During September and October at least 80 people died in the Pietermaritzburg area of Natal in clashes between supporters of anti-apartheid organisations and Inkatha, the political organisation linked to the Kwazulu bantustan authorities. Such clashes have been a feature of townships around Durban, Pietermaritzburg and other parts of Natal since 1985. Inkatha's political control of the area has been increasingly challenged since the formation of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and an upsurge in the membership of youth groups, many affiliated to the UDF.
According to local church and monitoring groups, over 200 people died between January and mid-October last year as Inkatha stepped up recruitment in the Pietermaritzburg region and attempted to drive UDF and COSATU sympathisers out of the area. In affidavits put before the Pietermaritzburg Supreme Court in November, in support of a COSATU request for orders restraining Inkatha officials from organising attacks on township residents, Inkatha vigilantes were accused of forcing people to either join or swear allegiance to Inkatha. It was alleged that those who refused, or were known to be members of other organisations, risked being assaulted or killed, or having their homes burned. Often their relatives were similarly killed or assaulted.
The affidavits also alleged police complicity in the attacks.
The fatalities in the clashes included members of Inkatha, killed in retaliatory action by members of 'people's defence units' set up by youth and other groups to protect local residents from vigilante attacks. However, over 50 of the 80 people killed between mid-September and mid-October were identified as members of COSATU unions or UDF affiliates. Members of other anti-apartheid organisations including the Azanian People's Organisation were also affected. At the same time more than 1,000 leaders and activists of community organisations were reported to be in hiding.
Anti-apartheid, church and other organisations have long held the view that the attacks are part of a wider pattern of events. These strongly suggest the active collaboration of the central government and bantustan authorities in entrenching the position of Inkatha at the expense of UDF and COSATU. Under the State of Emergency regulations severe restrictions have been placed on UDF-affiliated organisations which prevent them from operating publicly. Inkatha has not been affected by the restrictions. In June, police stations in many parts of Natal were transferred from central government control to the Kwazulu bantustan authorities, leading in some areas to a 'new cycle of violence and intimidation'.
Between July and November, several attempts were made to stop the conflict between the UDF and Inkatha. Officials of Inkatha, including its youth movement, and UDF leaders met on several occasions to discuss ways of preventing retaliatory attacks.
The emergency restrictions on meetings, however, hampered the UDF in discussing the progress of negotiations with members of its local affiliates. Religious leaders, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, attempted to intervene in the clashes. However, various statements by Gatsha Buthelezi, the head of the Kwazulu bantustan and President of Inkatha, suggested that Inkatha's commitment to ending the violence was ambivalent.
The police also intervened. Thirty-eight members of COSATU were detained in the Pietermaritzburg region in mid-November, among them officials involved in discussions to end the violence. Twenty were released soon afterwards but 18 remained in detention. A further 251 people were detained under emergency regulations in raids on youth organisations affiliated to the UDF.
