Delegitimizing Violence and Building Peace

I came across this article on Turning the Tide of Violence in South Africa by the Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC). In part, the article suggests that violence was legitimized as a form of political protest during the apartheid years, even though in many cases, this violence was also economically motivated. How deep does this legitimization go? I was surprised to read Nelson Mandela's comments on Gandhi on the Tolstoy's Farm website. Mandela seems to be at pains to justify the use of violence to combat apartheid. Here is an excerpt:

Gandhi remained committed to nonviolence; I followed the Gandhian strategy for as long as I could, but then there came a point in our struggle when the brute force of the oppressor could no longer be countered through passive resistance alone. We founded Unkhonto we Sizwe and added a military dimension to our struggle. Even then, we chose sabotage because it did not involve the loss of life, and it offered the best hope for future race relations. Militant action became part of the African agenda officially supported by the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U.) following my address to the Pan-African Freedom Movement of East and Central Africa (PAFMECA) in 1962, in which I stated, "Force is the only language the imperialists can hear, and no country became free without some sort of violence."

Gandhi himself never ruled out violence absolutely and unreservedly. He conceded the necessity of arms in certain situations. He said, "Where choice is set between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence... I prefer to use arms in defense of honor rather than remain the vile witness of dishonor ..."

Violence and nonviolence are not mutually exclusive; it is the predominance of the one or the other that labels a struggle.

I disagree with this characterization of Gandhi. I doubt very much that the Mahatma would have endorsed violent opposition to the apartheid Regime. I imagine he would have instead argued for an even more strict application of Satyagraha, which, at its moral core is based on the concept of the application of courage and the acceptance of self-suffering as a tool for awakening the compassion and moral understanding of the oppressor.

It has become a widely accepted truism in South Africa that violence helped end apartheid. I would argue that other factors, such as economic sanctions, sports and scientific boycotts, and the end of the Soviet Union were more important. I believe that the decision to use violence will ultimately be seen as a strategic error, and that the violent wing of the struggle only served to make the regime more repressive, while also contaminating the peace in post-apartheid South Africa.

If the goal of the anti-apartheid struggle was to create racial and economic peace, then the decision to legitimize violence has delayed the realization of that goal, by creating a class of people who are willing to use violence to acquire wealth. This violent criminal activity is working to sabotage South Africa's economic development, and is undermining racial harmony. The solution out of this conundrum is not more law-and-order, and not more security firms, and not the reintroduction of the death penalty! That will only serve to return South Africa to a police state, but with a different master. Instead, a slow and quiet campaign of non-violent resistance to crime, and a compassionate re-education program for convicts are the most effective solutions to realizing the goals of economic peace and racial harmony.

I'd be interested in applying for a grant with the IDRC to develop concrete strategies and pilot projects for transforming violent criminals into Satyarahis. I believe this transformation is possible. As I have developed my own interest in, and understanding of, non-violence, I have realized my own violent tendencies and need to dominate, and through that awareness, relaxed into a more peaceful way of being. The difference between the violent criminals and me is only one of degree, not of kind. That is why I believe this transformation is both possible, and the best hope for economic and racial peace in South Africa.