The Eastern Cape, one of South Africa's major industrial regions, was simmering. Police in armored vehicles patrolled black townships, while groups of black youths waited for a chance to vent their anger. Here and there, buildings smoldered, streets were barricaded. Less than a week earlier, 25 years to the day after the Sharpeville massacre of 69 black South Africans by security forces, the police had gunned down 19 black demonstrators near Uitenhage, 20 miles from Port Elizabeth, the Eastern Cape's largest city.
In the days that followed, there were scattered incidents of black turning on black, and at least 20 more...