Power battle traps Zulu chiefs

To destroy Mangosuthu Buthelezi's powerbase, the ANC seeks to end his role as the traditional leaders' paymaster. Robert Block reports

The strip of hotels running along Durban's North Beach is as inconspicuous a place to meet as one could hope for. Holidaymakers of all colours and sizes pack the Indian Ocean coastal resort at this time of year to escape the chilly weather of the South African interior.

Despite the crowds, Everson Xolo, a Zulu inkhosi or chief from the south- coast town of Port Shepstone, was constantly looking over his shoulder. "Buthelezi's people are everywhere," he whispered after changing tables in a hotel lobby bar for a third time.

A large barrel-chested man with a greying goatee and colourful batik shirt, Chief Xolo does not seem the kind of person to be spooked easily. But since he broke with his erstwhile mentor, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, he has been in hiding, fearing for his life.

Once a labour minister in Mr Buthelezi's KwaZulu government, he became disenchanted as the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader grew increasingly dogmatic and as those around him began to advocate violence against their rivals in the African National Congress (ANC).

The final break came in autumn 1993, when Chief Xolo refused to let Inkatha militants kill ANC activists in his village. A few months later, on 30 December, he was targeted for assassination. Four men with pistols and an automatic rifle raked his car with gunfire as he left a local tribal meeting.

"I had eight bullets in me. My left arm is almost completely paralysed. Look," he said as he nervously glanced around and pulled up his shirt to reveal a horrific scar. "I am lucky to be alive. But this is what happens to the opponents of Buthelezi. This is the danger of being a chief in KwaZulu today."

Unfortunately for Mr Xolo and other amakhosi, that role is unlikely to get easier. Chiefs in KwaZulu-Natal have been designated as the new rope in the tug-of-war between Inkatha and the ANC over control of the province. A struggle for their hearts and minds, and possibly their physical well-being, is about to get under way. The fear is that instead of calming the situation in KwaZulu-Natal, it may only make it worse.

The chiefs are crucial to Mr Buthelezi's drive to re-establish the Shaka Zulu kingdom. They are part of his fight for greater provincial authority which is the focus of his struggle with the ANC.

The loyalty and subservience of the area's 300 Zulu chiefs are the cornerstones of his political power; without the chiefs' militancy and willingness to toe the Inkatha line, the IFP probably would not have won the majority in the province in last year's elections.

Until recently, the ANC has been deeply divided over the future of the chiefs and traditional leaders, whom many activists consider collaborators with apartheid for their role as local administrators during the decades of white-minority rule. The ANC now says it wants the chiefs to serve as traditional arbitrators of petty disputes and leaders of ceremonies and spiritual matters, but they must abandon party politics and leave local government.

Mr Buthelezi insists the chiefs' political powers must be entrenched, not weakened, and has accused the ANC of seeking to destroy traditional leaders in the new South Africa. This has found a loud echo among the chiefs. Mr Buthelezi exercises control by a complex system of patronage and intimidation built up over the years. Now the ANC is about to try to loosen the glue holding the chiefs to Inkatha by trying to beat Mr Buthelezi at his own game. Sometime in the next few weeks, legislation transferring the payment of chiefs' salaries from the provinces to the central government will be presented to parliament for approval. In a speech last week, President Nelson Mandela threatened to make the change, "whether they like it or not".

At present, Mr Buthelezi through his behind-the-scenes control of the KwaZulu-Natal government, is paymaster to the chiefs. Advisers to President Mandela say if central government assumes that role, the chiefs' loyalties may switch, and Mr Buthelezi would see his power base vastly diminished. Once the chiefs are free of Inkatha, the advisers say, it will be possible to depoliticise them - or so the theory goes.

Chief Buthelezi is not likely to give in without a fight. "No doubt, the IFP is going to test the effects of central government payments to the chiefs, especially in terms of what it does to their loyalties," Senuo Mchunu, ANC party chairman in KwaZulu-Natal, said. The test, experts say, will inevitably involve bloodshed.

"Important as money is, the ultimate weapon over the chiefs is violence," said Mary de Haas, a lecturer in social anthropology at Natal University, now working for the government on plans to accommodate traditional leaders in the new South Africa. "You can change the pay structure, but unless you protect the chiefs they are never going to open their mouths freely and speak their minds. The real issues in KwaZulu-Natal are policing and law and order."

On Friday, the Safety and Security Minister, Sydney Mufamadi, said the government would deploy extra soldiers and police in specific areas of KwaZulu-Natal to quash mounting political violence. The announcement has been met with criticism from Inkatha, which accused the government of "bully-boy" tactics. The IFP has promised to resist any crack- down on its activists.

Until the dust settles, Chief Xolo said he will remain underground and other chiefs will play it safe.

"My people are suffering. They don't like what is happening but Inkatha has a gun to their heads. There is a saying that when two elephants fight, the crust of the earth is broken. It's best to stay away until the fight is over."