Parliament 22 June 2000
Madam Speaker
Honourable Members
On Tuesday afternoon, reports were received about the escalation of violence and lawlessness at Kwa Nongoma. The reports indicated that the combined units of the SAPS and SANDF had been attacked. They further indicated that in another area in the Province, a similar attack had resulted in the death of one SANDF member. These reports gave an indication that the situation was getting out of hand. Based on these reports, Ministers dealing with Justice and Crime Prevention, Ministers Tshwete, Maduna, Skhosana, Nhlanhla and Lekota had to become involved, as a matter of urgency, to help address the problems.
Upon arrival at Nongoma, these Ministers received reports from the police about the situation. They were informed that there were three factors causing violence at Nongoma and that these were, faction fighting, political intolerance and taxi violence Around Nongoma area, there is an ongoing faction fight between the Dladla and Zondo clans. According to police reports, the conflict is centred mainly on a land dispute which has been going on for a long time. This dispute has resulted in the death of a number of people.
A new wave of violence erupted after a letter, sent from Johannesburg, reporting the death of a member of one of the clans, who was killed, according to the reports, on the 18th of April 2000.
It is estimated, by the police, that up to 200 members of each clan have retreated to the bush and are armed. Some members have taken refuge at Okhubo Police station.
They report that these two clans are under Inkosi, S. Zulu whose attempts to mediate have not been successful. In one such mediation attempt an agreement was reached by both clans, however one clan was ambushed after leaving the meeting and violence ensued. The police further reported that on 20 June 2000, they attempted to stop two armed men who opened fire on them and ran away into the bush. The police followed them and discovered an armed group of people who ran away upon sight of the police. The police succeeded in arresting 7 of them and seized a number of weapons including AK47's.
The security personnel who undertook this operation are part of the combined force of SAPS and SANDF (300 strong including an additional 25 detectives from outside the area) that was deployed in the area as a result of the current violence.
The police also reported that political intolerance in the area. has resulted in any attempt to establish an ANC presence being resented. The area is regarded as an exclusively IFP area. The police are often accused by both sides of political bias and this has adversely affected their policing capacity. These allegations have put a lot of pressure on the police, further eroding an already weakened command structure. With this situation, the Provincial Commissioner, together with the National Head Quarters have evaluated the police capacity at KwaNongoma and have come to a conclusion that the police station needs to be restructured and that this restructuring should take priority in the enhancement of the policing capacity in the area. They also reported that taxi violence has been going on at KwaNongoma for a long time and has resulted in many people being killed. Colleagues are aware that even the Mayor of KwaNongoma is one of the people that have been murdered as part of this raging violence.
The Ministers also established that the member of the SANDF who was killed in an ambush had been attacked in Bhambayi, Inanda during a joint operation with the SAPS.
Government is concerned that there have been too many killings in the Nongoma area and the situation seems to be worsening. Government regards Nongoma as a flash point and is of the view that the rule of law is being seriously eroded.
The government therefore believes that extra-ordinary measures must be taken to stop the escalating violence. Efforts should be made to assist the Inkosi who is trying to mediate between the two fighting clans. The taxi violence must be stopped. The two political organisations who are infact working together in the province, the IFP and the ANC must address the situation at Nongoma.
The ANC and IFP leadership met yesterday and agreed to reactivate structures put in place to deal with violence in the Province. The include, among others, the Executive Committee that oversees other sub-structures, the Facilitation Committee which deals with flash points and the Committee that deals with matters relating to traditional leaders and the Committee dealing with the code of conduct. The leadership agreed to address the KwaNongoma violence with more vigour and with an aim to bring about peace and stability in the area.
We will continue to closely monitor developments and ensure that measures to address the violence are carried out. Given the volatile situation at KwaNongoma we thought it was important for the house to have this briefing before it rises for winter recess.
Thank you.