South Africa: Information on the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), its political platform especially regarding the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), its membership, its history and its involvement or suspected involvement in incidents pertaining to persons appearing before the TRC
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 June 1998 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ZAF29489.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, South Africa: Information on the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), its political platform especially regarding the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), its membership, its history and its involvement or suspected involvement in incidents pertaining to persons appearing before the TRC, 1 June 1998, ZAF29489.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac535c.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
General information on the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), on its recent history, its leaders and participation in South Africa's cabinet can be found in Political Handbook of the World, available at your Regional Documentation Centre. Specific information on IFP's membership could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
More detailed information on the IFP's history, ideology and political platform can be found in the attached article taken from the party's Website.
The IFP's position with regard to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is also explained in the attached statement and letter to Reverend Desmond Tutu, chairman of the TRC, both written by IFP's president, Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
In his statement, Dr Buthelezi concluded that even though individual party members of the IFP have the right to appear before the TRC in their personal capacity, "the IFP will play no role in the Truth Commission's hearings, questioning or deliberations" (15 Apr. 1996).
According to the Manchester Guardian Weekly, the TRC was recently under pressure to subpoena Chief Buthelezi following the leaking to the commission of documents known as the "Felgate archives", which would shed some light on Buthelezi's "alleged collaboration with the apartheid security forces and involvement in the creation of assassination squads" (25 Jan. 1998). Walter Felgate, "Chief Buthelezi's most trusted adviser and Inkatha's eminence grise," defected to the ANC in 1997 (ibid.).
An AFP article reports that James Zulu, a leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party, was slain in the KwaZulu-Natal province in April 1998 (18 Apr. 1998). He had "applied to South Africa's truth body for his role in a March 1994 attack that killed a policeman and wounded several others" and he was also implicated in the murder, that same year, of a school principal who was a ANC member (ibid.).
A TRC press release of 22 November 1996 reported that IFP Midlands Chairman and provincial MP, T. D. Ntombela and Regional Councillor , D. P. Zondi, had received death threats from a mob of ANC (African National Congress) supporters before, during and after their presence at a TRC hearing held in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature in Pietermaritzburg. The ANC supporters "attempted to attack Ntombela and surrounded the parliamentary buildings for approximetaly an hour.... Only the presence of a large number of heavily armed policemen prevented them from attacking the group of IFP leaders who had accompanied Mr Ntombela" (ibid.).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Agence France Presse (AFP). 18 April 1998. "Buthelezi Urges Calm After Inkatha Leader Killed." (NEXIS)
The Manchester Guardian Weekly. 25 January 1998. David Beresford. "Buthelezi Files Threaten Crisis in South Africa." (NEXIS)
"The Truth & Reconciliation Commission". 15 April 1996. Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi. [Internet]
"Truth and Reconciliation Commission/Public Hearing, Pietermaritzburg". 22 November 1996. Press Release. [Internet]
Attachments
"History and Profile of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP)."
[Internet]
"The Most Reverend D M Tutu". 6 January 1997. Letter from Mangosuthu Buthelezi to the Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
[Internet]
Additional Sources Consulted
Africa Confidential [London].1998.
African Human Rights Newsletter [Banjul]. 1997-1998.
Africa Research Bulletin: Political Series [London]. 1997-1998.
Jeune Afrique [Paris].1998..
Electronic Sources: IRB Databases, Global News Bank, Internet, REFWORLD, World News Connection (WNC).
