The Boipatong Massacre of 1992: Traces, Silences, and Truth(s)

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Notes

1 James Simpson’s MA thesis is the most comprehensive account. See J. Simpson, ‘Boipatong: The Politics of a Massacre and the South African Transition’ (MA thesis, University of Cape Town, 2009). Gary Kynoch’s recent monograph does not delve into the details of the massacre and its history. See G. Kynoch, Township Violence and the End of Apartheid: War on the Reef (Woodbridge: James Currey, 2018).

2 The evidence of these attacks is extensive. See, for example, University of the Witwatersrand, Historical Papers Research Archive, (hereafter HPRA), Goldstone Commission, Boipatong Massacre records, AK2672 (hereafter AK2672) F.1.2, Report: Violence in the Vaal Triangle, July 1990–July 1992. Amongst the most notorious incidents is the Nangalembe night vigil massacre of 12 January 1991.

3 P. Pigou, ‘The Apartheid State and Violence: What Has the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Found?’, Politikon, 28, 2 (2001), 207–233; S. Ellis, ‘The Historical Significance of South Africa’s Third Force’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 24, 2 (1998), 261–299.

4 HPRA, AK2672, B12.6.003, Statement of Klaas Mathope.

5 O’Malley Archive, ‘Response – Piers Pigou from Boipatong’, 16 August 2000, https://omalley.nelsonmandela.org/index.php/site/q/03lv02039/04lv02133/05lv02139/06lv02148.htm, accessed 15 May 2023.

6 Ibid.; D. Beresford, ‘Top Investigator Slams the TRC’, Mail, accessed 15 May 2023.

7 See, for example, HPRA, Independent Board of Inquiry (IBI) records, AG2543 (hereafter AG2543), 2.2.7, IBIIR Report for the period September 1990; HPRA, AG2543, IBIIR Report for the period of May 1991.

8 Simpson primarily focuses on the political implications of the massacre and the political leverage the African National Congress (ANC) gained through allegations of third force involvement. See Simpson, ‘Boipatong’.

9 South African History Archive (hereafter SAHA), The Freedom of Information Programme collection, AL2878 (hereafter AL2878), B01.5.4.03, E. A. de Kock, Aansoek om amnestie, AM0066/96, 10 May 1997.

10 O’Malley Archive, ‘Response – Piers Pigou from Boipatong’.

11 SAHA, AL2878, B01.5.75.04.10, Section 29 inquiry transcript.

12 HPRA, AK2672, F2.1., Material re Pedro Peens; SAHA, AL2872, B01.5.75.04.22, Section 29 in-camera hearing 29 July 1997. On the significance of ultra-right connections to the police, see D. W. Potgieter, Gruesome: The Crimes and Criminals that Shook South Africa (Cape Town: Zebra Press, 2015), 35–59.

13 Potgieter, Gruesome, 52.

14 HPRA, AK2672, F1.2, Violence in the Vaal Triangle, July 1990–July 1992.

15 Kheswa’s membership was confirmed by WPM leader Koos Vermeulen, though Vermeulen later retracted his statement.

16 I borrow this framing from Vanessa Barolsky, who has analysed the ‘excessive’ and ‘transgressive’ character of violence in Kathorus. See V. Barolsky, Transitioning Out of Violence: Snapshots from Kathorus (Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, 2005).

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Franziska Rueedi

Franziska Rueedi is a senior lecturer and researcher the University of Zürich. Her research focuses on popular protest, collective violence and conflict during the 1980s and 1990s in South Africa, as well as transnational networks during the era of decolonization. She is the author of The Vaal Uprising of 1984 & the Struggle for Freedom in South Africa. She is working on her second book on the role of violence and peace during South Africa's transition to democracy.