Wally Mbhele and Wonder Hlongwa
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission may subpoena Inkatha Freedom Party leader Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi to cross-examine him on the IFP’s links with the apartheid government. Officials of the commission confirmed that Buthelezi would be questioned on the basis of the “Walter Felgate archives” — documents handed by his former confidant to the commission when he defected to the African National Congress last year.
How the commission will deal with Buthelezi is one of the major obstacles to an ANC “patriotic alliance” with the IFP.
The ANC this week denied it would merge with the IFP in preparation for next year’s general election. But observers say even talk of a “peace accord” is premature until Buthelezi appears before the truth commission.
Buthelezi could be summonsed this year to answer questions about whether he knew about the formation of KwaZulu-Natal hit squads in the 1980s.
Suggestions of a possible blanket amnesty for KwaZulu-Natal have been rejected outright by the Congress of South Trade Unions (Cosatu), who said it would be “an abrogation of people’s right to justice”.
The truth commission’s investigators are studying so-called “archive material” obtained from Felgate, who last year made a stunning defection from the IFP to the ANC.
Its head of investigations, Dumisa Ntsebeza, refused to be drawn on whether Buthelezi would be called to appear before the commission but confirmed that the alleged involvement of the IFP in hit-squad violence remains “one of the outstanding issues for the new year”.
Ntsebeza said there has been correspondence between Buthelezi and commission deputy chair Alex Boraine, in which the IFP leader had been asked to submit answers to certain “specific” questions.
“He [Buthelezi] replied in the form of a long letter that was more argumentative than providing answers to the questions put to him,” said Ntsebeza.
Another IFP leader, Phillip Powell, has been subpoenaed to appear before a closed hearing to answer questions about his role in the formation of the Caprivi Strip hit- squad unit which consisted of IFP members trained by the South African Defence Force.
“I know he was reported to have said he’ll never come. However, we’re not in the business of playing cat and mouse tactics. We won’t engage ourselves in this sort of political game,” said Ntsebeza.
On Buthelezi’s possible subpoena, Ntsebeza said: “If, against the background of the body of knowledge we have acquired we will need Buthelezi’s assistance, we’ll call him. If we need to persuade him, we’ll consider that.”
During the commission’s special hearing on the Caprivi hit squad last year, evidence given under oath pointed to Buthelezi’s assistance in its formation.
Buthelezi and the IFP have repeatedly said they do not recognise the truth commission as they view it as an organ of the ANC and are under no obligation to honour its activities.
The proposed special amnesty for KwaZulu- Natal warlords does not have the support of the truth commission. The ANC has not yet indicated how it intends overcoming that hurdle.
“We opposed this idea of a blanket amnesty once it was mooted. We don’t believe a merger has to happen to the extent that you have to compromise the justice system forever. The reason why violence worked was because people lost confidence in the criminal justice system,” said Cosatu’s general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi.
Vavi recalled how in KwaZulu-Natal people used to report “a case today and then get killed the following day by warlords who would already know that they had been
reported. If they dare give a special amnesty, then Sifiso Nkabinde and others like the KwaMakhutha warlords’ fate will all be reversed.”
As it moved to dispel suggestions of a proposed merger between itself and the IFP, the ANC said all that was on the agenda was the question of how to co-operate and consolidate peace between itself and the IFP in KwaZulu-Natal.
It is understood that for the ANC to achieve this objective the party is eager to offer a blanket amnesty to various warlords in the province. Is not clear what the organisation expects from the IFP in exchange for the offer.
The ANC’s dilemma was compounded by the shock wave this week from its grassroots structures, which were apparently not briefed about the proposals. Instructions were issued to all branches and regions in KwaZulu-Natal not to provide press statements on the subject but to refer all queries to the provincial office.
IFP general secretary MZ Khumalo told the Mail & Guardian the suggestion of a merger emanated from the ANC. “We won’t have the same brainwave at the same time. We’ll have to react to something formal,” said Khumalo.
He confirmed that a team of 20 people from both parties had been appointed to prepare for a peace summit between the two organisations and refused to comment on the IFP’s position concerning the peace talks and the alliance.
The IFP has in the past indicated that the ANC will have to abandon Cosatu and the South African Communist party before co- operation between the two organisations can be considered by the party. That, according to political observers, means the ANC will have to shift to the centre-right of the political landscape.
“Cosatu wants to ensure the alliance stays on the left of the political spectrum. However, if the ANC ditches us in favour of moving to the right, it will be a major defeat for the left and the whole progressive alliance,” Vavi said.
Proponents of the alliance, according to impeccable ANC insiders, include, among others, ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma and the former party populist, Peter Mokaba, who has since shifted his allegiance to the Africanist wing of the party.
While Mokaba has been reported supporting the idea of a merger — even suggesting that it is supported by Mandela and Mbeki – – sources said Zuma will “try to push it, as it will help his quest for Zulu nationalism”.
If the ANC, under Thabo Mbeki’s presidency, manages to pull off a peace accord that will ultimately result in whatever form of alliance with the IFP, it will be the most significant milestone of Mbeki’s ANC presidency.
It will also be a watershed for Zuma in the history of the turbulent KwaZulu-Natal.