Breaking Point in Zululand

AS A HAZY SUN SET OVER THE GREEN hills of blood-soaked Natal Province last week, Jabulani Shibe tried to do his part to broker the differences between the African National Congress and its bitter foes in the Inkatha Freedom Party. Shibe, 27, a laborer, joined eight of his neighbors in KwaMashu, a black township near Durban, and visited an Inkatha hostel. Suddenly, a group of Inkatha men drew guns and bundled Shibe and his companions into a minibus. They drove through the darkness to a nearby railroad station, where an armed and angry mob of Inkatha supporters was waiting. One by one the peacemakers were ordered out and shot. Five were killed. Said a sobbing Shibe later: "They shot me but I ran."

The Inkatha men told Shibe that he was shot in revenge for the bloodshed in downtown Johannesburg, where a day earlier thousands of Zulus clashed with A.N.C. security guards and police in running gun battles through the city's steel and glass canyons. The violence, said Inkatha leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi ominously, marked the beginning of "a final struggle to the finish between the A.N.C. and the Zulu nation."

Such public bellicosity was too much for President F.W. de Klerk, who had been under A.N.C. pressure for weeks to crack down on Buthelezi and Inkatha. De Klerk could hesitate no longer. He declared a state of emergency in Natal Province, which includes the KwaZulu homeland where Buthelezi is chief minister. It will now be up to South Africa's army and police to control the incessant political violence in the region and make sure that voting in the country's first all-race elections can take place there on April 26, 27 and 28, despite Inkatha's fierce opposition. Not an easy task. In a fresh outbreak of violence, 13 people were killed Friday night in several separate attacks in Natal. Two of the victims were children attending a church service.

Most South Africans were hoping against history that the elections designed to transform their country would go smoothly. But just as the centuries of white domination come to an end, the prospect of a civil war that might blow up the process has shaken the country's 40 million citizens. De Klerk, opting to fight for peace if necessary, ordered in the troops. The choice -- between rebellion and acquiescence -- is now up to Inkatha.

Warfare was the rule last week. Early Monday morning thousands of Zulus, carrying spears, axes, clubs, pistols and a few AK-47 rifles, surged into Johannesburg's main business district. At Shell House, the 21-story office building housing A.N.C. headquarters, security men fired a fusillade at the demonstrators, turning the pavement into a jumble of bleeding bodies and hawkers' overturned stands. A few blocks away, rooftop snipers opened fire, killing several more marchers and sending thousands of demonstrators and office workers fleeing in panic. When the casualties were counted, 53 people were dead and more than 400 injured.