The Political Origins of Zulu Violence during the 1994 Democratic Transition of South Africa

Abstract

One of the most interesting cases of the third wave of democratization around the world is that of

South Africa in 1994. We have a great magnitude of literature on the South African regime change.

Most studies focus on the power struggle between the African National Congress (ANC) and the then

governing National Party (NP) or between the Blacks and the Whites or on the type of democratic

institutions to be adopted in the post-transitional period. Yet, few have addressed the issue of why the

largest black ethnic group of Zulus played a spoiler during the transition to democracy. This study

deals with the issue of why many Zulus, represented by the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), collaborated

with the Whites to wage bloody struggles against other Black brothers, although they themselves

had belonged to the repressed in the system of apartheid. This study begins with an introduction to the

Zulu ethnic group and its nationalism in order to provide preliminary information about who the Zulus are. This is followed by our explanation for why they were engaged in violent conflicts with the other Blacks.