TRAINING FOR PEACE

After three hundred years of colonialism South Africa finally began its transition to democracy in April 1994. Among the legacies of the past are fractured communities out of touch with their cultures and traditions, shattered family structures and a deep rooted history of division. Overriding this, South Africa also has been left with a culture in which violence is commonly used as an acceptable method of problem solving.

It is within the constraints of this environment that the Independent Projects Trust, an NGO, trains conflict resolution skills. This training is delivered throughout the region of KwaZulu Natal and focuses on structures such as the following :

• South African Police Services and Community Police Forums,
• School Boards including Management Committees, Principals, Teachers and Pupils
• Women's groups
• Political Parties
• Traditional structures and grassroots leadership in rural areas

Background

The province of KwaZulu Natal is situated on the eastern seaboard of South Africa and is bordered by Mozambique in the north and the former Transkei in the south. It occupies approximately one tenth of South Africa's land mass and has a population in the region of 9.4 million. The region is characterised by hilly terrain, and the northern-most reaches are remote and often inaccessible by road. A large portion of the province is rural and the IPT has 3 offices in these rural areas, Port Shepstone in the south, Ulundi in the far north and Empangeni in the north. The organisation's head office is in Durban, which is the urban centre of KwaZulu Natal.

The majority of the population in the region are Zulu speakers and it is the second most densely populated region after Gauteng. Although there is significant economic development, this is largely concentrated round the port of Durban and the Richards Bay/Empangeni area. Important crops are sugar and citrus but all of these activities are not sufficient to generate employment for the people of the region and it is estimated that the unemployment rate in rural KwaZulu is as high as 70%. Some 46% of all households are dependent on remittances from menfolk who work as contract labourers on the mines and in the industries of Gauteng. The continuation of this system of migrant labour exacerbates the spread of Aids/HIV and the region has the highest rate of infection in South Africa, with the infection rate as high as 40% in some rural areas.

Infrastructure is - at best - rudimentary in rural areas with little or no provision of running water, or access to power, outside of the urban areas. The average monthly per capita income is R 210 per month while the household subsistence income is estimated at R 900 per month. Approximately 1 million children do not attend school.

KwaZulu Natal has a history of political violence which dates back to the 1980s and frequently threatens to undermine the stability of the new dispensation. To oversimplify this, it can be said to date back to mid 1980s, when the Inkatha Freedom Party sought to consolidate its influence in the province, against the growing support for Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the United Democratic Front, (UDF) both aligned to the African National Congress. The Inkatha Freedom Party also threw its weight behind the effort of the National Party to crush this Mass Democratic Movements and this has also had a long term negative effect on relationships in the region.

The rural areas of KwaZulu Natal are dominated by traditional structures. This is a system of chiefs (amakhosi) and headmen (indunas) who exert a major influence over rural life. Rural areas are generally controlled by the IFP and the urban areas by the ANC. There is ongoing tension between the political parties in the province which is likely to increase as 1999 and the second general election approaches. It is against this backdrop that the IPT trains in rural areas and gives community workers the skills to help their own communities handle disputes in an effective and peaceful manner.

Definition of community based peace workers

Rural areas in KwaZulu Natal have been decimated by years of deprivation and then further depleted by internecine violence. It is critical that we begin to build peace mechanisms into community structures. Little development takes place where there is war and, left unchecked, communities then enter a downward spiral from which there is little hope of return.

The successful peace structures in this region have generally had spontaneous origins, and have often comprised two people teams, one from each of the combatant groups, eg. ANC/IFP and these are the types of structures which have the most chance of success in terms of a sustainable peace.

A spokesperson for one of the longest surviving peace structures in this region gave the following qualities as essential for aspirant peace workers and a successful process:

• fear of God
• honesty
• "knowing the opposition" and understand and accept them
• a willingness to "take it slowly" and handle setbacks
• both parties fearless and committed enough to appear in public together
• neutral zones must be identified for joint meetings
• hard-liners be elected into office, kept in the process and visible at all times
• peace must have high value to both parties
• small peace cells must be active throughout the community and able to react to crises

Peace workers at grassroots level face unique problems. They will be beset by daily challenges and their constituency, who are usually at the bottom of the pile and concerned with food, water and shelter, are often sustained by the violence. The violence, also, often serves the needs of middle leadership, because it takes the focus off them and perhaps their failure to deliver services, so the peace workers will battle against adversity continually. They need to be brave and have a deep commitment which will sustain them through failure and, which characterise this type of work.

Training of community based workers and strengthening of existing social structures

The type of training and skills transfer which we are involved in, is long term, tedious and difficult to measure. Both the training and funding agency must have a realistic picture of these difficulties.

We have had some success in training for attitude change and modification and concentrate on the following training modules:

• Communication : effective skills including active listening skills
• Assertiveness : in a country where confrontation is the norm, assertiveness is a vital component to changing attitudes
• Problem solving skills
• Co operative behaviour and consensus building

There are some steps which it is helpful to follow. Firstly, it is essential to work with both sets of combatants in order to give each group an equal opportunity for the provision of community trainers. Secondly, the training organisation has to be accepted as impartial and with trust by the groups and disclosure and integrity on the part of the training agency is also imperative.

The strategy we adopt at IPT to share out plan, viz. The provision of training services which will impact on skills and assist the parties to manage a changing and stressful environment. Having done that we work with as many key role players at grassroots level as possible, and draw them out of all interest groups in the community, eg. Women's groups, youth, development committees etc. The provision of this skills training serves a two-fold purpose, it also strengthens community ties for people begin to work together, realise that their is commonality of vision and purpose and start to interact with each other around community issues.

What does and does not work?

Where a community has some structure and has not been too depleted by violence and poverty, then it is often possible to enable and support structures which will contribute to peace making in the area. It is, however, impossible unless some of the following happen:

• a spontaneous desire for peace among the people at grassroots level
• strong leadership from both sides of the conflict who will carry the
• process forward
• some outside support for the process
• hope of change and transformation in the community, eg jobs,
• infrastructure which will assist in moving them to a new psychological place
• grassroots and middle leadership give support to the process media are prepared to play a constructive role

In conclusion, our experience has been that this type of work is never easy and there is no "quick fix". Long term commitment and dedication is needed and no "outsider" like a training organisation is going to be able to bring peace. It has to start in the hearts and minds of the affected community.