The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

Dear friends and fellow South Africans,

Napoleon Bonaparte said, "If they want peace, nations should avoid the
pin-pricks that precede cannon shots."

I thought of these words on Monday when I heard Dr Cedric Xulu,
spokesperson for the NFP, blaming me directly for the murder of an NFP
Councilor. This is not the first time I have been blamed for political
violence.

Years of propaganda misled people into believing that I was guilty of
fostering the black-on-black low intensity civil war that raged in the
eighties and early nineties in KwaZulu Natal. Yet even the extensive
Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission could find no single
instance in which I ever ordered, condoned, ratified or authorized
human rights abuses or violence. It never happened.

Thus when people like Protas Madlala claim that I "have always been a
violent man", I challenge this lie, in court if I must. Such reckless
comments about me and my Party are damaging and dangerous. They are
used by our political opponents to perpetuate the myth that the IFP is
violent.

The ANC Youth League's Bheki Mtolo used this tactic when he said that
I am directly to blame for the violence in KwaZulu Natal. Mrs
kaMagwaza-Msibi was hardly less subtle earlier this year, when a mob
went on the rampage in Umlazi's T-section. Police could not confirm
the political affiliation of any of those involved, but she grabbed
the opportunity to say, "It's sad that there are people who oppose
democracy? I urge the IFP leadership to publicly oppose such acts of
violence and intimidation."

The IFP is routinely used as a scapegoat and whipping boy. When the
NFP's Provincial Chairperson in Limpopo was suspended for using party
resources to operate a loan shark business, Dr Cedric Xulu announced
that an official charge would be laid against her. She retaliated by
calling Dr Xulu an "Inkatha member whose agenda is to divide the party".

This stirring of old tensions is reprehensible. The NFP should know
better. Yet following recent murders, NFP Spokeswoman Ms Zanele Cele
claimed, "The attacks came after talk of violence by leaders of
another political party". The allusion was not obscure; the next
morning ETV ran the headline, "NFP slams IFP for reckless comments
about its ANC alliance".

This was Dr Xulu's accusation as well. He told the media that the
murders came after the IFP President launched an attack on the
relationship between the ANC and the NFP "over the weekend". This is
disingenuous. I said nothing last weekend that I have not said many
times before, even in the national House of Parliament.

My remarks at the weekend's SADESMO Conference are on the public
record. I challenge Dr Xulu to point out what I said there that I did
not say during the State of the Nation debate on 15 February 2011. And
what I said that day is on the record of Parliament. Let Dr Xulu read
the transcript in Hansard and show me a single sentence in which I
incited violence.

He will not find it, because it's not there. I have never once
encouraged or instructed our supporters to engage in violence. My
repeated call has been for peace, calm and no retaliation. I believe
in engaging problems through negotiation, not the barrel of the gun.
My entire legacy stands as testimony to this truth.

This is why the time has come for a meeting between the leadership of
the IFP and the NFP. Let us talk seriously about this issue and
resolve it.

In response to the latest murders, the IFP has called on the Police to
find the perpetrators, and we have asked the NFP to work with us in
stabilizing the situation in KwaMashu. The NFP's Zanele Cele has
likewise said, "Painful as it is, (we) must have faith in the South
African Police Force that arrests will be imminent soon."

I agree that we must leave the pursuit of justice in the hands of the
justice system. I do, however, regret that we have not seen arrests or
closure when it comes to countless murders and violence against IFP
members.

Before the elections, IFP members and councilors were killed in
Gauteng, and their murders have never been solved. In KwaMashu, Mr
Makathini was killed and up to now no one knows what happened to him.
In Enseleni, where Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi was visiting in her former
capacity, our members were shot at and one had his leg amputated.
Later Mrs kaMagwaza-Msibi complained that they had invaded her
meeting, thereby justifying the use of violence.

It remains a mystery why the Enseleni incident was not resolved. The
Police were present at the meeting and our members were shot at in
broad daylight.

A couple of weeks ago, two more of our Councilors were murdered, and
we are waiting to hear of arrests or leads in the investigation. IFP
people have died suspiciously for decades, and their murders are never
solved.

Indeed, the whole issue of politically motivated violence has never
been adequately addressed, especially when it comes to members of the
IFP. Like every other party, we made a comprehensive submission to the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission, detailing the unsolved murders of
some 400 IFP members. To date, none of those deaths has been solved.

Thousands died during the previous era, but the advent of democracy
did not see the end of the killing. We have still not seen the end of
it.

So I say again, it is time for us to meet the NFP, to stop the many
pin-pricks that precede canon shots by speaking openly and frankly,
face to face. The killing must end. Let us leave it in the hands of
the Police to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. But let
us accept that it is in our hands to do everything we can to stop the
violence.

Yours in the service of our nation,

Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP