Truth & Reconciliation

Context: During the late 1980s and early 1990s, as South Africa was transitioning toward democracy, brutal political violence erupted between supporters of the African National Congress (ANC) and the IFP, Inkatha Freedom Party, a Zulu-nationalist political party led historically by Mangosuthu Buthelezi.

When the Truth & Reconciliation Commission (TRC) investigated this violence, it uncovered extensive evidence of what became known as the “Third Force.” The commission revealed that the apartheid state’s security forces had covertly funded, armed, and trained elements within the IFP to fight the ANC. The regime’s goal was to destabilize the liberation movement, show black inability to function without whites at the helm and weaken the push for a democratic transition.