Article May 6, 1991 Issue

SECOND THOUGHT

Looking again at news and commentary

"Into the Valley of Death, Good Will Brings Peace" by Christopher S. Wren—November 12, 1990

The New York Times

"Shongweni, South Africa—This dirt-poor Zulu community sits at one end of the Valley of a Thousand Hills, as tradition praises the undulating green countryside. But the feuding that tore Shongweni asunder caused it to be nicknamed the Valley of Death.

"In one year, 150 or more inhabitants were [killed] ... in clashes between members of the Zulu political movement Inkatha and supporters of the United Democratic Front, an affiliate of the African National Congress. Hundreds of homes were burned down in Shongweni and thousands of families fled.

"The killing consuming Shongweni, about 20 miles west of Durban, was appalling even by the standards of other impoverished black communities across Natal, where 4,000 people have been killed in the last four years in fighting involving supporters of Inkatha and the congress.

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