MEANS AND ENDS

Inkatha believed that the South African struggle was not only a struggle to free South Africa's black people from oppression and from the iniquities of apartheid, but to reform society at the same time. Inkatha also saw that the kind of society which would eventually be established in South Africa would be determined by how change was brought about. It is therefore axiomatic that where there are differences of opinion about the kind of society we should have in South Africa, there must also be differences about what tactics and strategies should be adopted to bring about change. Inkatha knew that if there was ever going to be a democratic society in South Africa, based on consensus government, the oppressed people of South Africa must be afforded the freedom to choose between social, political and economic alternatives. They can only do so if vying political forces present the public with alternatives. Whatever the position now is, these were not the sentiments of revolutionaries.

Black unity in the struggle was unquestionably an ideal worth striving for, but Inkatha sought to establish unity of purpose based on a multi-strategy approach which would not inhibit political competitiveness in which the component forces of the united front vied with each other to increase their popular support.

It was clear a long time ago that black/black reconciliation would only finally be achieved after South Africa had been liberated. Black unity was out of sight during the struggle for liberation. The ANC only wanted black unity if everybody acted in conformity with their views. The ANC's mission in exile did not agree that it was democratically desirable to have healthy and strong parties vying with each other for power. They spoke in terms of the dangers of a third force detracting from a people's war as led by themselves. They and their support groups talked about Inkatha as a divisive force and regarded Inkatha as a threat to the process of change. It was however unrealistic to expect 22 million Africans in the country to have had the kind of singleness of purpose which would have ensured the ANC's kind of unity between black political forces working for change.