The 1995 Shobashobane Christmas Day massacre: political mass murder that shook the new South Africa

Abstract

This research report tells the story of the killing of 18 African National Congress (ANC) supporters in the village of Shobashobane on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast by an Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) aligned mob. It is one of the earliest episodes of political conflict that marred post-apartheid South Africa in what was a climax of instability in the region with a long history of violence. The survivors of the massacre still bear the scars of the onslaught and question whether the political change they fought for has brought them the future they envisaged. The gruesome attack, which took place on 25 December 1995, was a consequence of a fight for political hegemony between the IFP and the ANC. Twenty-eight years after the massacre, the events of that fateful Christmas day are still etched in the memory of the survivors and aggravated by the challenging socio-economic conditions of the present. The court found the massacre to be politically motivated by the rival supporters. Those convicted and jailed for their role in the massacre described by the court as ‘well-orchestrated’ have all been released from prison, while others had their convictions overturned on appeal shortly after sentencing. Political violence continues to plague parts of KwaZulu-Natal in different forms, and Shobashobane remains a mishmash of complex socio-political contrasts.