The Master of Ceremonies, the Honourable the Premier of Gauteng, Mr S Shilowa; His Excellency the President of the ANC and President of South Africa, Mr T.M. Mbeki; other senior leaders of the ANC; the National Chairman of the IFP, Mr LPHM Mtshali and members of the IFP National Council; the Rev Khumalo and other religious leaders present; Mr Themba Khoza,

the Chairman of the IFP in Gauteng, and other leaders of the IFP; His Worship the Mayor and other Mayors, Councillors, Indunas and residents of Thokoza.

Our being here together on this occasion marks one of the most important moments of South African history. It is a moment long overdue, the time for which could no longer be delayed. On this occasion we celebrate the triumph of peace and the beginning of reconciliation. The call for peace has been echoing in this region for many years, but its celebration was often delayed.

Today, peace is finally given the opportunity to unleash the full measure of its liberating potential. This celebration was scheduled for May 13 this year, but had to be postponed because its time was then not sufficiently ripe, since more steps had to be taken to create a solid political foundation to support the weight of this momentous occasion. On May 13 the country was still operating under a Government of National Unity, provided for under the interim Constitution, which made the co-operation between the IFP and the ANC a matter of law, rather than a matter of free will. After the last elections of June 2, the Government of National Unity was no longer constitutionally prescribed and the continuing co-operation between the IFP and the ANC has become a matter of free will rather than law, and is based on the recognition by the President of the ANC that the IFP has a contribution to make to the governance of the country and to the daily pursuance of the success, prosperity and stability of South Africa.

I was not surprised by the apparent magnanimity of the President of the ANC that the ANC would still want the co-operation we have had in the last four years to continue. The President of the ANC, now also President of the Republic of South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki and I, have come a long way together in the struggle for liberation. Apart from the fact that he is the son of one of the revered leaders of the struggle, Mr Govan Mbeki, who spent long years with President Mandela and Mr Walter Sisulu and other patriots in jail for our cause, President Mbeki is a freedom fighter in his own right.

To some of you it might be something you find difficult to believe that President Mbeki as a senior member of the ANC in exile, was sent to me in the 70's by the ANC when I was passing through London Heathrow Airport from Germany with the late Rev Enos Sikakane. President Mbeki was accompanied by Mr Albert Dhlomo of Durban. He was sent to me to express the concern of the "movement", which is the word President Mbeki used, about my and Inkatha's policy against sanctions and disinvestment, which was the policy of the ANC. He further added that the "movement" was equally concerned by my always speaking against the use of violence in conducting the struggle, which was also the policy of the ANC. In response at that time I stated that I did not support sanctions and disinvestment because for me these were not academic issues but real day-to-day issues. I told the President and Mr Dhlomo that people actually approached me all the time asking me to get jobs for their children and that I could not therefore support the use of sanctions and disinvestment as tools in the struggle for liberation.

I added that when I held rallies in various places, including the Jabulani Amphitheatre, I often posed the question as to whether I should support sanctions, and that not even on one single occasion had there been any other response than a thunderous rejection of sanctions and disinvestment.

As far as the use of violence in the struggle was concerned, I stated that I did not believe in the use of violence to conduct the struggle. But in spite of that I have always made statements to the effect that I do not blame my brothers in the ANC in exile who have resorted to violence because they had no other choice in view of the intransigence of the regime and their unwillingness to have dialogue with them. I also said that I had not condemned them for the armed struggle. 

Some people will not believe that throughout all this time I was in constant communication with Dr Oliver Tambo, the President of the ANC mission in exile. In fact, in 1963 when I passed through London for the very first time in my life, as a lay delegate of the Anglican Diocese of Zululand accompanied by Archdeacon Philip Mbatha, to attend the Anglican Congress in Toronto in Canada, I went to see the Tambos in their home in London. O.R. was not happy that I did this for he told me that London was seething with government agents who had probably been shadowing me while I visited his home. He even paid for a taxi and suggested that I should balance my visit to him and Mrs Adelaide Tambo by going to the South African Embassy just to show my face there.

We had exchanges with the ANC through communications and through emissaries. One of these was the Rev. Celani Mtetwa, who met with President Mbeki, Mr Moses Mabida and with Deputy President Jacob Zuma in Mozambique and in Swaziland.

Early in the seventies, I was the guest of President Kamuzu Banda in Malawi. To my surprise, Minister Aleke Banda told me in confidence that arrangements had been made for me and my wife and Mr Barney Dladla who accompanied me, to go to Mangochi near Lake Malawi to rest. 

What came as a surprise was that on arriving in Mangochi, I was told that the President of the ANC, O.R. Tambo, would meet me there. Knowing the good relations that existed between President Banda and Prime Minister John Vorster, I was quite uneasy and wondered whether this was a trap. However, exactly as Minister Aleke Banda had told me, O.R., that is the President of the ANC, Oliver Tambo, did come to see me there one evening. He had one message and one message only which was that he was concerned about the extent to which I was rocking the boat in South Africa, attacking the government for its apartheid policies. To quote him verbatim he said: "If Vorster gets you locked up, what will our people do, since Nelson (as he put it) is in jail? I thanked O.R. for the concern he expressed but stated that I could not see myself doing things differently out of concern for the consequences of my political activities.

I will not mention other meetings that we had with the President of the ANC mission in exile, Dr Oliver Tambo. We met in three other African countries and also in Europe. Subsequent to the meeting in Malawi, he sent a message a few years later that he thought that the time had come for me and a delegation of Inkatha yeNkululeko yeSizwe (Kgare ya Tokoloho ja Sechaba) as it was called then, to meet him as President of the ANC and an ANC delegation. That meeting took place in London and lasted for two and a half days. Amongst those who were with the then President of the ANC was the current President of the ANC, President Mbeki.

I do not think that I need to go into details of that meeting. However, it was clear at the end of it all that the ANC and Inkatha differed merely on the strategy of the armed struggle and our policy towards sanctions and disinvestment. That is all. This meeting took place at the end of October 1979.

The President of the ANC promised to get back to me in December to inform me of the reactions of the National Executive of the ANC on some of the things I had put to him and his delegation.  

Tragically that was not to happen. It was on the 25th of June 1980 when a scathing attack was launched against me in London by the then Secretary-General of the ANC, Mr Alfred Nzo. After that the campaign of vilification against me and my organisation intensified. It was joined by the Anti-Apartheid Movement, the World Council of Churches, the South African Council of Churches and by many other supporters and allies of the ANC.

In 1983, the United Democratic Front was launched in Cape Town. I issued a statement applauding the emergence of an umbrella organisation that was to spearhead the fight of all organisations opposed to apartheid. To my astonishment in the very first statement that was issued by this new organisation, it said that all organisations opposed to apartheid would be welcomed to affiliate to the UDF, except Inkatha. This statement was made before we had even discussed what sort of co-operation we were to have with the UDF. It was only a few months after that that the internecine war between members of the UDF and uMkhonto weSizwe, and members of Inkatha began. We are gathered here today at this historic function in the hope that this hatchet will today be buried forever.

This new climate of reconciliation has opened a door through which we now must walk to embark together upon a long journey to make South Africa a country which is finally governable, finally prosperous for all its children, irrespective of race or social conditions, and finally safe and stable for all our families. As we move forward towards this goal, we must have the certainty that we have put the conflicts of the past behind us, not by having buried them out of our sight, but rather by having come to terms with and accepted the truth of the black-on-black conflict. In order to move forward, it is necessary that we settle the conflicts of the past by recognising how they came about.

As you have heard, the black-on-black conflict arose in spite of our common struggle for the liberation of South Africa from the oppression of apartheid. It was a perverted and an often unintended consequence of two organisations pursuing the same goal, but on the basis of different policies, tactics and visions for the future of South Africa. Our differences existed then as they exist now, but the conflict between the two organisations became wider than justified and assumed the character of a low intensity civil war because of reasons and dynamics which, in the final analysis, had little to do with our struggle for liberation and the good of South Africa. In fact, our struggle for liberation fell prey to the conflicts of the Cold War which shaped the politics of the world during the eighties.

Because of the Cold War, our liberation movement departed from its original philosophical roots which were grounded in the strategy of passive resistance, non-violence and moral high ground. Because of international pressures, the strategy of the armed struggle was adopted which led to the need to upscale and transform the level and type of mobilisation within South Africa. I remained faithful to the original traditions of our liberation movement as envisaged by the founders of the African National Congress and by its President Chief Albert Lutuli, who was one of my mentors during my youth in the ANC Youth League. Even when I founded Inkatha, after consultations with the President of the ANC, President Tambo, I stated that it was rooted in the ideals of the ANC as propounded by the founding fathers in 1912.

I and my Party became the targets of a campaign of vilification waged by people in South Africa who often did not know enough about the strategies underpinning our liberation struggle and my own background. Many of those who then felt at liberty to attack me did not know of my close relationship with the ANC leadership, which at the time had urged me in 1953 to take up my traditional leadership as Inkosi of the Buthelezi Clan. I had to abandon my plans to do legal articles under Rowley Arenstein, who was not only a member of the South African Communist Party, but he finally became the longest banned person in South Africa. He and I were friends to the end of his days and he became a member of the IFP. The people who attacked me came from different directions.

It was the agreement of the ANC leadership at that time that my assuming office as Inkosi of the Buthelezi Clan, and also my assumption of office in the government-created Territorial Authority in 1970, were in the interests of the liberation struggle. Some even questioned the veracity of my statement at a public meeting attended by thousands of black people in Langa location in Cape Town, when I said that I had been with President Tambo. In fact, a statement was made that "Mr Tambo could not talk to such a traitor." They did not know, nor did they sufficiently understand, my role in defying apartheid and preventing it from completing its great institutional scheme as I refused to lead the KwaZulu Government into nominal independence. My refusal was a major cause of the failure of apartheid. It is now a fact that when President de Klerk made his presentation to the TRC, he stated that it was this refusal by me to accept independence which made them change their minds on apartheid.

Because I knew what would succeed in collapsing apartheid, I opposed international sanctions. My argument was that international sanctions would make our poor people even poorer and would hold back our economic recovery and prosperity after liberation, which is indeed what happened. Together with international sanctions, the perverted logic of the Cold War also promoted the armed struggle, which I knew would have only a marginal impact of the inevitable demise of apartheid, but would leave a long-lasting legacy of violence, disrespect, criminality and social turmoil after liberation which, unfortunately, also happened.

I always believed that our liberation movement should remain tied to our African culture and maintain its characteristics of a peaceful mass movement of people rather than being seized by the violent actions of small military formations. In the end, the armed struggle needed to fuel its own impetus and turned against black communities to extort their support and allegiance to it. 

The roots of the black-on-black conflict are undoubtedly in the dynamics of the armed struggle.

Thokoza has been one of the regions which suffered the most because of these dynamics.

When the war broke out between us there were many painful decisions that were made which have given me a lot of pain, and mistakes were also made.

Thokoza rose to notoriety because of its violence and great conflicts which separated its people for many years and exacted a tremendous toll of lives and untold human suffering. Thokoza became renowned for some of the most horrendous instances of violence and remains the scene of one of the darkest chapters in the still untold history of the armed struggle. The name of Thokoza has until now been tied to a legacy of hatred and intolerance. Today, we turn a new page in the history of this region and we celebrate that, henceforth, Thokoza may become renowned as the greatest living monument to the unwavering will of mankind to seek peace and reconciliation. From today, the name of Thokoza shall rightly be associated with the eternal quest for peace and reconciliation which dwells in the heart of every human being. Things that happened here were the very antithesis of ukuthokoza - to be happy. From now on, let thokoza live up to its name as a place of happiness.

Today's celebration of peace and reconciliation comes at the end of a long process and the beginning of an even longer journey into a future of social stability and economic prosperity. For many years I have come to this region to give support to those who were the victims of fratricide and blind violence, and to promote the cause of reconciliation. For decades, I have come here to share sorrow and I have mourned amongst those who shed bitter tears for their loved ones who fell at the hand of violence. Their suffering has been my suffering, year after year, day in and day out. I shared and endured this suffering for decades. At the same time, I have shared and nourished the hope that one day, together, we could reach the long sought-after goal of reconciliation and celebrate together in the triumph of peace. The killing of Africans by Africans throughout the 80's and the 90's was a painful thing to witness and an indictment of us as Africans. I praise the President of the ANC, President Mbeki, who is also our President today, for his foresight which has demonstrated his deep love for all the people of our country.

Four years ago, in this region, we began a process of reconciliation which at the time seemed like a distant mirage. Nevertheless, I came here to state that no matter how improbable that mirage might have looked at the time, there was simply no alternative to peace and reconciliation, and that our differences could be sorted out through the method of democracy, not with bullets but through the ballot box at elections. It is with pride that today we can celebrate our having transformed that mirage into a tangible reality. This is a triumph of goodwill and an encouragement for us to muster the necessary courage to make the required efforts to bring real social stability and economic prosperity, not only to Thokoza but to our entire country. 

I know that we have not yet achieved complete reconciliation across the board. There are still pockets of mistrust here and there. I encounter this even amongst Cabinet colleagues. I think that we can only overcome this problem if, in the job of reconstruction, we show even-handedness in dealing with members of our different political parties across the board.

On an occasion such as this, we must commit ourselves to setting our past behind us and engaging together in a massive effort of reconstruction and development. We cannot forget those who died and those who suffered, or the reasons of the conflicts of the past. Those who lost their loved ones and who suffered the loss of their properties, and those who were wounded and bruised in various ways in the Thokoza conflict, are all still very much with us in both our organisations. Some of them are present here today. I hope that our standing together with the President of the ANC here today will have a healing effect on the wounds that the conflict inflicted on our body politic.

We must forgive, but not forget, because if we forget we will never guarantee a future of peace for this region, or for that matter, for the whole of South Africa. We must remember so that we shall never take any step which in any way could lead anyone once again towards the horrors that we have left behind. We must remember the horrors of that conflict which set brother against brother and sister against sister, so that never again shall we ever embark upon violence and intimidation as a method of political action. It is only once we understand how that conflict disrupted our communities in pursuit of a political agenda of domination, that we shall be able to ensure that never again will political allegiance be commanded through the barrel of the gun or any other weapon, or through the threat of necklacing. Henceforth, the freedom of the people can be celebrated by choosing at the elections the best political leaders. We shall let bygones be bygones while we remember the suffering of the past to ensure that, on a daily basis, we strengthen our commitment and never again allow violence and intimidation to enter our communities.

In order to close the doors of this community to violence and intimidation we must put the rule of law above any individual or collective dispute, interest or agenda. We must work together to reconstruct the rule of law and ensure that the power of the people in this community is replaced by the power of the law. Under the reign of the law all people are equally free and no one can exercise any power over others. We must work together to ensure that the law can reign in Thokoza and that never again will anyone ever take the law into their own hands. Today's celebration marks the end of a process and commits members of Thokoza to begin the even more difficult journey of building the rule of law and a reign of order in Thokoza. We need to join hands to heal the wounds of the victims of the Thokoza violence. Once that is done, we need to join hands to reconstruct our society and create self-help projects. I pay tribute to the leaders of the ANC and the leaders of the IFP in Thokoza who have made today possible. I also pay tribute to members of the SDUs and SPUs.

Economic prosperity needs social stability, while social stability will eventually lead to better conditions of life and upliftment. All the energies which were once spent in fighting one another, must now be directed towards working together to promote upliftment and development in this region. Law and order are essential, but they are not sufficient. The people of Thokoza, and our people in KwaZulu Natal and in other provinces, such as the Eastern Cape, must also embrace a new sense of humanity. Without reservation, people of this region must now accept that we are all equally human and all equally South African, and all equally entitled to mutual respect and the full measure of tolerance. People in hostels have as much right to their dignity and the pursuit of their happiness as people in the townships. 

We must change the hearts and minds of the people of Thokoza, and the minds of our people in general, for peace to triumph. Violence, intolerance and hatred do not exist in a vacuum, but dwell in the hearts and minds of people. If they are expunged from the hearts and minds of people they will no longer exist. Each of us has the absolute power to achieve an internal revolution which forever expels hatred and intolerance from our hearts and minds. We know that we cannot achieve economic prosperity, wealth and social upliftment overnight. However, if we are committed to peace, we can bring about a revolution of goodwill overnight and expel hatred and intolerance from our hearts and minds forever.

It takes a small and yet tremendous step to achieve this revolution. It is a step taken in a lateral direction because it changes the paradigm in which we think and perceive life, and transforms us into different and better people. This fundamental step which changes the paradigm within which we look at the world requires no more than accepting the fundamental truth that differences in social status, culture and personal conditions of life do not, and cannot, detract from our brotherhood and our shared humanity. People who live in hostels are as human and as much our brothers and sisters as those who live in townships. People who speak a different mother tongue are not for that reason any less our brothers and sisters. Our diversity is not a tragedy. It is in fact the very strength of this great Nation.

As leaders, we have the responsibility to take initiatives which send the message into our communities that peace and reconciliation must be pursued at all costs. I was pleased when a few months ago in KwaZulu Natal some IFP leaders took the initiative to surrender into the hands of the State weapons and military equipment accumulated and buried by them before the 1994 elections. On this historic occasion, I call on anyone who has control over arms caches to follow this example and match gestures of goodwill with gestures of goodwill. There are still vast arsenals which have been mentioned in many official documents, and in testimonies rendered before the TRC and the Goldstone Commission and in other evidence. The time has come for all parties to show faith in the democratic future of our country and surrender all arms caches, giving up once and for all the option to ever again resort to armed conflict to resolve socio-political disputes. Today the presence of President Thabo Mbeki, the President of the ANC, and I, sharing the same podium in the name of peace and reconciliation, signals a message of faith in peace, and encourages all those who are still clinging to arms caches to give them up and participate in the building of our future. For as long as arms caches are available to people, it will be difficult to eliminate the option of violence from the hearts and minds of our communities.

We must bring about a revolution of goodwill in Thokoza and in the rest of South Africa in which people take charge of their destinies by working together. We must learn to understand one another through helping one another and reaching out for one another through actions of goodwill. Let us commit ourselves, together with the people of Thokoza, to enabling a new spirit of goodwill and social solidarity to triumph in Thokoza. Let us commence a revolution of goodwill in which people work together to build houses, improve roads, help people in hospitals and respond to the call of need wherever it is expressed. Together, let us assist the elderly and attend to our children. We cannot allow the elderly to be plunged into solitude and children to become neglected and abandoned on the streets. If we let the revolution of goodwill conquer this community, the whole of Thokoza shall become a living monument to what reconciliation can achieve for the whole of South Africa.

The biggest challenge we face together today is that of HIV/AIDS. It is the biggest threat we have ever faced, bigger than even the scourge of apartheid. 

Let us also keep up the fiery spirit of Thokoza, but this time not to fight people, but to fight problems. Let us fight together against criminality, indolence, greed and the lack of law and order. All these evils dwell in the hearts and minds of people. The people of Thokoza can work together to teach that criminality must stop and can no longer be tolerated. Let us isolate and expose criminals and whoever breaks the law. Let us develop a culture of zero tolerance for anyone abusing any member of this community. I especially plead that we work together to expose and isolate people who abuse women and children, those of our families most deserving of protection and assistance. The violence against women and the violence against children must stop, in the name and through the efforts of our revolution of goodwill. 

Together we can bring about a world of social stability and economic prosperity which to many today appears to be nothing more than a mirage. We have proven that we have the strength and the leadership necessary to transform mirages into reality and dreams into tangible plans for our future. Today, we celebrate a dream which has become reality, in that the people of Thokoza who were once divided by violence are now united in their shared commitment to reconstruction and development. Today we are celebrating the dream which became reality, in that the dignity of Thokoza is finally restored.

At the same time, today we are dreaming of a better future in which Thokoza will be able to fulfil its promise made to all its sons and daughters that one day they will all be able to walk free. One day people will be equally freed from the enslavement of poverty and unemployment and the threat of criminality. Until then, the struggle for real freedom must continue and must be fought and won through goodwill. To the pursuance of this dream, we shall commit our existence. We shall not let the struggle stop here. The struggle continues until we transform into reality the dream that one day all South Africans may enjoy a free and dignified life of equal opportunities, without fear and need. Our struggle continues until this dream lives. I salute the people of Thokoza who together have finally triumphed in peace.