Sechaba, May 1982

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Page 1 of 38 Alternative title Sechaba Author/Creator African National Congress (Lusaka, Zambia) Publisher African National Congress (Lusaka, Zambia) Date 1982-05 Resource type Journals (Periodicals) Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1982 Source Digital Imaging South Africa (DISA) Rights By kind permission of the African National Congress (ANC). Format extent 36 page(s) (length/size)

Page 2 of 38 SECHABAMAY 1982official organ of the african national congress south africaFront Line States Presidents with the leaders of ANC and SWAPOat the recent Maputo summitFrom L to R: Nujoma (SWAPO), Dos Santos (ANGOLA), Masire (BOTSWANA),Nyerere (TANZANIA), Mugabe (ZIMBABWE), Kuanda (ZAMBIA), and TAMBO (ANC).

Page 3 of 38 ALGERIA5 rue Ben M'hidi LarbiALGIERSINDIAFlat 68 - Bhagat Singh Market,NEW DELHI-1ANGOLAPO Box 3523,LUANDAITALYVia Capo d'Africa 47,00184 ROMEBELGIUM9c Rue de Russie, 1060BRUXELLESMADAGASCARPO Box 80TANZANIACANADAPO Box 302, Adelaide PostalStation, TORONTO,Ontario M5C-2J4NIGERIAFederal Government SpecialGuest House, Victoria Island.LAGOSCUBACalle 21a NR 20617Esquina 214 Atabey,HAVANAEGYPT5 Ahmad Hishmat Street,Zamalek,CAIROETHIOPIAPO Box 7483,ADDIS ABABAGERMAN DEM. REP.Angerweg 2, Wilhelmsruh, 1106BERLINGERMAN FED. REP.Postfach 1901405300 BONN 1SENEGAL26 Avenue Albert Sarraut,DAKARSWEDENPO Box 2073, S - 103 12,STOCKHOLM 2TANZANIAPO Box 2239 DAR ES SALAAMPO Box 680 MOROGOROUNITED KINGDOMPO Box 38, 28 Penton Street,LONDON N19PRUNITED STATES801 Second Avenue, Apt. 405NEW YORK, NYC 10017ZAMBIAPO Box 31791, LUSAKAPublished by the African National Congress o1 South Africa, I. O. Box 31791 LUSAKA, ZAMBIAPrinted a the Drudkerei 'Erich Weinert', 2000 Neubrandenburg, G.D.R.

Page 4 of 38 WALTER SISULU

Page 5 of 38 SECHABAMAY ISSUE 1982P.O. BOX 38,28 PENTON STREETLONDON N1 9PR UNITED KINGDOMTELEGRAMS: MAYIBUYETELEX: 299666ANCSAGTELEPHONE: 01-837-2012SEND YOUR ORDERS NOW TOSECHABA PUBLICATIONSP.O. Box 36, 28 Penton Street, London N1 9PRALL ORDERS OF TEN OR MORE COPIES-50% DISCOUNTKINDLY INCLUDE A DONATION WITH YOURORDER IF POSSIBLESAMPLE COPIES OF SECHABA AVAILABLE ONREQUEST IF ACCOMPANIED BY A POSTAL ORDER(OR IN THE UNITED KINGDOM WITH STAMPS)TO DEFRAY POSTAL COSTSCONTENTSEDITORIAL:Fight U.S. ImperialismU.S. DECLARES WAR:On ANC and SWAPOLETTER TO THE EDITOR:The basis for revolutionary unityITALY PLEDGES SOLIDARITYANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONSUSA and CANADA (airmail only)ELSEWHERESINGLE COPIESUSA and CANADA (airmail only)ELSEWHERELISTEN TORADIO FREEDOMVOICE OF THE AFRICAN NATIONALCONGRESS AND UMKHONTO WESIZWE$12,00e 6,00$ 3,00-f 0,50WALTER SISULU:70th BirthdaySOUTHERN AFRICA:The Time to ChooseBOOK REVIEWSTOP PRESSRADIO MADAGASCARshortwave 49m band, 6135 KHz 8-9 pm dailyRADIO LUSAKAshortwave 41 m band, 7.3MgHz-8,30 to 9am dailyRADIO LUANDAshortwave, 40 B 30 m bands; 0medium wave 27,6 m band - 7,30 pm dailyRADIO TANZANIAshortwave 19 m band, 15.435 Khz J8,15 pm - Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday;31 m band-6,15 am Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Page 6 of 38 EDITORIAL: FIGHT U.S.IMPERIALISMThe US Assistant Secretary of State forAfrican Affairs, Chester Crocker hascondemned what he calls "terroristactivities" and other "violent efforts" bySWAPO and ANC. Testifying before theUS Senate Sub-Committee on Securityand Terrorism on March 22, 1982, he saidthat these two organisations receive 90%of their military aid and 60% of their overallaid from the Soviet Union.The derogatory reference by Dr Crockerto the just struggle for nationalindependence waged by the national libera-tion movements as `terrorism' is but afeeble attempt by the Reagan Administra-tion at concealing its role as the mainstayof terrorist regimes throughout the world.This Administration, which hasself-righteously proclaimed its mission to bethe fight against international terrorism,spends huge sums of dollars to prop upfascist dictatorships such as those in ElSalvador to continue with their genocidalpolicies. It is also the same Administrationwhich supports the Pretoria racists notonly to conduct a reign of terror against themajority of the people in our country,but also to carry these acts of terror intothe neighbouring states with completedisregard for life and property.Neither the ANC nor the Soviet Unionmade any secret about the selfless support

Page 7 of 38 that the Soviet Union, the SocialistCommunity and the progressive forcesthe world over are granting to the peoplefighting against oppression, exploitationand human degradation.What, then, is the real objective behindthis `revelation' of Soviet assistance to theliberation movements?For the people of South Africa the latestmanoeuvres of the Reagan Administrationin Central America are instructive. USimperialism, having failed in its machinationsto subdue the people of Cuba and to reversetheir revolutionary gains, was confrontedwith yet another humiliating defeat withthe triumph of the struggle of the peopleof Nicaragua. Added to these defeats theUS Administration is now confrontedwith the increasing tempo of popularstruggles, namely in El Salvador and othercountries in the region. In response to thesedevelopments the US Administration hasadopted a desperate and aggressive stancetowards Cuba and Nicaragua.Similarly, in Southern Africa, imperialismwhich has suffered great losses as a result ofthe victories of the revolutionary struggleswaged in the region, seeks to reverse theseadvances by throwing its full weight behindthe racist Pretoria regime.Fearing the destruction of its strongholdin Africa by the liberation forces led by theANC and SWAPO, imperialism now seeksto find a pretext for its aggression in theregion. However this time the excuse forintervention is not Cuba or Nicaragua,but the Soviet Union for its assistance tothe liberation movements. It is now clearthat the strategy of internationalimperialism, in particular the United States,is to suppress the liberation movementsin South Africa and Namibia, and to usethe racist South African regime to attackthe front line states for their assistanceto our cause.The ANC therefore calls on progressivemankind to condemn these dirtymanoeuvres by the United States and togive all possible support to the nationalliberation movements and to the frontline states in our sub-continent. For ourpart we in the ANC shall not rest untilwe destroy the apartheid monster andcreate a South Africa that will stand forpeace, democracy and social progress.AMANDLA! MATLA!Alfred Nzo, Secretary GeneralU.S. DECLARESWAR ON ANC AND SWAPOIt is an open secret, indeed a known fact,that the US does not only collaborate withracist South Africa, it actually coordinatesracist South Africa's plans against thepeople of Africa. Up to now little has beenknown - at least outside our ranks -that the US has declared war on us, theliberation movements of Southern Africa;it is now taking measures to confront usphysically. It is true that the Reagan regimehas always confronted us at least morallycalling us "international terrorists" andattempting to view our struggle in thecontext of cold war, "internationalising"our struggle. Now they openly collaboratewith the racist regime of Pretoria in thisdirty game.Denton CommissionIn March something very sinister tookplace in the US namely the hearings onANC and SWAPO organised by a sub-committee of the US Senate on Securityand Terrorism. The Chairman of this sub-committee is no other than SenatorJeremiah Denton, a man who left Americain the mid 60's, an America which stilllargely believed in the "Vietnam war".He spent seven years and seven monthsin North Vietnam as a prisoner of warafter being shot down over North Vietnamand captured on July 18, 1965.The hearings of this sub-committeebring back memories of the UN-American

Page 8 of 38 Activities Committee headed by JoeMcCarthy.Lister and his South African TripJoel Lisker is the Chief Committee aide ofSenator Denton. He together with BertMilling visited South Africa and Namibiaon January 1119, 1982 to investigate theSoviet, East German (the name they use forthe German Democratic Republic) andCuban involvement and/or control in theANC and SWAPO.It was not the first time that Lisker wentto South Africa. Formerly with the Registra-tion Unit at Justice which oversees theregistration of Foreign Agents, Liskertravelled to South Africa during theMuldergate Scandal to investigate theAmerican aspect and angle to the scandal.The one case that did come out of this wasthe Mc Goff case. Also investigated wasDonald De Kieffer, the Foreign Agentrepresenting the South African InformationOffice who is now the Chief Counsel forthe office of the U.S. Trade Representative.There are some shocking revelationsabout this visit: the trip was coordinatedwith the State Department; the delegationbriefed the US embassy officials in SouthAfrica upon their arrival and were debriefedat the State Department upon their return.They also had the cooperation of the racistSouth African Government on their trip.Prior to leaving the US, Lisker sent a"shopping list" to the South Africanofficials indicating the people they wished tomeet with, the places they wished to visitand the information they hoped to haveaccess to. All in all they interviewed over20 people while there, mostly former ANCand SWAPO members. These people hadleft the organisations for various reasonsincluding arrest in South Africa, voluntarysurrender and dissatisfaction with theorganisations. All this did not matter toLisker he was not concerned why theyleft the organisations he was interested in:what they did within the ANC andSWAPO; what type of training theyreceived and where; what type of educa-tion they received and where, how manytrips they made to the Soviet Union andthe German Democratic Republic. Liskerwas also keen to hear reports of torturein the Soviet Union, on members whorefused to adopt Marxism and abandonChristianity; and was intersted in inspect-ing "captured material" from numerousSouth African raids into Angola(including the Kassinga massacre).The delegation, as we said before, receiveda briefing by the South African Intelligencewhile there and in return they briefed theUS State Department on their return.Enter Chester CrockerThe hearings started on March 22 in theUS. In his opening statement SenatorDenton spelt out the mandate of his sub-committee:"Today, we commence a series of fivehearings on the role of the Soviet Union,through its puppets in Cuba and EastGermany, in fomenting and supportingterrorism in Southern Africa..." ... these three countries have beendescribed repeatedly as actively and success-fully trying, under the overall ~ control ofthe Politburo in Moscow, to infiltrate andmanipulate so-called national liberationmovements. We have heard repeatedreferences to the Soviet Union's activitiesin Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, SouthYemen, and elsewhere in the world ...there is a strong case to be made thatAfrican Blacks, as well as whites, will sufferif communist movements expand or triumphin that region".Senator Denton went on to say:"The purpose of these hearings is not to

Page 9 of 38 debate the appropriate U.S. policy towardsSouthern Africa. Nor is it our purpose toanalyze South African domestic policies..."What we seek to determine, throughthe testimony of a number of witnesses,is the extent to which the USSR has success-fully penetrated, and in large measuretaken over, the direction of two organisa-tions in Southern Africa: the AfricanNational Congress and the South WestAfrican People's Organisation. I hasten toadd that it is not my view that the entiremembership of these organisations iscommunist. History demonstrates, however,that communist parties do not need 100%membership in order to operate ..."I do not make this charge lightly orwithout evidence. Indeed, the South AfricanCommunist Party itself, the oldestCommunist Party on the African continent(founded in 1921), has consistently madeits position clear with regard to the relation-ship of "national liberation movements tothe Soviet bloc..."And then he revealed that:"The subcommittee staff has devotedconsiderable effort to obtain first handevidence of the involvement of the Sovietsand their proxies in directing the so-called,national liberation' organisations operatingin Southern Africa. As Chairman of the sub-committee, I also want to acknowledge theable assistance of the Department of Stateand the United States embassy in Pretoria.We also recognise that the subcommittee'sinvestigators would not have been able toproduce the body of evidence to bepresented in these hearings without thecooperation of the South Africangovernment."Chester Crocker, Assistant Secretary ofState for African Affairs did not sayanything significantly different from SenatorDenton except to add that:"Consideration of communist influencein Southern Africa would also include thequestion of relations of various communistcountries with the independent states ofthe area, all of which consider themselvesto be non-aligned nations".He went on to detail "western interestsand US interests in particular" in theSouthern African region. He said nothingabout African interests and the interestsof the oppressed Blacks in Southern Africain particular.He told the sub-committee that:"The ten nations of Southern Africacomprise an area of great mineral wealth,including resources critical to westernstrategic interests. Angola, South Africa,Mozambique and the territory of Namibiaare all littoral states on the strategic Capesea route, a lifeline of western commerce.US two-way trade with the countries ofSouthern Africa mounted in 1980 to ., 7.2billion and US direct investment in theregion is estimated at $ 2.3 billion."He speculated:"We estimate that SWAPO receives someninety percent of its military support andsome sixty of its overall support fromcommunist forces ..."The ANC, which seeks to replace thepresent government in power in SouthAfrica by violent as well as other means,receives comparable percentages of itsmilitary and other support from communistand other sources".And then he summarised the US policyon Southern Africa:"We categorically condemn all terroristand other violent acts that either of theseorganisations take to try to bring aboutchange in Namibia and South Africa. Ourpolicy in relation to both seeks to channelthe impetus toward change into peacefulchannels. We seek in general in pursuingour objectives in Southern Africa tostrenghten and make more viable thepossibilities of peaceful change. In so doing,we seek to obviate the necessity forterrorism that some parties involved indevelopments in the region choose toperceive."On Namibia he had this to say:"In Namibia, we have been workingvery actively since last April to arrive at anegotiated settlement of the Namibiaissue that would bring that territory toan internationally recognised independencebased on UN Security Council Resolution435. We are pursuing a carefully crafted,three-phase negotiating process, withcoordination at all stages with all of theinterested parties, including South Africa,SWAPO and other Namibian politicalelements".And on South Africa:"...we are pursuing a careful policy ofconstructive engagement, encouraging thegovernment of Prime Minister P.W. Botha

Page 10 of 38 and other elements in South African societyto move away from apartheid toward aSouth Africa changed, modern and strong,with bright prospects for stability anddevelopment rooted in justice, free of theproblems that now stand in the way ofcloser US/South African relations. Webelieve that a process of peaceful, evolu-tionary change promises a much betterimmediate and long term future for allSouth Africans than the protracted, bloodyterror and violence that is the alternativefor that nation."American intriguesWe have quoted at length from theseundiplomatic, indeed crude, speeches ofthese leading American "experts oncommunism in Southern Africa". They dogive us an insight into the thinking inWashington about what they conceiveas the destiny of Southern Africa. Whatstrikes one is the lack of modesty andhumanity. Everything - including ouraspirations has to be subordinated toUS imperialist interest which dovetail

Page 11 of 38 with the interests of the racists in Pretoria.In this article we shall not deal withtheir speculations about the "extent ofcommunist influence" in our liberationmovements or the source of our support.In any case that is none of their business.We shall deal with their attitude towardsus and our struggle. Suffice to say, thevery fact that the Reagan administrationfound it necessary to set up a Senate sub-committee (headed by a former prisonerof war in Vietnam) to investigate our sourceof support -- instead of supporting us -is a reflection of how serious the Reaganregime views its declared policy of"superiority" over the Soviet Union. Theyare panicking, and even neurotic and we,arejust guinea pigs to be sacrificed on the altarof the cold war.While we are being condemned ("wecategorically cohdemn all terrorist and otherviolent acts that either of these organisationstake to try to bring about change in Namibiaand South Africa") the Reagan regime is"pursuing a careful policy of constructiveengagement, encouraging the governmentof Prime Minister P.W. Botha and otherelements in South African society to moveaway from apartheid". The logic here issimple: guerilla warfare must be stopped atall costs and by all methods (includingviolent methods) and then seek "peacefulmethods" for a "settlement". The Botharegime is being begged to "move away fromapartheid". It has never entered the headsof the American government officials thatit is the black masses who will bring aboutchange in South Africa and Namibia - notBotha.In these statements there is not a wordof condemnation of apartheid. On thecontrary it is referred to as "South Africandomestic policies". What about the invasionof Angola, attacks on ANC residences inMozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland? Whatabout the recent bomb attack on ANCoffices in London? And the kidnapping ofour cadres in the front line states?The material on SWAPO comes mainlyfrom the racist South African regime,including items taken from the wreckageof the Kassinga raid and other militaryincursions in Angola? Who believes this?Even if it were true is it ethical to denouncea victim of attack precisely because he hasbeen attacked?The implication of the links betweenSWAPO and Moscow, we are told, is that aSWAPO victory in Namibia would simplyhand over that country to Moscow andtherefore the main aim in Namibia "shouldbe to deprive the Eastern bloc of theinfluence it exerts as the supplier of militaryhardware and training". The independenceof Namibia is being made dependent on thewithdrawal of Cuban troops from Angolaand one of the conditions for a futureNamibia - if SWAPO wins elections -is whether racist South Africa and the Westare willing to cooperate with the newgovernment economically and otherwise.Even the UN General Assembly resolutionthat SWAPO is the sole and legitimaterepresentative of the Namibian people cameunder scrutiny.Unreliable WitnessesThis sub-committee did not stop at that.It took testimony from Ephraim Mfalapitsa,Jeffrey Motutuzele Bosigo and other formerANC students and cadres of Umkhontowe Sizwe, who have now become renegades.Even Bartholomew Hlapane, a rustedrenegade of the 1960's, featured in thesehearings.The most startling evidence was that ofNokonono Delphine Kave, a 27 year oldyoung woman from Peddle (Eastern Cape)who told a tale about her involvementin the Black Consciousness Movementwith Steve Biko - according to her theANC regarded Steve Biko as a CIA agent -,indoctrination in the Soviet Union (theSouth African papers call it Russia),fratricide within the ANC and her eventualflight to Canada. Nokonono explained howin the Soviet Union her Christian-baseddistaste for communism and her unhappinessat seeing a black nationalist movement(the ANC) being taken over by communists,created major problems.Nokonono was sent to the Soviet Unionto do a university course but she foundherself in a "psychiatric " hospital; shewas given injections that caused her to loseher sight temporarily and was sexuallyabused: "forced to have sex with whitemen". The Soviets had pictures of thissexual orgy, Nokonono said, and they toldher that she had now "become arevolutionary because I had sex with

Page 12 of 38 whites". She continued: "The people Ihad sex with were different people. I couldtell they were different by the differentweights I felt on me..." She was also intro-duced to a "Russian named Shubin who shewas told headed the armed struggle inSouthern Africa".In the ANC, she says, she saw terriblethings: as a semi-prisoner she watchedhow three "dissidents" were killed andcut open on a kitchen table. She saw manyatrocities in the ANC. The more lies shespoke the more sympathy she got. Denton,the Chairman of the sub-committeeinvestigating the ANC and SWAPO, saw inNokonono "a brave young woman whohad suffered gravely at the hands of thecommunists" and he made it clear that hebelieved Nokonono was in mortal dangerfrom her former colleagues aad from theKGB because of her evidence! This explainswhy there were more than 12 federalsecurity agents who guarded her at thehearing of the committee. Nokonono'sevidence must have pleased her uncles,Lennox Sebe of the Ciskei and his brotherCharles Sebe, the Chief of the Ciskei'sSecurity Police.Another less successful endeavour wasthe attempt to get evidence from AndreasShipanga, the President ofSWAPO-democrats in Namibia. In anappropriately titled article: "Say he's aCommunist" the Sowetan (26.3.82)reported that Shipanga has revealed thata member of the US Senate Sub-Committeeon Security and Terrorism had telephonedhim from Washington, asking him to prove"conclusively" that SWAPO President SamNujoma was a "convinced communist".Shipanga replied:"I do not want anybody putting wordsin my mouth. I know what SWAPO isand I know what I want to say. I wasshocked at the approach and I told himso."Shipanga said Senator Denton asked himagain to testify, but he sent a telegram toWashington insisting that he be allowedto testify as a "free witness".US Manoeuvres in Southern AfricaThe pro-government newspaper, the Citizen(24.3.82) expressed a hope that theAmerican Senate sub-committee on Securityand Terrorism takes serious note of theevidence of Dr. Chester Crocker, thatSWAPO receives ninety percent of itsmilitary support from communist sourcesand also that the ANC receives "comparablepercentages" of communist support. Itwent further to quote Crocker who saidthe USA condemns all "terrorist" andother "violent" acts by the ANC andSWAPO and seeks to direct change inSouth Africa and Namibia into peacefulchannels which is what South Africa isdoing!This is more than just a coincidenceof designs and schemes: it is a cleardemonstration of the growing alliancebetween the Botha regime and the Reaga;administration i.e. world imperialism; analliance which, while strengthening theapartheid regime also enables the policiesof that regime to influence imperialistpolicies and aggressive designs in this region.These hearings of the Reagan administra-tion have another sinister aspect. They arealso meant to investigate the "hidden fink"i.e. organisations in America that supportthe ANC and SWAPO and othernon-American organisations that are beinginvestigated. The aim is to force them toincriminate themselves. The next step isobvious: the ANC and SWAPO will have toquit the USA which will be a step towardsa clampdown on American civil libertiesorganisations and humanitarian bodies, letalone radical political parties and tradeunions.A tragic aspect of all this is that theBantustans are being used in this processto annihilate us and the progressive forcesin America. Let us take the case ofNokonono.Dr. Ronald Ray, an associate professorof political science at the University ofCalgary and one of the men whp"sponsored" Nokonono for immigrationpurposes when she came to Canada lastyear, is reported to have said that hebelieved Nokonono was a South Africangovernment plant in the ANC. The storiesNokonono told at different times did notcoincide. She appeared to be withoutfinancial resources, yet she suddenly madea trip from Calgary to Ottawa and Toronto.At one stage she ran up a telephone billof 500 US Dollars. At another shecomplained that she could not do her

Page 13 of 38 "work" properly at the University. Askedwhat she meant because she had everyopportunity to follow her studies:"She answered that she could not do herwork against the ANC and that she wasgoing to the United States". (Sowetan29.3.82)The US policy on Southern Africa dovetailswith the "defence" philosophy and militarytheory of the South African racists andmilitarists whose task is to:a) prevent or suppress "internal disorder".that is, the liberation movement ofSouth Africa;b) strike at the "source" of the problemin the front line states so as "to counterthe menace" of warfare;and c) to control the sea-lanes in the Indianand Atlantic Oceans in the interestsof world imperialism.Militarisation and Anti-CommunismThere is a direct interconnection betweenmilitarisation of South Africa and anti-communism. The anti-Soviet propagandaof a "Soviet threat" in Southern Africaserves as a justification for racist SouthAfrica's pledge to defend "the free worldfrom the communist threat".Why all this military build-up? Is thereany need for such a strong defence whenSouth Africa is not threatened by anycountry on her borders? Why all these"blizkrieg" tactics against the front linestates? Why is the ANC associated witha "potential threat" which is describedas the "international communist conspiracy"against South Africa? Why thisanti-communism?At a time when a state of undeclaredwar exists in Southern Africa and acts ofbrigandage of apartheid regime are escalat-ing, even a higher price is being paid interms of the lives and suffering of thepeople of Southern Africa, the UnitedStates regime proclaims itself as an ally ofPretoria. The Reagan regime stands out incontemporary world politics as the archenemy of progress, the bulwark of inter-national reaction which screams out loudlyagainst sanctions in so far as they areintended to isolate the South Africanapartheid regime, but seeks to bully itsallies into joining it to impose sanctionsagainst Poland and the Soviet Union. TheUS condemns the Soviet Union for supply-ing the peoples of Southern Africa withweapons to fight for their liberation butits supply of weapons and military personnelto the murderous junta in El Salvador iseverybody's knowledge. The US continuesto beat noisy drums in pretended defenceof "trade unionism"in Poland while it doesnot so much as utter a squeak when tradeunionists in South Africa are imprisoned,tortured and murdered.We should not take this developmentlightly. The United States and the otherimperialist allies of South Africa are gettingincreasingly worried by the growth of ourstruggle and by the glaring inability of theregime to check this development. Theyare now manufacturing pretexts for directintervention on the side of the apartheidregime. This has become the standardpractice of the Reagan regime. It is beingimplemented against the people of ElSalvador with the aim of saving thereactionary junta from imminent collapse.We also see the implementation of thisaggressive policy against Cuba, Nicaragua,Grenada and other progressive states in theCaribbean; against the people of Palestineand their vanguard organisation - thePLO - and against the rest of the Arabnational liberation movements through theuse of rapid deployment forces and otherarms of imperialist subversion.Now we are told that "part of theproblem" is that the ANC and SWAPOget their arms and training in communistcountries. We regard this as "part of thesolution" to the problem.

Page 14 of 38 LETTER TO THE EDITORThe Basis for Revolutionary unityDear Comrade Editor,Allow me, through your publication to voicemy opinions about a letter published in theJanuary issue of SECHABA and the viewsit propagates about some of the mostimportant questions related to the SouthAfrican Revolution, both in theory andin practice. No serious revolutionary can beindifferent to a discussion as important asthe one raised by the author of the above-mentioned letter. This becomes imperativeespecially when his views on questions likethe essence of revolutionary unity and thetype of change which our people are fightingto realise appear to be confused and hisstandpoint, distorted.The question of Revolutionary Unityof all patriots and democrats in our countryhas always occupied a central place in theagenda of the South African revolution.The 70 years of the existence of the AfricanNational Congress attest to this. From itsinception up to today, the African NationalCongress has been championing the cause ofunity. Nowadays, when the enemy hasembarked on a very dangerous and viciouscampaign aimed at keeping us divided andthus, it is hoped, rule over us with renewedimpunity, the only effective counter-strategyto frustrate these enemy stratagems isthrough Unity in Action and at the sametime, mobilising all democratic, anti-racist,anti-imperialist front for a People's SouthAfrica as envisaged by our revolutionarydocument - the Freedom Charter.Now an inevitable question arises -How are we to achieve this unity? Whatis the basis for Revolutionary Unity, arethere principles that are to guide us orshould we indulge in "unconditional unity"(whatever that means)? Finally, shouldcolour serve as a criterion i.e., must weconfine unity only among Blacks or mustit transcend racial barriers? These questionsare inevitable, and are just as vital as thequestion of Revolutionary Unity itself,because failure to take them into considera-tion when discussing the question of unitywill lead us into untold disasters. In fact,unity achieved outside these questions will,in a long run, deprive us of our hard wonindependence.Revolutionary unity cannot come of itsown. It cannot be called to order by thisor that individual. It is a long and difficultprocess founded on the basis of a clear-cutRevolutionary programme based on ourcommon desires and championing ourpeople's desires and objectives.Revolutionary Unity is unity in action.It is a phenomenon which cannot be other-wise but must, of neccesity be conditional,conditional on the acceptance of clearanti-racist., anti-colonial and anti-imperialistpositions, and finally, conditional to theacceptance of the Freedom Charter, adocument of the people of South Africa.Because of the above-mentionedconsiderations, the African NationalCongress has repeatedly refuted, and rightlyso, attempts by some circles aimed atforcing us into unity with such splintergroups like the so-called Pan-AfricanistCongress of Azania (P.A.C.). By the way,it is an historically recorded fact that one ofthe reasons that led to the breakaway fromthe African National Congress of the factionthat later formed the P.A.C. was the factthat they rejected the Freedom Charter asa Communist inspired document. Bydeclaring this, the pioneers of the presentlyailing P.A.C. supported enemy claims thatAfricans cannot think for themselves, andas a result, are incapable of realising or forthat matter, undertaking a revolutionaryinitiative.Reading through his letter, one is left

Page 15 of 38 with the impression that our anonymouswriter is an advocate of unconditionalunity. As a result, he accusses comradeG.J. of suffering from an old illness "knownas . sectarianism" and of upholding aninverted version of McCathyism accordingto which, he accuses, "only those whoadhere to his opinion of the Soviet Unioncan be counted as part of the revolutionarystruggle". Shame, what a blasphemy, whata sarcasm and above all, what a nususe ofconcepts. I think that the author of theletter in question is to a very great extent,out of step with present day developments.I would not be suprised to discover that heviews the Soviet Union as "just anotherimperialist power" as reaction would likeus to believe, ready to pounce on our peopleas soon as we rid ourselves of racistcolonialism, oppression and imperialistexploitation. In case this is your fearcomrade author, it is neccesary that we putthe record straight because allrevolutionaries should see and understandthat the Soviet Union and other countriesof the Socialist Community are the trueand natural allies of all the fighting peoples.It has no property stakes in the so-calledThird World countries. Perhaps one shouldadd that during our present epoch, thisdynamic epoch of transition from capitalismto socialism, an epoch characterised byNational Democratic and socialistrevolutions, we cannot remain indifferentto the struggle between the two opposingforces the forces for democracy, peaceand social progress headed by the SovietUnion on the one hand, and the forces ofimperialism, war and destruction headed bythe United States on the other.Consequently, one cannot be anti-Sovietand be progressive at the same time.Historical examples attest to this. Nowadays,one of the criterion of true internationalismis one's attitude to the Soviet Union.Commenting on this, in his January 8th1982 address, our President comrade OliverTambo stated categorically that:"... The mainstay of this worldrevolutionary process are the socialistcountries, fully committed to the causeof national liberation, the democraticforces in the capitalist camp, and thenational liberation movement. We tootherefore, are part and parcel of thisrevolutionary stream that is changingour planet for a better and happierworld to live in."Somewhere in his letter, our anonymousauthor writes "We agree that the FreedomCharter is not a socialist blueprint and itsaim is to end national oppression." Thiswas a response to comrade G.J.'s assertionthat the Freedom Charter demands "totaleconomic emancipation." The aim of theFreedom Charter is not only to end nationaloppression because, in the words of theStrategy and Tactics of the ANC, " ...Our drive towards national emancipationis therefore in a very real way bound upwith economic emancipation. We havesuffered more than just national humilia-tion. (emphasis mine) Elsewhere, it reads,"It is historically understandable that thedoubly-oppressed and doubly-exploitedworking class constitutes a distinct andreinforcing layer of our liberation andsocialism does not stand in conflict withour national interests." Therefore, thepurpose of our struggle in the fast phaseis "... the complete political and economicemancipation of all our people and theconstitution of a society which accordswith the basic provisions of our programme- the Freedom Charter." (emphasis mine.)The letter in question has many short-comings, but those that have beenhighlighted are enough to gear his mindtowards a fruitful thinking exercise. It ishoped that the points raised will serve asa trailblazer leading out of the darknesswhich he/she appears to be gropping in.It is also hoped that in the spirit of theFreedom Charter, he will uphold andappreciate my right to "publish anddistribute ideas that are not racist, filthyand treasonable", however unpalatable theymay become. I only hope that unlike G.J.'s,mine will not be found, to borrow a term"obnoxious".M.K. Cadre

Page 16 of 38 ITALY PLEDGES GREATER SOLIDARITYThe Second Italian National Conference ofSolidarity with the Peoples of SouthernAfrica took place in Rome, at the "Wingof Parliamentary Groups" of the Italianparliament from the 26th-28th Februarylast.The theme of the conference was"Against Racism and Apartheid in SouthAfrica and for the independence ofNamibia".The appeal of this important conference,like that of the first held in Reggic Emiliain 1978, was signed by theSecretaries-General of the political partieswhich form the `constitutional arc' as wellas the three trade union confederations.The main objectives of the appeal andthe conference are:1) saving of the lives and liberation of allthe patriots detained in racist prisons ofSouth Africa and their leaders NelsonMandela and Herman Toivo Ja Toivo2) the collection of money, food, medicines,clothes and implements for the dispatchingof the SECOND ITALIAN SHIP OFSOLIDARITY to the African refugeesoppressed by the apartheid regime.3) the formation of the National Associa-tion of Friendship and Cooperation Italy-Southern Africa, to be launched on May25th in Livorno - - the port from whichthe 2nd Ship of Solidarity will sail fromin October.The appeal states finally that the causeof the Peoples of Africa is anintegral part of our cause for a betterworld and for peace.Participating at the conference weredelegations of both ANC and SWAPOled by their respective Presidents - OliverTambo and Sam Nujoma; Alberto JoaquimChissano and Mooki Molapo, respectivelyForeign Ministers of Mozambique andLesotho; Kumbirai Kangai - Minister ofLabour and Social Affairs of Zimbabwe;Dennis Akumu - Secretary-General ofOATUU; representatives of Africandiplomatic missions in Italy; representativesof the various UN agencies; the Councilfor Namibia; the EEC; the European Parlia-ment as well as high-ranking representativesof Italian political parties, trade unions andgovernment.The conference opened under thechairmanship of the president of theRegional Administration of Lazio andmarked by a message of welcome by theMayor of Rome (Hon. Ugo Vetere). Thiswas followed by the report of the ItalianNational Coordinator - Guiseppe Soncini.Then follwed the keynote address bycomrade Oliver Tambo -- president of theANC. (See below)Among the most outstanding contribu-tions were those of the Hon. GiulioAndreotti former Italian Prime Ministerand presently head of the Foreign RelationsCommission of the Italian parliamentwho also chaired the final session of theconference; Tulia Carretone - - M.P. andDirector of the Italo - African Institute;Hon. Luciana Castellina - Member of theCC of PDUP and member of both theItalian and European parliament; Hon.Antonio Rubbi Secretary of the CentralCommittee, responsible for InternationalAffairs of the PCI; Hon. Gallone of theDC; and a worker from Oto-Melara - thearms industry which has been sendingarms to South Africa. Representativesof Italian political parties, trade unionsand other democratic forces also madeimportant contributions. The Italiangovernment was represented by the Hon.Roberto Costa - Under-Secretary forForeign Affairs.All these personalities unreservedly re-iterated their condemnation of thecontinued illegal occupation of Namibiaand racist South African aggression againstAngola as well as the continued colonisationand repression of the oppressed black peopleof South Africa and Namibia.

Page 17 of 38 Two important events took place in thefield of Italian solidarity:a) the signing of a preliminary protocolfor a Pact of Friendship and Solidaritybetween the Provincial Administrationof Rome and SWAPO of Namibia;b) the conferring of `honourary citizenship'of the City of Rome to Nelson Mandela.The formal signature of the Pact ofSolidarity between the ProvincialAdministration of Rome and SWAPO ofNamibia is scheduled to take place on April19th 22nd anniversary of the foundationof SWAPO. Angola is the venue for thishistoric event.The Second Italian National Conferenceof Solidarity with the Peoples of SouthernAfrica was a reconfirmation of thecommitment of the Italian people to theprinciples of freedom, justice, democracyand peace.This was a clear indication that ourjust struggle for freedom, social progressand peace is appreciated and supportedby all. freedom-loving forces the world over.The conference should serve as a sourceof inspiration to our struggling peopleand a reminder to the people of Europeof the urgent need for their concrete andunconditional material support for ourcause.At the end of the conference, thedelegations of the liberation movements andfrontline states were received by theSecretaries-General of the Italian CommunistParty and Italian Social Democratic PartyEnrico Berlinguer and Pietro Longorespectively as well as representatives of theItalian Socialist Party and ChristianDemocratic Party.On Saturday, 20th February, at 12.30President Oliver Tambo of ANC andPresident Sam Nujoma of SWAPO werereceived, in a private audience, by HisHoliness Pope John Paul 11 at the Vatican.At the end of their stay in Italy thedelegations were received by the presidentof the Italian Republic H.E. SandroPertini, who reiterated in no uncertainterms, his and Italy's abhorrence andcondemnation of apartheid and oppressionand called for the immediate solution ofthe Namibian problem and the right of theSouth African people to self-determination.12 President O.R. Tambo gives the key-Mute address at the Upenurg Jrss<<~~i

Page 18 of 38 Statement by Comrade O.R. Tambo,President of the ANC at the 2nd NationalConference of Solidarity with the Peoplesof Southern Africa - Rome February26-28, 1982.Italy's solidarity movement with the peoplesof Southern Africa has a profoundsignificance for us.The 1970 Rome conference in solidaritywith FRELIMO, MPLA, 'and PAIGC wasfollowed by the defeat of Portuguesecolonialism in 1974.The Reggio Emilia Conference ofSolidarity in November 1978 precededby only one year the collapse of the IanSmith settler regime in Rhodesia after theLancaster House Agreement.This Second National Conference ofSolidarity with the peoples of SouthernAfrica in the struggle against racism,apartheid and colonialism will certainly beviewed with great apprehension and disquietby the regime of South Africa and itsimperialist allies and agents. For, if thissolidarity conference carries the hiddenquality of its predecessors, then we do nothave long to wait before yet anotherstrategic victory is announced - theindependence of Namibia under a SWAPOgovernment.Liberation of ZimbabweWe salute, in particular, the politicalParties and the Trade Union federationswho convened this conference with a stirringappeal to the people of Italy, and wecongratulate the National Committee ofSolidarity on its successful organisation ofthe conference.We wish to address special greetings tothe Municipality and people of ReggioEmilia tu' whom the ANC is bound by aPact of Solidarity.We greet all the participants at thisconference in the name of the ANC and itsleaders, militants and allies, representingthe democratic majority of South Africans.We take this opportunity to convey tothe Government and people of Italy ourdeep appreciation of the generous andvaluable material assistance brought byAMANDA, the famous "Italian Ship ofSolidarity." Let there be another AMANDA.The theme of this conference under-scores the nature of the conflict in SouthAfrica and Namibia. The struggle does notinvolve only three parties - the S.A. regimeon the one hand and on the other, thepeople of Namibia and the majority in SouthAfrica. The struggle is that of the peoplesof Southern Africa against colonialism,racism, apartheid and fascism.Our Common DeterminationCertainly, the march of events in SouthernAfrica since the Reggio Emilia conferencepoints unmistakably to the demise of theold colonial order in Southern Africa. Theindependence of Zimbabwe gave a powerfulimpetus to the revolutionary process whichis now rocking the foundations of apartheid-colonial domination in Namibia and SouthAfrica. If the light at the end of the tunnelis not visible to all, the problem is one ofpolitical short-sightedness.It is in this mood of confidentexpectation and absolute conviction in thecertainty of victory for the fighting peopleof Southern Africa that we greet theparticipants at this conference, representing"the workers and peasants, the youth,the women, the regional and local govern-ments, organisations, associations and alldemocratic institutions of the country"-the entire Italian people and theirGovernment.At no time has it been realistically possibleto perceive the aspirations of the peopleof South Africa and Namibia as beingseparate or different from those of Africaand the rest of humanity. Our daily exper-ience in the sub-continent demonstrates aunity of purpose expressed in our commondetermination to rid the continent of thecriminal apartheid colonial system. The pricefor the continued existence of the Pretoriaregime is being paid in the blood of thepeoples of Southern Africa -- SouthAfricans Namibians, Angolans, Zambians,Mozamblicans, Zimbabweans; in the bloodof the people of Lesotho, Botswana andSwaziland - - the blood of the peoples ofAfrica.The struggles of Southern Africa areinternational concerns in a dual sense.Firstly, the system of apartheid is not adomestic creation, nor does it defendSouth African domestic interests alone.This economy provides massively for

Page 19 of 38 investors and for arms manufacturers anddealers from west European countries, theUnited States and Japan.In its struggle for survival, the apartheidsystem relies on the support of its powerfulinternational allies. The overthrow of one ofthe most brutal systems of oppression inthe world is our responsibility, but it isalso your responsibility. And our meetinghere today is an expression of our commondetermination to achieve that objective.Secondly, the struggle against apartheidis an international responsibility becauseapartheid as a system has gone far beyondits borders in escalating aggression againstthe states of Southern Africa. The racistarmy today occupies Namibia. Its tanks,heavy artillery, and fighter-planes -manufactured by European patent, suppliedby European countries -- have invadedthe People's Republic of Angola, andcontinue to occupy parts of that country.Where is the international outcry? Why isSouth Africa allowed to commit this flagrantbreach of national sovereignty and inter-national law with impunity? Why has theUnited States administration consistentlyvetoed efforts to impose sanctions againstthis criminal regime?Scandal of our Timeindustrialised economy and infrastructureof South Africa. The nine states of theregion are today struggling to break thiseconomic dependence, and the regime isretaliating with economic obstruction andsabotage. No state in our region is safe fromaggression. For as long as apartheid survives,no independent African state is free. Africaherself remains captive. In its turn, the over-throw of apartheid will usher in an eraof unprecedented reconstruction of theseAfrican countries, under conditions of peaceand security.Racist aggression is not a sign of strength.Pretoria has a formidable, well-equippedand highly mechanised military force. Butin attacking neighbouring states it isrevealing its greatest weaknesses - itsincapacity to destroy the armed liberationfighters who have become well entrenchedamongst the people and to break the closebonds between the liberation movementsand our African allies. The heroic victoriesscored by the growing mass support forthe People's Liberation Army of Namibiainside that country and the resolutedetermination of the Angolan people tosupport the Namibian struggle providea dramatic example of the fascist regime'sweakness and failure.It is one of the scandals of our time that thestates of the West and the Western ContactGroup have raised the Pretoria regime, theaggressor, to the status of fellow mediatorin the resolution of the Namibian issue,even while the racists are in illegal occupa-tion of that country and are violating thesovereignty of the People's Republic ofAngola.Angola is the victim of South Africa'smost blatant aggression, but the racist armyand its generals have active contingencyplans for the destabilization of all thecountries of Southern Africa. We arewitnessing the unfolding of grave dangers:As the liberation struggle teaches newheights the racist regime has extended tothe whole region the type of aggressionit first launched against Angola in 1975.This is blatant aggression, open war.Pretoria's strategy also leans heavily oneconomic destabilisation. In our regionof the continent colonialism left a legacyof countries locked into dependence on theOur Increasing StrengthThe chief features of the South Africansituation today are on the one hand theprofound crisis being experienced by theoppressor regime and on the other hand,the increasing strength, resilience. andgrowing legitimacy of the armed liberationstruggle in the eyes of our people.The African National Congress diagnosesthe South African system as in crisis. It isan organic crisis, one that cuts to the natureof the system. It is a crisis that could lastsome time, but the duration does not lessenits severity. For this is a crisis of authority,a crisis of power, which the apartheidsystem cannot resolve. It is the fact of thiscrisis, inter alia, which reinforces our firmbelief in the certainty of victory.Within its own ranks the regime hasabandoned the pretence of cabinet govern-ment. Since 1972 we have seen theincreasing militarisation of practically allaspects of government and the so-calledState Security Council, comprising top

Page 20 of 38 Giuseppe Soncini presents the Report of the National CommitteeANC delegation to the Conference, front rowmilitary, police and intelligence personnelhas effectively displaced the cabinet as thepiimary decision-making body. All thedecisive sectors of the economy containa strong military presence.The economy faces a crisis ofunprecedented proportions, which while notpeculiar to South Africa, does have anumber of distinct features. It ischaracterised by galloping inflation, sharpeconomic decline, severe dislocation and anever escalating rate of unemployment.And, in our country, all the unemployedare without exception black! Those sectionsof the population who previously battenedon racial privilege now stand to lose and themasses of the oppressed who have beenforced to bear the cost of the crisis haveseen their burdens increased tenfold.The inability of the racist state to copewith the upsurge of mass resistance isevident in the sustained eruption of everyconceivable form of struggle during thislast decade. Under the inspiration andleadership of the ANC our country hasexperienced a series of strikes, boycotts,

Page 21 of 38 student and youth rebellions in the schoolsand colleges, demonstrations in the citiesand in the rural areas; peasant struggles,worker resistance, combined political strikesby workers and by students; open defiancein the streets, and armed combat actionsled by the guerrilla units of the armed wingof the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe.Organised resistance is being intensifiedat all levels, and its forms have never beenso diverse.Our People are not intimidatedDuring the last ten years our country haswitnessed a phenomenal growth of tradeunions, who have employed the strikeweapon with a sophistication and resiliencethat has rendered the repressive apparatusof the regime practically disfunctional.In the industrial areas the black workingclass has forged links of common actionwith popular organisations: shop floorstruggles are linked with consumer boycotts,with community reinforcement of theseprotests. The unity of the black workingclass is being consolidated. This phenomenalgrowth of trade union organisation andworker militancy takes place underconditions of virtual state proscription ofthe right to organise free independentunions. Fascism drove underground, evensmashed the political movements of Europe,and especially of Italy, for several decades;our working class and our people organiseand resist under conditions of ceaselessfascist proscription and persecution.Our people are not intimidated. TheAfrican National Congress was declaredan illegal organisation in 1960. Inspiteof this the ANC has in the recent pastemerged as the undisputed voice of thedemocratic majority of our people. It isonce again in the streets, in the meetinghalls. Our flag, our colours, our freedomsongs, our demands, our programme, arevoiced everywhere; not in whisper; or insecret, but in public proclamations of themasses, in their varied forms of resistance;by political leaders - not necessarily thoseof the ANC itself but those who headpolitical protest in its own right, and whosupport the ANC programme for the libera-tion struggle and a new South Africa.For, the African National Congressmaintains its leadership of the strugglenot merely by its presence, by the actionsof its combat groups and its politicalunderground, but also by its policy andprogrammatic inspiration to other, related,but independent, resistance.We wish here to salute those heroicfighters: workers and students; communityleaders and representatives; religious leadersand the church resistance movement. Wesalute the generation of youth who facedarmoured cars and machine guns withstones, and with their bare hands. We saluteour industrial workers, who extend theskills they have learned on the job toimprovising evermore creative forms ofindustrial resistance. Their strike movementis not limited to wage demands; it is astruggle for the recognition of free,independent trade unions, for the very rightto strike, but also for a new political order.Armed struggle - Part of mass struggleThe regime faces a future in which all theseforms of mass resistance, complementedby the planned actions of ANC combatants,will spread. There is one elementary truthabout the strength of our movement: itis a popular movement, a struggle wagedby the people on many fronts. The ANCdoes not now, nor will it ever, conceive ofthe armed liberation struggle as separateand apart from the mass struggles of thepeople. Our armed struggle derives itslegitimacy from the popular struggleswaged by the people and is a continuationof these very struggles employing militarymeans. The close integration of our. armedcombatants with the masses has enabledDur people's army to strike at the enemywith daring and precision. We are confidentthat as the armed struggle is intensified itwill draw into its wake the active participa-tion of ever growing numbers of our people.Our masses have an inexaustible potentialfor struggle, but they struggle against fearfulodds. Our political prisoners, led byMandela, are sealed off from the outsideworld, some for the rest of their naturallives; there is no remission for politicalprisoners. Our political prisoners are in thedeath cell, awaiting execution, for acts ofresistance against a system that permits nolawful opposition. There have been politicalprisoners as young as 14 and 11 years old.Our political prisoners are subjected to

Page 22 of 38 gruesome torture. Our political prisonershave been found dead in their cells. Thisapplies to prisoners and detainees in SouthAfrica and Namibia.That is why the decision of theMunicipality of Rome to proclaim NelsonMandela a Citizen of this great City of Romeis not only timely but is also a great act ofsolidarity with the people of Africa, anhistoric expression of support for all thepolitical prisoners and detainees held bythe South African regime, both SouthAfrican and Namibian, at a time when thesedetainees are being tortured and even killedin the process. with the knowledge andauthority of t',e South African regime.The decision of the Municipality ofRome will be conveyed to Nelson Mandelain Robben Island.The latest of these crimes is the dastardlycase of Dr. Neil Aggett, a young whitemedical doctor, who devoted his life toserving the people both as a medicalpractitioner and as an organiser for the Foodand Canning Workers Union. Dr Aggettwas murdered by the racist Security Policebecause he sought justice for his country-men. His wife, who like himself wasdetained, and several other trade unionists,black and white, have been moved fromtheir cells to prison psychiatric wardswhere they are now being held. The criminalaction of the racists in murdering thisyouthful white patriot is indicative of asignificant current that is making itselffelt in South Africa today, the movementof numerous whites, especially the young,away from support of apartheid and towardsthe prdgramme and policies of the ANC.Apartheid reforms are hollowThe racist regime has tried a number ofdevices to unravel the crisis in which it ispresently embroiled. Its tactics, presentedto the world as efforts at reforms, haveoscillated between brutal repression andcosmetic superficial changes that haveno effect on the substances of apartheidand racist domination. To the insurgentworking class it has offered a system oflegalised but state controlled union registra-tion. For the most part black labour hasrejected these so-called concessions; ourworking class does not want corporateand company unions but free independentworker-controlled unions.To the Indians and Coloured people ithas offered a few poisoned crumbs in theshape of "power sharing" in an attemptto enroll new forces into the ranks of itssupporters from amongst the oppressed.It has tried to win over strata of the blackmiddle class. But this action of co-optationhas failed; there is no strata of the Africanpopulation, with the exception of the smallclique of Bantustan rulers, which has spokenup for the apartheid system.It has tried to train black labour inindustrial skills and to promote an upperlayer of black workers in the factories.But African workers want not onlyindustrial skills, and a living wage, but alsopolitical rights in the country of their birth.The regime's cooptation exercise hasnot worked. The order of the day is notcooptation by the regime but resistance!It is clearly understood by the mass of ourpeople that the racist regime cannot andwill not reform itself. We must not acceptthe rival claims of the conservative andso-called reformist wing of the dominantracist party on their face value. The splitin the ranks of this criminal cabal is overthe question of how best to achieveobjectives they hold in common and isoccasioned by the bitter struggles of theoppressed.The racist regime cannot be judged onthe basis of the rhetoric of self-seekingpoliticians and their foreign friends. Itmust be judged by the existence of ninemillion Africans who have been forcefullydeported from their homes in the urbanand industrial centres to resettlementcamps in the Bantustans; by the millionswho are annually criminialised becauseof some minor infaction; by the thousandsof innocent babies who die each year beforethey reached the age of four!Apartheid is not merely segregated sport,separate facilities for education, cultureand recreation. It is a brutal system ofnational oppression, embedded in economicexploitation and institutionally entrenchedby a monopoly over the political processby a small white minority. Apartheid isneither dead nor dying. It will and mustbe put to death by the power of theoppressed people.

Page 23 of 38 Reagan Policy legitimises ApartheidThere is a new tide running in internationalpolitics since the advent of the Reaganadministration in the United States. Thispolicy disguised behind a catchy phrase -"constructive engagement" - is explicitlyaimed at ending the South African regimesinternational isolation and restoring it toa position of respectability as a legitimatepower in Southern Africa. To this endthe United States government hasencouraged a more active investment policyin South Africa, is orchestrating a conspiracyto patch together a so-called South AtlanticTreaty Organisation between the Pretoriaregime and Latin American dictatorships,and is trying to foist cold war issues on thenational liberation struggle in SouthernAfrica.We look to the democratic forces ofEurope to prevent this attempt atlegitimising racism. More than this: we haveto prise away the international support onwhich the apartheid state relies. Sanctionsare not yet in full force. Multinationalsare still shoring up the apartheid's economy.United Nations resolutions are stronger inwords than in effect. There are serious anddisquieting moves to emasculate the forceof UN resolution 435 on Namibia: topermit South Africa to improvise new waysin which to entrench her rule in thatterritory, even after independence. Namibiais a direct EEC responsibility, for wheredoes the Contact Group derive its influence?The International Community must Act1982 has been designated by the ANC asthe Year of Unity in Action, involvingnot only the people of South Africa butalso all opponents of apartheid, colonialismand racism in the international community.1982 has also been proclaimed theInternational Year of Mobilisation forSanctions Against South Africa. This is atask which must be accomplished this year,by the people of this country, the peoplesof Europe and the rest of the world. It isfor this reason that we welcome theparticipation at this conference ofrepresentatives from the United Nationsand the European Economic Community.The ANC once again affirms its supportfor the people of Namibia in their legitimatestruggle for national independence underthe leadership of SWAPO. We recognise theheroic actions of the People's LiberationArmy of Namibia in pursuance of thedemocratic rights of the people of Namibia.The apartheid regime must be encircledby your struggles, and by your actions;by our struggles, our actions. These struggleswe pledge to you. We are resolved tointensify the struggle for the liberation ofour country. Together with you we shallbe unconquerable and irresistible.We take this opportunity to register oursupport for the legitimate struggle of thePalestinian people, the people of EastTimor, Western Sahara, the democraticforces in El Salvador and all the opponentsof fascist dictatorships.Once again we call upon the internationalcommunity to take positive action toisolate the racist apartheid regime. We callfor the complete diplomatic isolation ofSouth Africa and the countering of anyactions which attempt to block this effort.More than declarations and diplomacy:we call for actions and support in as manydiverse forms as your political experienceand strength can devise.We ask for political and economicsupport for the countries of SouthernAfrica and massive material assistance forSWAPO and the ANC.We call upon the world community todemand the release of all political prisonersand detainees held by the South Africanracist regime.A LUTA CONTINUA!

Page 24 of 38 WALTER SISULU:birthday of an outstanding revolutionary leader

Page 25 of 38 On May 18, Walter Sisulu celebrated his70th birthday in prison. As we go to pressnews was received that he together withNelson Mandela, Raymond Mhlaba andAndrew Mlangeni have been removed fromRobben Island to Pollsmoor Prison.SECHABA celebrates his 70th birthday byreviewing the political activity andcontribution of Walter Sisulu to ourliberation struggle.Walter Sisulu, was at the centre of theANC's struggles from the 1940's until hisarrest at Rivonia in 1963. He acted asguide and mentor to Nelson Mandela whenhe first came to Johannesburg and workedclosely with Mandela, Tambo and othersin the ANC Youth League whose ideaswere a spur to the development of theANC into the militant revolutionary forceit is today.Walter Sisulu was born at Engcobo inthe Transkei on May 19, 1912. He wasbrought up by his mother and an uncle.Coming from a poor family, he was unableto go far with his formal education andleft school at the age of 15 in order to lookafter the family's affairs when his uncledied.Sisulu began work on the Johannesburggold mines working at the rock facethousands of feet underground. When hehad completed his contract he did notreturn, but found work in East Londonas a "kitchen boy" working for a whitefamily. Here was his fast insight into thelife of the white minority. This job didnot last long either, and soon he was backin Johannesburg, this time working in abakery for 18 shillings a week.In his spare time Sisulu sometimesattended meetings of the Industrial andCommercial Workers' Union (ICU) andwas enthralled with the fiery speeches ofits leader Clements Kadalie, but did notjoin the organisation. He learnt his firstpolitical lessons in the arena of practicalstruggle when he led the workers in thebakery out on strike for higher wages.Sisulu was sacked as an `agitator'.His streak of personal rebellion andresistance to white domination grew fromstrength to strength. One evening whiletravelling home on the train, he saw a whiteticket-collector confiscating an Africanchild's season ticket. He asked the officialwhy he had done this, but instead of ananswer, he became the victim of assault.Sisulu fought back and was arrested andimprisoned. This was his fast of manyexperiences of prison.As he went from job to job, Sisulustudied for his Junior Certificate and alsotook part in music and debating clubs.He continued his search for a politicaloutlet and joined the ANC in 1940 afterhearing a speech by Dr. A.B. Xuma, whobecame ANC President in December ofthat year. However, Sisulu was to becomeincreasingly critical of Dr. Xuma's modera-tion.At first active in the ANC Youth League,wor)ting with Oliver Tambo, NelsonMandela, Govan Mbeki, Anton Lembedeand others, Sisulu was elected to the YouthLeague at its opening meeting held at theBantu Men's Social Centre.It was in Sisulu's office that the YouthLeaguers met to discuss their strategy andtactics. One of those who those who tookpart in the discussion, Albertina, a nurse,married Sisulu in 1944. At the wedding,Mandela was best man.It was at the historic 1949 Conferenceof the ANC, where a new militant leader-ship was elected, that Sisulu became themovement's first full-time Secretary-General.His wife, Albertina, wholeheartedlyendorsed his decision and from this timethe family would depend on her earningsas a nurse.As the ANC grew in the next decade,so did Walter Sisulu. He began to see therelationship between national and classstruggles in South Africa, to understandthat the apartheid state was based on theexploitation of the mass of the peopleboth as Blacks and as workers or peasants.He worked closely with the organisationsof the Indian and Coloured people, as wellas progressive whites, in the united andcommon struggle against apartheid oppress-ion and for national liberation. Recognisingthe need for a new theoretical approach,he began to read and study, to plan newforms of struggle.The increasing mobilisation of the massof the working people was to lead to a waveof repression by the Nationalist government.In 1950 the Suppression of CommunismBill was published, proposing to give the

Page 26 of 38 Mandela and Sisulu on Robben Islandgovernment the power to ban, not onlythe Communist Party, but any organisa-tion or individual opposing their policies.At the national day of protest againstthe act, on June 26 (South Africa's firstFreedom Day), Walter Sisulu declared:"The African people should not bebluffed by the title of the Bill. It will leaveno chance for them to protest and fight forthe interests of all oppressed people ...Although the Unlawful Organisations Billpurports to be directed against Communismin general and the Communist Party ofSouth Africa in particular, the ANC Execu-tive is satisfied that it is primarily directedagainst Africans and other oppressed people,and designed to frustrate all their attemptsto work for the fulfilment of their legitimatedemands and aspirations".Based on the Programme of Action ofthe 1949 Conference, the ANC becamemore and more involved in leading themilitant mass struggles of the time.Along with Dr. Moroka, J.B. Marks, Dr.Dadoo and Yusuf Cachalia, Walter Sisuluwas appointed to the Joint Planning Councilfor the "Campaign of Defiance of UnjustLaws". The campaign was launched onJune 26, 1952, and in all about 8,000people went to jail for defying apartheidlaws. Sisulu himself was a member of agroup of 52 Africans and Indians whoentered Boksburg location with out permits.Arrested, he told the court:"As an African and national secretaryof the Congress I cannot stand aside on anissue which is a matter of life and death tomy people. My duty is perfectly clear -it is to take the lead and to share with thehumblest of my countrymen the crushingburden imposed on us because of the colourof our skins."In conclusion, I wish to make thissolemn vow and in full appreciation of theconsequences it entails. As long as I enjoythe confidence of my people, and as longas there is a spark of life and energy in me,I shall fight with courage and determinationfor the abolition of discriminatory laws andfor the freedom of all South Africansirrespective of colour or creed".Later that year Sisulu and 19 otherswere rearrested and charged under theSuppression of Communism Act for their

Page 27 of 38 part in organising the Defiance Campaign.They were sentenced to 9 months imprison-ment, suspended for 2 years. Sisulu wassubsequently banned from meetings andconfined to the magisterial district ofJohannesburg.The moment his ban expired, Sisuluwas back at work, addressing meetings,travelling, organizing, inspiring. Butimmediately after the observance of June26, 1954, the authorities once again usedthe Suppression of Communism Act toattempt to decapitate the ANC. PresidentLutuli was confined to the Tugela districtof Natal and Sisulu was banned fromgatherings for two year; and ordered toresign as Secretary-General of the ANCwithin 30 days.Sisulu was one of the 156 arrested onDecember 6, 1956, in the treason trial andwas one of the key accused who enduredthe full agony of that ordeal up to themoment of acquittal on March 29, 1961.After constant harrassment and arrests,Sisulu was again picked up by police inAugust 1962 (a year after the launchingof the armed struggle) and eventuallycharged with incitement arising from thecountry-wide strike which had beenorgaiiised from May 29 to 31, 1961, inprotest against the inauguration of theracist "Republic". Nelson Mandela, whohad gone underground after the striketo organise the resistance, had been arrestedin Natal on August 5 and was charged witha similar offence.The opening of the trials of Mandela andSisulu in October 1962 was marked bybomb attacks in Natal and the WesternCape and demonstrations by thousandsof supporters in the main centres of thecountry.Although Mandela and Sisulu facedcharges arising from the same strike, theirtrials were separate, Mandela appearingin Pretoria and Sisulu in Johannesburg.Mandela faced two charges - incitementto strike and leaving the country withoutpermission -- and was eventually sentencedto five years imprisonment. Sisulu's secondcharge related to documents found in hishome by the police which were held to showthat he was promoting the aims of theANC.Sisulu was released on bail of R6,000.In October, he .vas placed under housearrest and ten days later, following thedeath of his mother, Sisulu was arrestedat his home for attending a "gathering"created by the mourners who had come topay their last respects. All this took placeduring the proceedings of the incitementtrial. At the conclusion of the case, Sisulurealised that time had run out for him andon April 20, 1963, he went undergroundto join the High Command of Umkhontowe Sizwe.On July 11, Sisulu and other leadersof Umkhonto we Sizwe were arrested attheir Rivonia headquarters. For monthsthey were held in solitary confinement,ceaselessly and often brutally "interrogated"by the security police. Some were viciouslyassaulted. Nelson Mandela was brought fromRobben Island to join them in the dockwhen their trial finally got underway onDecember 3.At the Rivonia Trial, Sisulu was in thebox for five days. From the outset he madeit clear he would say nothing and answerno questions which might lead to theidentification and prosecution of others,and he calmly and firmly refused to beprovoked by the prosecution. Sisuludemonstrated that a man who is clear inhis ideology and convinced of the logicand justness of his cause, is more than amatch for his enemies.During his detention, Sisulu revealed,he was told he faced the death penalty,but could avoid being hanged if he gaveinformation to the police. He refused tocooperate. The authorities could do whatthey like.Finally life sentences were passed onWalter Sisulu and his fellow accused. Atthe time of writing, Sisulu has been behindbars for almost 19 years, Mandela fornearly 20. For them and others, lifeimprisonment means that the regime intendsto keep them in prison for the rest of theirnatural lives.The Rivonia men on Robben Island,who were the leaders outside prison, arealso the leaders inside prison, of the dailystruggle the prisoners have had to wageagainst an administration determined tobreak their spirits.Sisulu, at 70 years of age, is the man healways was - older and wiser, still as positivein his thinking and acting, optimistic andforward-looking, as convinced as ever that

Page 28 of 38 he will see freedom in his lifetime. Hisinfluence on his comrades is immense.His peers always seek his agreement, theyouth look upon him as a father figure.He is still the rock of the ANC. In all hisstruggles Walter Sisulu has had the firmbacking of his wife Albertina, who hasbeen under a longer period of continuousbanning than any other person in SouthAfrica and who to this day continues toplay a major role in the freedom struggle.Since the expiry of her banning orderat the end of July 1981, she has been aspeaker at public meetings throughoutthe country, agitating amongst other issues,for the release of all political prisoners,protesting against detention without trialand the toruture and murder of politicaldetainees.In observing the 70th birthday of thisoutstanding revolutionary leader, the besttribute that our people and democratichumanity can pay him is to intensifysupport for the liberation struggle on everyfront. Most important his birthday shouldbe an occasion when each of us undertaketo do all in our power to work for therelease of all South African politicalprisoners and detainees."SOUTHERN AFRICA--THE TIMETO CHOOSE"Below MIKE TERRY, Executive Secretaryof the Anti Apartheid Movement assessesthe significance of a recent Conference heldin London and discusses the need fora greater level of commitment in the drivefor the total isolation of South Africa.There is every prospect that March 1982will prove to be a turning point for theentire liberation struggle in Southern Africa.As the Heads of State and Government ofthe Frontline States together with thePresidents of the African National Congressand SWAPO of Namibia concluded theirhistoric Summit meeting from 6-7th Marchwith the adoption of the Maputo Declarationfinal preparations were being made for theAnti-Apartheid Movement's "SouthernAfrica: The Time to Choose" Conferencein London.The Conference opened on the eveningof 11th March at the headquarters of theBritish Trades Union Congress, CongressHouse. The Opening Session, itself, wasa vivid expression of the growing andpowerful international solidarity with thenational liberation struggle in South Africaand Namibia. The key-note address fromHis Excellency Dr Alex Ekwueme, theVice-President of the Federal Republic ofNigeria set the tone of the Conference.The international community wasrepresented at its highest level by H.E.Alhaji Yusuff Maitama-Sule, the Chairmanof the United Nations Special Committeeagainst Apartheid and H.E. Mr ShridathRamphal the Secretary General of theCommonwealth. British contributors at thisopening session were Michael Foot, leaderof the Labour Party, David Steel, leaderof the Liberal Party and Tom Jackson,Chairman of the International Committeeof the Trades Union Congress.South Africa's agressive character wasbrought home dramatically by Mr JacquesHodoul the Foreign Minister of Seychelleswhose state had been the recent victim ofa South African planned attemptedmercenary coup. From the heart of thestruggle were David Meroro, Chairman ofSWAPO and Alfred Nzo, Secretary Generalof the ANC.Participants were welcomed to theConference by Archbishop TrevorHuddleston, the President of the AntiApartheid Movement who was an inspiringforce throughout the Conference.The Conference was organised by theAnti-Apartheid Movement in cooperationwith the UN Special Committee against

Page 29 of 38 Apartheid from 11-13 March. It wasintended to consider, above all, as theDeclaration of the Conference explained:"the responsibility of Britain in relationto the grave situation in southern Africaresulting from escalating repression andaggression launched by the apartheidregime, of South Africa, the ominousimplications of its nuclear plans, as wellas the advance of the struggle of theoppressed people, including armedstruggle for liberation."Sani Abubaker, Chairman of the Houseof Representatives Foreign RelationsCommittee.All the majorsolidarity movementsanti-apartheid andfrom western Europewere represented as were movements fromAfrica, the Caribbean, New Zealand andthe socialist countries. Twelve internationalnon-governmental organisations wererepresented.Significance of the ConferenceAs the President of the ANC, Oliver Tambodeclared in a message to the Conference:"Because of the unavoidable intensifyingliberation struggle in Namibia and SouthAfrica, the apartheid regime is wagingan undeclared and escalating warthroughout southern Africa. Britainstands at the centre of the history of thissituation."The Conference proved to be the mostrepresentative gathering ever held in Britainto consider the situation in Southern Africa.All the British parliamentary parties wererepresented including members of both theHouses of Commons and Lords. Altogether122 different British organisation wererepresented including the TUC as well asnational and local trade unions; the BritishCouncil of Churches, representatives of 6Anglican Bishops, and many differentdenominations and other christian organisa-tions; a very wide spectrum of youth andstudent organisations as well as all the majorbodies concerned with and campaigningon Southern Africa.The international dimension of theConference was equally significant withrepresentatives of the UN Special Committeeagainst Apartheid, the UN Council forNamibia, the ILO, UNESCO as well as theCommonwealth Secretariat. Twenty-eightmember states were represented primarilyfrom Africa and Non-aligned states. Inrecognition of the importance of theConference and as further proof of Nigeria'scommittment to the liberation of Africa,the Vice-President brought with him H.E.Chief Patrick O. Bolokor, Minister of Statein the Ministry of External Affairs, SenatorS.A. Akintoye of the Senate ForeignRelations Committee and the Hon AlhajiHowever the significance of the Conferencewas not simply its representative characterbut of equal importance was its content.There were four plenary sessions, but themain work of the Conference was in theThree Commissions which considered thethemes:South Africa's Military and NuclearBuild-upSouth Africa's War against IndependentAfricaSouthern Africa: British, European andWestern policyThe highlight of the opening session was thepledge of the leader of the Labour Party,Michael Foot, to a dramatically new policytowards Southern Afrioa:"I pledge the support of the LabourParty as a whole in the country. Thereare two pillars of our approach; toisolate apartheid and to strengthen theforces of those fighting against it by everymeasure in our power.Our first priority is to work for manda-tory economic sanctions against SouthAfrica. This approach may take timeand I know there have been argumentsabout it in the past but the BritishLabour Party is committed to that causeand when we assume power once again togovern this country we shall seek totake all the steps we can to carry thatview into action."Warning to the WestFrom the 12th March the Conferencewas based at the Wembly Conference Centrein north London. The Main Plenary Sessionon the morning of 12 March was addressedby the Nigerian Vice-President,

Page 30 of 38 Speakers at the A AM National Demonstration

Page 31 of 38 Mozambique's Ambassador to the UnitedNations, on behalf of the Front Line States,Alfred Nzo, David Meroro and ArchbishopHuddleston.Addressing this Session H.E. Dr AlexEkwueme gave a powerful warning toBritain and other western states:"We in Africa feel that the time hascome when we shall no longer toleratethe disregard which some Western nationsdisplay at issues that affect us seriously,and when we can no longer continueto ignore the action of these Westernnations in the Southern African regionin our respective bilateral relations withthem. In other words, there must be aclear linkage between what is happeningin Southern Africa and our relationswith these Western nations."Assessing the critical role that Britainplays in sustaining the apartheid regime,he continued by forcefully pointing out:"We believe that the United Kingdom,faithful to her best tradition of freedomand justice, can, if she has the politicalwill, bring sufficient pressure to bearon the South African regime to compelher to reverse the repressive and de-humanizing system of government whichshe practises and which goes by thename of apartheid."The Nigerian Vice-President's challenge wasechoed by Alfred Nzo, the Secretary Generalof the ANC in his appeal to the Britishpeople:"The British Anti-Apartheid Movement,which draws its strength from the demo-cratic forces of this country, has workedtirelessly for over two decades to getthe people of this country to help toundo the disaster imposed on us by thepolicies of the British ruling class overa period of nearly two centuries as faras South Africa is concerned. Afterall this effort, it is surely time that wesaw a little more decisive action on thepart of the British people, their politicalParties, the trade union movement,the youth, the women, the churchesand so on - a little mo-e decisive actionagainst the continuing economic,sporting and other links between thiscountry and apartheid South Africa".It was however in the Special PlenarySession "Africa Under Attack" on theFriday evening that the war in SouthernAfrica was brought home most dramatically.The main contributor at this Session wasLt. Col Ngongo of the General Staff ofFAPLA, the People's Army of Angola.He gave a comprehensive account of SouthAfrican aggression against Angola inparticular since South Africa's occupationof southern Angola, since August 1981.His contribution was backed up with photo-graphic and film evidence. The followingday a special show was arranged at whichthe film Cahama was screened for the firsttime outside Angola which depicted thewar in Angola in the most dramatic form.Substance to the issues discussed in theConference was provided in theCommissions where the opportunity wasprovided to discuss and consider mattersin depth. The Conference, benefitted froma wide range of experience and expertise.In Commission I on South Africa's Militaryand Nuclear Build-up, the key note addresswas presented by Alhaji Matitama-Sule,the Chairman of the United Nations SpecialCommittee against Apartheid. Othercontributors were Ruth Mompati of theANC, Hidipo Hamutenya , Secretary ofInformation and Publicity of SWAPO.Frank Barnaby, former Director of theStockholm International Peace ResearchInstitute and Abdul Minty, Director ofthe World Campaign against Military andNuclear Collaboration with South Africa.Commission II 'vas presented withevidence of South African agression byrepresentatives of Angola, Mozambiqueand Zimbabwe, as well as the chairmanof its first session Lord Hatch who iscurrently lecturing at the University ofZambia. However perhaps the most fascina-ting contribution was that by JohnStockwell who had headed the CIAoperation in Angola from 1975 - 76.Commission III tackled the most seriousissue; British, European and Western policy.A powerful critique of US policy waspresented by Ramsey Clark the formerUS Attorney Genera. who as a member ofthe International Commission of Enquiryinto the Crimes of the Racist Regimes in

Page 32 of 38 Dr Alex Ekwueme, Vice President, FR Nigeria with Maitama-Sule,Chairman UN Special CommitteeSouthern Africa had visited the war zoneIn southern Angola last year. Alan Sapperthe current Chairman of the British TUCargued effectively for a fundamental changein British policy whilst representatives ofthe western European anti-apartheid andsolidarity movements gave assessments oftheir governments policies.Last phase of the ConflictThe three days of intense work, discussionand debate culminated in the Final PlenarySession on the evening of 13th Marchduring which participants sought to over-come the deep depression caused by thedefeat of Spurs in the League Cup a fewhours before and in particular the authorwho had lost a heavy bet!The Conference Declaration drawn up bythe Steering Committee was presented tothe Session by H.E. Alhaji Yussuf Maitama-Sule and adopted by acclamation. Reportsfrom the Three Commissions were presentedby Abdul Sarrmad Minty (AAM), H.E. Luisde Almeida (Angola) and Senator Akintoye(Nigeria). Zimbabwe's High Commissionerto the UK, Dr Zwinoira, delivered a speechon behalf of Dr Witness Mangwende theForeign Minister of Zimbabwe and therewere concluding statements by H.E. DrAlex Ekwueme, Vice President of Nigeria;H.E. A.B. Nyakyi, High Commissioner ofTanzania, on behalf of the Frontline Statesand Archbishop Huddleston.The culmination of the Conference asa whole was the Anti-Apartheid MovementsNational Demonstration in London thefollowing day, Sunday 14th March. Ahuge crowd estimated to be up to 15,000marched through London to TrafalgarSquare where an enthusiatic responsewas given to the platform of speakers,in particular to the representatives of theANC, SWAPO and Angola. The spirit ofthe demonstration reflected a new senseof unity and determination amongst theBritish people to put an end once and forall to Britain's sordid record of collaborationwith apartheid South Africa.It was no coincidence that asdemonstrators gathered in Hyde Park newswas received that the ANC office in Londonhad been bombed.

Page 33 of 38 Al Haft Yusuff Maitama-Sule at the Opening SessionSouth Africa's escalating pattern ofinternational terrorism had reached beyondthe borders of Africa into the heart ofLondon.The message of the Conference, theDemonstration and the whole new move-ment of solidarity in Britain was summedup most clearly by Archbishop TrevorHuddleston who proudly wore hisIsitwalandwe medal as he led thedemonstration:"First: to assert once again and un-equivocally that we are in the last phaseof the conflict between those whobelieve in human dignity and the rightsof man and those who support andsustain a racist ideology which totallydenies these things."Secondly: to warn Britain and theWest that their choice at this momentwill be decisive in terms of our relation-ship with the great continents of Africaand Asia. A choice against an effectivesanction policy is a choice for `apartheid'and can be nothing else."Thirdly: to show that if the West caresabout peace in our world, it must actnow to root out the cancer of racismrepresented in its most extreme formby apartheid and that such action iswithin our competence ..."If we choose rightly, and if we choosenow, we can be certain that we shallbe contributing to a future for ourworld in which justice and peace willbe infinitely more secure. But we cannotavoid the choice."And we dare not delay to make it."

Page 34 of 38 BOOK REVIEW - ROBBEN ISLANDAN "ISLAND IN CHAINS19Island in Chains, Ten years on RobbenIsland by Prisoner 88,5163; as toki by IndresNaidoo to Albie Sachs, Penguin Books,London 1982. (Also distributed by theInternational Defence and Aid Fund, 104Neugate Street, London EC1 7AP)For those of us emersed in the struggle forthe liberation of Southern Africa, thefortitude and example set by the politicalprisoners of the apartheid regime, serve asa constant inspiration and spur to greaterefforts. At last here is a book whichchronicles the day to day struggles of theseimprisoned patriots, and exposes the brutaland inhuman treatment they undergo onRobben Island and other maximum securityprisons in South Africa. `Island in Chains'tells the story of Prisoner 885/63 whoserved 10 years on the Island for hismembership of the People's ArmyUmkhonto we Sizwe.The story begins in 1963, two years afterthe decision to wage armed struggle. Theopening chapters which deal with the arrestand interrogation of Indres Naidoo and hiscomrades, are a sober reminder of thesavagery of the racist South African statein its efforts to crush the militants of therevolutionary struggle. Faced by hisinterrogators, Naidoo recalls:"My arms were stretched out at mysides and I was held down from behind,and then I saw the main lead running to adry cell battery, a very crude-looking instru-ment, just a battery and wires, and as theyattached the lead to the battery I felt adreadful shock pass into my body. Mywhole being seemed to be in shock - Ilearned afterwards that it was only for afew seconds, but at the time it seemed likefive or ten minutes." (p.23)More frightening still for the reader isthe knowledge that in the last two decades,the South African security police have`perfected' their torture techniques, andsince 1963, 54 people have been murderedin detention.Arriving on the Island, Prisoner 885/63and his comrades were met by shoutingwarders. Their greeting: `Dis die Eiland -this is the Island. Hier julle gaan vrek -here you will die'. Adapting to survivalon the Island is a long process and thebook describes the problems facing theprisoner in learning to deal with the violenceof this desolate prison camp where lifemirrors the worst excesses of apartheidbrutality and oppression. Hardening to theconditions of prison `work' is shown to bea gruelling ordeal. The reader, aided by aclear and simply worded narrative, is ableto get some grasp of the kind of sufferinginvolved in toiling in the Island quarries:"My whole shoulder was collapsing onme, my back was weakening, I had cutson my arms and feet from the stone debris,the blood on them was mixed with sand,sweat and powder." (p.77)

Page 35 of 38 The violence that is daily routine isdescribed not only by the accounts ofbrutality of the warders which fill thebook, but also in the relations betweencommon-law prisoners organised into gangssuch as `Desperadoes' and the `Big Five'.The narrator's clear insight into thebehaviour of the groupings that constituteprison society is one based on the politicalconsciousness associated with membershipof the ANC.Indeed, the most inspiring feature ofthe book is the spirit and comradeshipdisplayed by the `ANC prisoners'. Theirunity and determination is depicted mostclearly through the constant struggles theywage. The book deals with their hungerstrikes in protest against their treatmentand it also contains the less dramatic butequally important actions they undertook.Their fight to get handkerchiefs for example,is one such story recounted: "I followedthe warder to the office. On the table wasa coarse piece of red cloth, the result of twoweeks campaigning". (p.151)The mentality of the prison authoritiesis treated with humour. Prisoner 885/63goes on to recall:"...at times they could be seen hangingout to dry: patches of coarse bright redmaterial lodged between the bars of everycell, rows and rows of them stretchingthroughout the prison. The authoritiesaccused us of flying the Red Flag andrecalled every one of the red hankies,giving us soft khaki ones instead, and atlast we could blow our noses in peace."(p.152)Although separated from the otherprisoners, the ANC leaders like Mandela,Sisulu, Mbeki, as well as Ja Toivo ofSWAPO, are shown to be the guiding lightfor all the ANC cadres, continuing toexercise their leadership role, a constantsource of support to the militants of theirmovements. Their stature and strength ismovingly portrayed in the book.The most important message that`Island in Chains' brings to the reader isthe value of the international campaignto free South African and Namibian politicalprisoners:"Our morale was greatly boosted to knowthat we were not being forgotten; thatthe names of our leaders, like comradesNelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu. GovanMbeki and Ahmed Kathrada, as wellas comrade Toivo Ja Toivo of SWAPO,were known and honoured throughoutthe world." (p.189)The book also shows how these campaignshave led to an amelioration in conditionsfor the political prisoners.`Island in Chains' is an extremely readablebook, its story told with warmth, sensitivityand compassion. It is highly recommendedto SECHABA readers not only as a literarywork but perhaps more importantly as aweapon to be used to lift the campaignfor the release of all political prisonersto a new and more effective level.H.R.r1 :11'1 T0 1'"l',1.t ~IIA~1~fkOffif111,1 p1tlSu\I:It'

Page 36 of 38 STOP PRESS. . . U.N. ACTIONOn 7th April 1982 the Appeal Division ofthe Supreme Court, Bloemfontein confirmedthe death sentences imposed on three ANCfreedom fighters Johnson Lubisi, NaphtaliManana and Petrus Mashigo.Within hours the ANC' mission to theUnited Nations moved into action to securethe mobilization of the internationalcommunity to save the lives of these threeyoung patriots.An immediate appeal was made to theUN Special Committee against Apartheidand its Acting Chairman, Vladimir A.Kravets (Ukraine) issued a statement onbehalf of the Special Committee the sameday appealing "to all governments andorganisations to take urgent measuresto stop the imminent execution of theseyoung South African patriots".The following day 8th April the NationalExecutive Committee, of the ANC, recallingthe Statement issued by the President ofthe UN Security Council on 5th Februaryexpressing concern at the death sentences,formally requested a meeting of the UNSecurity Council.The African members of the SecurityCouncil, Togo, Uganda and Zaire,responding positively to the ANC's requestmoved into action and on the afternoon of8th April it was announced that emergencyconsultations would take place amongstmembers of the Security Council the follow-ing morning April 9th, Good Friday.These consultations in turn led toagreement that the UN Security Councilshould formally convene on the afternoonof Good Friday.This was the background to the un-precedented meeting of the SecurityCouncil. It was called to order by thePresident of the Council Kamanda waKamanda, Zaire's Permanent Representa-tive of the UN at 4.31pm and AmbassadorOlara Otunnu of Uganda introduced theResolution on behalf of the three Africanmembers, Uganda, Togo and Zaire. Withinminutes Resolution 503 (1982) had beenunanimously adopted.This decision of the Security Councilis without precedent. Never before has theSecurity Council met formally and adopteda Resolution in an effort to stop theexecution of ANC freedom fighters.The resolution called upon "the SouthAfrican authorities to commute the deathsentences" and also urged "all states andorganisations ... to take urgent measures... to save the lives of these three youngmen".Many governments as well as numerousorganisations reponded promptly to thisappeal and that from the Secretary Generalof the ANC for international action.On 7th April the 7 African members of theWorld Medical Association (WMA)announced their withdrawal from theinternational doctors organisation. Thisdecision was a direct response to theadmission of the racist Medical Associationof South Africa and the so-called TranskeiMedical Association to the WMA at itsAssembly in September 1981.The announcement was made by Dr0.0. Adekunle of the Nigerian MedicalAssociation in New York to a meeting ofthe UN Special Committee against Apartheidwhere he was leading a delegation from fourAfrican Medical Associations, Nigeria,Ghana, Tunisia and Liberia.In January 1982 the World HealthOrganisation took the unprecedented stepof terminating the non-governmentalconsultative status of the WMA and severedall relations with it.The WMA's action to admit South Africaand the so-called Transkei was in the faceof the persistant and implacable oppositionof African and non-aligned members of theWMA as well as others including the BritishMedical Association. However the un-democratic structures of the WMA meansthat it is controlled by the American MedicalAssociation and a handful of otherreactionary Medical Associations such as

Page 37 of 38 Taiwan, "Free Cuba", El Salvador andChile. The USA alone has 35 votes comparedwith 11 votes for the entire African andAsian regions. Even all the EuropeanAssociations have only 30 votes.The African Group have thereforedecided to lead a mass withdrawal from theWorld Medical Association in a dramaticcondemnation of the admission of SouthAfrica and to create the basis for a newand democratic international body.Already a meeting has been convenedfor August 1982 to discuss the founding ofa Confederation of African Associationsand Societies with nearly 20 countriesexpressing interest in participating.STOPAPARTHEID EXECUTIONSJOHNSON LUBISIANTHONY TSOTSOBE JOHANNES SHABANGU DAVID MOISESave the Lives of theSix AfricanNational Congress Patriots

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