally

has

afford

sincere

endeavour

already been lost , and maimed , murdered to become

involved

in

to and

promote

unity and

the Co-

peace .

so many people have

been

SO

cannot that I believe we simply initiatives in which individuals and

organisations merely posture for peace and accusations and counteraccusations form the basis of non - productive and hostile dialogue . From my own point of view , present if the leaderships

it would serve no purpose for me to be of other organisations invited do not

intend to participate and it is for this reason that I respectfully indicated request that I be informed of those who have positively they will be attending .

Regretfully ,

past

experience

has

shown that

little

can be

achieved

146

individuals if who do not have the authority to speak and make involved decisions on behalf of their respective organisations are important meetings in of this kind . The result is that they invariably express the need to seek mandates which eventually do not materialise .

I would be prepared to involve Inkatha's leadership at the highest level if I could receive some assurance that we will not be wasting our time .

intending sincerity , to be prescriptive and in all I the agenda needs to be one in which the various leaders can get on with the job of devising ways and means of the bloodshed . It would if , be yet futile again ,

Without believe involved

stopping hackneyed

and

divisive

far

characterised

We

all

need to

this

to

tragic

and issue

been able too long .

acknowledge

that

we

this In President

regard ,

desire to

effect

all

effect . crux of

all

have

SO

meeting

knowing

that

the dialectic that those present may

right

tactics

a

rapprochement

and

peace ,

we have

between our

already

signed

What we need to do now -- and -- is your meeting to set

effectively opposition crucial .

I

a

which have regurgitated .

to

pursue

strategies

has be

without supported

sent I am enclosing two letters I have to the UDF , Mr. Archie Gumede , setting out my fervent

of the

want

from the

to rise above God willing ,

hindrance and villification , the by our respective constituencies .

We

recriminations -were to be

be able to walk away

have , we at last , divided us for far able

polemic

convey to the to apartheid

people must

see no profit whatsoever

I

two

organisations .

agreements

to

that

presume this would be the up mechanisms that will

that human decency and democratic black unity prevail and that is

in any

of us

trying to score

political

points . Our differing tactics and strategies are well known and we each have a right to pursue them . What use would be served if participants attempted at which particular

to turn this meeting into yet alignments were emphasised

another forum divisions and

highlighted ?

As

you are no doubt

aware ,

the

hierarchy

of

the

SACC

has ,

for

a

shown precious little Christian charity towards time , Its support for the UDF , COSATU et al myself , Inkatha and KwaZulu . This is something which has hurt me deeply as it is is undisputed . the to suffer who have had children and ordinary men , women support ip the and leadersh on my to of this oppositi consequences

considerable

Inkatha

receives

from the

people .

147

However , meeting

this

if

by the SACC for you

request

to

convene

this

is meant as a signal of their recognition that we all have a right to exist and should bury our differences for the common good , then this too would usher a new era of conciliation and Cooperation

of another

kind which would also

receive

my wholehearted

support .

I have on numerous occasions expressed my total commitment to nonviolent tactics and strategies in the South African struggle for liberation . The totality of Inkatha's tactics and strategies are directed towards bringing about fundamental change through nonpolitical Black violent tactics and strategies . Of all the the country , organisations in Inkatha has the least to gain in gain violent stretch

political out our

organisations across colour

upheavals and we have the most to lose as we hand in friendship to all Black political

and as we seek to establish meaningful barriers in South Africa .

negotiations

H

make these points to underwrite the importance of my response to forthcoming the in Inkatha participation inviting letter your a make meeting . will go anywhere to do anything that could We relationships peaceful achievement of the towards contribution regard We South Africa's Black political organisations . between on the acceptance of a multi - strategy approach as Africa's important to the cause that Black South

Black unity based critically being heroes and

martyrs

served down

have

through the

generations .

It is because I am so deeply concerned about restoring peace to the Pietermaritzburg attending scene , that I have reservations about the proposed meeting .

We

just

dare not

put

our

hand to

that which

will fail in the terrible circumstances which confront people in Pietermaritzburg Area . the Greater When we do something about we order peace , must do it in earnest and we must do it in to succeed . More talking shops will , I believe , merely confirm the diplomatic stalemate which now prevails between the various forces on the ground

While has

there

in the

has

Greater Pietermaritzburg

been

been an

constant

unrelenting When personally . I Pietermaritzburg area , meaningful . February as those

who

leadership

How

can

talk

about

media war against sit

down

to

area .

peace

initiatives ,

Inkatha

talk

about

by every possible

means ?

I need

there me

against

peace

I want to feel that I am doing I regard the proposed meeting on

being serious when those invited to are involved right now in slandering

those to whom I the discussion

and

come to Inkatha

in

the

something the 23rd it and

to be persuaded

are my that

talk about peace in Pietermaritzburg are worthy of and are sincere in their attempts to bring about

peace .

I have talks

raised objections to the way in which Mr. publicly about Inkatha . I have asked the

Paul van Uytrecht Pietermaritzburg

148

Chamber

of

Commerce

to

declare where

it

stands .

Mr.

van

Uytrecht's

very damning remarks published in the New York Times recently either reflects the Chamber's views or it does not reflect its Pietermaritzburg views . I need to know where I stand with the Chamber of Commerce before I can sit down to talk with them and has not others seriously . The President of the Chamber yet responded to my request for clarification of the Chamber's attitude to Mr. van Uytrecht's statement . I enclose a copy of the article in the New York Times to enable you to see for yourself what I am talking

about .

The UDF and COSATU are using every possible opportunity which the Courts our country of offer them to bring absurdly false While accusations against the intentions of Inkatha's leadership . COSATU and UDF are so intent on continuing with their slanderous attacks against Inkatha and my leadership , how can I sit around a are table and talk to them about peace . I need to know that they serious

about

peace

before

I

can

talk to

them .

At this stage of developments , discussions at a meeting such as you are proposing , can only cement the divisions which the politics of violence At such a meeting we could has caused so successfully . I not even get down to discussing the realities of the situation . no purpose

in me

of violence will of one - upmanship

It

is

attending a

meeting

at which the

remain shrouded in political for the sake of the media .

absolutely true to

say that

the

root

rhetoric and

majority

of

causes in games

victims who

die

so hideously in the Greater Pietermaritzburg Area are caught in violently cross - fire between those who are being attacked

the and

those who defend themselves against terribly and the total suffering terribly

are and

institutionalised

life

is

the

end

such attacks . By -standers community disruption of product

of the

violence

that

is

taking hideous

place . Violence in the Greater Pietermaritzburg Area is a indictment against human decency . We owe it to the people peace in the to be serious about our commitment to bring about Pietermaritzburg area . I am just not prepared to sit around playing acclaim .

When I

committee

met

games

in

Archbishop Tutu ,

on November

6th I

pointed

order

to

the Reverend

out

the

need

for

media

Stanley Mogoba and

others

vie with

for

others

Black

leaders to move the ground and to do so in unison . We need to stand shoulder shoulder before the people to condemn what is taking place and

on to to

work among the people where violence is taking place . I suggested that Black leaders come together in a mass meeting in the Greater Durban from Area we could move as whence force a solid into Pietermaritzburg to demonstrate our joint commitment to eradicating violence . We need to stand up and be counted where the people can count us - in front of them . Behind - the - scenes committee meetings will achieve

nothing

in the

circumstances which now prevail .

149

I

have

meetings violence National

repeatedly made

the

point

that

the

UDF

representatives

at

held to consider ways and means of eliminating political in the Natal / KwaZulu area come with no mandate from their Executive , and are structurally hog - tied by the UDF's

constitution . commitments .

They It

is

can not

make no decisions ; make they no can even worth insisting that the UDF'S

leadership national person . attend peace initiative meetings in They too are structurally hog - tied and can make no decisions because they have been given no mandate within which the decisions needed can be made .

I find myself in ever greater agreement with many around me who say Pietermaritzburg violence that peace initiatives directed at the require the participation of political heavy - weights who accept credentials in the exercise . I am just not any longer go to meetings at which the UDF is represented by groups or from race nobodies by people who never experience first Own violence at hand in their communities . The Pietermaritzburg violence is violence in a Black - on - Black

each other's prepared to

confrontation . It is Blacks who are being slaughtered is Blacks who must do something about the hideous state

there . It of affairs

there .

is

This

not

a

racist

statement .

reality that just as the about their own poverty , something about must violence circumstances .

It

is

simply a

reflection

poorest of the poor have to do and just as the most oppressed

of the

something have to do

the recipients of political oppression themselves , their about also themselves do something hideous

in Pietermaritzburg will only be established by the perpetrate are violence and who subjected to it . initiative must be a grass roots movement . Political

Peace who

people Peace leaders

get capable of producing this grass root movement need urgently to together . There is no point in leaders getting together in venues where those who

My

advice

to

cannot

lead

churchmen who

on the ground hold

sway .

earnestly seek peace for

the

Greater

Pietermaritzburg Area is for them to do a lot of homework and a lot avoid high to and at all costs behind - the - scenes lobbying of profile attempts to make the futile look feasible . I am not only give to prepared Inkatha directives to drop all aggressive but also onslaughts against others I am prepared to ensure Inkatha's work for

a

leadership truce .

on the ground I

can do

in Pietermaritzburg

so because

Inkatha

is

a

really

do

disciplined

organisation where leadership does lead and I can also be sure that instructions from Inkatha's top leadership will be taken seriously because Inkatha is not on the attack and is not responsible for the violence that takes place .

150

How many other national leaders are in this position ? They either of want violence to continue or they are quite incapable influencing events on the ground because they do not lead a

that It is tragically true disciplined organisation . revolutionaries who call for the emergence of a so - called people's war

and for

the

spreading

of violence ,

fan

the

flames

of

violence They more the

without being able to control its direction or development . some ride kind of wild horse which they can only spur on to activity face frantic but which they cannot control . I realities which these We cannot talk about whole situation in hopeless

of

revolutionaries produce

in our

midst .

situation .

who

Those

kind

the Pietermaritzburg violence if we clothe the and posture as do -gooders in a unrealism

interested

are

initiatives

in the

in

convening

Pietermaritzburg

area

meetings must

not

about

peace

allow themselves

to be drawn into fiddling while Pietermaritzburg burns . There is a serious job of work to be done by serious leaders . These leaders should be got together but they will only be got together by a lot of hard background work .

It

is

therefore with great

regret

that

I

find

myself

unable

to

accept your invitation to be present at the proposed meeting on the 23rd February . Perhaps this meeting should take place to consider the points I have made in this short letter to you . I will respond positively and immediately to any request to act where action could lead to the cessation of hostilities in Pietermaritzburg . is It perhaps because Inkatha has the most to gain by the restoration of peace that key leaders in the UDF and COSATU must continue to toe the line of the External Mission of the ANC which is to eradicate Inkatha as one of their highest priorities . The ANC's input into UDF and COSATU politics and into the reality that simply must be faced . above were clarified before such a entirely different matter , as acceptable

framework

for

such a

Pietermaritzburg violence is a If the issues I have stated

meeting is scheduled , that is us it would present with

an an

meeting .

Yours sincerely , G.

MANGOSUTHU PRESIDENT

OF

BUTHELEZI

INKATHA

CHIEF MINISTER OF KWAZULU

Mr.

Speaker ,

Honourable

Members ,

I

only wrote

this

letter

after

of My own sources giving very considerable thought to the matter . Boesak Dr. that told and I had been information reliable are Pietermaritzburg the end not yet time to was it thought that Those who wanted to drive Inkatha right out of the area violence . had not wanted

yet succeeded and there were violence to continue until a

had been won

in the

area .

many in the UDF and COSATU who Inkatha final victory against

151

This reluctance to actually do something about the Pietermaritzburg number violence was evident on a of levels . Mr. Speaker , Members , Archbishop Tutu , Honourable I had a meeting with Archbishop

Hurley ,

the

President

elect

of

the Methodist

Church ,

the

Reverend Stanley Mogoba , the president of the Congregational Church the Reverend Ron Steele and the President of the Presbyterian Church in South Africa - in Durban on 6 November . I came to this meeting in response to an initiative which Archbishop Tutu had was he announced going to make to bring an end to violence in Pietermaritzburg . giving the

At

this

I went to this

matter

meeting ,

a

great

Mr.

deal

of

meeting

reluctantly ,

Honourable Members ,

Speaker ,

again after

thought .

I

presented

the

following Memorandum :

MEMORANDUM BY MANGOSUTHU G. BUTHELEZI , PRESIDENT OF AND CHIEF MINISTER OF KWAZULU FOR DISCUSSION AT

The Most

Revd Dr

A MEETING

IN DURBAN ON

DM Tutu

The Most Revd Dr D The Rev S Mogoba

Hurley

6

NOVEMBER

1987 WITH :

Archbishop of Cape Town Archbishop of Durban President - Elect , The Methodist

OMI

Church of Southern

The Rev P J Montgomery The Rev R L Steel - Chairman Dr OD Dhlomo Mr

RI

INKATHA

Africa

Moderator Congregation Church Congregation Church and Secretary - General Inkatha KwaZulu Minister Participant in

Arenstein 1

of Education Reconciliation

Committee Vulindlela

Mr V Ndlovu MLA Mr V V Mvelase

Mr

Musa

Keith

Pietermaritzburg

KwaZulu Government Representative in Pietermaritzburg - Inkatha National Chairman

Zondi

Youth Brigade

Gentlemen ,

we

are

today

meeting

as a group who

could

make

a

region contribution to the emergence not only in this significant Africa , a of South of but also in the whole Africa South of towards peace . If this were not the I case , movement powerful sit around I can no longer have bothered to come . not would ending talking about tables who those are not violence with effectively dying . committed to doing so . Black - onPeople are Black brutality

is

there

for

everybody to

see .

I

am just

not

any

longer interested in adding to the credibility of those who posture useless for peace to gain limelight acclain but who are frail and when it

comes

to the actual

doing of things .

Everyone in this room knows the extent to which it is being stated that of KwaZulu I as the President of Inkatha and Chief Minister have on formed impis which I send missions of death and intimidation to bolster

my own

Party political

position .

Enough

is

152

I am either part of the problem enough . or part of the solution . You , gentlemen , must decide this for yourselves but I need now to know how you think and where you stand so that I know how to deal with you today .

I did not ask for this meeting . It is your meeting . I have always said that I will speak to the devil himself if it is for the good of South Africa . I have always attempted to turn every possible stone over under which there might be some factor of peace . Of all Black leaders the the in the country I have perhaps most been consistent commitment to employ in my non -violent tactics and strategies in our struggle for liberation . climate in which the politics of negotiation South Africans during the process of It is because I am thus committed , even unto death ,

that

I

It

have

gathered

is because

I

am

rejected

a

bringing and will

I seek to can begin

establish a reconciling

about radical change . remain thus committed

by some .

massive

following behind

me

in

my

commitment that I have to be declared by the ANC as its main enemy . It is because Inkatha is a powerful force on the ground that the ANC , the regions UDF and COSATU seek to establish no - go areas in where I am powerful . this reality .

Gentlemen ,

its very From inception , tha Inka out of everything

let

us

cut

the

cackle

United Democratic could possibly do .

the it

and

Front From

look

at

endorsed its

very

inception the Congress of South African Trade Unions also did this . You , Archbishop Tutu , have given your patronage to the UDF . You are a patron of an organisation which has declared war on Inkatha . this In region of South Africa we have again and again shown the extent to which the UDF is quite incapable of contributing towards peace initiatives . We have with us today Mr. Rowley Arenstein who has personally been involved as a non - Inkatha member attempt in h blis r mpt ve tha esta e afte atte to an Inka / UDF peac initiati . We also

have

with

Keith

us Mr.

Zondi ,

the

National

Chairman

of

in Youth Brigade who has been involved with him and who a his own right has sought peace . Nothing positive ever said in this series of ongoing meetings between Inkatha and UDF leaders in again region has ever been backed by the UDF as such . Time and

Inkatha's

initiatives have

Professor

petered

out .

H W van der Merwe

to do whatever he

could do

to

came

from the

Town

University of Cape

further dialogue

about

peace

this

in

region . Again and again he found Inkatha quite capable of making and immediate decisions to support positive suggestions and time time again he found that it was the United Democratic Front which hummed

and

hawed and

dragged

its

feet .

lower - rung These meetings the on

meetings question

Archbishop

has been achieved by discussions

Tutu ,

have been backed up higher by of violence in this region .

level What ,

such as we

are

153

having

today ?

Meaningful

Are

peace

we

just

initiatives

not

fiddling

cannot

burning . while Rome is be achieved by jetting in and

jetting out and by expressing lofty sentiments . Gentlemen , people are dying brutal deaths . A whole new generation of young people is being brutalised . History will see that this new and hideous Black - on - Black brutalisation rides on the back of the brutality of apartheid . noble

There is a desperate need now really to can only be achieved through noble means .

ends

establish that

You , Archbishop Hurley , have met with me on a number of occasions You know that Paddy Kearney has with and without Archbishop Tutu . of attempts the a number of our attempts and in involved been UDF . others to work towards reconciliation between Inkatha and the as things such the kind of climate created by in now talk We and displayed this week in KwaMakuta denigrating Inkatha placards let I again say necklacing ' of Inkatha members . calling for the Where is us cut the cackle and talk about the realities we face . these of the Church's bold and continuous condemnation Catholic the that fact Let us face kind goadings towards violence . of Archbishop Tutu is a patron of the UDF , backs the UDF and that you , Diakonia as over such organisations preside Hurley , Archbishop You are both involved in which has a deep - rooted UDF orientation . tacit

Party politics and you lend to the UDF considerable support from high places in the Church .

Reverend corridors

now for quite.some Mogoba , you have time of ecumenical power in the South African

Churches . You are very well entered the political arena ,

and overt

walked Council

the of

aware of the fact that the SACC has that it makes political statements ,

that by association and pronouncement it backs the ANC and the UDF , the same ANC and the same UDF which here in this region refuse to participate high in any real peace initiatives . The SACC gives office Allan

to

people

like

Dr.

Beyers

Naude ,

who are in one way or Boesak leaders or UDF lobbyists . Again ,

the

I

cackle

and

talk

simply do not

about

believe

question of violence not justified . If justified , oppose it

Archbishop

Tutu and

activists , another UDF for the sake of God let us

Dr. UDF cut

realities .

that

clerics

can

sit

on

the

fence

on

the

in this country . It is either justified or it is justified , further it . If it is not boldly and effectively and don't hide behind

carefully worded and carefully timed theological rejections of it . Don't moralise about it . I have very repeatedly said that Inkatha has never country .

considered itself to be the only liberation force in the I have repeatedly said that no single Black organisation

can win the

day . I yearn for the day when leaders like Dr. Nelson Mandela and Mr Zeph Mothopeng and others will be released from jail to pursue whatever role he wants to pursue in South Africa . I yearn for the day when Black democracy will be unshackled and that every leader will have equal opportunity to compete with or to join any with other leader . I am a democrat and the people have a sovereign choice .

right to

form . organisations

and

to back

leaders

of

their

154

have I banning

frequently the

options .

condemned the

ANC and driving

I

have always

for South African Government limiting its underground and for successive South African Governments

it

held

and apartheid finally accountable for violence in South Africa . I have always pleaded for the acceptance of a multi - strategy approach precisely because no one organisation will ever be able to control totality the the struggle . of That can only be attempted by developing the kind characterised the themselves the

of brutal dictatorial philosophy which has Exile . ANC's Mission in They arrogate position being of South Africa's They demand total say in the struggle

representative . liberation . Their primary struggle and turn of a

commitment

is

a

commitment

to the

in recent years , that commitment has taken the commitment to develop what they themselves

long unto only for armed

hideous call a

people's war . on the head . Town

It is they who liken me to a snake which must be hit It is they who have called for the murder of Black Councillors anybody and else stigmatise they as a

collaborator . It is they who put me control , me they will never control therefore want me dead . Gentlemen , at these realities .

in this category . They cannot me and they know this . They let us cut the cackle and look

In this historic time , critical to the very future of our country , it is cleric after cleric who gives sanctity to the view that the South

African

off with such in

Government cannot be reformed . starts The attacks saying that apartheid cannot be reformed and is extended documents as the Kairos document to saying that South

Africa cannot sanctity to

be reformed . It is cleric after cleric who has given political violence . Whether they do so in the disguised form of arguing that violence is now totally inevitable as a choice in bringing about meaningful change , they or whether actually call for revolutionary violence , is irrelevant . They give violence sanctity by either lamenting its inevitability just war , or by holding the hand that throws the bomb now .

it is utterly I argue boldly as a Christian that popularise the view that real reform cannot take place

in

wrong and

a

to that

non -violent tactics and strategies and democratic opposition to dying win the day . now apartheid cannot Inkatha members are because we really do believe this violent tactics and strategies

and we act for the

out our belief in whole world to

nonsee .

say Gentlemen let us again cut the cackle and let me just bluntly bringing that we are both committed to non - violence as a means of about real change and that we are prepared to die in defence of that commitment . We are not lily - livered moralists who posture of peace . We will not be intimidated out our stances

for and

commitments .

I would not

be here today

if

I

did not

believe

that

the

love

has for us could draw us together in a united commitment to other on the ground for peace . with each We are all very people , with diaries crammed with commitments . to re - shuffle my commitments and to create the

Christ work busy

I am quite prepared space for definite

155

If we are going to act together , then we must do so boldly action . biggest the Rand I could call for publicly as a team for peace . seen . that this region of South Africa has ever meeting I mass boldly stand all could platform on which we the create E could We could to enunciate a joint ongoing drive for peace . together put together teams to work in every and any area where there is the I come to this meeting prepared to make these threat of violence . by up and I am quite capable of backing them decisions of kind appropriate

action .

Gentlemen , are you here as emissaries or as mediators ? Or are you here in your own right because you yourselves have a deep - felt bring about to commitment this peace in region ? With whose : authority have you come here ? I am not saying you could only come if you did come with the authority of one or another organisation Church . or Himself . I

You may certainly

today's discussion we statement

afterwards

have hope

come the

here on the latter is the

authority of case and that

can actually make about

decisions and issue a we have all agreed now to do .

what

God in

joint

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , in this Memorandum I made firm - proposals Archbishop for joint action between myself , Tutu and others to lead an initiative for peace that could actually have achieved peace . Throughout the meeting , Archbishop Tutu avoided any discussion of the proposal I had made shoulder on a platform for all the world

that we stand to see and to

shoulder to gather the

biggest peace rally that had ever been seen in this region , us , then use the momentum for peace that this would give Greater Pietermaritzburg

and to in the

Area .

E

I

have

shunned

been

always

the UDF both in this UDF's that is the because they would be the the

scrutiny of same time .

as

some

kind

country and abroad . leadership dare not shown

know this

of the and

pariah by

stand

They could not

their side and my side of things being presented at I am not privy to Archbishop Tutu's inner thoughts

frequently share platforms with abroad . He did , however , tell Patron

South African

matter The truth of the me with share a platform

up politically .

I do not know why he avoided the and however , to be a patron of the known

as

of

that

UDF . this

suggestion UDF and he

I

made . Dr. and

is , He Boesak

each other both in this country and me on that day that he had resigned

I then suggested should be

that

the

public

does

not

published .

Archbishop

Tutu's inner thoughts are perhaps reflected what in subsequently transpired . At this meeting he produced a joint statement which he himself had authored . I read the statement and declared my willingness to put my signature to it . however , He , said that he must first refer the statement to the UDF for approval and acceptance . he was making Speaker , Honourable Members , Mr. this killed being move at a time at which people were actually no with came daily . He came with no backing from the UDF . He

156

approval

from

which was

its

then put

All

leadership . into

some

kind

he

of

did was produce

a

document

UDF pipe - line .

When I saw what he was doing , I feared the worst and it was only a full month later that the Reverend Mogoba informed me that the UDF had approved an amended version of the document . He re - read it out to me over the telephone , and I repeated that I had no objection to That , Mr. Speaker , repeating our endorsement of it . Honourable Members , is yet So very another indication that the UDF is not concerned about Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg say

that

doomed

the

there

in

the deaths that were Area . Needless

taking

place

in the

Greater

say to people in the Area went on killing each other and needless to Tutu was peace initiative announced by Archbishop Durban

on

November

6th .

Archbishop is Tutu that about the role I must here and now register my protest in South Africa . playing Tutu that the State President has seen fit to challenge Archbishop t thinks Presiden State the that proof further It is yet publicly . give he can control Black politics and intervene directly to that If there is Black politics the direction that he wants it to take . of in what Archbishop Tutu is doing in the sphere wrong anything I

am

deeply

concerned

politics , it is the Black people of South Africa who are capable of to or in anger to Archbishop Tutu in kindness and love , speaking unshackled . Black democracy must be him to change his ways . get an only that responsibility assume the cannot politics White of degree any democracy could discharge with Black unshackled will do nobody any good to have a State / Church It effectiveness . circumstances like people which in emerge in confrontation Archbishop

Tutu

cannot

be

politically by ordinary Black

held accountable

for

what

they

do

South Africans .

Black The malady of Black politics revolving around self - appointed spokesmen and self - acclaimed leaders for the real victims of Prior apartheid runs very deep and emerges in surprising places . to this meeting in Durban and as early as August , Bishop Manas Buthelezi told me that he had met Mr. Oliver Tambo in Harare at the World Council of Churches consultation , and that had requested him to pass on his warm greetings that it attack

Mr. Oliver Tambo to me and to add

has never been the policy of the External Mission of ANC me . At the meeting with the Clergy on 6 November ,

mentioned

this

fact

and the Reverend

Stanley Mogoba

confirmed

to I

that

he had been present in Harare when Bishop Manas Buthelezi was asked by Mr. Tambo to convey this message to me . I find it strange that Bishop Manas Buthelezi can undertake to deliver such a message to me and actually deliver the message while he remains the President of the South African Council of Churches which mounts such vicious ANC - type propaganda against me . I then sent Bishop Buthelezi piles of anti - Inkatha and anti - Buthelezi pronouncements , obtained through transcripts

from the

BBC ,

and

I have

never heard

from

him again .

157

It is time , African to leadership have no

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , for every Black South stand up and be counted . It is time for celebrity to be eradicated and for self - acclaimed spokesmen who constituencies at all to be told to shut up . tragedy The

is a

these real

that very

celebrity leaders and self - acclaimed spokesmen are in sense the products of apartheid . is It apartheid

society which to act them

shackles Black democracy which makes the with impunity that they do

it possible act . They

for are

accountable to nobody because the masses are shackled by apartheid . They take the gap and romp around making ex cathedra statements and clerics make absolutist political statements as they choose sides in

internecine

Black - on - Black

confrontation .

drawing malady I am attention to , keeps spreading and spreading until it permeates the whole world to the detriment of the struggle here at home . When the United States and European

This

countries

adopted economic sanction measures to exert influence on Pretoria , they tried to balance this negative punitive action with stepped up humanitarian aid to the victims of apartheid . Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , all of us in this House are blacklisted as unworthy of handling this foreign aid to the victims of apartheid . In the European Parliament it was decided the that millions the EEC would contribute to humanitarian aid in South Africa would

only be

spent

if the

following

conditions

no support in whatever form or through whatever South African Government or Administration ;

no

contributions

could be

expected

1

no contribution

to to

to

programmes which the cover

under

programmes

or

is

the

UDF leadership

and

their

met :

channel to the

apartheid

regime

programmes ;

its

organisations

or controlled by homeland governments states .

It

are

initiated ,

or so - called

allied

clerics

run

independent

working

to

support the listing of unworthy

ANC Mission in Exile who are responsible for the blackregarded the is as KwaZulu Government because it transmitting of humanitarian aid to the victims of

apartheid . In the 1986 budget of the million was put aside for humanitarian apartheid . By the end of transmitted already been

EEC , something like aid for the victims

10 of

10 million had cent per was channelled through churches ; 43 per cent through the Kagiso Trust and 8 per cent to trade unions . Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , you will know what part of these millions have found their way the poorest

The

of the

exclusion

dispensing

of

poor

in KwaZulu .

KwaZulu

the

humanitarian

effect been practical KwaZulu from receiving

1986 , 89 per cent of this to South Africa . 49

aid

Government provided

the exclusion any help .

by

of the

from the

participating EEC

victims

of

has

in

apartheid

in all in

158

The

Kagiso

Trust was specifically

formed to receive

millions

in

support from the EEC . The Kagiso Trust is dominated by the Beyers Naudes , the Allan Boesaks and the Archbishop Tutus of this world . It is a UDF front designed and manipulated to make sure that the European UDF receive the lion's share of this money . When asked questions are in the European Parliament about what this in the end was spent on , money actually members are told that disclosures cannot be made because that would be detrimental to the victims of apartheid receiving help . Mr. Speaker , millions are voted spent

for humanitarian aid by the UDF in pursuit

travesty of humanitarian

This

story

foreign

being aims .

secretly What a

justice .

itself again

repeats

governments

in Europe which end up of its Party political

and donor

again as

and

agencies

far

in Western

as

aid

from

and

North

Europe

America are concerned . Members , state very Government's South

I must here also , Mr. Speaker , Honourable African clearly that I reject the South newly - acquired powers to cut off humanitarian aid to

Africa whenever

it

thinks

that

further the politics of violence . State President , the his Cabinet

this

money

is

being

Again , I say , Mr. colleagues and the

spent

to

Speaker , that South African

Government are totally unfit to assume the responsibilities they exercising by prohibit the Black majority of this country from keeping Black democracy shackled . There would be no need for controlling Black the flow of funds for humanitarian aid if democracy was unshackled and Black leaders were accountable to the people themselves for what they were doing with the millions that they

receive .

Mr ,

Speaker ,

Honourable

discussing this deep When leaders are not

Members ,

now

you

can

see

why

I

am

malady in South Africa's Black body politic . elected , when they have no real grass root

constituenci

, when they cannot be held responsible by the masses es for what they are doing , when they do not have to get a mandate to before they act , act and when they decide in secret committees to act in secret ways , hideous politics must result . There must be a developing hunger for power which millions spent in secret ways makes possible . spreading malady democratical ly .

It is a self - perpetuating malady and will for as long as Black South Africa remains

remain a shackled

The

malady not only spreads in this country but it also spreads into the whole of Africa , West Europe and North America the world in fact . Like the carriers of so many diseases , the carriers of Black South Africa's political maladies , show no outward signs of

the who

malady itself . In due course the maladies will destroy those carry them . In the end the will of the people has a way of

asserting itself , but until that happens and ordinary Blacks are in leaders , a position to censure self - appointed and celebrity they act for will with a great deal of impunity and are acclaim what they do .

159

Mr.

Speaker ,

Honourable Members ,

you will

remember that

during the

last session of the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly I undertook a Minister , to France at the invitation of the French Prime Jacques

Chirac where

I

met

trip Mr. In

the who's who of French politics . Ambassador , here in Ulundi . In September the last year I met a delegation from the Austrian People's Party , British Ambassador , the Swiss Ambassador again , the American Consul General in Durban , the Consul in Durban of the Federal Republic of June

I

met

with the

Swiss

Germany and the German Ambassador . In October , I met the Canadian Ambassador Ambassador . and in December the Austrian January In this year I met the Ambassador to the United States , in February I met Parliamentarians from Portugal , a British Member of Parliament , then and again another in February I met group of British Parliamentarians , as well as German Members of Parliament and the Italian Ambassador .

In to addition these meetings with Ambassadors Members and of Parliament from foreign governments , I undertook a trip to Italy Switzerland and Germany in August and September last year , where I met the Foreign Ministers of these countries . In Germany I also had a meeting with the Chancellor , Dr. Helmut Kohl , and a meeting was scheduled between myself and the Prime Minister of Bavaria , Dr. who was , F.J. however , Strauss away in China . Speaker , Mr. Honourable Members , I have had extensive discussions with foreign governments in both face to face meetings with Heads of State and Cabinet Ministers visiting Members

in Western Europe and of Parliament and

North America , and through resident Ambassadors and

Consuls .

In all these meetings and contacts I have ample opportunity to gather what the impressions of West German and West European and North American Governments are concerning this country . Again and again I find myself having to counter the distortions which selfproclaimed Black political leaders and celebrity leaders make of the South African situation . They paint pictures of a South Africa in which Inkatha is not legitimised because it does not participate in what these political charlatans and imposters are attempting to do . When you oppose the tactics and strategies they are actively pursuing , struggle

you for

are

labelled

a

traitor to the

Black

South

African

liberation .

Everywhere I go in North America and Western Europe , I find that the influence of the ANC Mission in Exile working in tandem with local Communist Parties sow lies and distortions about the South African

situation .

there is no commitment Speaker ,

Members

levels when ANC Mission

They paint pictures

of

a South Africa

hope for democratic opposition to to violence in Black - on - Black will

see the

I tell them that Mr. in Exile said in West

would be good

enough for

extent

to which they sink

Francis Meli , Germany , that

my necklacing .

in which

justify their hideous confrontations . Mr. to

low

a spokesman for the only a tractor tyre

160

Mr. in

Speaker , Honourable Members , Mrs. Coretta Scott King invited January this year to participate in a national symposium on

me "A

Policy Towards South Africa " to be held in honour of Dr. new Martin Luther King . The symposium was intended to focus on a policy US which could effectively utilise creative non - violence methods to , as she put it , " address a potential tragedy of immense proportions . " The symposium was to be held at the Martin Luther King Centre for Non - violent Social Change , Jr. Inc. in Atlanta , She was also inviting Georgia . a cross section of South African which Black political opinion and international figures , would myself both include and Mr. Oliver Tambo . I accepted the invitation and Mrs. Scott King accepted my nomination of the Honourable Ministers ,

Dr.

O.D.

Dhlomo

and

Dr.

F.T.

Mdlalose ,

attend the Conference and to speak on my behalf . Right at the moment , Mrs. Scott King informed me that the Symposium had because she could not get all the parties together cancelled she wanted

to get

who

front

Those

Robinson

to

last been that

together .

for the

of Transafrica ,

ANC Mission

in

in Washington ,

any sharing of platforms between Inkatha of ANC . They play us down as having no

Exile

such

ensure that

as

Randall

they

sabotage

and the External Mission political consequence in

South Africa because they argue last week , Only Mr. Speaker ,

that we serve Pretoria's interests . Honourable Members , we were again faced with attempts to keep us ostracised in the international community . I had received an invitation from General Olesegun to Obasanjo present my views at a Policy . Board meeting of the 22nd InterAction Council to be held in Harare between the 20 and March . As Members will understand , Mr. Speaker , I could not personally be there because it clashed with my responsibilities in Assembly of this year's KwaZulu Legislative the opening phase session . I again nominated the Honourable Dr. O.D. Dhlomo and the Honourable Dr. F.T. Mdlalose to attend the meeting on my behalf and days to of present my views to the InterAction Board . A matter were due to depart , before they the Zimbabwean Trade Mission in Johannesburg informed Dr. It was only after further

Dhlomo that they had been refused visas . representations were made that visas were

granted to them . This was strange because on two occasions before this , I had sent my two colleagues to Zimbabwe after independence . first On both those occasions they were well received and on the occasion they were not only hosted by the Vice - President His Excellency Mr. Simon Muzenda , but His Robert Mugabe actually briefed them .

Excellency the President Dr. They met the Vice - President

again on the

there .

second

occasion

they were

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , at the meeting itself Sir Shidrath scathing made a Ramphal , Secretary - General of the Commonwealth , attack on us and Inkatha during a plenary session knowing that my Dr. colleagues Dr. the Honourable Dhlomo and the Honourable Mdlalose would not be given the opportunity to reply to him at a plenary session .

161

At

plenary

this

session

Sir

Shridath

Ramphal

made

idiotic

accusations about Inkatha because it had not been battered together organisations against which with the South African the 17 Government has recently taken action . Sir Shridath may hold the prestigious position of he loses Our respect carrying for the

Secretary - General of the Commonwealth , but vendetta been in carrying on the he has

on against me . In this vendetta he acts of the ANC . External Mission I spurn

as a the

front insult

man of

implying that we in Inkatha are collaborators with Pretoria made by Sir Shridath with the contempt that it deserves . I have been in politics

in this

I

need the

do not

how to conduct

country for the greater Ramphals

the

of this world

struggle

for the

part to

of my adult

tell me

and

life ,

and

my movement

liberation of my people .

As far as I am concerned , he can go and jump into the Indian Ocean . It is arrogant for anyone who has not lived in this country to try It is , to anoint Black leaders on behalf of Black South Africans . in fact , a very racist tendency detectable in some people . They do not regard Black South Africans as capable of deciding the who's who of our

country's

Black

leadership .

is , oppressed we are and however shackled Black democracy this country who must find ways means Blacks in and of While we supporting political activity that they want to support .

However it is

are shackled democratically , it is we here in this country on the ground who have to do what can be done . I find it a grave insult to the integrity of Black South Africans that all and sundry move in to act as king - makers because Black democracy has been shackled They by apartheid . The Ramphals of this world totally disgust me . add their particular brand of prescription to the brand of prescription which apartheid uses . I often wonder whether the world would ever have heard of people like Sir Shridath Ramphal he had to fight for political existence in the circumstances which I

have achieved

if in

political prominence .

Speaker , Members , Mr. Honourable I have spoken bluntly to Mr. Oliver Tambo . I have told him enough is enough and I now tell Sir Shridath Ramphal and anybody else who can sit in the luxury of foreign Black eminence and attempt to dictate the who's who of South Africa's

leadership to

take a

run and

jump at

themselves .

I SO pity this eminent spokesman of the Commonwealth for being egocentric that he imagines that he can tell us who Black are leaders and who are not . What contemptible arrogance ! Our South African problems will be resolved in South Africa by South Africans of all race groups who will act with whatever leaders they choose to act . I

appeal

reason .

for

the

unshackling

I will never

do

a

of Black

democracy precisely

deal with the

Pretoria

backs of any section of the Black population , the backs of any Black leaders to do so .

regime

nor will

I

for

this

behind the act

behind

162

When the South African Government took such harsh action against 17 recently , organisations Inkatha's interests were battered in a terrible way . We in Inkatha are only as free as the rest of Black South Africa . The shackling of one organisation is the shackling of Black democracy which affects action it took , the South Inkatha in any way to be

taking

the

African Government made it impossible involved in whatever reform process

all organisations .

In

for the

State President may get under way . I have already made the release Mandela , of Dr. Nelson Mr. Zeph Mothopeng and other political my prisoners and absolute precondition for involvement in meaningful negotiations at the national level about the constitutional future of South Africa . The more the State President acts against Black organisations , the more he makes it impossible

for me to

talk with the South African

Government .

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , when I travel abroad meet to Western Heads of State or their Cabinet colleagues , or when I meet Ambassadors and Consular staff South in Africa , I am often confronted with discussions or asked questions relating what to were would be proposals if the Indaba KwaZulu / Natal rejected by the South African Government . The context of these discussions and the questions that are asked clearly shows the extent to which some of the things I have been doing are regarded

options

as all that I could ever do . It is as though there is a proneness in the world at large to believe revolutionary propaganda that nonviolent options have run out in South Africa .

Speaker , Mr. take months

Honourable or

even

Members , political realities quite often years to surface in the media and in the

perceptions of foreign observers of the South African scene . Quite often the questions I am asked by foreigners show the extent to which flexibility in the South African situation has increased the extent to which much of what the ANC's Mission in Exile concentrating

on has

When it comes Mocambique , or

to

already been

their national

outmoded

and

interests

and is

outdated .

neither the

USSR

nor

Zimbabwe will author internal and foreign policy to Exile . suit previous commitments made to the ANC Mission in The change and of are sweeping across the Soviet Union all winds of indications are that it does not want to be embroiled in a losing ANC war own

in

Southern

national

excursions

into

Africa .

interests South

Mocambique had to act

to bar the

Africa

The ANC's Mission in Exile , on the ground in Africa and

ANC

from

from Mocambican

in

terms

conducting

of

its

military

territory .

however , has commitments to its people own it is trapped in its propaganda .

It will be a miracle if it moves with the times and begins shifting emphasis to enable it to participate in the politics of negotiation which will win the day . Whatever shifts it may attempt to make will have internal repercussions which will really shake the whole organisation . I will not put Inkatha in the position in which its vibrant flexibility is dampened and I will not lead Inkatha into a

163

cul - de - sac where would and to

happen sum up

it

has

nowhere to

turn

to .

This is

exactly

what

if I was not man enough to exercise my own leadership for myself the mandates the people give me .

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , had I followed the advice of those they very clever fellows out there in the outside world who think know far better than we in this country know , I would have been a political nobody have the sure

today . I have the courage of my convictions and I knowledge that millions of Black South Africans

support what I am doing because I am doing what they want For Sir Shridath Ramphal or anybody else to come now to what what

I I

ought to ought

be doing for the be to doing to

me to tell

sake of the struggle or to is save hide , my Own

do . me

tell me totally

intolerable .

Speaker , Mr. whatever can

Members , Honourable I will have to be voice done to bring the of

continue doing sanity to the

international debate on the apartheid issue . It is because I have taken steps to save the West from its own madness in its attempts to beat Pretoria only to batter Black South Africa , that the ANC's in Mission Exile has become ever - increasingly venomous about the role that I concerned , Ramphal .

play . they

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , as far as I am can jump in the Indian Ocean with Sir Shridath

They are not

here

on

the ground with me to be guided

by

Black South Africans as I am guided . They have to read newspapers and to speak to self - appointed , dial - a - quote spokesmen to attempt to find out what is going on . I will continue to tell the world what

Last

is

going

year

I

on .

had

a

address

to

communication

to

all

Heads

of

Non-

I could not Aligned States and to Heads of Commonwealth countries . community international the idly as these members of stand by communic In . Africa ating South with dealings their in blundered fact in are governme foreign that aware nts I was very them , with at appalled genuinel are who people y minded serious by dominated all not are They what apartheid is doing to Black South Africans . them addressed therefore I the of this world . Ramphals like seriously and spelt this country . in

The

communication

Commonwealth

out

I

some

sent

countries was

of the

Foreign as

realities

Ministers

follows :

that

of

have to

face

Non -Aligned

and

we

164

MEMORANDUM

ADDRESSED STATES

" A CONTINUING

ΤΟ

FOREIGN

AND

NON - ALIGNED

INTERNATIONAL

OF NEGOTIATION

By Mangosuthu

OF

MINISTERS

INPUT

COMMONWEALTH

STATES

IN THE

POLITICS

IN SOUTH AFRICA "

G.

Buthelezi

Chief Minister of KwaZulu , President of Inkatha Chairman , The South African Black Alliance AUGUST

There

is

a

very significant

and

1987

overlap of

membership

between

the

Commonwealth and the Non - aligned States of Africa . Dual membership both Non - aligned States and implies dual responsibility and both in Commonwealth the States have same international interests At helping to rectify that which is so very wrong in South Africa . this point in our history , it is the Commonwealth countries which have taken a direct line of action with regard to South Africa , I therefore call to mind the Commonwealth Conference in Nassau October

1985

as

I

address

Commonwealth and

Non - aligned

and in

countries .

At the historic Nassau Commonwealth Conference Heads of State took a decision to establish an Eminent Persons Group to negotiate and to mediate in the South African situation . This decision reverberated around the world . The failure of the South African history . Government to respond to this historic decision is now This

failure

in

its

own way

contributed

towards

the

increased

solidarity with which the international community has more recently begun to look at South Africa . We cannot allow initiatives of this magnitude to become milestones of failure in the deteriorating South and Southern African situation . The Commonwealth has a role to play in the eradication of apartheid . Each Commonwealth country has a role to play but Commonwealth countries collectively have different

role

to

The Commonwealth

Few anticipated a

play and

I

Initiative

resounding

address

in

some

thoughts

to

this

subject .

Perspective

success

after the

Nassau decision .

negotiated settlement of South Africa which the whole world regards as the most desirable , will be difficult to achieve and the Nassau decision must be seen as a step along a difficult road . in the world where balances of power exist in violent negotiations are always fraught with difficulties and has happened since the CEPG made its attempt to lot negotiated share with

situation Heads

of

in

South Africa

and I would

States my perceptions

like

Everywhere situations , A dangers .

establish

a

initially to

of South Africa

today .

the first of these perceptions is that there is a fluidity in The South African situation not seen since 1910 , South when modern important It is an was established by the Act of Union . Afcica

165

It is absolutely true that we in South Africa still have a recalcitrant Government which remains deeply committed and to make racism the cornerstone of constitutional development

point

to dwell

on .

while this remains the case , Mr. P.W. Botha as State President will The want only to negotiate a settlement within a racist framework . and Non - aligned countries will only want to negotiate Commonwealth This is the central negotiating logjam . a non - racial settlement .

There

is

problem

however is

that

fluidity around people persist

this

logjam

in describing

but

part

of

fluidity

this

the in

to ideological Party political terms which give power advantages participating the groups in the South African struggle for However , liberation . ideological when one breaks through

terminology to perceive the reality of the South African situation , we should be left with a common perception that there is fluidity and that there is hope for negotiations .

Government

recalcitrance

does

not

mean

that

the

only thing left for destructive

us is to respond with violence which will produce final violent conflagration . The South African recalcitrant in a very has never been before .

will continue to behave in South African Government increasing fluidity and recalcitrance

Government

is

fluid situation . The vast , vast

Racism is vulnerable as it majority of South Africans The that fluidity increases .

such a way this is powerless to stop process seen its recalcitrance must be as

of the

of the weak .

We Must Attack Where

the Enemy

is the Weakest

Mr. P.W. Botha remains the most powerful man in Africa , if power is defined as ability to resist intervention from without and to carry State military aggression against others . The out acts of President's vulnerability does not lie in the military field . He be not He must be where he is most vulnerable . attacked must to the This immediately brings where he is strongest . attacked African es in the South question of tactics and strategi the fore

struggle

for

I

to

want

liberation .

make the point

that

we who

are

involved

in

the

South

African struggle for liberation have become deeply aware that to seek compromises which take us away from the ideal . have

we I

would like to put this statement in perspective . First World members of the Commonwealth nations are deeply aware of the fact need to that their Third World members are daily faced with the make of

compromises . A Head of State who has to have a national state its emergency as relatively feature of a permanent

Administration be made . A economic

compromises democracy . Head of State who cannot

system

or

a

capitalist

That get

economic

compromise either a system

has had to socialist functioning

dynamically , finds himself in a position of having to compromise economically with economic ideals to do what is most desirable his limitations for the sake of progress . within If African Heads

166

of

State have had to make compromises in the government of their countries after they have thrown off the shackles of colonialism , racism and foreign control , how much more do leaders in the South

African

struggle

Restraints

for

liberation

on Options

have to do

in the South African

the

same .

Struggle

for

Liberation

We have to attack Mr. P.W. Botha where he is most vulnerable and we eradicate entirely have to not apartheid but we are free to determine struggle how this should be done . We will not win our ignore we for liberation even for the very foreseeable future if harsh

I

realities .

in

alone

am not

recognising

I situation . African those with statements

that

is fluidity in the South compare and thoughts my to Gleb Mr. by statements made

there

like would lying behind

am I Starushenko who is a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences . What he said is only quoting him as a spokesman of the USSR . not I Moscow . indicative of the re - thinking which is taking place in that indications nevertheless because there are other him quote Southern is prepared to re - think its approach to South and Moscow for

See ,

Africa .

example ,

Goncharov , Deputy the address of Dr. Studies of the USSR Academy of Regional African on Southern

Institute of African conference in Harare

of the to a

Director Sciences Security .

Starushenko read - ' Problems of Struggle I draw from the paper Mr. against Racism , Apartheid and Colonialism in South Africa ' at Soviet - African Conference ' For Peace , Co - operation and Social Progress ' in Moscow in June 1986. In speaking about the basic South situation he says : however , African " The controversial issue , which is the object of acute political struggle not only on the world scene , but in South Africa itself , is that of means and ways achieve to the desired end . " He points out that " This practical aspect of the problem acquires special significance in the light of to the latest developments in South Africa that tend aggravate international actions to

When

you

I am at aligned

clear up the

read this

clear that ripe to

tension to a dangerous

it

is

conflict

statement

later

context

call

for

concerted

of

suggestions

his

it

is

time

is

paper ,

that

the

tactics .

one with him in these sentiments . countries ' Heads of State are at

sentiments . He believes , thinking , that societies

and

situation . "

in the

related to his

re - think strategy and

limit

as he must within evolve within the

scientific absolutism and that become destined to a socialist

Commonwealth and one with him in

Nonthese

the framework of Soviet framework of a kind of

every society in the world is society . Many members of the but , Commonwealth and Non - aligned States would not agree with him role in speaking about the current South African struggle and the

167

of Communist leadership in the ANC , Starushenko says : " Proceeding from the objective laws of social development , the Communists do i not advance at the present stage of social development any other democratic I slogans but general ones . They believe that the restructuring of South African society along socialist lines is a matter of the future and will be possible only after the necessary conditions are ripened . He points here to compromises which have to be made even within exacting thought in Communist theory . He points out that Communists wisely now strive set the stage for a final future goal .

for

an

interim goal

is in fact talk about participating in a fluid situation : This tailor - making the tactics and strategies to meet realities today .

He says the process

of shaping the

revolutionary

to

and of

situation

is far from being complete and he makes the point that there is a " crisis of the upper strata " which precipitates a " crisis of the lower strata . " He points out that in this crisis of the lower

that " .. if revolution does not go ahead , does not set any ; strata , to bound it is new tasks and does not gain appreciable results , a win we cannot agrees with me that He defeat . " a sustain the and that the action of students and struggle revolutionary racism . is insufficient to bring about victory against unemployed

obviously takes sides in the internecine Black - onAfricanist Black conflict in South Africa and he describes the Pan as Forum and other organisations National the AZAPO , Congress ,

Mr.

Starushenko

politic He sees that the Black body being reactionary in nature . as being in a crisis situation and claims that the broad masses of struggle . the Black South African population remain aloof from the of danger He the revolutionary movement in South Africa in sees and his final word on the weakness of the South African stagnation African South Black politic is that its remedy is a body Black of all d solution the that He says : " We are firmly convince affair . internal problems of the liberation movement of the people and their political Parties . "

The Need

for

is

the

sovereign

right

Interim Goals

I do not give Mr. draw from him as

Starushenko any particular political a Soviet recognised analyst simply to

fluidity of the South African for interim positions and

status . define

situation . There is a need I end my drawing from his

I the

to strive paper by

pointing out that he also says the new South African State might be South a unitary system with autonomous components or that the new Africa may , for example , follow the Kenyan or Zimbabwean model . But , he argues , whatever the new South Africa will look like , it gives rise to , as he puts it " concrete issues related to the functioning of such a system [ which ] might become the object of a national

conference ,

its

main

participants

being the Government

the Republic of South Africa and the true representatives of non -White population . " He sees fluidity and in that fluidity sees the need

for negotiation with the South African

Government .

of the he

168

I

in would not have used the same terminology as Mr. Starushenko talking about the realities I face in South Africa but when we break through terminology I see him seeing so many of the things I see . I do not have to share his ideals of a distant future South

Africa . interim

I in fact do South Africa .

not have to share with him his ideals for an But whatever ideals he would strive for in my situation , and whatever ideals I strive for in my situation , we are at one that realities demand imperative recognition that the South African struggle is a phased struggle and that compromises have to be made as we determine tactics and in a position to grapple with realities .

The Need

to

strategies

which

put us

Unshackle Black Democracy

stand I totally committed to the full participation of all Black South Africans in the search for solutions to South Africa's problems ,

and

I

have

long

argued

that

a

prerequisite

negotiated democracy .

settlement in South Africa is the unshackling this sentiment I reflect the gut feeling In

millions .

It

block which Mr.

is

this

P.W.

sentiment which

Botha

cannot

is

ignore .

a

monumental

of of

for a Black many

stumbling

He is powerless

when it

comes to any possibility of restoring South Africa to a classical society apartheid as conceived by earlier National Party Governments . He is just as powerless when it comes to foisting on South Africa a new form of apartheid . The only thing he could do which will stand the and Black backing . over . He will not

test of time must be done with Black consensus are The days of the politics of prescription establish a permanent racist society in South

Africa because Blacks will not permit him to do without Black co - operation and Blacks will not matter .

I

relate

this point

to the need

to

unshackle

so . He cannot co - operate in

Black

do so this

democracy .

It

is hypothetical to talk about a solution to South Africa's problems which Black South Africans would support if the Black body politic remains shackled . Mr. P.W. Botha gives all the indications that he intends crying in the face of a terrible storm during the election campaign . When he now talks about negotiation between White , he talks about negotiation between the South Black and African

Government

and

those Black

leaders who

are

willing

to

discuss their Black group ethnic interests with him . He still does not see the need to unshackle Black democracy . I have pointed out in South Africa and abroad that any Black leader who is party to important negotiations about the future of South Africa must be free to seek a mandate from the people negotiations and must be able to go to that which was negotiated . South Africa and not to the

for a position he adopts in the people to sell to them

South Africa belongs to the people of National Party and the future of South

Africa will be determined by the people .

no in I will be involved democracy is unshackled , Black negotiations with Mr. P.W. Botha about the constitutional future of

Unless

South Africa .

I

must

be

free to

get

a

mandate

to do so

and

unless

169

I

am free to

test the

negotiated

solution against

the wishes

of the

masses , I am not free to negotiate . When it comes to determining the future of South Africa , I believe the masses are entitled to hear

point

counter - point

and

recognise .

I

have

therefore

by

said

all that

political if Dr.

they

leaders

Nelson Mandela ,

Mr.

Zeph Mothopeng and other political prisoners are not free to accept or reject Mr. P.W. Botha's invitation to serve on the National or Council on other negotiating bodies , use my I feel free to democratic right to refuse to do so . Dr. Mandela and others must now be released from jail . I stand for the right of others to differ from others . me and I stand for the right to differ from Unless we are free to differ , we are not free to concur , and if Black South Africa is not free to concur , Black leaders are not free to negotiate

on behalf of the people .

Persons The Commonwealth Eminent Group saw this and in attempt Africa , to find a negotiating position for South recognised

the need on

of the South African

Government

Removal of the military from the townships , providing of freedom assembly and discussion and suspension detention without trial .

(b)

The

(c)

release

The

the part

of

the

for

Nelson

of the

political

ANC and

Entering negotiations

Need

of

Mandela

and

other

they to :

for of

political

and detainees .

unbanning

normal

The

part

(a)

prisoners

On

the

their

and

ANC

and

PAC

and the

permitting

of

Achievement

of

activity .

others :

suspending

International

violence .

Commitment

to

the

Intermediate Goals of The CEPG did not achieve these objectives but in the fluidity the South African situation we will and must achieve them sooner or later . I am committed to them and I make a special appeal to to Commonwealth and Non - aligned Heads of State to remain committed with them and thus continue to find very important common cause I virtually

every Black

South African

political

grouping .

I mentioned the position of Dr. Mandela and others and my and Black South Africa's attitude to them , to note one of the dimensions of the South African fluidity . The South African situation cannot crystallise

There

is

in

until Black

political prisoners

South Africa

now a

total White

are

released .

economic

dependence

on

Blacks and nowhere in the world are economic systems disfunctional political ¿ for systems are and nowhere political systems

170

disfunctional for economic systems . The economic interdependence of There is right Black and White demands political interdependence . now a momentum towards political interdependence which Mr. P.W. gap Botha with all his power can not stem . The very obvious between

South

realities

also

Africa's

economic

contributes

realities

towards

the

and

its

fluidity

political

of

the

South

African situation . The South African Government will now have to do something . It faces its own internal and external imperatives the to do something . The South African Government cannot freeze present situation and the South African Government can only fail development the and fail again in any attempt it makes to thwart towards the political failures will Repeated fluidity

The

interdependence therefore also

of the South African

Developing

Weakness

between Black and adding continue

White . to the

situation .

of the south African

State

President's

Power Base

The by

fluidity the fact

of the South African that apartheid is no

to situation is also contributed longer a White monolithic granite

edifice . The State President is under very considerable pressure from important financiers , industrialists and entrepreneurs to move resolutely towards normalising South Africa as a modern industrial democracy . Leading Africa's commercial , thinkers in South industrial , mining and financial world are right now reorganising their enterprises and laying the foundations they will need in a post Group Areas Africa . There is

Act and post Population Registration Act South a ferment among South African intellectuals and

there is ferment among South African the pressures being exerted on Mr. establishing an open democracy .

theologians which also P.W. Botha to move

adds to towards

These pressures on him have evoked the emergence of far - right counter - pressures , and there is ferment among now a White Party political unprecedented the traditional added to .

supporters

of the

National

Party .

Again ,

fluidity is

The recent White general election showed a very lamentable swing to right , the but even so it is actually inconceivable to think of South Africa being ruled by the extreme to the left of the National Party are Political there is alliance .

right . just as

Political Parties as much in ferment

To the right Parties to the right of the National Party . no consensus between Parties which can lead to a power To the left , the White political scene is characterised

by a break - away element in the National Party joining it . There is with ferment about how best to challenge the Government's power important groups National academic Party very of erstwhile supporters

in

active opposition to

the

National

Party .

In

the

recent White election they threw their weight behind the break - away element from the National Party . These academics are supported by influential businessmen

In it ,

this

ferment

there

within

is a growing

and

the felt

clergymen .

National need

Party

itself and

for the politics

to the

left

of

of negotiation

to

171

get

off

their past electorate ,

ground .

of After eight months very serious KwaZulu / Natal Indaba produced a set of proposals in which Whites radically departed from political thinking . All indications are that the White

the

negotiations , constitutional

the

while swinging to the right to entrust the National Party with the responsibility of leading in bringing about change , likely is to support the Indaba proposals . In a recent survey conducted by Markinor , an independent organisation , it was shown that overall , research indicated very positive attitudes to the Indaba amongst people on this research .

Steps

Against

of all

races .

the South African

enclose a

copy

of a

report

Internal

Government which Weaken

Counter - Productive

Apartheid are

to

Opposition

Black Democratic

I

denial by the international community of the fact that there A is to South counter fluidity South African situation runs in the leaders African I am aware that Black South realities . African armed the about change primarily through bringing to committed wish scepticism to

struggle ,

deepen .

They want

community to be sceptical about any prospects through the politics of negotiation .

the

international change

of non - violent

The South African fluidity is not the kind of fluidity which the thrashing of the South African Government productive . international community should support the Black components keep the situation settlement aiming

makes The which

fluid and which are driving towards a negotiated South at establishing an interim position in

Africa which can be a true base - line for the final shaping of South African society . A way has not yet been found to thrash the South African without

Government without thrashing the victims of apartheid thrashing the poorest of the poor in South Africa .

crippling of the South African Government at the cost of Black democratic forces would be disastrous . That will forces of violence

Powerful

locked

into

Black democratic

a

final

forces are

and The

crippling leave the

race war .

evolving

in the

fluid

South

African situation . They are already powerful enough to thwart the National Party in its objective of establishing a neo -apartheid democratic forces are powerful enough to society . Black ensure that will that

the present prove to be Black

abortive Tricameral constitution of South a failure . They are powerful enough to

leaders will not

democratic heritage enough to ensure reality of politics .

be able

to

sell

the Black

for the proverbial pottage . that no Black quislings could There

is therefore

Africa ensure South African

They are powerful survive in the

fluidity with hope .

The

international community must now service this hope by servicing the real needs of internal Black democratic forces .

by will not be salvaged from the ruins of apartheid Africa South try Unless . coun operating from beyond the borders of the forces those who do so

really do

join

forces with those

inside

the

country

172

who are there

deluding

in the

the world

this brings

of the daily struggle ,

forefront

in

for

their acclaim

of Black

us to the question

The South African Government Violent Onslaughts

eminence

South African situation is violent revolution . of forces

in

fact

recognition

of

and

tactics and strategies .

is Strengthening

The

they will be

its

Ability to

Resist

the becoming fluid for violence against arguments not

The open, succeeding in eradicating apartheid and establishing a true , I have never democracy are very formidable arguments . non - racial non -violent cause of and I espouse the pacifist true been a democratic opposition pragmatic grounds .

I

do not have

to apartheid

to argue the

South African problem .

merits

as

a

of a

non - violent

international

The

on

opposition

transforming

solution

community

is

at

to the with

one

me in believing that this is the most desirable of all possible approaches . We therefore share a joint responsibility to make non - violent tactics and strategies the final winning tactics and strategies . If violence has a play at all in the African South struggle , supporting it will have to assume the role of the internal democratic struggle leading to the politics of negotiation . Violent forces are lamentably very prone to a winnertakes - all attitude which forecasts only doom for the country unless there is a violent victory .

Black

States who are

members

of the

Commonwealth did

not

resort

to

their in economic foundations of their countries the an to Prime Minister Mugabe returned liberation . for struggle President Jomo Kenyatta returned to intact industrialised Harare . Lusaka President Kaunda returned to an intact an intact Nairobi .

destroying

They were all involved restructuring so for the rest of them . and they re - organising but they conducted their struggles so that and and restructured be something could which left have would finally has struggle liberation for the After reorganised . vanquished apartheid for the scourge that it is , Africa which future democratic South in left restructure and

A

final

leave

re - shape .

violent

us

in

something I want could governments

the

conflagration between Black and position of having something

White to

will

not

restructure .

Whatever else is demanded as an interim objective , we must all accept the the need for the preservation of the foundations of to South African economy in the tactics and strategies we employ achieve an into the

interim victory . us future for

There simply will be no Utopian and any Government democratic

supercedes the racist government of Mr. P .. sufficie magnitude of nt poverty problems of sufficient

leap which

Botha will face vast to threaten future

democracy in even the best hoped for situation . I simply express thece sentiments without feeling the need to argue them at length because they are sentiments shared by the international community .

173

Failing Violence

Demands

Successful

Democratic Opposition

says which that I have conceptual problems with the argument democratic procedures no is have failed and therefore there alternative but to resort to violence . I say violence has and that therefore now we have no alternative but again to democratic options . In the new fluidity now evident in to

failed resort South

Africa these options are ever increasingly the more viable options . I back do not feel the need here to go into detailed reasoning to up

this statement . I make the point only that if we are to achieve interim position from which we can launch the final shaping of must from South Africa , we be prepared to compromise away the

winner - takes - all

demand .

winner - takes - all we have to strive past

I

If we

are not

going

to be

involved

in

a

situation in the very foreseeable future , and if from for an intermediate goal , we have to learn

experience .

do

not

regard the EPG's

attempt

to bring

position in South Africa as a failure . exercising in the Commonwealth's international responsibility towards we lesson that must learn from the

about

I see and

a

negotiating

it as a first Non -aligned

South Africa . CEPG experience

venture States '

I think is that

the in

future attempts to establish negotiating positions must be rooted in an ongoing participation in things that are happening in South Africa . I do not use the word ' change ' because change as a concept implies a movement towards giving Blacks formal constitutional power . change .

Things

are ,

however ,

happening and

in this

sense there is

It is tragic that the CEPG report terminated its involvement in the ongoing attempt to establish a negotiating position in which both the South African Government and Black leaders can participate . I even believe that it is possible to do this now . Could the Commonwealth involve

it

not in

have an

the

courage

now to

ongoing attempt

reconstitute

to bring

about

the

the EPG

and

degree

of

consensus that talking is necessary which will prepare the ground for both the South African Government and Black political groups to work towards a negotiating agenda .

I

understand that

situation

the Eminent

made very difficult

Persons Group was

constituted

by Commonwealth countries not

in

a

being

able to agree on a final approach to South Africa . I am aware that there must have been in the minds of the eminent persons the in group need the test to water , the speak , to SO and some Commonwealth countries may now be satisfied that the Commonwealth should have adopted a far more aggressive stance in the first place . For them the EPG experience may serve to justify their scepticism .

The

EPG

wisely

or

unwisely

had

to

pursue

its

objectives with a threatening attitude of harsher measures to come than the limited sanctions agreed to if the South African Government did not make significant moves to meet the EPG half This was inherent in the message that they brought from the way . Commonwealth .

174

Past

be Turned

Should

Failures

Blocks

into Building

of

Future

Success

I believe there is no shame for Commonwealth countries to recognise that the EPG did not achieve the objective of establishing a negotiating climate the in country . The Commonwealth should the reconstitute EPG with longer the more and far - reaching objective

of participating in events in the forefront of the interface between South Africa and the external world . The Eminent Persons Group has the distinct advantage of having had discussions inside South Africa . They will not have to start from scratch , so to speak . As a group they could re - establish contact with Pretoria and could re - establish further dialogue with the ANC and the PAC . They could also re - establish contact with other Black groupings in South Africa and could be involved in the definition reand definition of negotiating positions until there was sufficient the common ground between all the parties . This would justify EPG's continued existence .

am I aware circles that

of the

fact

that

it

is

now being

suggested

foreign participation in the negotiating could take the form of , say , South Africa Britain undertaking perspective to Pretoria carry a to ,

in

some

process in and Malawi the say ,

Zimbabwe , Rumania , which would in turn Governments of Mocambique , This table internationalisation of the an ANC position . before negotiations necessary preparatory work begin in South Africa is perhaps vital . It has in it the same recognition of the need for shuttle negotiation which I have already briefly outlined in

my

paper

London .

It

last

is

year to the

in the

interests

countries that progress be made re - inclusion of South Africa international

The Need

Commonwealth

the

Conference

Commonwealth and

in

Non - aligned

in South Africa which justifies the as a respectable member of the

community .

for Ongoing

is There shuttle

Mini of

I believe diplomacy

Shuttle

Diplomacy

a great deal of merit in the suggestion that could serve the international community's

interest in participating In shuttle diplomacy the

in positive developments in South Africa . activity of foreign governments could be

constantly associated with a permanent secretariat in South Africa in touch with developments as they occur . There have been developments since the EPG presented its final report . The South shifting African situation is dynamic and it is constantly and constantly

requiring

new

insights

and

perspectives .

full

The

weight of the representatives of foreign countries already in South such African diplomatic missions could be mobilised to support a Their secretariat . liaison could ensure full international participation in urgent attempts to steer South Africa away from a final

violent

Whatever

holocaust .

events

lead

need to pay more all

realism be

to

real

negotiations

attention to the kind

expected .

Thus

far

taking

place ,

there

of negotiations which

a great

deal

of media

is

can

a in

prominence

175

has

been given

to the

prospect

or

otherwise

of a

Lancaster

House-

type negotiating situation emerging in South Africa . There has for many years been talk of the need for a National Convention in South

Africa and when one mentions the words negotiation about the South Africa , E of people leap naturally to the conclusions

I round - table

conference

at which

other political groupings take 1 constitution that South Africa I stated

position

that

it

the

I handing over of power to the people . all philosophy that position about the

Negotiations be

negotiations

that

future

work

South African Government

and

their place to determine the kind of should have . The ANC has a clearly

only prepared

is

future of a

of

to negotiate

If we accept would be

South Africa may not

from the

top

about

the

a winner - takesunderstandable . necessarily

down .

E

The

I

Need

for a

believe

Two - pronged

in

negotiating respectable

fact

that

it

Negotiating Attack

is more

likely

final

that

success

in

a settlement which will re - introduce South Africa as a on follow member of the international community will

Negotiations must negotiations which work from the bottom upwards . African South our and take element in them and in give a have African South e circumstances the with negotiat to anyone who hopes abdicating about with it capitulating and negotiating Government not found his or her thinking on the South African realities . does capitulating we cannot expect negotiations in the context of a If we must work towards power, South African Government handing over

negotiations which work upwards from local , regional and provincial could The former kind of negotiations levels to national levels . been has economy reality once the South African a become only drastically and the military might of the country has been -broken Necessary conditions for successes in this direction are reduced . quite out of anybody's the bottom upwards .

It is Africa

sight .

We must now

look at

negotiating

in this process that the negotiating power of Black will be the most telling and it is in this direction

negotiating

successes

could accumulate

to give

Black

South

from

South that Africa

the final negotiating advantages at the top . The Commonwealth and Non -aligned States need urgently to explore whether or not these assertions are founded in political realism and whether ' real politik '

The

can be

politics

established

of coersion

The politics of coersion the State but there are

through bottom to

is the

politics

of

top

negotiations .

diminishing

always relies finally on the limitations on what the full

utility .

full force of the force of

It is a negative force when State can in fact force people to do . It can prohibit but it comes to Black South African politics . it In its prohibitive function , even the full power of cannot direct . the the State cannot make a horse drink once it has been forced to soof KwaZulu resisted participating in the people The water . called homeland institutions authored by the Government right until bluntly South African the told that were we when last the whether Government was legislating to introduce these institutions

176

we

agreed

control

or

That

not .

of the National

it

did ;

Party and

legislature was

the the

National

under

Party had

the

the power

of State to draw lines on the map and call it KwaZulu , but no power earth could have made us take the next step expected of us and Transkei , was which independence accept the so - called to that Bophuthatswana ,

After

Venda and

Ciskei

accepted .

Government

African

this failed to author State , it attempted by often various and negotiate us into this It position . was our adamant refusal to be co - conspirators into the division of South Africa into a central White State surrounded the eventuality

by

So

South

through

many

anything conceived

the power of the devious means to

little

satellite

so - called

states ,

which

more

than

else has led to recognition that the homeland policy as This by Dr. Verwoerd and Mr. Vorster is now failing .

recognition

has

fundamental

political

significance .

Negotiations which have Utility It is this recognition which enabled Commission to seek for a regional apartheid . Buthelezi not did which

The

fact

Commission inhibit the

had

been

that

the

me to establish the Buthelezi formula outside the aims of

South African Government

outright as soon as local and regional

started within

the

rejected

its report was negotiations

Buthelezi

the

published , continuing

Commission .

The

Commission was established in 1980 ; it produced its report in 1982 ; negotiations continued in 1985 as the Whites - only Natal Provincial Council and the KwaZulu government reached a negotiated agreement about the need for a non - racial executive authority with jurisdiction over both KwaZulu and in the KwaZulu/ Natal the establishment of a inherent

and

Natal .

Negotiations

Indaba agreement was reached multi - racial legislature for

in which would be

a Bill

of Rights

continued

in 1987 about the region ,

which defies

every

norm

of apartheid . Even if the South African Government rejected the proposals now laid before it for a multi - racial legislature in the KwaZulu / Natal region , negotiations would continue . I enclose copies of the Bill of Rights and the the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba produced .

The

politics

region as

and

of negotiation

the South African

far as we are

concerned ,

constitutional

are building Government and it

up

a

moment

now must

is doing

declared

its willingness

to

negotiate

in the

tread more

which

Natal warily

so in a way in which it really The door is now

has thus far spoken about the proposals . open for further negotiation . The South African fact already rejected some of the more important has

proposals

Government has proposals but

with the

parties

which

negotiated the proposals laid before it . There may be a long ahead but we have already travelled a considerable distance point the we at which opened the negotiating agenda in Buthelezi

Commission .

in it

road from the

177

Other negotiations that as was the

and can be started in other regions Buthelezi case with the Commission

Indaba , KwaZulu/ Natal sacrificing very of

negotiations need not fundamental democratic

provided and the

be dependent principles .

on

the Prime

Minister Mugabe found it necessary to entertain certain guarantees Zimbabweans and those involved in negotiations in to White South Africa will find it necessary to be involved in one or another kind of guarantees to White South Africans . As Mr. Starushenko in his paper said : " The misgivings of a certain part of the South African white terms

their country in in traceable to racist downright and provincialism

population viewing the majority rule of doomsday horrors are largely

propaganda

combined

with

hoary

ignorance . " He ventures the opinion that " ... already today the ANC might White work out comprehensive guarantees for the population which could be implemented after the elimination of the regime of apartheid . "

I do not want to speak for anybody but myself but I believe that if Mr. Starushenko is wrong in this latter observation , the ANC will finally who are be endorsed out of the struggle and only those willing to work for an interim position from which the final shaping of South Africa can proceed , will be left in the political running . We can make progress in this direction by recognising the importance of negotiations working from the bottom upward and community participating in them . The international needs to this participate in kind of upward negotiating strategy and a invaluable could could provide secretariat of the kind I am mooting assistance

in numerous

provincial

and

Negotiations

final

negotiations

national

at

local ,

different

regional ,

levels .

from the Bottom Upwards

Need

Regional

Power Bases

Regional power bases are important in South Africa and they become even more important in the political process in which political advantages are accumulated in negotiations which move from local negotiating levels upwards . I make the point that at power power leaders to level whatever is dependent on the ability of Black ability to develop disciplined followings on the ground and the direct

Black

Power

is

no

forces .

real power if it

initiates

forces it

cannot

control . Bands of The politics of violence has threatened to do just this . of acts called Comrades are emerging to perpetrate people young control . are actually under nobody's disciplinary which violence action . They They cannot be moved into action and withdrawn from

soliciting violent responses in the townships where they enact are out Vigilante groups are emerging which are also their violence . violent Black - on - Black control and the internecine of anybody's If proportions . in places assuming horrible are confrontations South Africa is going to be involved only in heightening the levels countersolicits of violence as State violence of equilibriums e , violence counter solicits and as comrade - type violenc violence and

as

counter - violence

at

both

levels

initiates

yet

more violence ,

178

Africa

South

will

head

for a

conflagration

of

violence

which

everybody deems totally undesirable . There is the need to develop local and regional power bases in which there are disciplined forces

subject

to

political

leadership .

measured be power of any leader cannot real political The by to either has power Real . masses the surveys of sentiment among the the defeat enemy on military terrain or defeat the enemy last decade is tragic that during the It terrain .. terrain negotiating there has been a Black South African history of military endeavours conflicting endeavours . negotiating with and competing all - or - nothing in their total control want Revolutionaries to attention more directing now are and they philosophy confronting they are intimidating South Africa than Black in apartheid

itself .

A watchdog secretariat involving itself in shuttle negotiations with a secretariat in South Africa supported by the diplomatic in corps , working towards getting international backing for moves the right direction , whoever makes those moves , will be invaluable . The international community must be more than participants in a developing

Mr.

logjam and

Speaker ,

particularly

a

political

Honourable

careful

in what

I am particularly aware message I sent to the

as well

Members , I

I

as

have

say both in

that anything outside world

this

Mr. the

fully aware

always

stalemate .

had

country and

to

of what

I

be

abroad .

I say when I am abroad or is said and sent outside

view of the masses in Black South Africa . reported back to Inkatha and to this House , Black South Africans are

a military

any the

have always therefore Speaker , Mr. so that I

say on their

behalf .

Speaker , Honourable Members , it is very important that I record straight and today I want to table the document

keep the

Honourable Minister of Education and Culture , Dr. O.D. Dhlomo and the Honourable Minister of Health , Dr. F.T. Mdlalose delivered on my behalf to the Harare Meeting of the InterAction Council Policy Board . It reads as follows :

179

INTERACTION COUNCIL

MEMORANDUM

PRESENTED

By Mangosuthu President

TO THE

INTERACTION POLICY

BOARD

G. Buthelezi , Chief Minister , KwaZulu of Inkatha Yenkululeko Yesizwe /

Kgare ya

Tokoloho

ya

Setjhaba

Read on his behalf by Dr. O.D. Dhlomo Minister of Education and Culture , KwaZulu and Secretary - General Inkatha

" SOUTH AFRICAN

REALITIES :

A BLACK VIEWPOINT "

1988

20 MARCH

ZIMBABWE

HARARE ,

INTRODUCTION

The InterAction Council is a prestigious body which brings together some of the world's most able political thinkers who are themselves past and present and Heads of State and Cabinet Ministers and many very other individuals of international stature . While its composition must lead to statements about South African issues which are

already decided

in some of the

countries

of the

world ,

it

is a forum specifically set up to think world problems through and arrive at conclusions which can make new initiatives in the right direction possible . The InterAction Council is not a political ruling party even , which has to make sense party , or a of the positions

I

it

took to

receive the

really do believe that

required

to break the

South African country , the place

against

solutions internal

a

mandate

successful

South African

it

did

receive .

international

log - jam .

initiative

However much

is

final

must be determined by the people inside the Africa democratic process in South takes

the background

of the

internationalisation

of

the

apartheid problem .

I therefore approach my briefing of the InterAction Council on the current South African situation in a sense of urgency in which I to recognise the legitimate right of the international community an as regard apartheid infringing fundamental human rights as international infringement countries

crime of

against

human

everywhere .

all the

rights

countries

anywhere

of the

should be

the

world . concern

The of

180

The InterAction Council has , in the past , adopted very clear policy decisions about South Africa and has advocated specific international action programmes against South Africa . It is my sincere hope that this session of the InterAction Council will on

deliberate

the evidence

being

laid

before

it

in

this

session

with an open mind and with a recognition that Pretoria has remained to been impervious the best that international initiatives have able to

do .

Whenever tactics

and

strategies

a tendency to resort to more intensely and for a

reach objectives ,

there is

saying that the same thing must longer period of time to ensure

fail

to

be done success .

We would not be concerned today in this session , about the South if past African issues which we are concerned about , initiatives had succeeded or were about to succeed . It session of the InterAction Council new explored

and

past thinking be

subjected

is my plea innovative

that at this thought be

critical

constructive

to

review .

I want point mount

to

make the

statement

that we

have

reached a no - holds

barred

in South African history . The only thing that matters is to something that will now work . The expression : ' That will now

work ' must , however , be qualified . I would not regard any solution as having worked if it replaced one kind of tyranny with another kind of tyranny in South Africa . I would only regard a solution as having worked if , in the end , it gained democratic freedom for all the people in South Africa and left a government of the future in a position to govern in such a way that the battle against poverty , ignorance and disease after political victories could proceed with

real

hopes

of success .

When I therefore review what has happened in the past and what happening now , I will not be making ideological statements ,

is nor

will I be making party political statements on behalf of Inkatha . Anything that would work , done by whoever did it , would benefit me and the whole of Inkatha . We will back anything that will really work . By the same token , we would resist anything that will not work and we would resist anything that would work in the short term to destroy apartheid but would involve South Africans paying future crippling prices for any immediate gains .

THE REALITIES

OF

TODAY

Politics and diplomacy must ultimately be rooted in reality . In both politics and diplomacy ideals are mixed up with subjective judgements . These serve to dramatise truth and guide action but ultimately political representations which distort realities put the parties concerned beyond the ability to deal with the realities they talk about . As I develop the theme of my Memorandum , it will become clear that I call for action that can work because it is action that realities .

does

not

try to

ignore questions

of having

to

deal

with

181

The

Location

of

South

Africa

on

the

African

Continent

The ruling National Party in South Africa has African Whites South for generations have misguided

belief that

they

can

ignored this reality . laboured under the

establish a White - dominated

enclave

on the tip of Africa . Black opposition to apartheid on the other hand has always been totally aware of the futility of attempting to establish a South African solution which would be condemned by the whole of

As

Africa .

far as

I

am concerned ,

the South African

problem is

located

in

Africa and there can be no real solution to South Africa's problems which does not contribute to the development of African States in the whole of Southern Africa and in Central and Eastern Africa . Again , as far as I am concerned , we owe it to Africa to liberate South Africa doing

The

and

Africa

owes

it

to

South Africans

to

assist

them

in

so .

effect

Africa

and

of what beyond

happens to is

very

African

important

States bordering

to

me .

I

will

on not

South pursue

political objectives and I will not adopt tactics and strategies in South Africa which will detrimentally affect South Africa's African that neighbours . I will do everything in my power to ensure a whole post - apartheid South Africa does not have to keep the of Africa

at

bay to

survive .

has South Africa's location on the continent of Africa vast implications for Western industrialised nations and for nations in the

Soviet

context

bloc .

of Southern

They will have to

deal with South Africa

Africa

itself .

and

Africa

in

the

am a Black leader in South Africa and I share Africa's concerns This is an about South Africa and I demand to be treated as such . important point to make because my African identity in South Africa and on the continent of Africa precludes me from participating in Black anything the South African Government may want to do to deny South Africans

democratic

rights which Africa

demands

for them .

It is also an important point because there is the danger that some leaders in Africa border on treating White South Africans as alien ex - patriates and do not share the wisdom of Dr. Kenneth Kaunda and Africans others summed up in the Lusaka Manifesto that White South struggle are Africans . There is a danger of waging a against apartheid is

as

a

struggle against

in South Africa

power .

the best

simply because a White

and the worst

that

minority government

there is

in

182

The

Reality

of

the

South

African

Military Might

It is commonly recognised that the State President of South Africa , Mr. P.W. Botha , There directs the most powerful army in Africa . understanding however , which is , of at times a lack the implications initiatives

One

of

that

Pretoria's

military might

have for

international

apartheid .

against

the too - little discussed

implications

is

that

there

is

no

to attempts point whatsoever in now pursuing what amounts to of establish a Lancaster House conference to deal with the future Pretoria's military might produces a time factor South Africa . dimension which is

International

indeed

very problematic .

initiatives

tend to

time

the

ignore

Pretoria

that

have The national efforts which can buy with its military might . time in been mounted have been mounted to run a course far thus or The ' do so - and - so are totally unrealistic . which schedules If Pretoria can survive else formula ' leaves Pretoria unperturbed . in out set schedules the can be done in the time that worst , against it initiatives l terms be the initiatives can in practica it , ignored .

The military might

of Pretoria has

obviously got

vast

implications

for Black opposition to apartheid . Frontline States have paid the price of Black initiatives in South Africa which under - estimate the military might of Pretoria which cannot work .

The Reality of South

and which have

Africa's

demanded

backing

for

that

Economic Might

South Africa's economic might does not rest on bits of paper or on formalised institutions . The real economic might of South Africa When rests on the day to day behaviour of millions of people . internal and external forces act against the South African economy , the real target is not the South African Government but the people on in the country who keep the economy alive and who are dependent it .

The

South

fact

and

African Government remains

impervious

has to

an

immediate

threats

of

awareness economic

of

this

sanctions .

There

were none in the world who predicted that the mandatory arms placed on South Africa in 1978 would by 1988 result in embargo placed

South

Africa being

among

the

five

largest

arms

exporting

countries

in the world . They would not have predicted that the sale would bring in more foreign currency in 1988 than any other manufactured commodity .

of arms single

183

The

resilience

as a

The

For

Reality of the

a

apartheid

for

Failed

quarter of a

economy

and

South Africa

inside

foundation

over

the South African

of

under - estimated

century

Struggle

the

woefully see it

destroyed .

and wish it

Armed

been

has

by those who

abroad

in

South Africa

ANC has

led

an armed

struggle

against South Africa which has not succeeded in really getting off the ground . This is not a judgement . It is a statement of harsh reality . is It fact that after this quarter of a century there liberated zones , were no there are no viable springboards from which to

make

attacks

bridge and every system remain

from beyond South Africa's

borders

every

and

road system and every water and electricity supply entirely intact . factory There is no out of

production . The impact felt in South Africa .

of the

armed

struggle

per

se

has

not

been

it which now cost that real is is there that struggle produces and I believe armed failed having second is that even the Soviet Union suspect reason to in thoughts about the implications which the failed armed struggle

failure of the The demands attention .

South Africa has

armed struggle has Frontline States

for

a reality about cannot bear the

it .

I into isolate these realities because they simply must be taken . More of the same thing that has been done in the account . past will produce more of the same consequences that they have produced in the past . To continue to attack Pretoria where it is strong and make it stronger yet where it is attacked , makes no strategic sense and it makes no political sense .

BLACK POLITICAL

All

the

POSITIONS

oppressed

in

IN SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa

their fight against apartheid . recognised that those who are

belong

themselves and to the world to do something In South Africa it is the Black people who by

apartheid

and there

is

naturally

together

Throughout the world brutally oppressed Owe

a Black

struggle

it it

in is to

about their oppression . are the worst affected for

liberation

led

by

Blacks for Blacks in the broad Black response to their oppression . However true it is that apartheid is terribly detrimental to all in they South Africa including Whites who are dehumanised when ve ry dehumanise others , the Black struggle for liberation is distinctively human central component in the broad struggle for rights .

struggle the In that Blacks wage there should be and fundamental dissent there certainly should be internecine

Black - on - Black

strife .

Black - on - Black

no no

room room

for for

confrontations

184

are , however , realities which cannot be wished away . They must be dealt with by Blacks in South Africa in the first instance and finally they must be dealt with by all who are involved in the eradication of her borders .

apartheid ,

whether

they be

in South Africa

or

beyond

have confrontations heights to which Black - on - Black hideous The for struggle tal Black the to not only terribly detrimen is risen to ntal detrime on also Africa is it but , South liberati in Black / Black Africa . of whole to the and States neighbouring community international the problem the compound confrontations Black ous unambigu There is no faces in dealing with apartheid . everthe with faced governments around the world are voice and increasing

of having

inevitability

in practical terms

choose

to

sides .

The

South prominence of Black - on - Black confrontations in death and Life phase . must not be seen as a passing the destiny of South Africa is involved and are involved ,

present

Africa issues

all those

community who

in the Black

a deep intensity which with so minded positions .

struggle

lends

against

itself to

apartheid

do

bloody-

adopting

It is too little realised that it is the now inevitable collapse of which is further fanning the flames of Black - on - Black apartheid confrontation . The question of what replaces apartheid is no longer an academic question which must distant future after a long drawn out Black South Africa

is

be settled some time struggle has run its

alive with vibrant

expectations

of

in the course .

life

after

apartheid . Black South Africa knows that apartheid is doomed . They know that what they now do to finally eradicate apartheid for future . Scourge the that it is will lay the foundations for the Differences

of

opinion

between Black and

Black therefore

run

deep .

the same token if the collapse of apartheid is now inevitable By what the international community does assumes a new significance . I therefore apartheid

1 .

believe

realising

Economic

that

the

InterAction

Council

should

think

about

that :

realities

are

ever - increasingly

making

apartheid

The now complete economic untenable as a State philosophy . classical of nonsense White on Black makes of dependence Verwoerdian apartheid which envisaged of South Africa's race groups . Economic

realities

will

the

complete

ever - increasingly

also

separation

militate

against any form of neo - apartheid which the ruling National Party not may now be hoping for . to It is short - sighted recognise that even Afrikaner businessmen , academics and theologians are undermining the power base on which a neoapartheid

South

Africa would have to be

built .

Only

the

185

2 .

wilfully

blind

apartheid doomed .

is

neoof form any believe that now is for the same reasons that apartheid

can

doomed

It is just Demographic realities militate against apartheid . not will feasible to plan a future in which Blacks not dominate numerically in so - called White South Africa . Blacks are in these areas to stay and the co - existence of Black and White

in the

as an

imperative .

country's

major

urban

areas

has to be

recognised

The imperatives . economic realities reinforce Demographic of the economy now entirely depends on a rate of expansion ible incompat totally is tion which substitu e worker Black/Whit worker Black /White Ever- increasingly apartheid . with substitution will lead to Black /White supervisor substitution everEmployers will and Black /White manager substitution . recruit amongst demographically the increasingly to have dominant

13 .

Black group

in

areas .

industrial

all

Black bargaining power is now becoming a vital political factor . Market - place realities are ensuring that this is so . The Black customer has now become all - important in the consumer market . Black customers are becoming very important in the financial market . This two - fold importance to South community, allied to Africa's business the businessman's dependency on Black labour , supervisors and managers demands the commerce , scrapping of apartheid . Organised mining , industry and banking in South Africa are already preparing for a post -apartheid South Africa and are entering into negotiations with Blacks

on numerous

levels .

trade union rights born out of of extension economic the market has given Blacks bargaining powers in necessity that community is aware White the and place shop floor social wider includes legitimately bargaining now and

The

economic The

issues beyond the

White

community

issues

of workers

without

tackling

Black

bargaining National Party is

is

factory gates .

also

aware

beyond the

political

that

social

factory gates

and

cannot

economic be

tackled

issues .

power is also enhanced by the fact that the no longer the monolithic power in Afrikanerdom .

Again only the wilfully blind will maintain that apartheid is being challenged within the National Party . Last year's breakaway movement led by Dr. Denis Worrall did not end with the events which surrounded the election . ferment 1987 Whites - only general The within

The

Afrikanerdom and the

rise

of

the

taken place were

National

Conservative

Party

Afrikaners not

Party

in

continues .

South Africa

involved

in

internal

would not

have

disputes

about

186

the

future

of South Africa .

The

National

Party has

to

defeat the

Conservative Party and it is only puerile propaganda which does not distinguish between the two Parties . I certainly hold no brief for either . Both have to be brought under mass democratic control be destroyed . I am only arguing that apartheid is doomed and the that essential foundations . of apartheid are now so cracked its final

In

collapse

this

is

inevitable .

situation

of

internal

dissent

between Afrikanerdom ,

Black

bargaining power is enhanced . Afrikaner leaders and opinion makers have seen the writing on the wall ; they have come to accept the reality of White dependency on Blacks in the economic sphere and are beginning to create a climate in which political interdependence

It

is

must

imperative

eventuate .

and strategies which exploit National dissent within the

forces mount tactics and forces market

a

I know that created . I must take .

I

am

aware that

struggle South working to

Africa do

not

want

establish the They want

succeed .

lies

road

campaigning

a primary means

as

to

those

rough

ahead

for the

of bringing

Black

armed

the

but

the opportunities Party now have it

struggle

is

a

armed in

change

radical

politics

that

road

supremacy of the

about

leaders now in the

supremacy of the

Black political

that

of South Africa

for the good

country who of

are

negotiation

to . succeed because

they

They also want the armed struggle to not now in the country . are the to different future very it will create a because succeed future which the

politics

of

negotiation will

produce .

Those involved in the armed struggle campaign for acceptance as the true leaders of South Africa with the sole right of international They recognition . are not struggling to give me or anybody else right the to participate in the eradication of apartheid through their the politics of negotiation . I am on the receiving end of to me . opposition I count my dead as a consequence of what For what doing . are me it is not a question of discerning position ANC's on is . the politics of negotiation They answered that followers .

The stated negotiation

question

position is

for

me

in their

of the ANC as concerned is changing .

violent

onslaught

they the have

against

my

far as the politics of They have dropped the hard

line that the only thing to negotiate is the handing over of power . willingness They now declare their to negotiate if certain conditions are met . While they have changed their stance in front community , of the international they constantly re - commit themselves to intensify the armed struggle and constantly further harsher action against me and my followers .

take

ever

187

Black - on - Black

confrontation is very real in South Africa and the international community will misconceive the South African entirely : situation this is recognised . if not will It also misconceive entirely it if it does not recognise that the real Black - on - Black confrontations in South Africa are about the kind of future we are

The

going to

are

issues

have .

multi - Party

a

or

one -Party State

a

State ,

a

fundamentally and socialist economy or a free enterprise economy , apartheid aga vic peo ins a tor the ple whe is t y re 's , the important r to gives them the right to support whatever party they wish which whe or , ele to wis the the lea ct h r whi y ele der and chever support ct a as pow int com whi er ANC o es dom a ch by vic ina is there tory ting government

THE

from exile .

returned

GOVERNABILITY OF

SOUTH AFRICA

C

working make to and its allies inside South Africa are Draconia by though as Africa governme n ungovern nt South able Africa South of Governme The . nt measures ceases to be government facto de It is a being governed by the National Party . now is

The

ANC

government ,

whatever

thinks

the world

of

it

can

it

and

continue to

govern

indeed

is it

force

as a de facto government for a very long time given no option but to continue meeting escalating with escalating State force .

if

it

against

Africa South hideous equilibrium of violence in of spiralling upward the a lot more hideous in for violence employing Those counter - violence . and violence half - hearted a in South Africa have not made purposes political nt through Governme the of downfall the about bring to attempt now is can get

There which

They

revolution .

it

We

is

strongest

have

have thrown everything

again

and

very

indeed

made

into what

they have

they

Government where

the South African

they have attacked

done but

have

a

stronger .

it

recently witnessed

the

employment

of

Draconian

Party . National to keep South Africa governable under the The steps taken to neutralise Black political groups and to isolate the from will not only be effective of Black leaders , number a

powers

Government's destructive

Non -violent devastating

point of the

of view in the politics

democratic set - backs

short

leaders by the

action against some groups . which the action was taken

term but

of negotiation

same

like

also

devastatingly

in the

longer

myself

have

action which

is

The national state of is terribly restrictive

seen

term .

suffered only

as

emergency under of the politics

today of negotiation . I have not been arguing as I have argued with any belief that the military and economic might of Pretoria favours

any

kind

of tactics

and

strategies

I

have

espoused .

Body

188

blows to Black democracy anywhere democracy Black everywhere . organisations

MY OWN STATE

I

a

of all

Black

FACE - TO - FACE MEETINGS WITH THE

have

also not vital

HIS

CABINET

been arguing

SOUTH

I

have

between

been arguing

myself and

because

today

Mr.

P.W.

Botha .

nothing at all to say to the man now which I have I have only met him thrice formally in his nine as head of the South African State . I have stated

of office

very clearly that

I will

continue to have

Nelson Mandela ,

Dr.

prisoners

are

nothing to

Zeph Mothopeng

Mr.

say

and other

Black democracy

3.

It is recognised that the present must be scrapped in its entirety .

4 .

The Act

is

political

unshackled .

constitution

of

South

Population Registration Act as the fundamental which makes possible the political separation

groups is

unless :

released .

2.

5.

AFRICAN

COLLEAGUES

as

is developing

organisations .

fact , I have already said .

years

1.

shackling

PRESIDENT AND

something In not

is

in South Africa are body blows to Black shackling The of some

Africa

enabling of race

scrapped .

It is recognised that South Africa is one country can be one sovereign there only parliament and suffrage who serves universal adult determines

in which in which in that

Parliament .

6.

The National Party's contention of minorities is abandoned .

Abandoning the mass immutably

that

South Africa

is

a

country

forfeiting any one of these demands would involve me in support I now have in South Africa . These demands are are fixed in the Black struggle for liberation . They

time - honoured demands which Black leaders can only abandon at their peril . It is because I have articulated these demands So repeatedly and campaigned so vigorously for their acceptance , that Inkatha

has

become what

it

has

become .

Inkatha

The establishment of Inkatha was demanded by the political vacuum which emerged in South Africa during the 1960's . The ANC was the oldest and most prominent Black membership - based political organisation in the country by the end of the 1950's . In 1960 the South African Government banned the ANC and it went underground operate from bases which it had established abroad in anticipation ! of government

action against

it .

189

vacuum It was not the banning per se which created the political Black South Africans experienced in the 1960's . There was deep Black South African commitment to the ANC which could have

continued political

supporting importance

it in exile had the continuing of to

ANC perceived support the

the vital democratic

struggle on the ground in the country . Instead , they adopted the and struggle armed as the primary means of bringing about change turned to regard involvement as in the democratic struggle detracting

from their

central

strategy .

No

single major political initiative emerged in South Africa for a decade after the ANC was banned . Black South Africans kept looking over their shoulders waiting for the ANC to assist them . When right assistance was not forthcoming , they demanded the to do something for themselves . This gave rise to the birth of Inkatha on on

I

the one

hand

and the birth

of

the

Black

Consciousness

Movement

the other hand .

initially

alive

established

old

ANC

Inkatha

loyalties

political action programme were time - honoured values inauguration , what was

I

acted

in

legally possible

advice that

I

must

not

as

an organisation which would

and give Black

people

in South

keep

Africa

a

in which the struggle for liberation's kept alive . For years after its Oliver Tambo by doing concert with Mr.

to do

commit

inside

the

same

South

Africa .

errors of

I

judgement

heard

his

that the

old ANC had committed by becoming leadership heavy and ignoring the real need to develop local and regional power structures .

I

the

pursued

ensure that involvement future . Inkatha been

at in

to

development of Inkatha's democratic structure local and regional levels people were given

an

the decision - making process which affected their This commitment to the development of the democracy of and the overall framework of attitudes and values which had

established

phenomenal

at

such great

expansion

cost

over

so

many

decades ,

led

to

a

of Inkatha's membership .

Every African Head of State would recognise that you simply cannot establish a political organisation with a membership of over 1.5 million in the space of 12 years unless you articulated the aspirations in

doing

of the masses

something

I will for he played

in

and gave

their

them a

constructive

involvement

circumstances .

ever be grateful to Dr. Kenneth Kaunda for the in the early 1970's in helping me formalise my

about the need is ,

about

fact ,

for a new political based

on the

structure .

UNIP model

and the

Inkatha's massive

Inkatha's ability to attract mass membership bears far - sighted perceptions of Dr. Kaunda at the time .

role that thoughts structure

success

of

testimony to the

190

Well

over

1.5

million

carrying members of one of Black South

have

Black South Africans

Inkatha . Africa's

become

card-

This makes Inkatha at the very least leading voices . The rejection of my

leadership and the denunciation of Inkatha's tactics and strategies and of its aims and objectives which they serve , is a rejection and denunciation of the will of millions of Black South Africans .

I

say millions

that

the

than

an

What South

I

because

formal index of

again

membership its

every African

importance

at

community .

State

would

know

organisation

is no

more

the grass

have been arguing today is Africans . Their voice

international

Head

of any political

of

root

level .

supported by millions demands

Inkatha's

to

be

of

heard

by

Black the

members

are dominated numerically by peasants and workers . They are the ultimate victims of apartheid . They have the opportunity each and every year to direct and re -direct Inkatha's leadership which they have elected to

office .

ΤΟ

ignore

proportion of Black

Inkatha nearly

Inkatha

is

to

ignore

very

a

substantial

South Africans .

is in politics to stay . It has been in existence now for 13 years against very virulent and at times Black violent

opposition and it is stronger now than it has Inkatha continues to grow in strength because lessons of history in the Black struggle for

ever been before . it has learnt the liberation . These

are :

1.

Political

organisations

are

the

strongest

when

they

are

for

new

membership - based .

2.

Political

organisations

must do

more

they must future states of affairs ; way that the day to day interests a

than

campaign

campaign for them in such masses of the grass root

are served .

3.

Political tactics and strategies which do not accumulate gains as a result of the tactics and strategies they employ , are dissent their subjected to internal which leads to disintegration .

4.

Political organisations are strongest when they are kept alive by the poorest of the poor and kept free from any dependencies on donor organisations or countries .

Inkatha

has by now outlived

many

failed

national

and

international

strategies against apartheid . Its growth and survival can in part be strategies traced to its refusal to be drawn into tactics and which cannot survive against the realities of the African South situation .

191

comments session of the InterAction Council will receive my This and come to their own conclusions . I have thus far not said one word about what it should or should not come to conclude . That is not my

role .

I

which is backed

simply present

by

millions

the

of Black

Council with

a Black

viewpoint

South Africans .

breaking of also a viewpoint which has the most prospects is It South between erected which has apartheid barriers the down Africa's race groups . It is a viewpoint which could assist in the eradicating of South Africa during the process of de - polarisation support multi - racial has developed stronger Inkatha apartheid . than any

In moving to

1 .

The

a

conclusion ,

South

African

intractable 2.

by the

I

make the

be

spiralling

country

the

following

problem will upward

in

points :

ever - increasingly

made of

today .

violence .

No international initiative will work to assist in bringing about a lasting solution to the South African problem unless it

3.

on the ground

organisation

other

backed

is

The

by

all

race groups . campaign

international

to

isolate

Africa

South

diplomatically and to punish it economically has done more to White radicalise the right -wing tendencies in South African politics than direction .

4.

it

has

done to get

international

The

campaign

Pretoria to

to

move

isolate

in the

South

right

Africa

diplomatically and to punish it economically undermines a vast network of anti - apartheid forces in the country which amount to a groundswell across - the - board rejection of apartheid in all

5.

race groups

The

than

anything

international

else .

campaign

to

isolate

South

Africa

economically punish diplomatically and to it represents legitimate international outrage against apartheid but does more to illustrate party political differences in Western First industrialised countries , and does more to illustrate it World /Third World international problems than does to assist

6.

The

the

failed

struggle

for

intentions

liberation

of the

in South Africa .

international

campaign to

isolate

South Africa diplomatically and to punish it economically has a cost which ultimately only the real victims of apartheid the poorest

of the poor

in South Africa

- have

had to

pay .

be to drawing to these points I have not intended attention In international If what already has been done by the prescriptive . community is all Africa . South community

is

as

that can be done by it , then so be it and God help do not accept that the international for one , I , impotent

as

it

has thus

far proved to be .

192

desperate

a

is

There

for new innovative

need

the and thinking l iona community . I rnat inte by the new of mounting ion s rAct cil' Inte ion y Coun the of this sess that sincerel hope. international meeting in Harare will be able to contribute to the approaches

community breaking out of the political sterility of repeating past thing which failed in the belief that more of the same endeavours y ingl stat That would be deva will succeed in medium or longer term . destructive

Speaker ,

Mr.

for

of the good

South Africa .

Honourable

Members ,

leaders

self - appointed

and

celebrity leaders play duets with the ANC Mission in Exile claiming that non - violent , democratic opposition to apartheid cannot succeed gain would that change the kind of radical about bringing in African s. South Black of majority vast the from support massive and done be can that done been yet not has that so much There is be needs to which done much that has been so also is there

against South Africa as a final step before are solved in violent confrontations .

The

though as sanctions

is politically nonsensical to talk it that international nothing left to do by mounting

continued , is there

ANC Mission

not capable forces on

in Exile

of leading , the ground ground

and

celebrity

or not

in

and that

a

our

leaders

position

country's

in this

to

lead , to is why they have to

problems

country

are

democratic posture as

eminent in what they can do . We are constantly being judged within that they only the framework want the world to hear as the framework When which comprehends South African realities . we oppose

what they do ,

the Black

In the

struggle

we are

treated

as

traitors

to

the

causes

of

for liberation .

September / October

1986

issue

of

' Frontline '

Mrs.

Albertina

Sisulu is reported as saying about me : " He uses illiterate people But that is coming to who still believe in the wars of Shaka . an end . Even in Natal there are places where he wont put a foot down . Black In the hostels of Clermont - We are getting closer . " South Africans have a great respect for the wife of a political prisoner This kind who has been in jail now for more than 20 years . of Africans . utterance , however , disgusts millions of Black South Mrs. Sisulu is one of the two national presidents of the UDF . She is a typical case of somebody being elected to office by committees which were elected by committees which were elected by committees . Mrs. Albertina Sisulu is a typical celebrity leader who leads no real grass root constituency . She has no organisation to which she can say , do this and it will be done , or don't do this , and it will political if cease to be done . She commands no political power , if power is defined as it should be defined - as the ability to pursue objectives

and get

things

done .

193

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , we would be deluding ourselves if ever country's self - appointed turned to believing that this leaders , celebrity leaders and media - anointed leaders who become

we

sources , prominent because the media can use them as dial - a - quote Speaker , are not dangerous . Mr. Honourable Members , a political sometimes succeeds in throwing spanners in spokes and baboon that makes political baboons

I

am terribly aware

objectives

through

very dangerous .

that

we have to

the tactics

continue

and

pursuing

strategies we

our

aims

chosen

have

and to

us employ in a full awareness of the minefields which are laid for by the kind of leaders I have been talking Speaker , about . Mr. influence public opinion through they do media . the They do

influence foreign governments . They do create the circumstances in country very , E this in which the politics of negotiation is made very difficult .

I want to make the point Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , that we have always sought Black unity based on a multi - strategy approach

and we have always stood for the right of others to oppose what we are doing if that opposition is based on constituency politics and E is exercised in a broad democratic framework . point I make the that we have elected to work within the limitations of telling Mr. P.W. Botha that Council unless Dr.

will we Mandela

not be able to serve on the National and other political prisoners are there

to serve with us should they so desire . I have repeatedly said in this Policy Speech that restrictions against our Black political enemies against

Mr.

and against us as well .

I front

Speaker , of Mr.

front

of the

organisations which oppose

us ,

are

Honourable Members , I have thrown down a gauntlet Oliver Tambo and I throw the same gauntlet down UDF .

I

tell

both

organisations

that

we

forever for them to come to their political senses . come when the extent to which we put the good of the

; the good of the

Party ,

Mr. Speaker , unilaterally .

Before

will

force

us to

Members , Honourable we have acted ,

organisation in South Africa what blue . the of out nothing

we We

We invited the ANC's participation . and means of being represented in the the

same

in

restrictions

putting the

delegates

act

we we

in in

cannot wait The day may above State

unilaterally .

have have

never shared

yet with

acted every

We have done intended doing . always their invited have Mission in Exile to find ways We did Buthelezi Commission . Indaba KwaZulu / Natal the of

There has always been an open offer from my side to have There is a long - standing invitation Oliver Tambo . Mr. come Archie Gumede to have discussions with us and even to

together . talks with to

Mr.

Inkatha's membership and address the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly . Honourable Members , , Speaker Mr. and all to open been always has up put there reason whatsoever that the UDF could not have candidates

in KwaZulu

Legislative

Assembly

elections .

194

If things go on as they have been developing in recent years , may have to reconsider our accommodating attitude . If others not want to move with history then history I make an important point , however , when turned beyond

must leave them behind . I say we have not yet

to regard any of our Black brothers and sisters as being so with us the pale that they would not be welcomed to act

should they not yet

we do

so

said

choose .

it

to

This

is what

they have

said

to

us .

We have

them .

It is in the context of these thoughts , Speaker , Mr. that I now turn to consult the Members of this House about very a crucial issue - the support in principle we offered for the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba constitutional proposals . We were party to the formulation of these proposals . It is we more than anybody else who made these proposals possible by a willingness to compromise .

Mr. Speaker , I ask Members to pause for a moment to whom we actually made this offer to compromise . The

consider

to

compromises

were made in the context of an ongoing debate and a process of give and take amongst the working members of the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba . however , does It not , make political sense to regard the compromises we made as compromises we were offering to the Indaba itself . We offered South Africa the compromises . In the Indaba debates we said we would be prepared to make the compromises we did make enable to a consensus opinion to develop which could make possible a

Joint

compromises The achieve specific

Legislative

Authority .

we did make were Mr. objectives .

made in a Speaker ,

specific context to Honourable Members , I

an important point when I say that the compromises we did make did not amount to evidence of an internal adjustment we were making The compromises we made were made while in South African politics . political other were saying that we would be prepared to meet

make

groupings

I

half way

am always

if they were

guided

by the

very

prepared to

exacting

meet

demand

us

that

half way .

whatever

I

do

must be supported by the Black masses to whom I am responsible as a Whatever I do must be supported by them . As the President leader . I lead because I Inkatha and as the Chief Minister of KwaZulu , of am expected into action not

turn the

to lead . I programmes . mandate

I

am expected to translate the mandate I have Because I am a democrat , however , I will of have got into a formula for the politics

I I reject the Regional Services Councils because prescription . involvement that know that I would be involved in them without benefitting the Blacks in The majority of Black masses . the authority fall under no and local region are KwaZulu / Natal structurally from benefitting from anything the Regional precluded the If I joined do . Services Regional Councils Services may Council of system these masses beyond the sphere of the operation the Councils would be

left

out

in

the

cold .

195

Honourable Members ,

because I

carry the same thought into what I have to say about our constitutional for the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba principle me terms think of in to for imperative is It

support in proposals . beneficial

I

points ,

these

make

Speaker ,

Mr.

We supported the for the people in everything I do . constitutional because proposals were we Indaba to compromises matching made others if that the

consequences KwaZulu / Natal convinced

compromises we made , reality

in

joint

a

race

every

region and

this

a

could become

Authority

Legislative

group would benefit .

The

KwaZulu / Natal Indaba is not some kind of juggernaut on to which leapt and which we cannot abandon if it is hurtling on to doom . KwaZulu / Natal Indaba is an exploration of partnership The between race groups . If the White race group now does not want to become involved

Mr.

in

that

Speaker ,

matter .

partnership ,

then we have

Honourable Members , Mr. know that

this C.J.

all

We

compromised

is , however , the Heunis ,

for

nought .

not a simple of Minister

Constitutional Development and Planning , did not speak for the Party when rejected he own his of members file and of in his press statement proposals Indaba KwaZulu / Natal November

1987 .

I was

shocked by what

so

issued the

following

Mr.

press

Heunis

to

say

that

I

immediately

statement :

PRESS

BY DR .

1

had

rank the 27th

CHIEF MINISTER ,

STATEMENT

MANGOSUTHU BUTHELEZI KWAZULU

&

PRESIDENT OF

INKATHA

statement reports of a media , published at the weekend , Constitutional Minister of Chris Heunis , Friday by Mr. rejection which has been described as a Development and Planning ,

Certain nade

on

by the Minister

I

am appalled

of the

by what

the way in which he Mr. Heunis and his

KwaZulu / Natal

Mr.

Heunis

has

proposals .

Indaba

said ,

as well

as

appalled by

I must now ask myself whether chose to say it . Cabinet colleagues even know the meaning of the

word negotiation .

After long and bublished a set development

of

the careful deliberations KwaZulu /Natal Indaba of consensus proposals for the constitutional the

KwaZulu /Natal

region .

requested by Mr. Heunis himself to provide : he KwaZulu Government to these proposals .

I

was

subsequently

him with the response I did so formally on

of on

196

the

29

October

Mr.

1987 .

Heunis

had

undertaken

table

to

my

response and the response of the Natal Provincial Administration to the could proposals formally so that the South African Government react to them . While we were waiting for issued a statement reported in the press Indaba proposals

There it for

is

in

detail

clearly nothing

and

this reaction Mr. Heunis in which he slams the

in principle .

to negotiate

about

but

that

aside

I

find

a

contravention of every diplomatic norm and basic good manners Mr. Heunis to respond to the document he himself asked me produce , through the media . If Mr. Heunis wanted to wipe the Indaba proposals off the negotiating board , he could at least been man enough to inform me that this was his intention .

I

cannot

subscribe to the view attributed

to

Professor

Dawid

Wyk , the Director of the Indaba , that Mr. Heunis ' statement a rejection of the Indaba but rather a re - statement of some

have

van

was not the of

objections expressed by the Government in the past . The rejection of the proposals by Mr. Heunis breaks entirely new ground in the rejection

not

only of the proposals but

also of the

politics

of

negotiation .

I want to make it quite clear , as I have done repeatedly , that the KwaZulu/ Natal Indaba is not my Indaba . Their proposals are not my proposals . Inkatha did participate in the work of the Indaba and Government support did the KwaZulu the Indaba proposals in principle . This support was support for that which could possibly break a political log - jam . This support did not indicate any basic shift in thinking shift by the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly or Inkatha . I and all my political associates have always cherished a system as one - man - one - vote of, government in a unitary State an ideal for South Africa . Our support in principle for the Indaba indication of our preparedness proposals was an to meet other points of view half way if they in turn would travel their half of the way .

itself is that the Government indicates statement Heunis ' Mr. has adopting an all - or - nothing stand and I reject the reasoning he for his rejection of the Indaba reported in the press , as given , It appears to me that we proposals . political reconciliation and that the

are a million miles Government does not

the meaning of the word negotiate , know the meaning of the word compromise .

but

it

also

does

away only

from not

not

know

Mr.

Heunis rejects the Indaba proposals because he says they are rather suitable for " minority protection in a majority model more equal powerthan efficient group participation on the basis of words , sharing . " No amount of twisting of no amount of filibustering change will the is reality that there a Black majority in South Africa KwaZulu / Natal region .

the and that there is a Black majority in There is indeed a Black majority in Natal

197

the South African Government Unless itself . reality , there to this what is negotiate reality

The

Indaba proposals

KwaZulu / Natal

You

have

made

a

many

great

South Africans uneasy because they go too far in the the country's White , Indian and Coloured minorities . minorities . or in the

What is National

terms

to

with cannot

of existence .

negotiate political

out

comes about ?

Black

protection of They are the

there to negotiate about either in Whites Council if reject the

the Indaba best that

minority democratic Blacks can do to ensure that Whites ' rights of will be protected in the constitution and by law ? The whole establishing democracy about is majorities for parliamentary purposes . majority This is

I

Mr. Heunis complains that under the Indaba party would be dominant in all government

complaining

must

ask

now

also

about

democracy

itself .

myself what

the

of

is

value

in the Joint Executive Authority . participation in which rands and cents are shuffled authority

proposals the institutions .

KwaZulu's

Is it only to be the around within

oppressive framework that the White minority National Party imposes I have never seen the Joint Executive on the vast Black majority ? I Authority as anything other than a step in the right direction . of session made this clear to the State President at the opening Is the statement issued by Mr. on the 3rd November . J.E.A. the

State

Heunis the

President's

rejoinder

to

what

I

had

to say ?

It is so deeply tragic that Mr. Heunis made his statement at a there in which has never been more consensus between Black

time and

White about the need to break away from apartheid . His statement pulls the political rug from beneath my feet and he shows total handling of disregard not only for my views but for the correct differences

of view .

He is being the baas ,

laying

down the law and all democracy by

stating that the hard work and the commitment to the delegates of the Indaba must be discredited because not Why

delegates from the in heaven's name

composition political

of

Government the does

the KwaZulu / Natal

and the ruling representative count

so

little

they

National nature for

this

were

Party . of the Party

baas ?

It is truly tragic that the State President is a leader who cannot lead . What hope is there of normalising South Africa as a modern , industrial - type , multi - Party the Western State in which free is free to the enterprise system to make its contribution

who development of South Africa ? It is the enemies of democracy Heunis ' statement . will be rubbing their hands in glee at Mr. It for political purposes arm is those who kill whose has been strengthened by his statement . hands of revolutionaries who democracy

and the

free

enterprise

His statement plays right into the wipe multi - Party want to away system .

198

I

have

my

today expressed

views

own

as

a

Black

political

leader

responsibilities with responsibilities as President of Inkatha and I will now have to consult with as the Chief Minister of KwaZulu . views Legislative Assembly and Inkatha to hear their KwaZulu the before I only to

formally react to Mr. express my own total of

politics

of

trampled upon

is being so

negotiation

through one passing South Africa .

today I intend Heunis ' statement . the dismay and my deep disgust that

its

phases

delicate

most

in

29

Market members

research give

constitutional

has

indicated the

very

substantial

proposals .

We

must

extent

it

while

history

the

NOVEMBER 1987 ULUNDI

to which National

support therefore

to in one

is of

Party

the

Indaba's

sense

exercise

caution in making up our minds about whether or not we now withdraw our offer to make the compromises which led to us supporting the Indaba's constitutional proposals in principle . Were it not for my background knowledge of Mr. Heunis ' speaking against a very substantial number of people in his own Party ,

the wishes of I would have

withdrawn from having any further involvement in the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba when Mr. Heunis released his press statement .

sum my were to I own feelings up when I say we prepared make compromises and it is now up to the White electorate to get their Party political leaders to make matching compromises . The National local , and Party's Durban provincial leaders rejected the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba out of hand from the outset . The Indaba has thrown a cat amongst the National Party pigeons . Politically Speaker , Mr. speaking , Honourable Members , that cat is now there and it will remain there whether or not we continue supporting the Indaba's

constitutional proposals

or not .

I am just terribly concerned about the time factor . We have never ever adopted a laissez faire political philosophy . We have never expressed any kind of belief that a just society would evolve in see this country over time if we do not do anything ourselves . Mr. Speaker , it as terrible dangerous for Inkatha and this House ,

to to

be hung up at some kind of cross - roads while we wait for Whites arrive there and to decide which direction they are going to the Our support in principle for KwaZulu / Natal take . constitutional

around our

proposals

necks and to

In practical KwaZulu / Natal

terms ,

must

not

be allowed

limit

our

political options .

we

cannot

constitutional

act

on

proposals . Mr. now .

programme in them for us right on behalf of the Government after

a

to become

our There

full

a

support is

no

millstone

for

the

political

Heunis has rejected Cabinet meeting .

them The

Cabinet has closed ranks on this issue . Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , it is not as though it has closed ranks over the specific constitutional proposals that were made by the Indaba . It has closed ranks in rejecting the Indaba per se . We

in KwaZulu

and

Inkatha would

not

have

made

one

single

compromise

199

the we had to entertain the prospect of having to re - negotiate if compromises around the acceptance that South Africa constitutional the rejects Heunis When Mr. a country of minorities . only is every he rejects basis of the KwaZulu /Natal Indaba , majoritarian were we which on and he rejects the basis made we compromise It is ranks .

prepared to make compromises . African Government has closed

this

issue

on which the

South

I have drawn I have ranged far and wide . this Policy Speech , In what ANC's the to the members of this House of attention the Mission in Exile is doing and what the UDF and COSATU are doing in Black that harmony I have drawn attention to the fact with it . The leaders . constituency - less being corrupted by is politics of spiralling country as consequence is witnessing an upward a under violence and a necessity the Government finds of ruling only a national everything principle

I

state have

for the

On

the 20th

met

and

of emergency . It is in this total said that I am now looking at our

KwaZulu / Natal

February

adopted the

Indaba

this year ,

following

the

constitutional

Central

explored

every

proposals .

Committee

of

Inkatha

possible

avenue

Inkatha the

applaud

bold way

WE 1 .

involved

of negotiation .

in the politics

of negotiation .

To

express our unanimous support for KwaZulu and intention of referring KwaZulu for the / Natal principle for

our President's stated support Inkatha's in Indaba constitutional the Legislative Assembly and to

Inkatha .

To unanimously support our President's view that the politics in of negotiation demand compromises from all those involved negotiations and that when compromises are made on one without there being accompanying compromises on the original the withdrawn side , compromises must be compromise

3.

has Own

THEREFORE RESOLVE :

to the KwaZulu proposals to Annual General Conference of

2 .

our

in which

We hold him in the greatest esteem for the way in which he constantly supported the leaders of Inkatha who each at their level have been

of in

resolution :

We the members of the Central Committee of President , Dr. Mangosuthu G. Buthelezi , for he has

context support

То

is

met

with

compromise .

a Work Group establish which Committee

Central

side other until

composed will

of members be

charged

of

Inkatha's with

the

by responsibility of formulating a response to the rejection Chris Heunis , the Minister of Constitutional Development constitutional Indaba the KwaZulu / Natal of Planning , and and his rejection of the reality of there being a proposals And to charge the Work Group Black majority in South Africa . widespread and detailed after response their up to draw

200

consultation with opinion outside

makers

Inkatha's the

and

the KwaZulu

members , Inkatha leaders , Black constituency within leaders and

Legislative

Assembly .

whom some of members of the Central Committee , I nominated as members of the Work Group under of this Assembly , members Chairmanship of the Honourable is the list of their names and

WORK GROUP

INkosi INkosi Dr.

S.H.

Dr.

D.R.B. F.T.

Mr. Mr.

S.E. Musa

Prince G. Mr. Eric

the

following

Gumede Biyela Madide Mdlalose Sithebe Zondi Zulu Lucas

M. M. John

September

Dr. Mr.

B.S. S.

Ngubane Bhengu

Bhengu

Secretariat

:

Inkatha

Excellency ,

Office

the

above

members .

TERMS

OF REFERENCE

1.

and

MEMBERS

Mr. Mr.

His

Dr. F. T. Malolose , terms of reference :

are the

President

to

appoint

the Convenor

from

the

investigation and /or is assessment whatever necessary enable the members of the to Legislative KwaZulu Assembly in engage to Conference and General Inkatha a constructive and informed debate on the wisdom or otherwise of continued involvement in the JEA and KwaZulu's Inkatha's of

То

undertake

and KwaZulu's

continued support of the Indaba proposals in the light of the rejection of the Indaba proposals by the Minister of Constitutional Development and Planning .

2.

To

interview any persons

to the success

of

and/ or groups

that

might

contribute

such investigation .

Honourable Members , Mr. the issue I am addressing is SO Speaker , the that I would not dare to act unilaterally as very fundamental President of KwaZulu or as the Chief Minister of KwaZulu . Inkatha I am to now situation the respond to have will Inkatha as addressing . simply Inkatha response be cannot of final The formulated Conference leadership .

anywhere of I

other

Inkatha . have a dual

than General at this Annual year's Democracy on time places restraints I am both role in my political life .

This President of Inkatha and the Chief Minister of KwaZulu . the Inkatha is in however , mean that I have a divided role . does not , if Party ruling in terms the in KwaZulu even political

201

terms

constitutional Legislative the case .

Mr. act

Assembly

Speaker , our on

November

Inkatha

as Mr.

Honourable Members , of Mr. rejection It

1987 .

does

control

not

Archie Gumede

so

the

KwaZulu

erroneously stated

was

I say it is prudent not to leap to Heunis ' press statement of 27th

is however also

not

prudent

for

us

in

this

House to hitch the whole of our political future to a KwaZulu / Natal Indaba star . It would be suicidal for us to subjugate this House the to KwaZulu / Natal Indaba . We are not in politics to sink or swim with the Indaba . The Indaba is an exploration in co - operation and if that co - operation does not work , then we must be free to experiment

again until we

end

up

in

something

that

does work .

Speaker , Honourable Mr. Members , the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba constitutional proposals were arrived at after years of hard work negotiating . and They were the final outcome of initiatives I

to mounted as far back as 1979 when I began the preliminary steps set up the Buthelezi Commission . The Commission itself took something like two years to produce its findings . The Buthelezi Commission

followed by difficult

was

negotiations with

the the

then

Natal Provincial Council which eventually led to the establishment of the Joint Executive Authority which is a constitutional reality today . we from did days In early the everything right through to our involvement in Commission Indaba , we kind political of the pursued

Buthelezi the of KwaZulu / Natal the constitutional

and

breakthroughs

in this region of South Africa that would enable the Every apartheid . of this region to escape the tyranny of people step take . to we took was related to the next step we were going

a very real sense , In Estep which made sense the

Buthelezi

culminating the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba was a mounted of what we were doing ever since we

Commission

initiative .

1 Members , in that Honourable point , Mr. Speaker , the make NI constitutional the for reconsidering in principle support Our also necessarily the KwaZulu/ Natal Indaba we must for proposals Executive the Joint in involvement our reconsider to have Authority . itself .

We never became involved in this Authority as an end in towards first step as a it seen always have We

establishing a

Joint

the not possible , gas nonsensical . Mr.

this

first

Authority .

House .

Members , Honourable occasions on which I need It

is

isolated

step will be

Speaker ,

important

: in

Legislative

vitally

important

this a

is

If the second

step is

in political

history

one

clearly articulated that

the

issues

very

those

of

I

view

have

connection with the KwaZulu / Natal Indaba be thoroughly the context of everything I have said in my policy within Mr. Speaker , I now ask for that debate .

of

raised debated speech .

202

Mr. mess and

Speaker , Honourable Members , in the totality of the political life which we have to consider constitutional issues and in country , we death issues which affect the very future of the at

have

the

to

time

same

liberation by some

I

have the profoundest

country's

this

of

of

with the

deal

respect

betrayal

and

scholarship

real

for

cause

true

the

of

academics .

regard

I

universities as the spawning ground for constructive innovation our In faces . it grapples with the problems country this been always we have racial reconciliation , for drive constant shoulders deeply grateful for those Whites who have stood head and

our as

above

their peers

their White

and making

It is times , of

in grasping the

therefore

for

liberal

me all

South Africa's White

too - clever - by - half

with all the liberation .

contribution

the

academics

who

that

have also

dabble

in

in

1970's when Black

students

started

telling White

change .

more

recent

produced

esoteric

trappings of really being involved in the NUSAS was, a forerunner to these academics

them

around

meaningful

to

more tragic

universities

Africa

of

realities

a crop

politics

struggle for in the early

students

that

they

wanted to go it alone in SASO . From this development onwards , more over and more White academics have leant further and further their backwards in attempts to be blacker than Black in kind perceptions . They did this usually by adopting some pseudo of Marxist liberation

orientation an being as

in which they regarded the ongoing conflict between

struggle workers

for and

capital . For them the struggle for liberation was merely symptomatic of a deeper political process which made activists in the struggle for liberation mere puppets pulled by the strings of unfolding history of the universe .

in the outworking

of

some

kind of political

book The " An Appetite for Power : Buthelezi's Inkatha climbs Africa " by Gerhard Mare and Georgina Hamilton

laws

and South the very

heights of analytical absurdity all in the name of the struggle for liberation . It claims to be a well - researched academic document and it is written as though it is a major work . In the book we find that the authors think that Inkatha is the cause of violence townships ; are in Natal's that the leaders of Inkatha mostly officials of the State and that " political and

' KwaZulu bantustan ' who are paid by the apartheid with Inkatha is involved in an unholy alliance economic forces which seek to prevent the radical

transformation demanded by the main political and union movements . " The book paints a picture in which Inkatha usurps " the status of banned African National Congress , the appropriating ANC colours , songs and language " and that Inkatha is led by myself is promoted the West as "by conservative politicians in a moderate antiapartheid

In

force . "

chapter 1 the authors lament my growing popularity with the media , the business community of South Africa , Western governments and so - called conservative reformers in South Africa . It argues

203

the

family to royal use the status of the Zulu I that South of Zulu political hegemony over Natal and the rest The book states that I never played through Inkatha . any

thesis

achieve Africa

role significant Bantu . Authorities million

Inkatha's

today with the

the in the ANC League and that I never opposed The book denies the Act of 1951. of reality of Inkatha plus membership and it equates the

organisation

Inkatha

King

in

founded

Solomon

1928 .

approach the socialist accuses book of deviating from me d of nde y by Dr. propou Sibusiso Bengu when he was Secretar - General ons argue to on goes Inkatha . accusati book the , these Against that organisations that Inkatha clashed with virtually all has is Inkatha the system . It goes very far in stating that oppose

The

for violence in townships responsible with the South African Police .

and

that

Inkatha

co - operates

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , when you look at these accusations my in policy against the background of what I have been saying you yet again see the extent to which the ANC'S vicious speech being from propaganda is working out in surprising places . Far with academics independent minds pursuing scholarly analysis , Gerhard Marais to the give propaganda

In

normal

and Georgina ANC Mission

a semblance

Hamilton have only applied their minds blatantly in Exile's Party political

of academic

circumstances

it

would

respectability .

been beneath my dignity

have

even

to to comment on a book such as this which is pretentiously trying of re - statement it is no more than a pathetic when academic ре normal in live not do We propaganda . Party political battle for minds is raging in South Africa and A circumstances . sowe cannot ignore political poison which flows from the pens of nor can we simply throw it in the gutter because called academics , is the gutter activists who are doing their best to destroy the it upwards Violence is spiralling values of the struggle . hallowed of flames the fan Power " Appetite for " An like books and violence .

Mr.

Honourable Members ,

Speaker ,

of Education , He this book .

" This

Dr. O.D. states :

recently

published

compulsory political for serious minded Movement #

The

fact

and

Dhlomo ,

I

for

book

Honourable Minister

very accomplished

can best

be

two

authors

review of

described

bible for the anti - Buthelezi objective and researchers

South African politics

that the

commend the his

as

a

forces and taboo on the Inkatha

in general .

make no

attempt

to

conceal

their

Mangosuthu Buthelezi and Inkatha and pathological bias against Dr. UDF , and uncritical support for all that the paternalistic : heir indiscriminate including ( presumably stand for COSATU and ANC

204

bombings book

and

into

a

necklacing )

party political

dealing

After

reduces

with

Honourable Dr.

the

Dhlomo

their

propaganda

book's

allegedly

' well

researched '

pamphlet . "

content

in

detail ,

some

the

concludes :

" The book presents an openly biased assessment the politics of Dr. Buthelezi . All sources

and been

of Inkatha that have

extensively quoted are written by authors who are equally biased . The one source that has been sparingly quoted ( and seriously challenged by the two authors where it appears to be sympathetic towards Dr. Buthelezi ) is Temkin's biography . In bias fact the authors do make a revealing admission of their on page

233 when they state :

' Temkin's biography

of Buthelezi

( 1976 ) has been used rather reluctantly . ' Quotations from Dr. Buthelezi's speeches and from other Inkatha spokesmen are lifted indiscriminately from the text , analysed and criticised the out of context to fit in with authors ' preconceived thesis .

However , authors

Buthelezi .

of the book is weakness main interviewed their

moral

one never

once

relied

instead

have

They

on

his

two Dr.

the that character

statements

( some

of which were made in the early 1970's ) without even bothering check whether or not they are misrepresenting his official to the escape cannot One standpoint a number of issues . on to the fact in was intention that initial conclusion they misrepresent and Inkatha to ensure that Buthelezi Dr. be This fact will not come out in the worst possible light . lost

Mr.

to discerning

Speaker ,

readers . "

Honourable Members ,

I

again

and

again

realise

just

how

hideous apartheid really has been for so long when I see the effect of apartheid in academics like Gerhard Mare and Georgina Hamilton . It

is

are it .

contaminated by the poisonous values which have always pervaded It is as if one must call them the alternative academics now

that we

It

is

as though apartheid

have

the

so - called

interesting that

is

so

hideous

alternative

this

that

even

its

press .

published with the

book is

proponants

assistance

say this because we have also from a attacks continuously Southern the by this country

I of the Catholic Institute abroad . at the receiving end of vicious been newspaper

which

is

published

in

New Nation .

They

want it to pass as a newspaper but it is in reality no more which promotes the ANC /UDF /COSATU alliance rag propaganda

than the at

African

expense

Catholic

of

Bishops '

Conference

called

The

Inkatha .

I regret the fact that steps have been taken against The New Nation because the kind of action taken against the The New Nation makes things worse for South Africa . It underscores the image of this

205

totalitarian

a

country as

State .

When

criticise

I

The

New Nation

I

am not approving of the action the Government has taken against it , nor do I approve in any way of the incarceration of the Editor of being without for so long Zwelakhe Sisulu , Nation Mr. New The n Draconia Long before before the Courts of our country . charged were used against The New Nation I had decided to comment laws The New Nation

The

New

with it .

Nation is It

is

speech .

policy

my

in

so

very

counter - productive

counter - productive

in the

that

search

I

unity on which the whole struggle now rests . I can hope to achieve the Black unity which we are all the foreseeable future if the so - called alternative damndest

to

portray

Inkatha

as

the

number

one

had

to

deal

for Black national we cannot see how

enemy

craving for in press does its of the

people .

seeking can indulge in all the formal blandishments of leaders We Mail Weekly unity but for as long as The New Nation and The Black have to will it write as they do write about Inkatha's leadership , be accepted that the fight to the finish .

Mr.

Speaker ,

fight

which has

Honourable Members ,

I

already begun

is

going to be a

am deeply saddened

disunity because it gives our oppressors so desperately seek in which to prolong

about

the borrowed time our oppression .

Black

they now It is as

perpetuating though we are under some curse which condemns us into the in press , so - called alternative The oppression . own Our academics " " alternative of what one can now perhaps call company are the channels of people .

along

which this

curse

enters

the

and minds

hearts

to The contamination which The New Nation and some academics bring South Africa's Black body politic is spreading . We are now witness to be

another Catholic Zulu a version

Church newspaper called ' UmAfrika ' emerging to Party New these of The Nation . Together villifying that are promoting the illusion by

propaganda rags Inkatha and its

leadership

will

thin

vanish

into

hard

enough ,

Inkatha

and

its

leaders

air .

Speaker , Members , Honourable Mr. the complexity of African situation is virtually being compounded daily .

South the While on

the subject of the alternative press , so - called , I want to bring to the attention of Members of this House that Nasionale Pers is Government - sponsored what can only publishing be called a alternative

press

endeavour

in publishing the

City Press .

I find it takes the Cabinet Board Press

hideously anomalous that the South African Government action it has taken against The Nation , New whereas Ministers and eminent Afrikaners have always sat on the

of Nasionale Pers which publishes the City Press . The City has also conducted a vicious propaganda programme against

206

Inkatha's doing

I

are aware

has eulogised about Inkatha's UDF and COSATU developments .

just

how many

and

in

Party

National

file

and

rank

enemies

their opinion - makers are promoting the kind in negotiation of politics against the y actuall It is failing commercial venture .

that

propaganda

vicious

funding costing

It

promotes

sometimes

wonder

members of

leaders .

so it

City Press as a money to maintain

City Press

the

and the politics of negotiation . disbelief and sadness head in

vendetta

Inkatha

against

One can only at times shake one's of the at some of the dimensions

South African problem .

of Members , context this in is it Honourable Speaker , Mr. r 1987 Novembe disbelief that I now turn to the expressing total This Review publishes an article issue of ' World Marxist Review ' . Joe Slovo under the heading " Cracks by In this article , Joe Slovo says :

1.

2.

" ....It It

is

it the

seeds

clear of

that a

the

very

[ South African ]

sudden

Racist

country

exploiters

a kind and

the

situation

has

within

transformation . "

of nationwide

adds

that

crisis

exploited which ,

classical formulation , transformation . "

sets

two psychological

the

of

breaches He says colonial

for

" great

a

that

confidence

in the permanent

to

the

Lenin's

major

social

importance

have

the have an impact on e that the impotenc the domination has been

severely eroded and that the people are " now convinced long it may take , race rule can be destroyed . "

says

both

affecting

according

stage

barriers

been permanently breached and these struggle equation in our country . " people felt for 350 years under

He

Bloc . "

Power

signs have emerged " Although the process is not yet complete , in the last two and a half years that there is developing in our

He

in the

survival

of

that

race

however

rule

has

political been badly eroded and that there is the beginning of the disintegration power of the previous relatively monolithic racist bloc .

He

says

" Apartheid

and

its

inherited

social

framework

has ,

in

certain key sectors , begun to act as a break on the development of productive forces . " He points out that South Africa is poised to into move a higher technological level of production and this is hampered by the shortage of skilled and semi - skilled process is labour resources brought about by race barriers . He points out becoming that " Growing numbers among the white middle class are not that , in the long run , aware a defence of the status quo is He feasible and will lead to sharper and more violent conflict . "

207

in White society being caused by the breakdown of ferment d aparthei . He sees a White South African dependency on the Western industrialised community of nations . In political terms he sees that " In the result , those among the bourgeoisie who are reform

sees

orientated have no mass political constituency and , for the moment , find themselves in a political wilderness . He says : " It has become abundantly clear in the recent period that the racist regime and its supporters no longer have the confidence that they can continue to rule in the old way .

In

this

Black

article ,

society

Joe Slovo

and

adds

talks

that

about

" But the

a

massive

crisis

and

fermentation ferment

which

in we

have described has also led to the emergence of new groupings which cannot be ignored as part of the forces for change but which cannot necessarily be regarded as part of the revolutionary forces . "

is then adds " An important group that falls into this category made up of that sector of the bourgeoisie whose class interests are no longer served by old style apartheid . They seek the kind of He

transformations

which

go beyond the

reform

regime but which will at the same time objectives of the revolutionary forces . " says he " Despite these limitations ,

limits

of the

present

pre - empt the longer term And then a sentence later the reform orientated

He bourgeoisie cannot be regarded as part of the main enemy camp . " argues that " A serious revolutionary movement must work to broaden base of opposition to the main enemy , the implying ever widening motivated varieties of by opposition some of which may not be revolutionary

intentions . "

Against this kind of thinking , Joe Slovo then states : " The question is , however , continually posed whether a negotiated solution to the crisis is possible " and says :

" Our approach on this question has no ambiguities . The bottom line for engaging in serious negotiation must be an acceptance of the principle of majority rule ( one person one vote ) in one a democratic united Once this is accepted as South Africa . other questions can tossed about starting point , many be including legislative provision to secure the individual , the safeguarding of the diverse linguistic heritage of the ethnic and nation , the precise shape of which will

Mr. that

Speaker , someone

replace

the

rights of cultural

entities which make

the democratic apartheid tyranny . "

Honourable Members , I would be excused for

up

the and our

institutions

want to pause here and observe making the mistake that in

speaking in this way Joe Slovo was a member of Inkatha's Central Committee . He perceives the realities he perceives and it is these realities which give rise to our commitment to the politics of negotiation in the realisation that the disaffection with apartheid across race groups , including the White race group , makes political reconciliation a possibility .

208

Having the

written

South

in a way that

African

situation

concedes

has

always

that

Inkatha's

pointed

analysis

vitally

to

of

important

factors in our South African society , Joe Slovo talks about " Puppet And then administrations in the so - called bantustan homelands . " a little while later adds " The regime itself no longer believes that bantustans into the ( the fragmentation of the country so -called homelands ) can serve as solution independent ethnic a to the present for a little

crisis . " Again a little while later he adds " The search middle force of the Muzorewa variety has so far met with who was a success . Buthelezi , the KwaZulu tribal chief ,

possible

candidate ,

leader because

has

of his

lost

support

all

credibility as

for the

regime

a

viable

national

on many vital

issues . "

Inkatha's political line in the Honourable Members , the South African situation have taught Joe Slovo a Inkatha's respects , major in now concedes He thing two . or however , must , He thinking is based on the realities around us .

Speaker , Mr. of realities

continue that a

his vicious variety of

with wide

He can vendetta against Inkatha . organisations non - revolutionary

important in the defeat of apartheid . from every he it exempts Inkatha uninformed are left wondering why ..

When , analysis

say are

comes to the and

however , it makes he

The key to the strange mental and political acrobatics of Joe Slovo For some are found in a series of his utterances in recent years . time final now he has been arguing for a two - phased approach to a socialist

victory

preconditions

are

in

South

Africa .

He

has

for negotiations with the

stated what State

Inkatha's

President

when he

talked about negotiation and said " The bottom line for engaging serious negotiation must be an acceptance of the principle majority Africa . questions

in of

rule Once can

( one person one vote ) in one united democratic South many other this is accepted as a starting point be tossed about including legislative provision to the secure the rights of the individual , the safeguarding of diverse cultural and linguistic heritage of the ethnic entities which make up our nation , and the precise shape of the democratic institutions which will

replace

the

apartheid tyranny . "

If this is Joe Slovo's bottom line and it is an Inkatha - originated bottom line because that is what it is , why does Joe Slovo regard Inkatha as beyond the pale never to be dealt with . The answer is simple , Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members . Inkatha represents power and Joe Slovo only envisages the return of the ANC as a government exile . returned from It is under the ANC's wing that he sees a possible next phase of the struggle the struggle to establish truly communist State in South Africa . He must now ensure that all opposition to that development will be eradicated with the eradication

of apartheid .

South Joe Slovo is alien in his thoughts to the idiom of Black that African politics . He has not yet grasped the reality the struggle

in this

country

is

about

giving the

ordinary Black man

and

209

woman the liberty to want to follow . Joe

they He

choose leaders and organisations which Slovo is not interested in this liberty .

under only wants the ANC to have the liberty to form a government which he as head of the South African Communist Party can pursue a final victory over the ANC itself .

people

and ,

in the

final

analysis ,

over

the

In this article he says " There are no differences between our Party for and the ANC on the immediate objectives of achieving victory revolution , essentially a struggle the national democratic to destroy racism and to build a united democratic South Africa based on the freedom charter . Nor do we differ on the immediate shape of post - apartheid

South Africa .

commitment to a socialist considerable part of

Our

Party

does not

however

hide its

Indeed , it concentrates a socialist to spreading our perspectives and working class organisation . Nor do we hide an advance the winning of democracy will facilitate belief that towards socialism . "

There

we have

African

it ,

Communist

Mr. Party

South Africa . its energies

Speaker , riding

Honourable

on the back

Members ,

the

South

of the ANC worming

its

way into enjoying power advantages which will facilitate its forward drive to establish a communist South Africa . The South to African Communist Party is now so vehemently opposed Inkatha because it knows that Inkatha is a vital force to keep a future South Africa a true multi - Party democracy . Joe Slovo does not want to a multi - Party democracy . He wants a one - Party ANC government set

the

Mr. this

stage

Speaker , country

for a

future

one - Party communist government .

Honourable Members , moving is a now is

the political crisis into which historic national of crisis

There is a battle for minds raging and it is because proportions . experiencing so much at stake in the deep crisis we are is there this At that I have had to dwell at such length on many issues . that Oliver Tambo time of deep national crisis I have said to Mr. I say to Joe Slovo that if he he wants a fight he has got it . if wants a fight too then he has got it , then he has got that too . the finish , South form

to and if he wants a fight Black enough . Enough is

Africa will trounce those who usurp their God - given right to African democracy South Black the that multi - Party the

struggle for

liberation

has

always

had as

Mr. Speaker , I now have to turn to yet some considerable sense of distaste .

its primary objective .

another perennial issue with I refer to Dr. Sibusiso M.

Bhengu and his continuing vendetta against Inkatha . He continues to sit in the offices of the World Lutheran Federation in Geneva involved in what he calls research . He continues to produce antiInkatha propaganda again and was he at addressing it an International Young Men's Christian Association meeting on apartheid . In this address he took the line that capitalism is all evil and socialism is all virtue . He painted a picture of South a country in which apartheid was a form of Nazism Africa and

210

astounding statements that such as " It must be remembered If none Christianity came to Africa with some Nazi influence . of m ny the the of ma missionaries could be identified as being Nazi , influenced were by Nazi attitudes and thinking . " This shows the made

kind of

" research "

that

Dr.

Bhengu

is

undertaking .

The same " research " led him in this article to quote Cedric Mayson , whom he knows at one time befriended me , only to turn traitor to that loyalty when he became contaminated with White liberal syndrome of leaning articulating what

over backwards to appear blacker than Black by a White frontline activist thinks Blacks are

and feeling . There is the so - called alternative press , thinking sothere are the so - called alternative academics and there is the called alternative theologian as well . Anything that is eyedifferent catchingly dramatically is good enough to those who posture

up - front with no

constituency

of the poor for whom they talk with no of being censured for what they say .

Bhengu saying Dr. in Government proves that

backing

amongst

the

poorest

and no

prospect

the South tool of

African economic

consultation

that the behaviour of racism is used as a

quotes exploitation Cedric Mayson as saying " This is the clue to understanding African the apparent ambiguity by which the South not and will authorities permit some people to criticise them others . Andrew Young or the Reverend Leon Sullivan are allowed to visit South Africa even though they are black Americans who are strongly critical of apartheid , because they are promoting a version black of capitalism which is acceptable to the South Government , African which knows it can control and administer it . of Buthelezi and Chief Gatsha Chief Mangope of KwaZulu Bophuthatswana are apartheid because

of given much licence in their criticism they are accept the capitalist structure and

seeking a place in it ; but boys are sent to jail for five or ten years for possessing T - shirts or literature which suggests a link with the ANC because the ANC advocates economic and political change . "

Speaker ,

Honourable Members ,

the glib

shallowness

of this

kind

of language shows that Cedric Mayson and Dr. Bhengu who quotes him grasp of the vital realities of the South African no have situation . They have no grasp , Mr. Speaker , because they have no real involvement in the struggle . They both have to posture and utter

for

acclaim among the

dismal failures when constituency - building inside our country . make - believe world prove themselves

already

converted .

it came to the hard , the development and

They

were

both

on the ground work of of deployable forces

They must both wander around in some kind of in which they attempt to author realities to

correct .

Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members in December 1987 I had to deal with Bhengu Dr. in my Presidential Greetings to a Central Committee Meeting members of Inkatha . Mr. Speaker , I need to update on

211

developments

in

opposition to

Inkatha .

" Racism

ongoing

the

In

saga

December

to me because

gained because hideous more observation

have

suffered

am simply going

I

inhuman

from

they are perceived as of their Inkatha status , anybody else . than pertinent the I make that amongst often SO an in - fighting

organisation's leadership rungs in - fighting but principles feathering . is my want , As people .

I

have suffered exploitation When Black particularly hideous to them . influence of Black by misusing positions

Blacks

and exploitation is exploit to turns

vitriolic

Bhengu's

said :

I

is particularly hideous

from racism .

Dr.

of

to

is not about I

about in

in - fighting advantages

am not today going

to

high nestname

my Comrades ,

ask whether you ,

see the extent to which Dr. Sibusiso Bhengu was fatally flawed venture His a desperate desire to feather his own nest . by It into personal gain commenced from his position in Inkatha . was who

I It was I who sent him abroad to further his studies . South Black in to a leadership position him elevated

Africa .

But

it

is

trust

he who betrayed the

I

put

him and

in

who If I had not elevated him reneged on his Black manhood . would that there was a Sibusiso Bhengu this in have known Personal Just look at the clipping which I asked my world ! to photocopy

Assistant

for you .

Dr. Bhengu's latest outpouring published in the New Nation of hideous .

He postures

as the

as of his anti - Inkatha poison November 26th is unbelievably

architect

of

Inkatha

and

makes

me

pathetic the small boy of politics who reneged on the great Bhengu Sibusiso Bhengu's important political role in life . says that " At present , Inkatha is neither national nor is it working liberation . " Inkatha never for He says that was intended to criticises

become a permanent Inkatha for its

part of KwaZulu . stand against

because , he says , the majority of Black people have openly spoken in favour of sanctions . those who are against violence should be

Bhengu million

in South Africa He claims that pro -sanctions .

challenges the members and he

membership cards to

The poor man disinvestment

was

attend

claim that Inkatha has more than a parrot cries the claim that Inkatha's membership swelled only because people need

school

or

to

qualify

for

housing .

He

claims

that Inkatha is steadily losing ground and that we are engaged had in a struggle for survival as the rank and file in Natal increasingly the of turned from passive acceptance organisation

into

active

opposition .

He

says

that

the

violence in Pietermaritzburg is Inkatha's last attempt to reassert itself . He says that Inkatha is South Africa's UNITA that and although at one time he thought that Inkatha would the reality play the role of Rhodesia's Muzorewa , was far says Inkatha is sponsored by the South African He worse . debecome Government and could a dangerous long - term stabilising

force .

212

have I speaks Western

Bhengu Dr. it on good authority that this same in so like a saintly political prophet out there that was so lacking in African humanity world ,

who the

he He claimed that were refused to come home to bury his mother . and put his foot in South Africa he would be arrested to he his delusions of This is the extent to which cast into jail . well He knows bloody grandeur distorts his soul . political be even not would would to South Africa he come he were that

Jan or as he landed at as he crossed the border , questioned being without times been here quite a few has He Smuts . and a the nobody harassed He is a political Police . by charlatan whom I am quite sure even the South African Security abroad All he does is posture Police at in disdain . sneer Western in his importance at home while he luxuriates about For us as Africans what Bhengu funeral is the mother's his

affluence . away from

has done ultimate

in staying being in

It is a negation of by his political ambitions . dehumanised one's our Ubuntu - Botho ideal to stay away from the funeral of mother on the pretext that one fears than miss any of our arrest prefer does

Bhengu

Dr.

imagine he

Most of us would arrest . funerals . parent's Who

is ?

What went wrong with the man who now so debases himself in the knowledge that he betrayed the sacred by abandoning the struggle in the search for personal pre - eminence and gain ? Before greed took over and drove him to seek

monetary a high

salary in a fast - living international set of globe - trotters , was Africa he given the choice of remaining on in South to or become full - time Secretary - General Inkatha going of latter overseas to further his own ambitions . He chose the and is damned by his choice to his everlasting shame . He now to tries escape that shame by making his act of betrayal a noble act

I

have

year . KwaZulu details

in

support

dealt I

of

" the

true

struggle

for

liberation . "

with this man Bhengu

did so

again

this year

extensively in the in my policy speech to

Legislative Assembly . I do not have to again . The truth is irrelevant for him .

go The

irrelevant The truth

to those who splash what he says irrelevant is who to those

in the spend

destroying

truth while they are to those who are .

the

and

scrape

clothed

in

the

truth is

Switzerland

in

met

instructed a

into

New Nation . their time or bow cloth ,

It

is a lie that when Bhengu was studying ANC's leadership and they the with It is home to establish Inkatha . return

past the

lie

that

him

he to

he was a

It is a lie that prime mover in the establishment of Inkatha . were views parted company with me because he thought my he Africa South He actually left too becoming conservative . He Secretary - General . to remain on as Inkatha's grovelling he get what failed to had he left after Africa South

considered

a

University

of

plum job as Zululand .

Rector The

and Vice - Chancellor get he could

best

of was

the the

213

position of Student Adviser , which was quite adequate for his experience and qualifications . He was not satisfied with that thought and the position that he was better than present Rector

and Vice - Chancellor .

I am not saying this to words . Was Bhengu not

So many villify him , he said so in aware that the University of Zululand

was directly under Pretoria ? When he received his salary as Principal of Dlangezwa High School was he not aware that he now he was the employee of the KwaZulu government which sought house villifies ? When he a loan to build his at Esikhawini from the KwaZulu Finance and Investment Corporation was he not aware that KFC was the economic arm of the KwaZulu desperately sought government . He to further his own nest , ambitions , while at the same feather his time own retaining finally himself

some

kind

of Inkatha

When

importance .

he

had

to make the choice , he made the choice of gain for abandoned those whom he now purports are being and

betrayed by me .

He could not come back to bury his poor mother because he show not his face of shame in our midst . He dare not back

to prove to

the world that

nobody who would be

totally

I

am

ignored

right

is

and that he

as he went

dare come

back and

a

forth .

He postures in Europe in political ignorance about the reality of the South African struggle . He now makes it his mission in hat , life to politically prostitute himself at the drop of a to anyone who is why his

is politically opposed to statement denigrating me

me and Inkatha . and Inkatha is

That like

political manna to " The New Nation " whose target is no longer apartheid , but whose target is now Inkatha and my leadership .

we

Comrades ,

must

face

the

stark

realities

around

us

in

this

country while at the same time we face the stark realities of the Bhengu - type betrayals of the values our people are dying the streets of Pietermaritzburg townships and for in elsewhere .

We must

face the

reality

that

the

flaw of greed in

the Bhengus of this world continues to grow in depth and width has until it opened the way for evil to enter hearts and souls . at but

We must

face the

reality that

this

its worst which began not with things with things that were a lot more in

is

people hidden

human

failure

objected to , danger than

people ever saw . The path to greed and grandiose concepts self is a path down an incline which is hardly noticeable first but which eventually becomes so steep that you have keep

running

ever

who

betray

Those danger from

faster or

are bad

than those who do

those in our betray . We dare future betrayals .

fall on your

enough but

to

face .

there

the betraying .

of at

is

That

even

a

danger

worse

comes who midst who give respectability to those of not turn a blind eye to the beginnings We dare not condone those who seek worldly

214

riches

at the expense

pretend all to

of political

integrity .

We

that we are not human and that we too the temptations that all mankind is

dare

not

are not subject subjected to .

Ironically enough , the higher one's calling in life is , and the higher one climbs up the tree of success , the further you have to fall when you do fall . Comrades , let us be warned . should We be on the alert lest we find ourselves doing a Bhengu political somersault tomorrow , to the political glee of rags which posture as respectable newspapers and who give him the credibility he does not deserve , at our political expense .

I

have before

presented you with the

Inkatha being like a man on the into two valleys . both sides

image

of

the

speak . Know that I do not cry wolf when there Know that the going will get tougher and that test

of

Inkatha's

resolution

President

of

mountain top who can see down For God's sake hear me as I

and

its

are no wolves . ultimate the

commitment to

political

decency as it serves the time - honoured values of the struggle for liberation , will be tested as it has never been tested Know before . that when I talk about the need to charter a course into each other ,

1988 in total unity of purpose and solidarity with that I am talking about a very real need and I am

talking about of 1988 as we

the urgent need to begin responding to meet this year at the close of 1987. "

the

needs

It is in the context of the ANC Mission in Exile's and the South Party's continuing onslaught African Communist against Inkatha because liberty

on

the their

organisations , that Dr. Bhengu and others find the licence to their kind of attacks on Inkatha and the KwaZulu Government .

make

ANC

and

The

it is of

a powerful grass root organisation insisting the people to choose their leaders and

sooner Black

South Africa now

finally deals with the

the SACP and their working allies in the UDF and COSATU , the sooner all the hideous sniping and back - stabbing productive of So much Black disunity will

cease .

in The corruption of social institutions and the roles of people them and the corruption of South Africa's institutionalised life , is also there in some Black trade union developments . As a leader I represent the aspirations of the masses . Inkatha

Black itself

being the largest Black political organisation ever to have emerged in the history of South Africa is representative of Black South Africa . It is therefore only natural that it is itself dominated by workers democratic

and peasants . These workers and peasants power in Inkatha when its leadership is

its priorities strategies . It

is therefore

are

being

determined

natural that

I have

and when

led to

it

exercise elected ,

adopts

their when

tactics

represent the

and

interest

of workers . I have always championed Black trade union development and as circumstances change in South Africa , I see the importance

215

of

Black trade

unionism growing . I must do so because I see the interdependence between Black and White giving rise to Black bargaining power . It is in Black trade unions that which tremendous advantage can be taken in the circumstances

economic increased such

Black /White

interdependence produces .

economic

is because Black trade unions have got such a vitally important I to play in the evolution of a democratic South Africa that role their that trade unions do their trade union jobs and make demand It

contribution where

should be made .

it

I have never ever attempted to interfere in the internal workings of Black trade unions . I regard worker interests on the factory floor and beyond the factory gate as the proper domain for trade leaders , union shop stewards and members . There is a massive amount

of work to be

done which they are best

fitted

to

do .

That is why , Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , whenever increasing numbers of Black workers came to me deeply perturbed by the extent which there was an emerging tendency amongst many Black trade unions , and in COSATU unions in particular , to abandon worker interests , May 1986 .

I

agreed

to

speak at

the

launching of UWUSA in Durban

in

Since its inception , I have never attempted to manipulate UWUSA for have only encouraged Party political purposes . I it and its leadership as I have encouraged every genuine black trade union striving

for

the

upliftment

of this

country's Black workers .

COSATU In my policy speech I have again and again had to refer to More than anywhere the context of an ANC /UDF /COSATU alliance . in that dangers COSATU Shows Black South Africans the terrible else are inherent in a process in which committees elected by committees elect office bearers who represent the committees that were elected by other committees .

union based individual the that it is show yet related worker membership working in the context of COSATU - type suffer the most as a result of will that interests , democracy developments Just as grass root is South Africa . in

History will directly on

damaged by the interests

gave need the

umbrella

damaged by COSATU's

Ironically , I strengthening trade

UDF's

unions .

would their

structure , umbrella

so are grass

root

worker

structure .

never be opposed to individual trade cause by establishing alliances with I would never be opposed to any structures

unions other

which trade unionism a more effective collective clout . There is for alliances between trade unions which in turn give rise to can be need for the structures within which those alliances

216

made the

effective .

real power

industry

level ,

In a sound no action collective do

so .

however ,

When , of the then

union

at

those structures

the

is another

it

factory matter

own game . One has receives which

COSATU

passes needed .

on

to

the

only to it uses

to

usurp

at

and

the

altogether .

grass

root

suspect Party political constantly have strings to COSATU . and shop

unions . individual It and uses them as pawns in

look at the amount of in its own programmes unions where

It is COSATU which has usurped the South Africa and made the black

affiliated to unions

turned

level

trade union development , a federal body would undertake of its own and would only be brought into action by the interests of the individual units when they decided to COSATU represents the exact opposite healthy of this

process . COSATU lays down the laws for tells them what to do and not what to do its

floor

the

money and

money

rightful role of trade trade union movement

that never

really

is

unions in highly a

force . Mr. Speaker , Honourable Members , of complaints by Inkatha members in unions We all know that floor stewards to

COSATU is using its politicise workers

direction which has nothing to do with working for their related interests or their interests as workers beyond the

access in a labourfactory

gate .

Speaker ,

Mr.

representative dominate .

This

this House is OĔ Member Honourable a peasants Black communities in which workers or

every of

House has the

interests

of workers

at

heart

and

Mr.

Speaker , I am sure I speak for everybody when I say bluntly that if the have been there would never never came into being , COSATU today be workers in the Howick region would and strife SARMCOL off COSATU that better the I say bluntly than they now are . forerunner instigated hideous the was the to SARMCOL strife Pietermaritzburg employing violence which followed in the wake of Howick the in purposes by COSATU political power for brutal region .

COSATU betrays worker

interests when it works with the UDF and

ANC Mission in Exile to set hideous violent conflicts .

the

Black brother against Black brother in It betrays worker interests when it

does it damndest to escalate violence until the hard -won democratic triumph which has been won as practice on the ground a over a vicious onslaught against apartheid , is destroyed . COSATU heads a all workers who do not toady to their political demands to do whatever can be done to establish a future South Africa in which the life - giving

I

yet

again

unshackle

free

enterprise system will be destroyed .

say to the

South African

Government

that

it

must

Black democracy because it is only in an unshackled Black democracy that organisations like the UDF and COSATU just could not people's the survive right to be democratic and to choose the

217

leaders and organisations which they to wish unshackling of Black democracy would establish the

follow . kind of

The

worker

rights which workers want and which COSATU would not survive . The national state of emergency under which the Government rules is productive of the UDFs and the COSATUS of this world . In this very real political sense , COSATU's activities are a product of apartheid .

I

said

at the

Honourable this year works to Government

end of my Policy Speech year , last Mr. Speaker , Members , that we were in for a tough year , say and I we are in for an even tougher year yet . reality All destroy the false euphoria that the South African was already on the

run and

that

there was

only a

short

final push to the kind of victory which the ANC Mission in Exile is wanting . Mr. Honourable Members , Speaker , this year's KwaZulu Assembly Legislative session will have to grapple with the this realities which this euphoria denied and in our work during Session , we will celebrity leaders Africa .

have and

to

carry the

self - appointed

additional leaders

burdens

impose

on

which South