Mandela and Buthelezi Agree to Ending Violence in Townships
On 30 March 1990, Nelson Mandela of the African National Congress (ANC) and Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi of Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) agreed to meet to negotiate ending violence in the townships. The two agreed to make a joint appeal for an end to the violence in South Africa’s battle-scarred Natal province, where political camps had been engaged in violence since the early 1980s.
A spokesman for Buthelezi said the meeting was to be held Monday, 2 April 1990, outside Pietermaritzburg at a locality, known as Taylor’s Halt, which had been the scene of fierce clashes between the two rival parties. An ANC official, confirming the plan, said it was made because “people are dying horrendously in Natal”.
In the evening of 30 March 1990, Mandela told the South African Press Association that “this is no time for people with political differences to stand on ceremony. We must unite now in our commitment to end the violence in Natal and work out a strategy we are all united behind publicly. I hope that when we stand on the platform together and appeal for an end to violence the people will heed our call.”
On Wednesday, 28 March 1990, thousands of heavily armed supporters of Buthelezi went on a rampage against ANC-aligned groups around Pietermaritzburg, 56 kilometres west of the port city of Durban, burning 140 homes, and killing or wounding scores of ANC-supporters. Local authorities on 30 March 1
