| Shell House massacre | |||||||
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| Part of the run-up to the 1994 South African general election | |||||||
  Shell House Shell House (South Africa) | |||||||
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 19–53 [1] dead | |||||||
The Shell House massacre was a 1994 shooting incident that took place at Shell House, the headquarters of the African National Congress (ANC), in central Johannesburg, South Africa in the lead up to the 1994 elections. [2]
Shell House (not to be confused with Luthuli House, where the ANC later relocated) at 51 Plein Street, Johannesburg, South Africa was the headquarters of the ANC after the organisation was unbanned until 1997. On 28 March 1994, about 20,000 Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) supporters marched to Shell House in protest against the 1994 elections that the IFP was intending to boycott.
The ANC people opened fire, killing nineteen people. [3] At the time, guards claimed that the IFP supporters were storming the building or that a tip-off had been received of that being planned.
The Nugent Commission of Inquiry into the killings rejected that explanation. The commission's conclusion was that the shooting by ANC guards was unjustified.[ citation needed ]
The incident reflected the rising tensions between the ANC and IFP, which had begun in the 1980s in KwaZulu-Natal and had then spread to other provinces in the 1990s. The IFP claimed that the ANC was intent on undermining traditional authorities and the power of Zulu chiefs; the ANC saw a power struggle as the demise of apartheid was finalised.[ citation needed ]
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The incident triggered a state of emergency across eleven magisterial districts in the East Rand, as well as the whole of the KwaZulu and Natal province. [4] [2] [5]
In June 1995, ANC and then President Nelson Mandela admitted that he had given the order to defend Shell House, even if it should require killing people. [6] In 1995 Willem Ratte laid a complaint of murder against president Nelson Mandela at the police headquarters in Pretoria [7] for the Shell House massacre.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission granted amnesty to 11 people concerning the massacre.
The Inkatha Freedom Party is a conservative political party in South Africa, which is a part of the current South African government of national unity together with the African National Congress (ANC). Although registered as a national party, it has had only minor electoral success outside its home province of KwaZulu-Natal. Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who served as chief minister of KwaZulu during the Apartheid period, founded the party in 1975 and led it until 2019. He was succeeded as party president in 2019 by Velenkosini Hlabisa.
General elections were held in South Africa between 26 and 29 April 1994. The elections were the first in which citizens of all races were allowed to take part, and were therefore also the first held with universal suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), and marked the culmination of the four-year process that ended apartheid.
Prince Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi was a South African politician and Zulu prince who served as the traditional prime minister to the Zulu royal family from 1954 until his death in 2023. He was appointed to this post by King Bhekuzulu, the son of King Solomon kaDinuzulu, a brother to Buthelezi's mother Princess Magogo kaDinuzulu.
Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu was the King of the Zulu nation from 1968 to his death in 2021.
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The apartheid system in South Africa was ended through a series of bilateral and multi-party negotiations between 1990 and 1993. The negotiations culminated in the passage of a new interim Constitution in 1993, a precursor to the Constitution of 1996; and in South Africa's first non-racial elections in 1994, won by the African National Congress (ANC) liberation movement.
Themba Harry Gwala was an anti-apartheid activist and a leader of the African National Congress (ANC) and South African Communist Party (SACP) in South Africa.
South Africa since 1994 transitioned from the system of apartheid to one of majority rule. The election of 1994 resulted in a change in government with the African National Congress (ANC) coming to power. The ANC retained power after subsequent elections in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. Children born during this period are known as the born-free generation, and those aged eighteen or older, were able to vote for the first time in 2014.
Operation Marion was a domestic military operation fielded by the South African Defence Force (SADF) during the 1980s. The apartheid security forces trained Inkatha operatives to build an irregular militia.
Municipal elections were held in South Africa on 18 May 2011, electing new councils for all municipalities in the country. Municipal elections are held every five years, and the previous municipal elections were held in 2006. The first municipal elections following the reorganisation of municipalities took place in December 2000.
Baldwin Sipho "Ben" Ngubane was a politician from South Africa. He held multiple positions in the post-apartheid government of the country. In particular, he was Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 1997 to 1999 and Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology from 1994 until 31 August 1996 and from February 1999 until April 2004.
Siphiwe Mvuyane was a South African police officer involved in political killings in the Bantustan of KwaZulu. He died on 9 May 1993.
Shell House is an office building located at 51 Plein Street, Johannesburg. It was donated to South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) by the oil company Shell. The ANC has governed the country since 1994. The ANC is now located in Luthuli House.
Mkhuleko Hlengwa is a South African politician who is currently serving as the Deputy Minister of Transport since July 2024. He is the national spokesperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and has represented the party in the National Assembly since May 2012.
KwaZulu-Natal is one of the nine multi-member constituencies of the National Assembly of South Africa, the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa, the national legislature of South Africa. The constituency was established in 1994 when the National Assembly was established by the Interim Constitution following the end of Apartheid. It is conterminous with the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The constituency currently elects 41 of the 400 members of the National Assembly using the closed party-list proportional representation electoral system. At the 2019 general election it had 5,524,666 registered electors.
Lionel Percival Hercules Mbeki Mtshali was a South African politician who was Premier of KwaZulu-Natal from 1999 to 2004. He was known for unilaterally ordering the expansion of the province's antiretrovirals programme during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, in defiance of the policy of the national government under President Thabo Mbeki. A founding member and former chairperson of the Inkatha Freedom Party, Mtshali was also national Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology in the government of President Nelson Mandela from 1996 to 1999.
Thembinkosi Samson Khoza was a South African politician who represented the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in the National Assembly from 1994 until his death in May 2000. He was a former leader of the IFP's Youth Brigade and served as the party's leader in Gauteng province. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was credited with expanding the IFP's political presence in the Transvaal.
Velaphi Bethuel Ndlovu is a South African politician from KwaZulu-Natal. He represented the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in the National Assembly and KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature for two decades from 1994 to 2014. During apartheid, he was a member of the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly, serving the Imbali constituency. He is also a former deputy chairperson of the IFP.
Walter Sidney Felgate was a South African politician, businessman, and anthropologist. He served in the National Assembly from 1994 to 1997 and then in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature from 1998 until his retirement in 2003.
Ismail Chota Meer, sometimes spelled Ismael Meer, was a South African lawyer, writer, and anti-apartheid activist. He was the secretary of the Transvaal Indian Congress during the presidency of Yusuf Dadoo, and he later held leadership positions in the Natal Indian Congress and South African Indian Congress. After the end of apartheid, he represented the African National Congress in the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature from May 1994 until his death in May 2000.
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