Buthelezi snubs ANC and homeland leaders

Mangosuthu Buthelezi refused to attend a meeting organised by the African National Congress (ANC) and other five homeland leaders to discuss ways of ending the violence. It was essential for Buthelezi to attend such a meeting since members of both the ANC and Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) were held responsible for the violence, which had engulfed the country. Buthelezi snubbed the meeting because he had repeatedly called for talks between himself and Nelson Mandela in his capacity as the leader of IFP to find ways and means of dealing with their supporters, and ensure that there is peace in affected areas. This scheduled meeting infuriated Buthelezi because he felt that the ANC undermined his calls for such a meeting, and the issue at stake concerned his party and the ANC, not the other leaders invited. Despite Buthelezi's absence, the meeting agreed that the roots of violence did not originate with the tribal conflict between Xhosas and Zulu, as it was initially believed. These leaders were of the view that Xhosas and Zulus were played against one another by the faceless forces (commonly known as the 'Third Force') that wanted to make South Africa ungovernable. Mandela believed that state security organs such as; the National Intelligence Services and the Civil Co-operation Bureau played a part in the ensuing of violence throughout the country.