From: nicolson@odie.ee.wits.ac.za (James Nicolson)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: Re: A question for ANC supporters (re: Bisho)
Date: 14 Sep 92 07:34:27 GMT
Article-I.D.: odie.nicolson.35
Organization: Wits Electrical Engineering (Novell Users).

In article <1992Sep11.181515.19923@frcs.Alt.ZA> linda@frcs.Alt.ZA (Linda Jacobson) writes:

>I'd like to know, from people who are currently active supporters of,
>and preferably members of, the ANC, how they would explain a few
>things that are sticking in my throat after Bisho. 

>As regards Bisho:

>As I understand events, there was one abortive march a while ago, then
>a second which succeeded in reaching Bisho (correct me if this is
>wrong). When I heard about the most recent march, I could not
>understand what purpose it would serve. Several things did not make
>sense. Firstly, why should the ANC be concentrating its energies on
>the homelands now? Surely it should be concentrating them on creating
>a climate fit for negotiating a constitution which would allow for
>re-incorporation of the homelands, or at least some way to canvass
>opinions about this among homeland dwellers? Second, if they managed to
>overthrow a homeland "government", what would they do? They couldn't
>install a dictator and maintain credibility. They couldn't hold
>elections in a "country" they don't recognise. They couldn't just
>leave the daily bureaucratic things to run themselves.  

The mass action in the Ciskei was supposed to lead to an interim authority 
in the Ciskei. The ANC is not interested in 'coming to power' in the Ciskei, 
since they don't even recognise the country. It would be acceptable, for 
example, for deKlerk's government to take over control of Ciskei. The 
question is not therefore one of legitimacy (since deKlerk himself is an
illegitamte ruler). The question is one of gaining some semblance of a free 
political climate. The other aim was to destroy the myth that Gqozo is a '
black ally' of the deKlerk government. He is clearly an extension of the 
deKlerk government -- his bureaucracy and military is filled with SA '
advisors', particularly at decision making levels. Having the facade of a '
homeland' suits deKlerk, since he does not have to take responsibility for 
destabilisation in the ANC's strongest geographical region.

Repression is severe in the Ciskei. The ANC was under intense pressure from 
its regional and local structures to intensify mass action in the region. In 
the past, the NEC has actually restrained activists from militant mass 
action. The press has painted the picture that it is the SACP national 
leadership which has orchestrated the whole campaign. This is false -- it 
was very much a local initiative, which was rubber stamped at a national 
level.

Also, it would be disasterous, if the ANC went ahead with negotiations and 
reached the point of elections, without having addressed the serious 
destabilisation which is taking place (and which goes largely unreported in 
the press).

>Third, and to my mind most alarming: It was abundantly clear to me
>(and obviously I wasn't alone in this), in the build-up to the march
>on Bisho, that the possibility of bloodshed was high - that, in fact,
>bloodshed was almost inevitable. It's extremely unlikely that the ANC
>leadership could have been unaware of this. If they _were_ aware of
>it, and they must have been, then they were wittingly sending their
>supporters to their deaths. Why? I can't imagine what they hoped to
>gain, other than sensationalistic media coverage, disruption of the
>federalism talks, further reasons not to return to the negotiating
>table and / or to force more concessions out of De Klerk.  

Again, the supporters were not being "sent to their deaths" by the NEC, but 
were the ones who initiated the action. The people of Ciskei new better than 
anyone what the dangers were. The march in August led to a confrontation 
with the CDF which came perilously close to opening fire. The soldier, 
however, backed down.

The fact is that the soldiers sympathise largely with the people of Ciskei, 
and not with the Gqozo regime. The ANC believed that the same thing would 
happen again -- that they could count on the soldiers unwillingness to shoot 
at innocent people. Clearly, Gqozo and the SA military had made sure that 
this would not happen. The massacre was obviously very well planned -- the 
decision to open fire was made before the march even took place.

Obviously nothing can justify the loss of life, but the marchers were very 
confident that they would be allowed to procede to Bisho. The ANC is as 
shocked as everyone (much more shocked in fact) by the reaction of the CDF. 
While evryone knew that tension was high, the ANC sincerely believed that 
the soldiers would not shoot. In fact, they made it clear days before, that 
a section of the marchers was going to push on to Bisho. This would normally 
be a strong guarantee that nothing would happen, because if the CDF wanted 
to stop the march, they had ample time to prepare to stop it. Instead what 
happened, was that soldiers were hidden in the grass, waiting to ambush the 
marchers, not to 'prevent them from marching', but to massacre them.

Without the help of hindsight, it would have required a great deal of 
cynacism on the part of the local activists to believe that what they were 
doing did not have a strong chance of succeeding. Hindsight, however, shows 
that they were desperately wrong.

Also, any idea that the ANC wanted a massacre is absurd. The organisers 
genuinely believed that they would be able to reach bisho.

>The Bisho march, in my mind, had nothing to do with the Ciskei at all.
>It was a cynical political manoevre, aimed at gaining political points
>for the ANC. In the war of words that has followed, this impression
>has been strengthened. I am nauseated beyond measure by the kinds of
>things people are saying on all sides. They are throwing our country
>to the dogs in order, as Zac de Beer aptly pointed out, to garner
>support for an election which might never be held.  

I think of all the people involved the ANC is the most shocked. It seems 
that ANC activists are the only large group which feels the true shock and 
despair at what happened. The government response has been largely 
callous and 'political' (Gqozo's response does not even deserve comment), 
white people in general are unable to fully identify with the human tragedy. 
I think that it is understandable that the ANC uses the massacre to push for 
the political change that the deaths show is so desperately needed.

------------
James Nicolson, Department of Electrical Engineering
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa