| Name | Description | |
| Gazankulu hand grenade attack | On 28 March 1986, foreign soldiers, working under the auspices of the SADF, threw hand grenades into a packed shebeen in Lulekani, Gazankulu, causing an unknown number of deaths and injuries. The Mozambican and Angolan soldiers were allegedly deployed by the SADF to destroy youth activists. The presence of the soldiers in the area caused considerable tension as they were perceived by youth activists to be agents of the state. Youths gathered in the shebeen were strategising about the removal of the foreign mercenaries from the area when the attack took place. | References |
| Gengeshe | In April 1992, IFP supporters carried out a series of arson attacks on houses in Gengeshe, Richmond, Natal. Most of the victims identified themselves as ANC supporters. Many of the attacks were described as revenge attacks for the earlier killing of an IFP supporter; some seemed to be related to an IFP membership recruitment drive. One man was injured and a number of houses were set alight. | References |
| Green Berets | A vigilante group composed of members of the ruling Ciskei National Independent Party (CNIP) set up to protect the interests of the party in the early 1970s. In 1974 the Green Berets assaulted Mdantsane commuters during a boycott of the local bus company. In 1977 they re-emerged to target Mdantsane schoolchildren who were boycotting classes in protest over Steve Biko's death in detention. In the 1980s the Ciskei government made available resources and premises for the training and operation of the group to enable it to target all forms of opposition to homeland authorities. | References |
| Guguletu Seven | On 3 March 1986 seven men aged between 16 and 23 were shot dead in a field at Guguletu, Cape Town. Police claimed that the victims were known 'terrorists' and had been killed during a legitimate anti-terrorist operation. A magistrate at two inquests made the same finding. The Commission's investigation into the incident revealed an extensive cover-up by the security forces involved in the incident. Security Branch members from Cape Town and Vlakplaas infiltrated askaris into a group of seven activists, planned an ambush of police personnel to lure the youths into a trap, then killed them. Two Security Branch members from Vlakplaas were granted amnesty. | References |
| helicopter torture | a method of torture in which the victim was cuffed by the ankles and wrists and suspended upside down from a pole between two tables. | References |
| Hippo | an armoured personnel carrier used by SADF and SAP | References |
| Hlobane Colliery attack | On 6 June 1986, two busloads of Inkatha supporters attacked striking NUM members attending a meeting in the company hall at the Hlobane Colliery, near Vryheid, Natal. Eleven miners were killed and 115 injured. | References |
| hostels | Hostels in the provinces of KwaZulu/Natal and the Transvaal, particularly in the PWV (Pretoria/Witwatersrand/Vereeniging) area, became strongholds of the IFP in the early nineties. They became no-go areas for non-Inkatha residents of adjacent communities. In turn, IFP hostel-dwellers were increasingly alienated in these communities and were frequently attacked by resident youth activists. IFP-supporting hostel-dwellers were, however, responsible for launching several large-scale attacks on adjacent townships and informal settlements in these provinces. The overwhelming majority of victims in these attacks were non-IFP township residents. | References |
| iKongo | see Pondoland revolt | References |
| imbizo | a conference called by traditional leaders | References |
| Imbokodo (Mbokodo) | an organisation established in 1985 by KwaNdebele's political elite to realise the KwaNdebele government's drive to incorporate the areas of Moutse and Leandra in order to make the homeland a more viable geographic and political entity. Imbokodo members carried out brutal attacks in which hundreds of ordinary residents were assaulted and killed. These attacks radicalised a previously apolitical population. 'Comrades', in turn, ruthlessly and methodically attacked suspected Imbokodo members and their families. Imbokodo members were therefore both perpetrators and victims of the violence that engulfed and nearly destroyed the homeland from mid-1995 to 1988. | References |
| impi | a Zulu regiment | References |
| Incorporation | of townships into homelands caused conflict between different political parties in various places: | References |
| Incorporation of Botshabelo into QwaQwa | From 1986 to 1990, tensions ran high in Botshabelo, a township near Bloemfontein, between residents who opposed incorporation into the QwaQwa homeland and supporters of the ruling Dikwanketla National Party (DNP), which promoted incorporation. | References |
| Incorporation of Ekangala and Moutse into KwaNdebe | In order to boost KwaNdebele's viability as an 'independent' state, the South African government planned in 1983 to incorporate these two historically non-Ndebele areas into KwaNdebele. The tribal authority of Moutse repeatedly warned the apartheid state against incorporation. Their requests were ignored and Moutse became embroiled in violent political conflict during which hundreds of people died or were injured in clashes with the homeland police and with Imbokodo vigilantes. When the government announced that the nearly 5000 residents of Ekangala, near Bronkhorstspruit, would be incorporated into KwaNdebele, a wave of popular unrest swept through the area. The Ekangala Action Committee (EAC) led a campaign of mass resistance to which the KwaNdebele Police and Imbokodo vigilantes responded with assaults, terror attacks and abductions. | References |
| Incorporation of Goederede into Lebowa | In July 1975, supporters of Chief Jack Mphezulu Mahlangu in Goederede, near Dennilton Tvl, launched widespread attacks on residents who resisted incorporation into Lebowa. | References |
| Incorporation of Hambanathi into KwaZulu | At various times in 1983 to 1985, conflict over incorporation erupted in Hambanathi, near Verulam, Natal, between Inkatha supporters who were pro-incorporation and UDF affiliates, including JORAC (the Joint Rent Action Comitttee) and the Hambanathi Residents' Association, who opposed incorporation. In one incident in August 1984, two policemen and a prominent member of the Hambanathi Residents' Association were killed, and more than 100 residents were forced to flee the area. | References |
| induna | local headman | References |
| Inkatha | the Zulu cultural nationalist organisation, which became the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) in mid-1990. | References |
| Inkatha gang (OFS) | A vigilante group formed by local councillors to cripple the ANC's campaign to force the resignation of the local council in Rweleleyathunya, Rouxville, OFS, in 1990. Gang members carried out arson attacks on ANC supporters' houses during that year. | References |
