Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- The Social History Project
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Map of Alexandra
- Introduction
- Chapter One Settling on Alexandra
- Chapter Two ‘Nobody's Baby’
- Chapter Three The Fight for Survival in Alexandra, 1938–45
- Chapter Four The Inner Life of Alexandra, 1938–47
- Chapter Five Reaping the Whirlwind, 1948–58
- Chapter Six Political Culture in Alexandra, 1948–60
- Chapter Seven Taking Time off in Alexandra
- Chapter Eight The Perils of Peri-Urban: Permits, Protests and Removals, 1958–75
- Chapter Nine Student Uprising and Reprieve
- Chapter Ten From Reprieve to Civic Crisis
- Chapter Eleven Mzabalazo! Struggle for People's P
- Chapter Twelve Fighting for the Hearts and Minds of Alex
- Chapter Thirteen From Defiance to Governance
- Chapter Fourteen Civil War
- Chapter Fifteen The Promise of Democracy, 1994–2008
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Chapter Fourteen - Civil War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2018
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- The Social History Project
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Map of Alexandra
- Introduction
- Chapter One Settling on Alexandra
- Chapter Two ‘Nobody's Baby’
- Chapter Three The Fight for Survival in Alexandra, 1938–45
- Chapter Four The Inner Life of Alexandra, 1938–47
- Chapter Five Reaping the Whirlwind, 1948–58
- Chapter Six Political Culture in Alexandra, 1948–60
- Chapter Seven Taking Time off in Alexandra
- Chapter Eight The Perils of Peri-Urban: Permits, Protests and Removals, 1958–75
- Chapter Nine Student Uprising and Reprieve
- Chapter Ten From Reprieve to Civic Crisis
- Chapter Eleven Mzabalazo! Struggle for People's P
- Chapter Twelve Fighting for the Hearts and Minds of Alex
- Chapter Thirteen From Defiance to Governance
- Chapter Fourteen Civil War
- Chapter Fifteen The Promise of Democracy, 1994–2008
- Notes
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The internecine violence that swept across the Reef in the early 1990s resulted in the deaths of thousands of people and at times threatened to derail the negotiations process. While Kathorus (Katlehong, Thokoza and Vosloorus) on the East Rand was the epicentre of this civil war, other townships such as Alexandra also suffered grievously. The violence manifested itself mainly as political rivalry between township residents who supported the African National Congress (ANC) and hostel dwellers who supported the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). But the underlying causes of the conflict could not be reduced to such a simple political contestation. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that the causes of the violence had to be located in apartheid, the extremely limited resources and the politicisation of ethnic divisions. Furthermore, the particular characteristics and trajectory of the conflict in each township, while manifesting certain common trends, were shaped by local circumstances that were not always or even mainly party political.
Tensions between hostel dwellers and township residents (especially the youth) in Kathorus initially occurred over the enforcement of stayaways by militant youth and then in the form of the bloody taxi feuds of 1989, thus preceding the outbreak of the overtly political conflict in August 1990. Another salient feature of the violence on the East Rand was that the main protagonists in the conflict tended to be Zulu migrants and the residents of large squatter camps. Both these groups were among the most marginalised sections of the township community. They generally lived in close proximity to each other and tended to compete for meagre resources.
Although these elements were present in the conflict in Alexandra, there were also some important differences. Firstly, the initial wave of violence of August and September 1990 missed Alexandra. Secondly, although Alexandra also experienced taxi violence in the late 1980s it did not assume the form of a struggle between hostel dwellers and township residents. Finally, and most significantly, the immediate underlying cause of the violence was to be found in local civic politics, where there was some similarity with events in Thokoza.
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- Information
- AlexandraA History, pp. 359 - 384Publisher: Wits University PressPrint publication year: 2009