Amid all the sharp and confusing exchanges between the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party, a strategy is emerging of the type that President Nelson Mandela is so astute at putting in
On the one side, the police and various special investigators are closing in on IFP leaders and allies implicated in violence. Without the KwaZulu Police to cover up any longer, a number of them have proved vulnerable. These include two of the men who have been closest to Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi in the last decade or more: policeman Louis Botha, a long-standing Buthelezi confidante who served as the link between him and the security police, and IFP deputy general secretary MZ Khumalo, who showed his loyalty by taking the rap for Inkathagate and allowing Buthelezi to make the ridiculous claim that he did not know about secret government payouts to help him oppose the ANC.
On the other side, Mandela is using his power and charm to try and encourage the more moderate elements of the IFP, some of whom are exasperated with Buthelezi’s pugnacious approach to politics. Similiarly, Mandela is bending over backwards to win over elements of Buthelezi’s traditional support base among chiefs with promises of more pay and perks.
While this is going on, the government is dealing with Buthelezi’s demands for international mediation, a Shell House shooting inquiry and other matters in a painstakingly meticulous way. They keep talking, but appear unconcerned that there is no real sign of progress. This is probably because they anticipate Buthelezi being more vulnerable by the time these issues reach breaking point.
In this way, the ANC hopes that Buthelezi will be weakened and moderates in his party will be strengthened when it comes to an inevitable showdown over the new Constitution. Time is on their side.
Mandela must be irritated by the fact that he faces flak the minute he shows toughness towards Buthelezi; but his style is to drive on with a firm and clear, though unstated, strategy.