Abstract
The National Peace Accord, signed by most of the political parties of South Africa in September 1991, provided for a unique conflict resolution mechanism. It set up a countrywide network of peace committees consisting of representatives of the signatories and of civil society. These peace committees were mandated to deal with conflict on the level it arose. This article explores the lessons that have been learned in the process. Concentrating on the experience of the Local Peace Committees of the rural areas of the Western Cape, the following issues are discussed: peacemaking where no consensus on the definition of peace existed, the role of civil society and amateur peacemakers, peacemaking against the background of a crisis in the legitimacy of authority, and the applicability of Burton's model for solving deep-rooted conflict.
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