SUMMARY

The conflict between the Supporters of UDM (United Democratic Movement) and Supporters of ANC (African National Congress) started very soon after Sifiso Nkabinde, an ANC leader in the Richmond area and self-proclaimed warlord, was expelled from the ANC for reasons of spying for the Apartheid-regime. Yet, more realistic is the assumption that the ANC banned Nkabinda because of his control over the Richmond self-defense units, which should have been banned after the 1994 elections. Nkabinda’s radicalism and control over these units were opposing the interests of the ANC elites. After being expelled, Nkabinda joined the NCF (National Consultative Forum), which was the predecessor of the UDM, where he remained in control over a large portion of the Richmond self-defense unit and kept a tight grip on the weapons under his control.

The Richmond area was a hotbed for violence between the Supporters of the IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party) and Supporters of ANC in the late 1980s, but Nkabinda had gained control over the city in the early 1990s and became its mayor in 1995. At this point, calm was restored in the area. When Nkabinda was expelled from the ANC, violence in the region flared up quickly again. The main reason behind the violence was a struggle for control over the area. While previously an ANC stronghold, this status was only achieved because of Nkabinda. After his expulsion, Nkabinda proved not able to give up this control, and neither were the regional Supporters of ANC. This led to a violent conflict between the Supporters of UDM (previously NCF) and the Supporters of ANC in the larger Richmond area, in which both parties accused the other of starting the conflict.

The main targets in the conflict were political activists and their families. An often seen pattern was that the targets were attacked in their sleep and shot through the head. In January 1999 Sifso Nkabinde, to whom the conflict between the Supporters of ANC and supporters of the UDM is inevitably tied, was assassinated while in his car parked in front of a Richmond supermarket. Yet, most of the victims were ANC members, killed by Supporters of UDM.

The violence was mainly confined to the larger Richmond area in the KwaZulu-Natal province. In the light of the 1999 elections violence spread also to the Western Cape region. However, here violence never reached the intensity that it did in Richmond.

The non-state conflict between the Supporters of ANC and the Supporters of UDM is first included in UCDP data in 1998. In July that year, violence flared up resulting in over 25 battle-related deaths.