Phola Park, East Rand: As township warfare
spreads, a woman grieves over her husbands
death, following a night attack by residents of
nearby Zulu hostel. She grieved for 10
minuites then fled in fear.
Photograph by Louise Gubb

Fourteen hostel dwellers and residents are killed in clashes between hostel dwellers and Phola Park residents located in the Thokoza Township on the East Rand, near Johannesburg. Tension between hostel dwellers, who were mainly Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) supporters, and residents, mainly African National Congress (ANC) supporters, became serious when residents from Thokoza erected a squatter camp on land adjacent to hostels that were predominantly Inkatha Freedom Party support bases. In August 1990, the death of a hostel resident sparked a series of violence between Phola Park squatters and hostel dwellers, leading to the death of at least 500 people. Violence flared once more after the announcement of the General Election of 1994, because of attempts of both the ANC and the IFP to expand their support.

Source:

Coleman, M. (ed)(1998). A Crime Against Humanity: analysing the repression of the apartheid state, Johannesburg: Human Rights Committee, p. 266.

http://www.iss.org.za/Pubs/Books/PKVol1/8DuToit.pdf