The peace talks between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) are called off

The peace talks between the African National Congress (ANC) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) were called off as a result of the ANC's ultimatum sent to State President F.W. de Kerk. In the ultimatum, the ANC demanded that De Klerk stop aiding and abetting the IFP in the ongoing feud with the ANC and its alliance partners, the United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).   IFP leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi was again angered by the ANC allegations that the IFP is backed by the security forces to kill ANC members. Buthelezi accused the ANC of putting the country on the brink of civil war and of aiming to wreck the negotiation process, setting the stage for an attempt to seize power. By the end of 1991 and well into the following these issues remained unresolved. In June 1992 tensions between the ANC and its alliance partners on the one hand and the IFP and the apartheid government on the other escalated into a crisis when the IFP supporters attacked residents of an informal settlement in Boipatong, south of Johannesburg. In the attack 40 people were murdered and scores injured. The informal settlement, known unofficially as Joe Slovo, was considered to be one of the ANC’s strongholds in the Vaal.