Third Force (South Africa)

The "Third Force" was a term used by leaders of the ANC during the late 1980s and early 1990s to refer to a clandestine force believed to be responsible for a surge in violence in KwaZulu-Natal, and townships around and south of the Witwatersrand (or "Rand").^[1]

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) found that:

while little evidence exists of a centrally directed, coherent or formally constituted "Third Force", a network of security and ex-security force operatives, frequently acting in conjunction with right-wing elements and/or sectors of the IFP, was involved in actions that could be construed as fomenting violence and which resulted in gross human rights violations, including random and target killings.^[2]

^ Ellis, Stephen (1998). "The Historical Significance of South Africa's Third Force". Journal of Southern African Studies. 24 (2): 261–299. doi:10.1080/03057079808708577. hdl:1887/9519. ISSN 0305-7070. JSTOR 2637528.
^ "Section 4 Appendix: The 'Third Force'" (PDF), Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report, vol. 6, 2003, p. 584, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2005

[1] Ellis, Stephen (1998). "The Historical Significance of South Africa's Third Force". Journal of Southern African Studies. 24 (2): 261–299. doi:10.1080/03057079808708577. hdl:1887/9519. ISSN 0305-7070. JSTOR 2637528.

[2] "Section 4 Appendix: The 'Third Force'" (PDF), Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report, vol. 6, 2003, p. 584, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2005

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