Boipatong Massacre
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The Boipatong massacre took place on the night of 17 June 1992 in the township of
Boipatong Boipatong Vanderbijlpark is a township in Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1955 to house black residents who worked in Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging. Boipatong means "the place of hiding" in the Sesotho language. Boipatong's expans ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.


Massacre

The attack on township residents was carried out by armed men from the steelworks residence KwaMadala Hostel, which is located about 1 km from the township. Forty-five people died and several were maimed. The attackers were supporters of the
Inkatha Freedom Party The Inkatha Freedom Party ( zu, IQembu leNkatha yeNkululeko, IFP) is a right-wing political party in South Africa. The party has been led by Velenkosini Hlabisa since the party's 2019 National General Conference. Mangosuthu Buthelezi founded t ...
(IFP), rival party of the
African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...
(ANC). At the time, the South African government and several other political groups were negotiating in the
Convention for a Democratic South Africa Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in ...
(CODESA) talks. Shortly after the massacre, it was claimed by members of the African National Congress that the South African police force in cooperation with the IFP had organised the raid, and the ANC consequently stepped out of the negotiations. It was also suggested that the raid formed part of the activities of the
South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...
's
Operation Marion Operation Marion was a domestic military operation fielded by the South African Defence Force (SADF) during the 1980s. Afrikaner security was deemed to be closely linked to Zulu security. History Operation Marion became an important element ...
. The ANC resumed negotiations shortly after the Bisho massacre of 7 September 1992. The massacre was mentioned in the United Nations Security Council Resolution 765 of 16 July 1992. A criminal trial held in 1993, which included testimony of 120 Boipatong residents, convicted IFP supporters of crimes in the massacre, but ruled that the police had played no part in it. The
Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...
(TRC) concluded in 1998 that the police were in fact involved in the raid, but the TRC's Amnesty Committee found in 2000 that the police were not involved after all.


Further controversy

In an interview with journalist
Rian Malan Rian Malan (born 1954, in Johannesburg) is a South African author, journalist, documentarist and songwriter of Afrikaner descent. He first rose to prominence as the author of the memoir '' My Traitor's Heart'', which, like the bulk of his wor ...
in October 1998, Sergeant Gerhardus "Pedro" Peens, who claimed not to have been in Boipatong at the time of the massacre, admitted to being in Boipatong investigating a murder, driving a
Casspir The Casspir is a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle that has been in use in South Africa since the 1980s. It is a four-wheeled, four-wheel drive vehicle, used for transport of troops. It can hold a crew of two, plus 12 additional soldiers an ...
, but claimed that he had left prior to the massacre. Peens had previously denied having been at Boipatong in a Casspir at all. Peens' statement was later considered by the TRC in their investigations. Peen's admission was prompted by the application for amnesty by sixteen Inkatha Freedom Party members for their part in the Boipatong massacre. The Goldstone Commission appointed Peter Waddington to make an independent enquiry. His report was released on 22 July 1992. It stated that there was no evidence of police collusion in the killings.


See also

*
List of massacres in South Africa The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in South Africa (numbers may be approximate): See also * Political assassinations in post-apartheid South Africa * Internal resistance to apartheid * 1993 raid on Mthatha References ...


References

{{Coord, 26, 39, 49, S, 27, 51, 00, E, type:event_region:ZA, display=title Conflicts in 1992 1990s massacres in South Africa 1992 murders in South Africa 1992 in South Africa Massacres in 1992 June 1992 events in Africa