Scores of people are killed in Boipatong, Vaal

One of the most gruesome attacks on township residents was carried out by armed men from Kwa Madala Hostel in Sebokeng, south of Johannesburg. In what has become known as the Boipatong massacre, township residents were butchered and assaulted in their homes by armed hostel dwellers in the middle of the night. Forty-six people including women and children lost their lives and several were maimed. The massacre  happened during negotiations between the South African government, the African National Congress (ANC), the South Africa Communist Party (SACP) and other liberation movements. Following the massacre, the ANC suspended its participation in the negotiations and withdrew from the Congress for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA). At the time, it was said that the attack was organised by the Third Force, a conservative element of the police force and government colluding with members of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) to destabilise the country and disrupt the negotiations. References: UNHCR, ‘Chronology for Europeans in South Africa’, [online], available at www.unhcr.org (Accessed: 24 May 2012) O’Malley P. ‘1992’, from O’Malley: The Heart of Hope, [online], available at www.nelsonmandela.org (Accessed: 24 May 2012) Boddy-Evans A. ‘This Day In African History’, from About Africa History, [online], available at www.afriacanhistory.about.com (Accessed: 24 May 2012)