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Dear friends and fellow South Africans,

In May 1991, the Government, under former President FW de Klerk,
proposed a two day conference to elicit a commitment from political leaders
to end the violent conflict that had already cost some 8000 lives. The ANC
dismissed the proposed conference as "a propaganda ploy" and the ANC's
leader, Mr Nelson Mandela, warned it was being used "to build a smokescreen
to conceal... reluctance or inability" to act.

I had a sense of déjà vu this past week, when the Government in KwaZulu
Natal announced a 'reconciliation ceremony' in Pietermaritzburg purportedly
to heal the divisions between the ANC and the IFP. It has been reported that
the IFP dismissed the proposed ceremony as an electioneering ploy. But I
find myself echoing the words of Nelson Mandela that this ceremony was a
smokescreen to conceal a reluctance to act.

Prior to this ceremony being announced, Premier Mkhize sought to convene
leaders of the ANC and IFP to discuss how the message of peace could be
brought to the communities of KwaZulu Natal. The IFP sent a delegation of
its leadership to attend this meeting. But the ANC's delegation never
arrived. It appears they are reluctant to do the groundwork; but quite
willing to play the hero.

Far from being water under the bridge, there is still a rough sea of
unfinished business between the ANC and the IFP. I have tried for two
decades to bring a resolution, but my efforts have not been met with any
tangible action on the part of the ANC. I cannot help but question why the
Premier suddenly called this 'reconciliation ceremony', particularly in the
long-suffering community of Taylor's Halt.

The painful history of Taylor's Halt is captured in the memory of our people
and the written record of our past. During apartheid, it was called "Cuba"
by members of the UDF. After liberation, it was referred to in the TRC
documents. Today, it is still lamented in the homes of our people who were
widowed and orphaned during the terrible ANC-IFP conflict.

But Taylor's Halt is also the theatre of our first attempt at
reconciliation, which was foiled by ANC warlords bent on continuing the
violence. On the 29th of January 1991 delegations of the ANC leadership and
the IFP leadership, led by Mr Mandela and myself, met in Durban. We agreed
that from that point on both Mr Mandela and I should address joint rallies
in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng to express to our people the intention to bring
peace.

Shortly afterwards, I was invited to address a rally at Taylor's Halt in
Pietermaritzburg. I proposed to Mr Mandela that he and I use the
opportunity to make our first joint appearance. Mr Mandela agreed.

Yet, just before the event, I was told that Mr Mandela was no longer going
to attend, and I phoned him to verify this rumour. He admitted to me that Mr
Harry Gwala had brought a busload of ANC leaders from KwaZulu Natal to the
ANC's Head Office in Johannesburg to urge him not to accompany me to
Taylor's Halt. To this day, I regret that he gave in to their demands.

More recently, before the 2009 elections, President Jacob Zuma publically
stated that the outstanding business between the ANC and the IFP needed to
be resolved. This year, before travelling to Brazil, he expressed his
intention to meet with me upon his return. That meeting never took place, as
the President was unavailable. Before his State visit to Britain he repeated
his assurances, but again we did not meet.

When he invited me to King's House on 16 July this year, President Zuma
expressed his regret that we have not yet come together to discuss the
unfinished business between the ANC and IFP which flows from the conflicts
of the eighties and nineties. I then spoke candidly about the involvement of
some influential ANC members in the internal battles of the IFP, which
creates the perception that the ANC is not sincere about reconciliation.

President Zuma expressed surprise and made a commitment to deal with these
matters. But having heard nothing from him since, I was compelled to
approach Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe on 18 August to raise the same
concerns. He too was surprised by what I related, suggesting that the
President had never taken our conversation further. I now also await the
Deputy President's response.

My question is why the ANC has chosen this moment to bring our people
together in a 'reconciliation ceremony'. There has been no lack of
opportunities to do so in the past twenty odd years since the 'People's War'
was waged in the eighties and early nineties. I have not been reticent in
approaching the ANC, seeking reconciliation. But I have made it clear that a
show of reconciliation without resolving unfinished business is meaningless,
misleading and bound to backfire.

My point has already been proven through the failed Truth and Reconciliation
Commission, which resurrected old wounds and exposed pain that has never
healed; but did nothing to reconcile the victims and the perpetrators. The
Commission had no means to identify the truth or even to question the
declarations made before it. It had no power to bring justice or punishment;
only a perverse absolution.

The Premier of KwaZulu Natal, Dr Zweli Mkhize, confirmed this averment when
he spoke about this past weekend's 'reconciliation ceremony': "Although the
violence ended... some people are still scared to meet other people because of
what they did to them. This is because there has never been reconciliation."

There has never been reconciliation; because reconciliation cannot occur in
the absence of acceptance of responsibility and a genuine willingness to
bring change.

The IFP has again been demonized for "snubbing" the 'reconciliation
ceremony' in Pietermaritzburg this weekend. Our absence was all the more
prominent because the Premier's office ran an advert announcing my
participation, even after I had made it clear that the IFP would not engage
this event. The ANC managed to make it look as though we had withdrawn our
support, when in fact our support had never been given.

It is not that we reject reconciliation. Rather, it is that we know one
cannot arrive at the doorsteps of people who were widowed and orphaned by
the internecine violence and say, "Now we are reconciled". Reconciliation is
a process that must begin with the leaders and percolate down to the
grassroots. There is no point in sending mixed messages to South Africa's
people.

Either the violence has ended, or it has not. Although we are leagues away
from May 1991, when the death toll in the ANC's 'People's War' rose to 29
per day, we are still seeing politically-motivated violence and even murder,
both in Gauteng and KwaZulu Natal. Injuries and fatalities tend to escalate
as elections draws nigh.

We therefore appreciate the gesture made by the Government in KwaZulu Natal
to "heal and cleanse" the community of Taylor's Halt. But again this
community has been the theatre of a leadership that is not quite reconciled.

Yours in the service of the nation,