SUMMARY
The conflict between Supporters of IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party) and Supporters of UDF (United Democratic Front) took place in the larger context of the struggles surrounding the end of apartheid. The conflict is strongly linked to the conflict between the supporters of ANC (African National Congress) and Supporters of IFP that also took place in the final years of Apartheid. UDF was in many aspects tied to the ANC; the two parties shared the same progressive ideas on how the Apartheid regime should come to an end. IFP on the other hand was more conservative, and at points cooperated with the regime. Not only views on how to end Apartheid formed an incompatibility between the UDF and IFP and thus its supporters, but linked to that a split between rural traditionalist (IFP) and progressive urban citizens (UDF) caused many problems. Additionally, when the UDF was established in 1983 the support for Inkatha, especially in the KwaZulu-Natal region decreased markedly. All this together led to violent conflict between the Supporters of UDF and Supporters of IFP.
Control over territory, and thereby a wider base of supporters formed the cornerstone of the conflict. Since most citizens in the townships and rural areas of South Africa did not have a free choice of which, if any, party or group to support but instead were coerced to support the group that controlled the land on which they lived, the territory was important for all players active in the struggle to end Apartheid. In the early years of the conflict between Supporters of UDF and Supporters of IFP it mainly consisted of encounters in which territory was either lost or won. From January 1988 onwards, the two groups had reached a stalemate. Each side gave up attempting to overrun the other party, and instead focused on the land it had under its control. Yet, whenever there was an opportunity to spoil a stable situation, both sides took that opportunity. These opportunities to spoil could for instance be found in funerals of people who died in the conflict. These funerals were traditional affairs, following a strict protocol. At these funerals, comrades or party-members would be present, and thus an opportunity for revenge or spoiling could be found.
In July 1989, talks for peace started. These talks did not solely involve the national leadership of the UDF and IFP, but also participating were COSATU (Coalition of South African Trade Unions), which was tied to UDF, and the ANC. These talks lead to a significant drop in the violence in the Natal region, and reports of talks between members of the conflicting parties on a more grassroots level were given, and more regional peace initiatives started. Yet, by October the talks on a national level collapsed, and Inkatha indicated that it was not willing to continue negotiations.
In the early days of the conflict, it was not uncommon that armies of both groups consisting of 200-300 men would oppose each other. In order to create these large armies, Inkatha and the UDF deployed different recruitment strategies: Inkatha forced members to sign up. In the rural areas the chiefs and indunas played a large role. They could force people to fight for IFP as a return for favors the chiefs had given years before. When resisting, families were given the ultimatum to leave the area, or were killed. Another form of recruitment was found at the IFP rallies. The people showing up there were often recruited into armies led by warlords. The Supporters of IFP used a wide variety of weapons: from stones, cans of petrol, and traditional weapons to modern weaponry acquired from the police and defense forces. UDF on the other hand put together armies from refugees and affiliated youth organizations. Furthermore, citizens living in non-IFP areas and were not necessarily aligned to UDF, but wanted to defend themselves from Supporters of IFP often joined the UDF and its supporters. There is no evidence of forced recruitment into the UDF ranks. The Supporters of UDF did not have as sophisticated weapons as IFP supporters did. They used traditional weapons and sticks and stones. Their two favorite weapons were home-made: First, a club made from a metal rod with a heavy bolt welded across the bottom. When wielding this like a mace this was an extremely deadly weapon. Second, members of UDF employed a weapon that looks like a walking stick, but with a long metal spike which protrudes out of the end.
The conflict between Supporters of UDF and Supporters of IFP has been confined to the KwaZulu-Natal region in South Africa. The main center of the violence has been Pietermaritzburg, the capital of the region. More specifically, most of the violence occurred in the Eddendale valley west of the city and in the adjoining rural area of Vulindlela. However, at times violence has also spread to Durban.
The non-state conflict between Supporters of IFP and Supporters of UDF is first included in 1989. In early May of that year, clashes between the two supporter groups had resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.
