ANC National Conference

Durban July 1991

ADOPTED RESOLUTION ON VIOLENCE

NOTlNG THAT

1. Many thousands of our people have been killed and Continue to be killed especially in the recent period by apartheid sponsored violence carried out by Inkatha, askari, Bantustan death forces and others whose aim is to weaken and destroy the ANC and other democratic forces.
2. This violence is taking place in a counter revolutionary context directed by agencies of the state and its surrogate forces in the form of councillors, warlords, vigilante, death squads and certain white right wing elements.
3. The ANC, together with other democratic forces such as COSATU, UDF and churches, has attempted to find peaceful solutions to violence by:
1. entering into peace talks with Inkatha;
2. making submissions, representations and demands to the South African government to end the violence.
4. Despite the past peace initiatives with Inkatha, violence still persists and despite the machinery at the disposal of the regime, it is refusing to take the necessary steps to end the violence.
5. The response of the democratic forces in dealing with this counter-revolutionary violence has not been adequate and that the December 1990 National Consultative Conference took a resolution to build defence committees and that the organisation has made insufficient progress in the setting up of defence committees.
6. The recent peace initiative by church and business leaders is aimed of involving all organisations in S. A. in strategies to end the violence.

BELIEVING

1. That the violence aims to:
1. destabilise the ANC and other democratic forces.
2. ensure that the government dictates the peace of transition in terms its own agenda.
3. create a state of confusion and demoralisation in our ranks and among our people in and attempt to alienate them from our movement.
2. That violence is part of a counter revolutionary strategy to maintain white domination in new forms.
3. The ending or containing the violence should be at the top of the agenda of the ANC and the democratic movement.

WE THEREFORE RESOLVE

1. To support the current peace initiative of the church and business leaders in:
1. developing a code of conduct for the security forces
2. developing a code of conduct for political organisations.
3. developing an enforcement mechanism to monitor the codes that will involve a wide range of groupings.
4. developing a programme of reconstruction.
2. To mandate the incoming NEC to give a deadline to the appropriate structures by which time it must have completed its task of forming self defence units in all areas, and to take definite steps to provide all possible resources and assistance required.
3. To embark on a programme of national and international mass action within the context of our demands for:
1. the removal of all obstacles to creating a climate for negotiations.
2. the dismantling of all apartheid structures.
3. and interim government an a constituent assembly.
4. To embark on a publicity campaign both locally and internationally to expose the true nature of the violence.
5. To re-affirm our demands contained in the NEC letter of 5 April 1991 addressed to de Klerk.
6. To establish structures on a branch, regional and national level with our partners within the tripartite alliance and other democratic formations to co-ordinate our strategies in responding to the violence.