Sechaba, Vol. 24, No. 4.

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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 1990-04 Resource type Journals (Periodicals) Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Coverage (temporal) 1990 Source Digital Imaging South Africa (DISA) Rights By kind permission of the African National Congress (ANC). Format extent 35 page(s) (length/size)

Page 2 of 38 SECHABAAPRIL 1990official organ of the african national congress south africaMANDELA IN FREE AFRICA

Page 3 of 38 Sechaba and other ANC publications are obtainable from the following ANC addresses:ALGERIA FRANCE SENEGAL5 Rue Ben M'hidi Larbi 28 Rue des Petites Ecuries 26 Avenue Albert SarrautAlgiers 75010 Paris PO Box 3420ANGOLA GERMAN DEMOCRATIC DakarPO Box 3523 REPUBLIC SPAINLuanda Angerweg 2 Hermanus Garcia Nobeljas 41AUSTRALIA Wilhelmsruh 8th FloorBerlin 1106 280 37 MADRIDBox 49 Trades Hall INDIA Spain4 Goulburn StreetSydney NSW 2000 50KP Thacker Block SWEDENBELGIUM Asian Games Village Box 6183PO Box 137 Sid Fort Road S-102 331040 Brussels Khel Gaon Marg StockholmNew Delhi-110049CANADA TANZANIAPO Box 302 ITALY PO Box 2239Adelaide Postal Station Via S. Prisca 15a Dar es SalaamToronto ik115; R ~~~~, PO Box 680Ontario M5C-2J4 JAPAN MorogoroSOHYO Building 6F USSRCUBA 3-2-11 Kanda-Surugadai Konyushkovskaya Street 28Calle 21A Chiyoda-Ku Moscow 123242NR 20617 Tokyo 101 UNITED KINGDOMEsquina 214 AtabeyHavana KENYA PO Box 38DENMARK PO Box 40432 28 Penton StreetLandgreven 7/3 t.h. Nairobi London NI 9PR1301 Kbh Copenhagen K MADAGASCAR UNITED STATESEGYPT PO Box 80 801 Second Avenue5 Ahmad Hismat Street Antananarivo Apt 405Zamalek NETHERLANDS New York NYC 10017Cairo PO Box 16657 ZAMBIAETHIOPIA 1001 RD Amsterdam PO Box 31791PO Box 7483 NIGERIA LusakaAddis AbabaFINLAND Federal GovernmentSpecial Guest HousePO Box 336 Victoria Island(X)531 Hekinki Lagos.FEDERAL REPUBLIC NORWAYOF GERMANY PO Box 6765Postfach 19()140 St Olavs Plass53(X) Bonn I N-0130 Oslo IAnnual Subscriptions:USA and Canada (air mail only): $30All other countries: 12Please make cheques payable to:S~haba Publications c/o ANC PO Box 38 London N1 9PRPublished by the African National Congress of tiouth Africa, PO &ix 31971, Lusaka,Zambia

Page 4 of 38 THE MANDELA STONEThe back and shoulders of Mandelawere mutelike all the prisoners'when breaking stones.At the end of the dayyou had to have brokenso many buckets of small stonesthat your back and shouldersfelt ready to open mouths.Sweat from pores made the same sound.Sitting cross-legged theybroke stones in the lime quarryfrom morning to night.In the early daystimes were very hard:you had to break up large stonesinto smaller ones and make thosesmaller stilluntil your collectionhad reached the requisite size.On Release Day his speechwas an unbroken stone.- Lauraine Palmeri

Page 5 of 38 APRIL 1990ISSN:0037-0509 SECHABA Volume 24 No 4CONTENTS:EDITORIAL ...... 1FREE AFRICA WELCOMES MANDELA'S RETURNBy a Sechaba correspondent...... 3ANC NEC STATEMENT ...... 5INTERVIEW WITH MEWA RAMGOBIN ...... 7WHAT IS THE ROLE OF SACTU?By Elijah Barayi...... 10THE BANTUSTAN QUESTION ...... 13PRISONERS CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE ...... 15CENTRE SPREAD...... 16NEGOTIATIONS AND THE ETHICAL DIMENSIONBy John Lamola...... 18CONFESSIONS OF THE CONDEMNEDBy Clive Leeman...... 21INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY BACKS SANCTIONS ...... 27STATEMENTSanctions Have to Be Maintained ...... 29LETTER TO THE EDITOR ...... 30ATHOL FUGARDBy Kader Asmal...... 31Graphic design by Hylton AlcockLISTEN TO RADIO FREEDOMVoice of the African National CongressAnd Umkhonto We Sizwe, the People's ArmyRadio Lusaka Radio MadagascarDaily 7.00 pm: Monday-Saturday 7.00-9.00 pm:Wednesday 10.15-10.45 pm: Sunday 7.00-8.00 pm:Thursday 9.30-10.00 pm: Short wave 49mb 6135 KHzFriday 10.15-1045 pm:Short wave 31mb 9505 KHzSunday 8.00-8.45 am:Short wave 25mb 11880 KHzRadio EthiopiaDaily, 9.30-10.00 pm:Short wave 3lmb 9595 KHzRadio TanzaniaMonday Wednesday Friday 8.Tuesday Thursday Saturday 6.Short wave 31mb 9750 KHzRadio LuandaMonday-Saturday 7.30 pm:Sunday 8.30 pm:Short wave 31mb 9535 KHzand 25 mb15 pm:15 am:The above are South African times

Page 6 of 38 EDITORIAL21ST MARCH WITH AN ADDED SIGNIFICANCEThirty years ago, on March 21st, a despicableand brutal event took place in South Africa.Sixty-nine people were murdered and scores ofothers injured by Verwoerd's trigger-happypolice. The world was shocked into the realisa-tion that what had seemed like mere racism wassomething immensely different. The true face ofthe system had emerged.From this background Sharpeville Day wasborn and, with it, a commitment by the peace-loving forces of the world to unite for the totalelimination of racism and discrimination in theworld. The day was later to be marked as theInternational Day for the Elimination of Racism.And, in 1978, the United Nations Year for theElimination of Racism was declared, startingfrom March 21st 1978 to March 21st 1979.This day has therefore always been very im-portant for our struggle - not only because itsobservation throughout the world brought moreand more people into the anti-apartheid fold butalso because it remained as a constant pointaround which we rededicated ourselves to musterall our forces to get rid of the racist scourge fromour country and everywhere else in the world.In 1990 it assumes an even added dimension.It finds us in a totally new situation. Thirty-yearsago it heralded the banning of the ANC and otherorganisations and the period of extreme repres-sion that followed, especially after the leader-ship was arrested at Rivonia. Today it coincideswith the unbanning of the ANC, the release ofits leaders and prospects for a negotiated settle-ment looming on the horizon.But as Africans, committed to the total libera-tion of Africa, the most important factor aboutthis day, this year is the independence ofNamibia. Whether it was by coincidence ordesign that Namibia, which has been brutallysubjugated by the South African racists, accordsto its independence on this date does not matter.What matters is that it has happened on this dateand, in that, signifies a further victory over theracist system in Namibia, South Africa andeverywhere else in the world.The racist regime tried, and will never ceaseto try, to portray the victory of the Namibianpeople as goodwill and commitment to peacefulsolution of problems on its side. Although wehave done it every time, we need to emphasisethat the victory in Namibia belongs to the Nami-bian people themselves, led by SWAPO. Wecannot forget the innummerable hurdles, in-cluding the near invasion at the time of the elec-tions, that the independence process in Namibiahas gone through. Yet SWAPO continued to han-dle matters skillfully, in conditions of peace, inthe same manner that it had conducted a suc-cessful armed struggle before the New Yorkagreements in December 1988.Now that independence has come to Namibiaand it is clear that SWAPO, which won the elec-tions, is clearly not bent on retribution and blackdomination, we may ask of the racist regimewhat the fear is in setting in motion the same pro-cess in South Africa. It is often said by DeKlerk's friends who want to apologise for himfor not going the whole way in order to removeobstacles to negotiations, that he has to look overhis shoulder at the reaction of the right-wing. Weare told that if he moves too fast the reaction ofthe right-wing will be vicious. But when we lookat Namibia, we find that it was the regime itselfwhich was responsible for the destabilisation ofthe political process rather than the right-wing.Actually, if the right-wing had started violent actswhich the regime disapproved of, such actswould have been put down easily by the regime.Revelations of the activities of the Civil Co-operation Bureau show to what extent the Botha,Malan regime (of which De Klerk was part) wasprepared to derail the peace process in Namibia.

Page 7 of 38 And, we can rest assured that that the incidentsof destabilisation in Namibia have never worsen-ed beyond the slaughter of Namibian patriots onApril Ist, 1989 is largely because of the self-restraint that SWAPO had displayed in the faceof extreme provacation and the determination ofthe international community to see the processthrough once it had started.In our own situation in South Africa, the pro-cess that has been set in motion cannot be revers-ed. This is not to say that the De Klerk regimehas effected irreversible changes as stipulated bythe United Nations Declaration on South Africaof December 12th, 1989, but that by our ownactions, as the democratic majority in the coun-try, we will not allow the situation to be playedaround with by the regime. This we will ensureby intensifying the struggle on all fronts until theregime creates the climate conducive to genuinenegotiations between itself and the democraticforces in the country.The plan for the independence of Namibia con-tained no provisions for the continued definitionof its people according to racial and ethniccategories. The bantustan system had failed thereand there were no plans to make it part of thesolution to the Namibian problem. On the blue-print, what would emerge could only be firmlydecided upon by the Constituent Assembly whenit sat down to draw up a constitution.We therefore see no reason why the SouthAfrican regime cannot free itself and allow thesame process to be effected in our country. Theclimate under which our future is discussedshould not be clouded by racial and ethnic pro-visions. It should be free and democratic withits focus on the creation of a truly democratic,non-racial and united South Africa. The majori-ty of the people in South Africa, a democraticmajority composed of Blacks and Whites, wantapartheid abolished. This is what those who holdpower must realise and act urgently in order toavoid the more bloodshed that must surely resultif the peace process is delayed further.Namibia's independence and the peace that isdawning on the country, where terrifyingmassacres have been perpetrated by the regimein the past, are of great importance for thedemocratic transformation of our country aswell. The thousands who patrol the streets andthe borders of South Africa today are doing itfor the same doomed cause. Namibia must bean eye-opener for all white South Africans andblack collaborators. Apartheid has no future -our common future lies in our working togetherto create a democratic and non-racial society.Let us together call for a Constituent Assemblythat would be truly representative of the peopleand be accountable to them; and, once and forall, answer the question of who the genuinerepresentatives of the whole people, black andwhite, are.iS A PO ~. AlA YEARTOTAL INDEPEwj;Swapo supporters in Namibia

Page 8 of 38 FREE AFRICAWELCOMES MANDELA'S RETURNBy a Sechaba correspondent in LusakaFor a week at the end of February, an electriccurrent seemed to go through Lusaka and, in-deed, the whole of Southern Africa. For the firsttime in nearly thirty years, wasto make a triumphant return to free Africa. Thelast time he had been there was as an under-ground operator, conducting low-key discussionswith African leaders for the support of the SouthAfrican people's struggle.Now he was returning as a free man, definite-ly standing above those who had jailed him forso many years. Even though South Africa stillremains a prison for the oppressed masses andthose democrats among the Whites who cannotsay freely what they want, his return to thepolitical scene has certainly changed the politicalatmosphere in South Africa and the SouthernAfrica region. Just as he had spoken and actedwith authority behind the grey prison walls, asa released leader, he has carried himself andspoken with a great deal of command. In short,as a prisoner he was a symbol of resistance forall the political prisoners and, as a free person,he symbolises the people's will to continue tofight until victory.When he emerged from the airplane at LusakaInternational Airport on February 27th, a daydeclared a national holiday by the Governmentof the Republic of Zambia, every well-wisherand supporter among the more than 50 000 whowere there to meet him, was overwhelmed bythe very enormousness of the event. It was clearthat this was no ordinary visit. It was the visitof a recognised African and world leader whosestature had not been diminished by nearly threedecades behind prison walls.There to meet him was the President of Zam-bia, Kenneth Kaunda, Presidents Robert Mugabeof Zimbabwe, Quett Masire of Botswana, HassanMwinyi of Tanzania, Eduardo dos Santos ofAngola and Joachim Chissano of Mozambique.In addition to these leaders of the FrontlineStates, he met President Yoweri Museveni ofUganda; Foreign Minister Joe Clark of Canada;President of the UN General Assembly JosephGarba (representing Nigeria); Foreign MinisterGerry Collins of the Irish Republic and otherrepresentatives of various states, including theUnited States, Egypt, Australia and Iraq.Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr MahathirMuhammad, in his capacity as chairperson of theCommonwealth, Sir Shridath Ramphal, the out-going Secretary-General of the Commonwealthand the Secretary-General elect of the Com-monwealth, Chief Nyako, met Nelson Mandela,together with other Commonwealth leaders inorder to map out the Commonwealth approachto the situation in South Africa.There was a most moving meeting betweenNelson Mandela and the SWAPO leader,Andimba Toivo ja Toivo who together had spentmany years on Robben Island. And, of course,there was a very emotionally charged meetingbetween Nelson Mandela and other leaders ofliberation movements present, Comrades YasserArafat of the Palestine Liberation Organisationand Mohamed Abdel-Aziz of the Polisario Front.His greatest meetings were, naturally, with hisorganisation, the ANC. For two days he,together with the other leaders who came withhim, Comrades Sisulu, Motsoaledi, Mhlaba,Mlangeni and Kathrada, were locked in ameeting with the National Executive Committeeof the ANC. From this meeting there emergedfar-reaching decisions concerning our struggle.(Further on we publish the text containing thedecisions taken in this meeting).On Friday March 2nd, he was received by theentire membership of the ANC in Zambia. It wasa memorable meeting both in the joy displayed

Page 9 of 38 by the mostly young comrades who were comingface-to-face with the hero whose true face theyhad never been allowed to see, as much as it wasdisplayed on Nelson Mandela's face on meetingthe comrades who had stood by him and his com-rades throughout their long imprisonment.Speaking about his feelings at meeting com-rades he had previously worked with and thosehe had never seen before, he said that he wascertain that he would leave Lusaka with pleasantmemories because he now knew that this organ-isation he serves, this organisation which leadsthe fight to a new South Africa, is in safe hands.He saluted the brave warriors of UmkhontoWe Sizwe and said:"Your contribution to the struggle for peaceis immeasurable. I salute all those who havefallen in battle. You have not died in vain.Martyrs to our cause, your courage enablesus to remain unflinchingly committed to ourgoal of creating a non-racial democracy ina unitary South Africa ...It is my intention, after visiting Zimbabweand Tanzania, to visit our Comrade President,, to wish him a complete andspeedy recovery so that he can come back andresume his position. I have no doubt that inexpressing that wish 1 am also expressing yourown wishes. "Turning his attention to the South African Com-munist Party (SACP) he said:"I also want to take this opportunity to paytribute to the SACP. The SACP was the firstpolitical party in this country to be banned bythe Nationalist government, and yet it foughtback. It remained loyal to the alliance betweenitself and the ANC. And its members haveproved to be loyal and disciplined membersof the ANC, and throughout this period theyhave never attempted to control the ANC orin any way to abuse their positions. That iswhy, wherever we are, inside and outsideprison, we have defended that alliance to thehilt. We have refused to be used by membersof the government and other interests todestroy the alliance which has placed us inthis position of being vanguard of the libera-tion movement in this country. "Comrade Mandela said that it was because of thecourage and steadfastness of all South Africanfreedom fighters that he was standing before themeeting in Lusaka, representing the ANC, anANC which unites not only Africans, as envisag-ed by the founding fathers, but all SouthAfricans. "Since the historic Morogoro Con-ference in Tanzania in 1969, we are proud to beable to count within our ranks Africans, Col-oureds, Indians and Whites. We are one nationin one country ..."When the time comes to select a delegationto Cape Town, we will think very, verycarefully because the non-racial character ofour organisation, the alliance that we haveestablished, must be reflected not only in whatwe say, but also in what we do. That delega-tion, it must be clear to everybody, is adelegation not from the homelands, that thisis a delegation not from the urban councils,not from the archbishops Mokoenas orMzilikazis. It must be clear that this is adelegation from a people's organisationwhose constitution is now based onnon-racialism. "He went on to outline the discussions he has hadwith the regime over the last three years. He haddiscussed the release of political prisoners; thequestion of a meeting between the ANC and theregime in order to reach a political solution.Speaking about his often-quoted description ofDe Klerk as a man of integrity, he said "I repeatthat. In the discussions I have had with him, thishas been the most formidable impression I havemade of him. I have also found that some of themen around him are also men of integrity whowant to travel this new direction that he haschosen. But in my report to the National Ex-ecutive I have warned that as an organisation weare not very much concerned with the virtues ofa single individual, even though he may be thePresident. We are concerned with the policy ofthe National Party. That party up to today is en-forcing the most brutal system of racial oppres-sion this country has ever seen. This is what mustinfluence our policy, our strategy and our tactics.

Page 10 of 38 Lastly, comrades, you have heard the reportthat I have been elected by the NationalExecutive as Deputy President of the ANC. Itis a position which I have accepted with allhumility. I expect you to guide me. If I strayfrom the right path, please catch my jacket andpull me back on to the road. I will obey with allhumility. And, with these words, I want to greetyou and to thank you for all that you have doneduring these years.Amandla" !For every ANC member, whether he or she wasin Lusaka on this occasion, it was an unforget-table historical occasion. It once again broughtto the fore the unshakeable unity we enjoy as amovement. It was a moment which said that eventhough many of us have fallen on the road tofreedom, freedom will be attained in the lifetimeof those who are still carrying on the struggle.The slogan that Mandela, Tambo, Sisulu andothers advanced as young people has become areality - Freedom in Our Lifetime!STATEMENT OF THENATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEEOF THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESSA meeting of the National Executive Committeeof the African National Congress was held inLusaka, Zambia on 1 st and 2nd March, 1990. Itwas also attended by leaders of our movement bas-ed inside South Africa, including NelsonMandela, Walter Sisulu and other comrades.The meeting reviewed the situation since thehistoric release of Comrade Nelson Mandela. Itreiterated the fact that despite the undoubted im-portance of this release, the majority of politicalprisoners are still in gaol.It is urgent that this matter be resolved. Thisurgency is emphasised by the fact of the heroichunger strikes on which our comrades in prisonhave now embarked.It is also of vital importance that the Pretoriaregime moves without delay to remove all otherobstacles standing in the way of negotiations.In this regard the NEC reaffirmed its earlierdecision to meet the Pretoria regime to discuss theissue of removing these obstacles. It welcomedthe positive response of FW de Klerk to their in-itiative. Having discussed various matters of detailconcerning this meeting, the NEC decided that itwas necessary to initiate contact with the regimeimmediately to seek agreement on the dates of themeeting, the venue and other matters relating tothe preparation of the meeting.The NEC also discussed as a matter of urgencythe implementation of its earlier decisions to sendinto the country some of its members who would,together with the ANC leaders inside the coun-try, carry out an extensive process of consulta-tion with all democratic and anti-apartheid forceson the current situation and our perspectives. TheNEC group will be selected and sent home as soonas the necessary arrangements are made.The NEC considered a report by ComradeWalter Sisulu on work done to re-establish thelegal structures of the ANC. It decided that theHeadquarters Office of the ANC will be openedin without delay. It also approved

Page 11 of 38 the constitution of other headquarters, regionaland local structures which will be put in place assoon as possible.It resolved to approach its international alliesto assist in providing the resources that arenecessary for the rebuilding of the ANC.The NEC considered future international visitsby Comrade Nelson Mandela and other leadersbased inside the country. It confirmed that Com-rade Mandela will, from Zambia, visit Zimbabwe,Tanzania and Sweden before he returns home.It expressed its appreciation for the very manycommunications it had received, inviting Com-rade Mandela to visit various countries. Ittherefore directed the National Working Commit-tee of the NEC to look into this question toelaborate a programme of international visits forComrade Mandela and other leaders based insidethe country.The NEC expressed its profound thanks toComrade President Kenneth Kaunda, UNIP, thegovernment and people of Zambia, for the un-precedented welcome they extended to ComradeNelson Mandela, his family and the rest of hisdelegation. This outstanding demonstration ofsolidarity and unqualified friendship is a vitalfactor strengthening our movement and people inthe continuing struggle to end the apartheid systemand transform our country into a non-racialdemocracy.It also expressed its warm appreciation to theFrontline, Commonwealth, EEC and otherleaders who travelled to Lusaka to meet ComradeMandela. The discussions which took place withthem have helped further to reinforce the conti-nuing international struggle for the isolation ofapartheid South Africa. The NEC also thanked therest of the international community for themobilisation carried out to welcome the releaseof Comrade Mandela.The NEC saluted Comrade Mandela and othercomrades who have served prison sentences fortheir opposition to apartheid. It paid tribute to themfor their outstanding contribution to the strugglefor the liberation of our people.It resolved that immediately the comrades whowere members of the NEC before they were ar-rested, namely Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisuluand Govan Mbeki, will resume their places withthe NEC. The NEC further elected ComradeNelson Mandela as Deputy President of the ANC.The NEC resolved to convey its greetings toComrade President Sam Nujoma, SWAPO andthe people of Namibia on the occasion of the ac-cession of their country to independence. It fur-ther decided to send a high-level delegation to par-ticipate in the independence celebrations.Finally, it paid its tribute to the National Recep-tion Committee, the democratic and anti-apartheidmovement and the masses of our people for themanner in which they received Comrade Mandelainto their midst. This process has helped furtherto reinforce the unity of our people and emphasisethe necessity further to intensify the struggle.The NEC conveyed its warm greetings to Com-rade President Oliver Tambo, thanked him for hisinvaluable contribution to its discussions and wish-ed him a speedy recovery. The NEC is confidentthat he will soon return to his post to lead ourorganisation and people to victory.Lusaka, Zambia, March 2nd 1990Nelson Mandela speaks to ANC members in Lusaka

Page 12 of 38 INTERVIEW WITHMEWA RAMGOBINLast month, Mewa Ramgobin, current vice-president of the (NIC)and member of the United Democratic Front (UDF) visited London. He spoke to Sechabaabout his involvement in the struggle, his role in the NIC and the reaction of the Indiancommunity in South Africa to the unbanning of the ANC and the release of Nelson Mandela.He also addressed issues concerning the future role of the NIC, the Tricameral parliamentand the recent actions of the Thatcher government.Mewa RamgobinQ: Could you tell us your official position in theNIC, and how you became involved in thestruggle?A: I am the current vice-president of the NIC.My first involvement with the struggle was inthe 1950s when I was a student and a memberof the NIC. In terms of the Congress AllianceI was also an ANC member. During this periodI was also president of Natal University SRC'sblack section and a national executive memberof the National Union of South African Students(NUSAS). The student movement became an im-portant component of the struggle after the ANCwas banned in 1960 and spearheaded demandsthat the state of emergency be lifted, the leadersreleased and the ANC unbanned. It was in thispolitical climate that I was first banned in 1965,while holding the position of the organisingsecretary of the Gandhi Centenary Celebrations.After my banning order expired in 1970 Iestablished the Committee for Clemency, whichcalled for the release of all political prisoners andthe unbanning of the ANC. In 19711 called forthe revival of the NIC and began workingtowards this. We hoped that by reviving onewing of the Congress Alliance, the NIC, wecould revive the Congress Alliance and throughthis, the Freedom Charter. However, before theofficial convention to launch the revival of theNIC, I was re-banned for five years and placedunder house arrest. I remained in this positionuntil July 1, 1983.In August 1983 I became the first national co-treasurer of the UDF and was subsequently re-detained. In September 19841 entered the BritishConsulate in with other activists to pro-test against re-arrest orders that had been issuedagainst us. Our aim was to express solidarity withother detainees and highlight the harsh securitylaws of South Africa. I was re-arrested when Ileft the consulate and held under Section 28 ofthe revised order. After our release in Decemberwe were immediately re-arrested and held for six

Page 13 of 38 months without trial. We were eventuallybrought to trial and subsequently acquitted.Q: What is the purpose of your visit to Britain?A: A few years ago the Oxford Students' Unioninvited me to Britain to debate Gatsha Buthelezi'sKwaZuIu Indaba. I accepted the invitation butwas unable to make the trip because I was unableto get a passport. I subsequently received apassport and my invitation to Britain was renew-ed. While in London I will also address Conser-vative MPs on the need to sustain sanctionsagainst the Pretoria regime. I will then travel toSweden to address the Swedish Writers' Union.Q: How do you view the recent developments inSouth Africa?A: The present political situation in South Africais a logical consequence of the decades of strug-gle of our oppressed people. There is no doubtthat De Klerk has moved forward. However, wemust make it clear that this has been precipitatedby the struggle of the South African people, par-ticularly over the last five years. During thisperiod there has been a mass mobilisation of thedemocratic forces inside South Africa - as canbe seen from consumer boycotts, strikes, rentboycotts, the boycott of the muncipal elections,school stay-aways and the defiance campaignsof the past year. There has been widespreadrefusal to co-operate with the Tricameral parlia-ment, the implementation of local authorities andother exploitative measures. This mass action,coupled with the international disinvestment andsanctions drive, has brought South Africa towhere it is today. It is our historical task tostrengthen those forces that have led South Africato its present situation and it is up to us tostrengthen and sharpen our struggle againstapartheid. The international sanctions lobbyagainst Pretoria must continue to hasten the endto apartheid.Q: How do you view Mrs Thatcher's recent ac-tions concerning the lifting of sanctions?A: It is most regrettable that Mrs Thatcher haschosen not to honour the European Communityagreement to impose sanctions against apartheid.We have no doubt that Mrs Thatcher has greaterempathy for the apartheid regime than thedemocratic movement in South Africa - it is theinstitutions of apartheid oppression that are be-ing supported by her, not those of democracy.Apartheid is a crime against humanity and sheand her government have breached the interna-tional spirit of fighting against apartheid. Wewant sanctions to remain as a constant pressureto end apartheid - she wants sanctions lifted sothat De Klerk can be given the space to reformapartheid. Mrs Thatcher has highlighted her in-consistency by saying that sanctions do not work,yet she was very quick to invoke sanctionsagainst Libya and the Falklands when it suitedher. It will be a regrettable part of history if Bri-tain's relationship with a future democratic SouthAfrica is determined by the vagaries of MrsThatcher.Q: What has been the response of the majorityof South African Indians to the unbanning of theANC and the release of its leaders?A: There is a new fervour and confidence amongSouth African Indians. The NIC has always beenan historical ally of the ANC, and the NIC ar-ticulates the view of a majority of Indians. Justas the NIC is linked to the ANC, so the destinyof South African Indians is linked to that of amajority of South Africans, despite the govern-ment's efforts to create dissent among Africanand Indians through events such as the violenceat Inanda.Q: How do you see the role of the NIC at thisstage of our struggle?A: Over the years the NIC has played a crucialrole in mobilising Indian opinion and resistanceto apartheid. It has also used its historical ex-perience to help create the UDF. However, asthe ANC has now been unbanned, there may bea limited lifespan for the NIC, especially as thedemocratic movement is now seeking to buildnon-racial constituencies for the creation of afuture non-racial, democratic and united South

Page 14 of 38 Indian people reject the tri-cameral ParliamentAfrica. It is important for us in the NIC toevaluate and understand the current developmentsin our country, and seek ways to collapse the NICinto ANC structures if the need arises for us todo so. This can be seen as a way of building non-racial, democratic institutions and the issue shouldalso be addressed by the white and coloured con-stituencies. The ideals, banners and historicalwisdom of the ANC must now be carried inphysical and real terms to all the so-called racialconstituencies in South Africa - Whites, Col-oureds and Indians. The politics of liberation mustbe determined in a non-racial way.Q: There are members of the Indian communitypresently taking part in the Tricameral parlia-ment. What do you think they should do now?Should they resign or do you think they may havea role to play in that parliament?A: I can imagine how threatened participants inthe Tricameral system and the bantustans mustfeel at the recent developments in South Africa.The junior partners of Mr De Klerk must beagonising about the inevitable loss of their ar-tificial privileges, such as their inflated salariesand pensions. It is imperative that a non-racialseat of power democratically elected by all SouthAfricans, be created. The House of Delegates forIndians and the House of Representatives forColoureds are nothing more than the instrumentsand extensions of white power. They werecreated to manipulate Indians and Coloureds, justas the bantustans were created to manipulateAfricans. The seat of power lies within the Houseof Assembly and that is what the democraticmovement is concerned with. We want the powerto transform our divided society into a united,democratic one that is representative of ALLSouth Africans. The future of the Houses ofDelegates and Representatives must be seen inits correct context - we must also examine thefuture of the bantustans. None of these must beseen in isolation from each other.Members of the Houses of Delegates andRepresentatives will do what their masters tellthem to do. However, we in the democraticmovement would consider it a tremendous stepforward if they were to offer their resignationsand throw in their lot with the democratic forces.In fact, we urge them to do so. We wish to makeit quite clear that positions of privilege inpreference to solidarity with the rest of the com-munity will not be tolerated.

Page 15 of 38 WHAT IS THE ROLE OF SACTUIN TODAY'S SITUATION?By Elijah BarayiSince the formation of the Congress of South African Trade Unions at the end of 1985,there has been a consistent debate and discussion on the role that the South African Con-gress of Trade Unions has played and must play within the trade union movement.On March 5th, in an historical meeting of SACTU, commemorating its 35th Anniver-sary, one of the speakers was Elijah Barayi, President of COSATU. His intervention wasparticularly important because it put into correct perspective the role that SACTU has playedand then poses the question on what SACTU's role should be in today's situation.We live in truly historic times. Twenty years agothe name of SACTU was only whispered in thefactories and mines of our country. Open pro-pagation of SACTU was a one-way ticket to thedetention cells. Today workers throughout SouthAfrica are openly holding celebrations, markingthe contributions SACTU has made over thesethree and a half decades of struggle.Some armchair critics have claimed thatSACTU abandoned the workers by going under-ground. What these people do not know, orchoose to ignore, is that SACTU leaders weredetained, banned, harassed, tortured andassassinated for years. This is what forcedSACTU underground.Workers are proud of SACTU and see it astheir own. That is why workers are celebratingin South Africa today. We in COSATU havealways known that SACTU has been an organisa-tion which has consistently held workers' in-terests foremost. COSATU has followed on inthat tradition. That is why COSATU has organis-ed SACTU anniversary celebrations throughoutthe country today.What is the situation in which thesecelebrations are taking place?There is a revolutionary excitement in our countrytoday. The celebrations are taking place in a situa-tion where our entire country is being swept bythe mood which prevailed in 1985 and 1986.The bantustans have become flash-points ofresistance. Even the so-called "independentTBVC states" haven't escaped this. The pillarsof "separate development" are crumbling.Popular uprisings have burst out in Ciskei,Venda, Bophuthatswana, and enormous ad-vances continue to be made in the Transkei.In South Africa, Brigadier Oupa Gqazo ofCiskei has released political prisoners and standsfor reincorporation into South Africa. He spokebelow the flags of the ANC and SACP. The statesecurity council met in Cape Town to decidewhether to intervene. We appeal to the interna-tional community to prevent the regime fromreinstating the tyrant Sebe.In every township, village, factory, farm andmine the flame of freedom is burning. Our peo-ple know that victory is finally within,our grasp,but that we are going to have to redouble our ef-forts to reach our liberation. We have no illu-sions that De Klerk is about to free us.In fact, the forces of reaction are mobilisingfor a counter-offensive. The death squads con-tinue to plot murder despite the commission ofenquiry which began today. Vigilante gangs arespringing up all over the country, most recentlyin Soweto where they have murdered membersof the Soweto Youth Congress. The fascist rightis mobilising its forces. Reports of police and ar-my brutality grow daily.We believe that these are the desperate kicksof the dying animal, apartheid. The longer thisanimal lives the more of our people get crushed

Page 16 of 38 by its blows. Internally and internationally wehave to intensify our efforts to kill this beast now!The contribution of SACTUI would like to give a general outline of the con-tributions which SACTU has made to the tradeunion movement in our country.union federation in South Africa. SACTU hasconsistently said that every worker must be atrade unionist, and every trade unionist must bein COSATU.SACTU has made an important contributionto help realise this goal. They fully backed theformation of COSATU and resisted all divisiveapproaches aimed at splitting the trade unionmovement.1. Non-racialismInternational WorkRight from the outset, SACTU has been thechampion of non-racial trade unionism in SouthAfrica. Where the regime and bosses sought todivide, SACTU sought to unite. Today we seethe fruit of that work, particularly in my federa-tion COSATU.2. Anti-Apartheid Trade UnionismSACTU correctly identified the fact that in SouthAfrica there can be no artifical separation be-tween the workers' struggle against economic ex-ploitation, and their struggle against national op-pression. If you compromise on your fightagainst the one, then you end up compromisingin your fight against the other.This legacy of so-called "political tradeunionism" which SACTU pioneered has servedworkers well. It has helped develop our tradeunion as a powerful weapon in the struggle fornational liberation and social emancipation.SACTU played an important role as part ofthe Congress Alliance in contributing to our greatbeacon of freedom, the Freedom Charter. Thedemands put forward by our people in 1955, re-main as relevant today as they were then. Cosatuis committed to fighting for the realisation ofthese demands.SACTU has spear-headed the campaign for in-ternational solidarity with South Africa'sworkers. SACTU worked under difficult condi-tions to help secure political, moral and finan-cial support from the international trade unionmovement for the independent trade union move-ment in South Africa, and for the anti-apartheidstruggle in general.As part of the liberation alliance, SACTU hastherefore contributed to the isolation of theregime and the worldwide support which ourmovement receives. While it has welcomed in-ternational support, SACTU has consistentlyresisted attempts by international interests todivide the trade union movement in South Africa.Workers in South Africa refuse to be dictated toon which methods and approach to use in tradeunion struggles.As long as trade unions are putting workers'interests first, and acting in a way which furtherstrade union unity, we believe that our comradesinternationally will continue to give us uncondi-tional support. We call on workers and tradeunions in Britain and other countries to bevigilant against attempts to undermine and dividethe trade union movement in South Africa.There are powerful interests internationallywho do not want to see a united and militant tradeunion movement in a liberated South Africa.3. Trade Union UnityThirty five years of trade union unity is the themeof today's celebration. SACTU has consistentlyfought for the creation of a single, united, tradeWhat is the role of SACTUin today's situation?Let me turn now to SACTU's role in the chang-ing situation in South Africa. The recent dramatic11

Page 17 of 38 developments have radically changed the condi-tions under which our organisations can operate.A lot of space which had previously been clos-ed has now opened up. This not only affects thetrade unions but the entire liberation movement.It was in the light of this that the NEC ofSACTU and the NEC of COSATU have decid-ed to meet on the 19th of this month. We wouldbe assessing the current situation and in particularlooking at the future role of SACTU in thechanged situation. Obviously as President ofCOSATU I cannot express any view on thismatter until our NEC's have met.But what I want to say is that I am confidentthat whatever decision is taken will be aimed atstrengthening the formations of organisedworkers in South Africa, and furthering the aimsand objectives which both COSATU and SAC-TU share. That is, one united non-racial tradeunion movement committed to the interest ofworkers and the liberation of our people.Challenges of the current situationThe trade union movement has identified anumber of important challenges facing us in theimmediate period ahead:at plant level. They have learnt many tricks fromThatcher's Britain.* Another unwanted Thatcher import we haveto fight is the privatisation of people's propertyin South Africa. The regime is trying to ensurethat when a people's government takes over inSouth Africa it will have no resources to imple-ment our revolutionary programme - theFreedom Charter. This we can never accept!* We need to advance rapidly towards our goalof One Industry, One Union! One Country, OneFederation! Our affiliates have completed themerger process and many unions are still stream-ing in to COSATU. We have made giant stepstowards our goal of one federation, but we stillneed to speed up this process.* We need to intensify discussion and developa clear perspective about the role trade unionsshould play in a liberated South Africa. We needto carefully study the experiences of the socialistcountries and other national liberation strugglesto draw lessons from these countries, bothpositive and negative.* We have to organise the unorganised and dis-organised workers. This includes farm workersand many workers in the rural areas as well asmany of the workers who are still unorganisedin the city. We also include here the disorganis-ed and unorganised white workers who havebeen driven to the hands of the extreme right,whereas their only true security lies with theirblack fellow workers.* We need to resist the measures aimed atsmashing the trade union movement. The LabourRelations Act and deregulation are aimed at rol-ling back the gains we have made over the lastten years and restoring the the cheap laboursystem in our country. The new attack we haveto resist is the attempt by capital to destroy thenational collective bargaining system by sabotag-ing industrial councils. They are now attemptingto divide our strength by forcing us to bargainAt a practical level, we are embarking on amassive campaign to collect workers' demandsfor a workers' charter, something like the cam-paign which led to the adoption of the FreedomCharter. This workers' charter will set out therole and rights of trade unions and workers ina liberated South Africa.SACTU has made an important contributionto this campaign by submitting its own draftcharter for discussion. Our mass campaign willculminate in a special congress to discuss andadopt the workers' charter.* Most importantly, together with the entireliberation movement, we have to intensify our:pass struggles to rid ourselves of the apartheidmonster for good.

Page 18 of 38 THE BANTUSTAN QUESTION:A NEW APPROACH?Significant shifts have taken place in the politicalsituation within some bantustan machinerieswhich warrant the attention of the ANC and otherdemocratic forces. These changes ensure thatbantustans are not the sole domain of the regime:they have become a terrain upon which apartheidis being challenged by the democratic forces.The demonstration by 70 000 people inBophuthatswana and the decision by the ad-ministration of Transkei to unban the ANC thereare but two recent examples of the changes inthese territories.What should our political policy be towardsthe bantustans today? This question is importantin the light of political developments in theseareas. For example, General Holomisa - longbefore February 2nd - facilitated the burial ofKing Sabata, allowed some free political activi-ty in the Transkei and moved closer to the MassDemocratic Movement. Enos Mabuza of Ka-Ngwane has been actively pursuing a patrioticpath. In Lebowa, Noko Ramodike is currentlyinvolved in freeing the political process with ap-parent inclination towards the MDM.Massive OppositionOthers, such as Bophuthatswana, remain asrepressive as before. These must be subjectedto massive political opposition with the aim ofsweeping them aside. It is clear that, even in thecurrent period, they still choose to side with theapartheid regime.Yet QwaQwa, Gazankulu and KwaNdebelehave shown a rudimentary willingness to be partof the force for change. In Venda and the Ciskeithere is talk, but only talk, of a new policy direc-tion (see box).It has always been the political approach of theANC to mobilise the broadest possible front ofanti-apartheid forces in our country. Anti-apartheid forces are by definition varied. But thecriterion for an anti-apartheid mantle is what in-dividuals and organisations do, not merely whatthey declare. In respect of those within the bantu-stan structures, the immediate challenge they faceis to create the atmosphere for free political ac-tivity in their areas. They must lift the ban onorganisations and individuals; lift the state ofemergency; repeal repressive legislation; stop allpolitical trials and executions; and refrain fromattacking the struggling masses.Harare DeclarationAmong the issues engaging the minds of mostof the bantustan leaders is the approach tonegotiations. The OAU Harare Declarationforms a good foundation for re-thinking on theirpart. All those genuinely partriotic forces withinthe bantustans should define their positions inrelation to this negotiations concept.FW de Klerk and Gerrit Viljoen have alreadybeen on a tour of most bantustans, promisingthem an assured place at the negotiating table.De Klerk desperately needs allies as he is forc-ed to step into the unknown. He seeks to broadenhis front, with the bantustan leaders taking hisside at the negotiations table, in defence of whiteprivilege and white domination. At the least, hehopes to fragment the black and democraticforces. We know that those patriotic forces inthe bantustans who identify with the democraticcause have turned down this invitation. Othersmust follow suit.Now that the ANC is unbanned, it is very im-portant that all democratic forces in the bantu-stans - as elsewhere - define their politicalpositions in support of a joint platform againstapartheid together with the CDF, the MDM andthe ANC. But it is crucial that these democraticforces actively engage those in the bantustanstructures who are showing a glimmer of anti-apartheid feeling. This will make all of us themore powerful, closing every possible space thatthe defenders of white minority domination

Page 19 of 38 would want to use. No forces who have eitherthe potential or the willingness to become partof the democratic cause must be driven over tothe regime.The question of what happens to the bantustansin the current transitional period must be debated.But there can be no compromise with ourperspective of a unitary, democratic SouthAfrica where there shall be no bantustans. Thisissue will be debated and its consitutional for-mulation worked out in a democratically electedConstituent Assembly. In the interim, we mustpursue tactics which are aimed at advancing theunity of our people against apartheid andisolating all those apologists and puppets ofapartheid.Contradictions will arise from time to time,and these cannot be suppressed. But what weseek to achieve is a massive and tactical politicalfront to isolate the diehards of apartheid andconsolidate democratic and patriotic forcesbehind the ANC. We must muster a force sopowerful that we achieve our freedom quicker!BANTUSTAN STRUCTURES DISINTEGRATE FURTHERSince this article was written, there have been further developments in the bantustans. Resistancerose in Venda, Gazankulu and Ciskei, directed essentially at taxation, corruption and economicmismanagement. Police repression caused further bitterness. Structures began to disintegrate inGazankulu and Ciskei, and desperate, last-minute attempts at 'reform' did not succeed in savingthe Chief Ministers.In Gazankulu, Chief Minister Ntsanwisi eventually made some response to the people's demandsconcerning education, but the bantustan government was nevertheless forced to set up a judicialenquiry into the causes of the protest. At the beginning of March, Ntsanwisi fled.In Ciskei, Chief Minister Sebe declared a state of emergency on February 2. Ten days later,he released political prisoners, but this gesture did not prevent his downfall. On March 3 he wasdeposed by the Ciskei military, who took over the government in a coup they said was to satisfydemands of the people.The unbanning of the people's organisations and the release of Mandela were political victoriesthat inspired people throughout South Africa in the month of February, and were the reason formass celebrations in the bantustans. Organisations of the mass democratic movement played a partin community struggles against incorporation into the Ciskei, and in Gazankulu much of the pro-test was organised by the National Education Crisis Committee and the newly-formed Youth Con-gress. It is clear from all this that much can be achieved when the people of the bantustans unitein action with the people of the rest of South Africa, under the umbrella of the ANC and the MDM.

Page 20 of 38 PRISONERSCONTINUE THE STRUGGLEFreedom fighters on Robben Island turned the island into a theatre of struggle on February27, when they all went on hunger strike.They demanded immediate and unconditional release.The action involved 343 prisoners. Other political prisoners had also gone on hunger strikein Johannesburg Prison, Pretoria Central Prison and other prisons. 15 others, presently beingtried under 'terrorism' charges in Cape Town also participated.The National Executive Committee of the ANC issued a statement in support of the hungerstrikers, in which it said:"This action further highlights the commitment of these patriots for a political settlement,a process in which they and all other South Africans have the right to take part..."The African National Congress calls on the people of South Africa and the internationalcommunity to support the hunger strikers. Let us in action secure the release of all politicalprisoners and contribute to the creation of the atmosphere for free political activity. We callon the Pretoria regime to heed the demands of these patriots and itself contribute to the creationof such an atmosphere."After ten days, the prisoners suspended the hunger strike. The lawyers who had been hand-ling the legal aspects of the protest action said: "The political prisoners are satisfied thattheir demands are presently receiving the attention of the (Justice) Minister, and they haveaccordingly decided to suspend the hunger strike with immediate effect."We must now pressurise the Minister of Justice to proceed to release the prisoners withoutdelay!Demonstration in Cape Town suooorting the hunger strikers15

Page 21 of 38 NELSONMANDELAINZAMBIAl1innie and \(l.rom L!reev .9\C membersl.t'teninQ fn flit 9%C,/witINC damcers " elinrne him Nel.sun Mandela pictured sit/t Pre,side,nl ON". President A4s,ins-i, f-i:cptmn emm Meets Araldldrehind ,\'ikon Mandela). Tom, }if f and Garlu "d \Y"', rig:

Page 22 of 38 NELSONMANDELAINZAMBIAl1innie and \(l.rom L!reev .9\C membersl.t'teninQ fn flit 9%C,/witINC damcers " elinrne him Nel.sun Mandela pictured sit/t Pre,side,nl ON". President A4s,ins-i, f-i:cptmn emm Meets Araldldrehind ,\'ikon Mandela). Tom, }if f and Garlu "d \Y"', rig:

Page 23 of 38 NEGOTIATIONSAND ITS ETHICAL DEVIENSIONBy Reverend John LamolaIn the struggle for a democratic, non-racial and united South Africa, one thing can besaid about the church - it has played a very important role. That also goes for the otherreligious groups - Muslims, Hindus etc. In this article we publish the ANC position onthe role of the religious community in the current phase of the struggle. This is particularlyimportant, as we feel that the political positions of the religious community, which spirituallyguides millions of our people, should be consonant with those of their spiritual followers.The position enunciated below was presented by the Reverend John Lamola to a WorldCouncil of Churches Emergency Consultation on South Africa, which was held in Harareon February 16th-17th.Strategies and tactics of a revolution change asthe historical conditions they were formulatedupon change. But principles of struggle, forwhich revolutionaries do not feign to pay thesupreme sacrifice, do not just easily change.The right approach of our contribution will beto highlight and emphasise the principles of theSouth African struggle as led by the ANC.Because these, by and large, have a higher levelof sacrosanctity than the periodically formulatedtactics and strategies which the movement hasto draw from time to time. In this respect werecommend that the OAU Adhoc Committee onSouthern Africa Harare Declaration of August1989 be thoroughly studied, because in it isclassically encapsulated the guiding principleswhich the ANC is going to follow throughout thecoming months.In a statement released on February 12th 1990,Comrade Alfred Nzo, the ANC Secretary-General, when announcing plans for the visit ofComrade Nelson Mandela to Lusaka for con-sultation with the NEC, lest this incidence raiseexpectations of a dramatic retraction from thepositions pronounced since Comrade Mandela'srelease, Comrade Nzo said:what they perceived as the only cause ourstruggle should pursue ,fi-om now henceforth- the cause of negotiations - will obviouslymeet with disappointment. "The issue of negotiations, as far as the ANC isconcerned, is not to be isolated from themainstream struggle to destroy apartheid. It isbut another terrain of a number of interrelatedterrains of our struggle, namely the activities ofthe ANC underground inside South Africa, massprotest action, mobilisation of the internationalcommunity against the apartheid regime, and thearmed struggle. Negotiations do not replace anyof these, and must, until otherwise decided inthe course of negotiations, go simultaneouslywith all of these other areas of struggle. On thequestion of the incosanguinity of armed strug-gle and the course of negotiations, the HarareDeclaration, putting forward the ANC position,states:"Discussions should take place between theliberation movement and the South Africanregime to achieve the suspension of hostilitieson both sides by agreeing to a mutually bind-ing cease-fire. ""We must warn in advance that those withinthe international community who are expec-ting us to abandon our struggle in favour ofThere is no way that the ANC can disarm itselfunilaterally. Our military formation is a crucialpillar of our offensive and self-defence against

Page 24 of 38 the violence of apartheid. We are where we arewith De Klerk today, principally because we asthe oppressed have an army, which, as theregime secretly knows, cannot be taken forgranted.In the light of Mr F W de Klerk's recentmoves, we particularly draw to the attention ofthe religious community, both in South Africaand internationally, that our struggle has nowentered a new terrain. This is the battle for theoccupation of the moral highground.For more than a decade we have established,beyond all disputations, the heretical nature ofthe apartheid ideology, the intrinsic quality ofits evil, and the moral illegitimacy of the apart-heid political institutions. The converse of all thishas been an affirmation of the morality of theliberation struggle, particularly as led by theANC.The ideals of peace and freedom have been ourbattle cry all along.Now, all of a sudden, De Klerk turns and at-tempts to portray his reluctant shifts from apart-heid bigotry as acts of sincere nobility, whichhave nothing to do with the fact that he is in factresponding to the ANC's pressure of struggle.He even goes further to attempt to depict theANC as a hardline, unreasonable organisationwhich is not willing to engage in a peaceful settle-ment of the violent conflict our land is embroil-ed in. It is as if words like 'peaceful settlement'and 'negotiations' have been coined by De Merk,and were initially introduced into South Africanpolitical debate by the National Party. The truthis, that until at least 1960, the year of its ban-ning, and the subsequent adoption of the armedstruggle as an added component of our struggle,the ANC had put forward the demand for apeaceful and democratic transfer of power to thepeople of South Africa on a non-racial basis. Inthe archives of the South African government,there is a letter dated December 31st 1960, whichwas written by Nelson Mandela as the secretaryconveying the resolutions of the All-In AfricaConference which was held in ,calling on the Verwoerd government to facilitatethe convening of a National Convention wherea new constitution for the country would bedrafted. This overture for peace met with thetraditional Nationalist Party's snub of demandsof the black people.The concept of negotiations in the form of itscurrent use, at least, entered the language ofSouth African politics from October 1987, whenthe ANC produced a statement outlining thepossibilities of a negotiated settlement of theSouth African conflict.De Klerk must not be allowed to steal ourlanguage and to nefariously use it, as he does,to perpetuate racist privilege in South Africa, andfor the blackmail of the liberation movement. Hemust publicly acknowledge the initiatives of theANC, and proceed with moral sincerity and notwith the current pandering of world publicopinion.The struggle for the moral astuteness of ourtactics and strategies continues.Ours is a principled struggle with a definitegoal. The goal is the seizure of power from itsviolent clasp by a racist minority and itsdemocratic transfer to the whole people of SouthAfrica. This is the only way authentic peace canbe achieved in South Africa. The principle of themaintenance of a disciplined confrontation of evilis more important than ever before in our strug-gle. The apartheid regime must be approachedand be dealt with as a battered enemy who hasfinally realised that it is no longer in its interestto continue the battle. Every move of De Klerkis a retreat by the racist regime and the advanceof our revolutionary assault. And we must con-solidate these advances, defend them and presson.We have forced the apartheid intellectualestablishment, which includes the NGK (DutchReformed Church), to acknowledge the moralbankruptcy of apartheid as a social system andthe scientific fallaciousness of all its defences.This area we have won, and it is within thissphere of our victory that De Klerk is operating.The next line of battle which we opened was thequestion of the legal and moral legitimacy of thePretoria regime. This question, if we at all havetaken our theological pronouncements serious-ly, is more pertinent to the currently unfoldingsituation than any other.According to De Klerk's transitional plan (theFive Year Plan) the currently ruling racist

Page 25 of 38 National Party must be left in place and act asthe government of the day, as the main playeras well as the referee of the direction of changethe country must take. They want to draw therules, and to provide the current apartheidparliamentary structure as the basic platform fora negotiated settlement. De Klerk has even beennearly successful in being seen in some quartersas the likes of a Gorbachev who is engaged ina democratisation of South Africa. For instance,the Sunday Times (Johannesburg) of February4th 1990 headlined its reproduction of De Klerk'sfamous February 2nd speech as "Pretoria-stroika," in allusion to Mr Gorbachev's peres-troika programme.De Klerk is not a assumed leader of SouthAfrica, who has to preside over the 'reform' or'dismantling' of apartheid. He himself, his verypolitical position, is part of the system whichneeds to be reformed - to use their language.We have all along challenged the politicallegitimacy of the apartheid regime, and its in-ability to reform itself. All the more now, wemust challenge the legitimacy of its self-abrogation of the prerogative to want to decidethe logistics, agenda and the locus executandi ofthe envisaged negotiation process.Our greatest and particular contributions asreligious institutions and persons is to infuse in-to this debate and political wrangle the ethicaldimension. We must uphold and insist on thesemoral principles which we believe serve thecause of liberation and peace.The demand of the ANC and the internationalcommunity as declared in the OAU HarareDeclaration reads:"The parties shall agree on the formation ofan interim government to supervise the pro-cess of the drawing up and adoption of a newconstitution, govern and administer the coun-try, as well as effect the transition to a demo-cratic order, including the holding ofelections. "The only thing the South African government isrequired to do is to create a climate for the ANCto participate in the preparations for and in theactual negotiating process as an equal partner,and not some South African organisation whichis at the mercy of the apartheid political-legalsystem. In addition to what he has done sinceFebruary 2nd 1990, Mr de Klerk is expected torelease all political prisoners and detainees, in-cluding MK combatants, unconditionally; todemilitarise the life of our people in the town-ships; to repeal the state of emergency, recognis-ing that even now a significant measure ofrestrictions on the media is still in place. He wellknew that he could not demand the ANC todisarm its formation for the defence of the op-pressed people of South Africa, the MK, whilehis forces are seen to be actively continuing withtheir carnage before the eyes of the world. Fur-thermore, the Internal Security Act, accordingto the Harare principles, must go. We still havepeople held under the notoriously obnoxious Sec-tion 29 of the Act. Also, all political trials mustcease forthwith. In the words of the HarareDeclaration, "the measures listed above shouldprecede negotiations" (my own emphasis).The ANC cannot be seen to be violating thevery positions for which it has campaigned solaboriously for the international community toaccept. The insistence that the South Africangovernment must first meet all these conditionsis not a matter of adamant arrogance on the partof the ANC and the international community, butis a matter of political practicalities. The ANCcannot at present legitimately say that it hasdemocratically consulted with its membershipwhen some of the most dedicated of these, MKcombatants, are languishing on Robben Islandand in prisons throughout South Africa.In the light of all this, it is evident thatall our weapons of struggle, particularly thecampaign for international isolation of theapartheid regime, must be reinforced, and wemust defend and consolidate all our gains in thisarea.Peace in South Africa is coming. But itsauthenticity and durability shall be determinedby how it comes. Let us insist on true peace,peace with justice, shalom. Such a peace can onlycome when the apartheid regime goes to thenegotiating table with the ANC, not because itis posturing away from international isolation,but because it has been significantly weakenedin all formations of its power.

Page 26 of 38 CONFESSIONSOF THE CONDEMNEDBy Clive LeemanSouth Africa's zeal for executions may finallysabotage the machinery of the apartheid state.The conveyer belt system of legal killings inPretoria was stopped briefly just long enough todo damage to South Africa's other system of"extra-legal" killings, its political death squads.A stay of execution was granted to ButaneNofomela, who, in dreadful fright at his impen-ding hanging, began blurting out a tale of mutila-tion and murder, that gives us, for the first time,a glimpse into the dark, secret world of SouthAfrica's police terror units.Nofomela, a black former policeman whorobbed and murdered a white farmer, savedhimself from going to the gallows in PretoriaCentral Prison with three other men on the mor-ning of Friday, October 20th 1989, by confess-ing that, while still a policeman, he was orderedto assassinate anti-apartheid activists by seniorwhite police officers, whom he named. He toldhis lawyers that he had helped to kill ninedissidents, including , a humanrights lawyer, who was assassinated in Durbanin 1981.Mxenge was stabbed 45 times and had histhroat cut. Nofomela described what happened."We started assaulting him with kicks and pun-ches, until he fell to the ground. We then allstabbed him several times. He immediately died,and we carried on butchering his body."These revelations, born of fright, have giventhe government and the police their own fright,rather like a seismic shock. The granite boulderof the apartheid dictatorship has rolled andshifted, its underside exposed to the light, andsome of those nasty creatures of the night whofeed on darkness and deal in terror, are now scur-rying in fear themselves. Retired police captainDirk Johannes Coetzee, the first officer to benamed by Nofomela, was the first to flee.Another former policeman, David Tshikalange,who corroborated Nofomela's account of theMxenge murder, also left the country. After hisflight, a persevering reporter tracked Coetzeedown on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius.At first he was not willing to talk. "I was scaredto tell the truth, " he said. But with his name nowat the top of Nofomela's list, he himself couldbecome a death-squad target, waiting to be pick-ed off and squashed into silence.So Coetzee, like Nofomela, realised that hemust talk to save himself. He finally acknowledg-ed to the persistent reporter from the Afrikaans-language Vrye Weekblad that he had been theleader of a death squad."I was in the heart of the whore ... I was thecommander of a South African Police deathsquad; I know all the secrets of this unit," hesaid.* Coetzee was involved with the letter bombwhich killed Ruth First in Maputo, Mozambi-que, in August, 1982. She was a journalist andteacher, an active member of the African Na-tional Congress (ANC).* In 1980, Coetzee was in charge of a unit whichkilled ANC member Patrick Makau and hisyoung son in the neighbouring country ofSwaziland.* In 1982, Coetzee sent a bomb via diplomaticpouch to London. It blew up the ANC officesthere.* He and other officers used a sleeping potiondeveloped by the police forensics laboratory todrug two ANC members and then shot them inthe head, burned the bodies and tossed the ashesinto a river. (Nofomela's detailed affidavits alsodescribe assassinations by knives, guns andpoison. Did that poison also come from the same

Page 27 of 38 police forensics lab?),t At , a farm outside Pretoria wherecaptured ANC guerrillas were tortured and"turned" into government agents (policemen),those who refused to turn were shot and theirbodies burned.* Coetzee admitted that Griffiths Mxenge washacked to death by four policemen in his charge,Nofomela being one of them. He paid each oneof them 1 000 Rand ($350). (According toNofomela, they weren't the only ones to benefitmaterially. Before destroying Mxenge's car, theyremoved the radio-tape player, which ended upin the police vehicle belonging to BrigadierWillem Schoon, one of their superiors.)Coetzee says he is now experiencing remorse... "I feel disgusted with myself." But he has liv-ed with this dark knowledge for a long time. Hesays he left death-squad work in 1982 and retiredfrom the police in 1985 "for health reasons."The South African Police have dismissedNofomela and Coetzee's allegations as "wild andunfounded." Both of them, they say, "have amotive to lie." Police officials imply that Coetzeebears a grudge, claiming that he was "suspendedfrom the Force a few years ago." With breath-taking rapidity, the departmental inquiry set upby the Ministers of Law and Order and of Justiceto investigate Nofumela's allegations, conclud-ed that the South African Police were not toblame. The two investigators were hardly objec-tive observers. One is the Attorney-General ofthe Orange Free State, a government employee;the other is a police lieutenant general.Both Coetzee and David Tshikalange, the otherformer policeman to have corroboratedNofumela's allegations, have gone into hiding.Who are they hiding from? These men can tellso many damning stories about police actions ofsuch utter depravity, all done in the defence ofthe apartheid state, that if they are not silencedsoon (as Nofomela may still well be on thegallows), they could cause the granite govern-ment to totter, perhaps to fall, bringing down thewhole apartheid system with it. To prevent this,the police and the army may attempt a coupd'etat. But in the meantime, if they can, they willtry to finish off their accusers. Coetzee andTshikalange know their former colleagues in thedeath squads will kill them without compunction.Hence their flight.In the case of Butane Nofomela, it's ironic thata man about to die for a non-political crimeshould in effect be saved because he committedpolitical murders. More than 100 opponents ofapartheid have been assassinated or "made todisappear" since 1978. But not one person hasbeen punished for these crimes. The onlypolitical "crimes" ever investigated and tried arethose against the government itself, or its sup-porters and collaborators. And the retribution canbe savage. In March 1989, 14 men and womenin Upington, Cape Province, were sentenced todie for the death of one policeman killed duringa demonstration against rent increases in theblack slum of Paballelo. They were condemnedto death for having "common cause" with theone man who actually killed the policeman. Nowthey crowd the cells of Death Row alongsideButane Nofomela. Nobody has ever sat on DeathRow for the killing of a Steve Biko, GriffithsMxenge, or Ruth First. (On February 2nd, Presi-dent De Klerk suspended all hangings).On November 23rd 1988, South African Presi-dent P W Botha was pressured by a clamour ofoutrage throughout the world into commuting thedeath sentences of the Sharpeville Six, who, likethe Upington 14 were found to have "commoncause" after the rent-protest killing of a localtown councillor. They received long prison terms(18-25 years) instead. But what the world did notnotice, is that Botha also reprieved four whitepolicemen, who had murdered two alleged drugdealers. The policemen had argued that they hadbeen told their victims were ANC members andwere ordered to kill them. In other words, theyhad tried to save their necks by claiming to bemembers of a police death squad. And thisscheme ultimately worked. Botha's rationalisa-tion seems to have been that the Sharpevillepolitical crime was balanced out by the similar-ly political crime of the four policemen. Whyelse did he reprieve them? There was certainlyno world outcry in their case.In the same way, Butane Nofomela is alive to

Page 28 of 38 day because he claims to have been a death-squadassassin. He may yet be hanged for the "non-political" crime of robbing and killing a whitefarmer. God knows, the South African govern-ment loves to hang as many people (mostlyblack) as it can. 1988 was one of the worst -well over 120 people executed. With a popula-tion of 37 million, South Africa has one of thehighest execution rates in the world. Never-theless, the South African government had suc-ceeded (before the suspensions), to a large ex-tent, in manipulating the minds of many peoplein the West, particularly in the United States, intoaccepting that execution is justified for any actof political protest that causes the death of oneor more people. A peculiarly subtle transactiontakes place between the propagandists of one ofthe world's most violent state dictatorships andthe malleable minds of those whose sentimentalregard for the doctrine of non-violence makesthem extremely critical of anyone committing anact of political violence.For instance, ever since the 1986 state ofemergency, censorship regulations almost totallyeclipsed television and newspaper coverage ofthe police whipping, beating and shooting of pro-testers. South African racist propagandistscarefully replaced these images in our minds withgrisly pictures of "black-on-black" violence andthe "necklacing" of informers.On September 29th last year, Mangena JeffreyBoesman was hanged in Pretoria for the"necklace" murder of Mellina Fass, a teacherfrom Sterkstroom near Grahamstown in theEastern Cape. He was punished for the "black-on-black" killing of somebody who could havebeen innocent. But the recently executedMangena Boesman was a member of the ANC,an organisation now in a state of guerrilla waragainst the South African government. Hebelieved that he and his two co-accused had tokill Mellina Fass, whom they thought to be adangerous spy, just as French Resistance fighterswere required to kill informers during the Nazioccupation of France. All black policemen, localgovernment members, and informers, are look-ed upon as quislings, or traitors, by the peopleof the occupied townships in South Africa. Theblack township is a kind of concentration camp,where most of the dirty work is done by thedespised "kapos", prisoners who guard, mistreatand murder their fellow inmates on the ordersof the camp commandant.When Butane Nofomela hacked GriffithsMxenge to pieces, he was the kapo and CaptainCoetzee the commandant. If the people of KwaMashu township, where Mxenge was murdered,had risen up against Nofomela and his kapogang, the government would have portrayed thefighting as "black-on-black" savagery. But itwould actually have been a legitimate rebellion,along the lines of a Treblinka, where the campinmates rose up against their Nazi-controlledguards. When the resisting inmates are caught,however, punishment is savage, as in the caseof Mangena Boesman, hanged last year.Among all those hundreds of people hangedsince 1978, when the first death-squad victim,Dr Rick Turner, died in Durban, not a single onewas an "off-duty" death-squad police officer,even though more than 100 "extra-legal" kill-ings have taken place. Since October of 1977,when black-consciousness leader Steve Biko wasfirst tortured in Port Elizabeth and then murderedin Pretoria by on-duty policemen, not a singleone of these men, all named and identified in apublic inquest, has been arrested, let alone charg-ed and sentenced. Unlike the members of thesecret death-squads, they have been publiclynamed as Biko's killers, but left completely un-touched. From the very first death of a politicaldetainee (Bellington Mampe, September 1st1963) to the latest assassination of an anti-apartheid activist (Anton Lubowski, shot lastAugust in Windhoek, Namibia), not one on-dutyor off-duty death-squad killer has had to face theofficial hangman's "necklace."But now with the Nofomela and Coetzee con-fessions, they do have to face the bright light ofinternational attention. Their noxious little nestson the dark side of the rock may no longer beas safe as they thought, although the SouthAfrican government will probably do its best topush the rock back into place. The cursory of-ficial inquiry into Nofomela's allegations and thestatemnts impugning Coetzee's motives andcharacter, are the first signs of attempts to en-trench the rock. State of emergency regulations

Page 29 of 38 still ban all uncensored news about policeviolence (despite lifting press restrictions).Editors and journalists in South Africa are hav-ing to cope with one of the severest forms of pre-publication censorship in the world. VryeWeekblad which hunted down Captain Coetzeein Mauritius in the first place, truly galls theAfrikaner Nationalist government in that thisanti-apartheid newspaper, unlike the others(which are printed in English), is written inAfrikaans, the language of the governmentleaders themselves. First published in 1988, theVrye Weekblad was forced by the Minister ofJustice to pay a R30 000 ($10 000) registrationfee, the highest ever demanded. Editor Max duPreez accused the minister of conducting avendetta against the paper.The seismic shock of Nofomela's andCoetzee's confessions has dislodged the rock.Will more of the hit teams' lethal deeds berevealed by the light of confessional truth, or,as in El Salvador, will it have to take theassassination of an Archbishop Romero or of sixprominent priests to loosen the rock some more?Public knowledge is spreading. Late last year,newspapers in London shone the bright light onthe underside of the rock.In the London daily The Independent onNovember 17th, Coetzee mentioned one of themost notorious death-squad killings to occur thisyear. On May 1st, David Webster, a Professorof Social Anthropology at the University of theWitwatersrand, was shot dead in front of hishouse after returning from a morning jog. Fourmen in a white car were seen speeding away.Even though Captain Coetzee retired in 1985,he says that he knew about the plan to assassinateWebster before it was executed, strongly imply-ing that he has kept in touch with the hit teamnetwork over the years. David Webster wasregarded as particularly dangerous. He was do-ing what the network feared most - investigatingand publicising the truth about their activities.The day after he died, Dr Webster was due todeliver his completed research on "extra-legal"assassinations and abductions to the HumanRights Commission of the United Nations. Hisreport was entitled "The South African Contras. "Webster's list of unsolved killings goes backto the Rick Turner murder in Durban elevenyears before, a killing uncannily like his own.Also an anti-apartheid academic, Dr Turner wasshot dead on his doorstep by an unknown gun-man. Webster's list includes the names of fourleaders of the United Democratic Front, whowere shot and stabbed to death, and then burn-ed, near Port Elizabeth, in 1985. In the sameyear, three ANC men were shot and killed byunknown assailants in the neighbouring countryof Swaziland. In 1986 and 1987, ANC peoplewere also killed in Botswana and Lesotho, otherneighbouring countries.Like Ruth First in Mozambique, apartheid op-ponents are obviously not safe anywhere. In early1981, Joe Gqabi, the ANC representative inZimbabwe, was killed by a hail of bullets in hisHarare home. Captain Coetzee says he sent abomb via diplomatic pouch to the ANC officein London in 1982. More than a year later, aletter-bomb killed Jeanette Schoon and her youngdaughter in Angola. They died a few monthsafter her husband, Marius Schoon, an ANC ac-tivist, had been threatened with assassination inBotswana. Coetzee said he was ordered to shootSchoon with a pistol in Gaberone, but the orderwas then rescinded. Even living as far away asParis, France, did not help Dulcie September,the ANC representative in Paris. She was shotdead there.South Africa-controlled Namibia will becomeindependent on March 21st, too late for AntonLubowski, a civil rights lawyer and indepen-dence fighter, who was shot dead in Windhoeklast September. Before he died, picture-postersshowing him as the centre of a shooting-rangetarget, were sent to him in the mail. Similar deaththreats have been made against another humanrights lawyer in Windhoek, David Smuts. Shouldhe expect to feel safe after Namibia's in-dependence? Those hit men will not suddenly goaway. They will even be represented in the newNamibia - in last November's elections, theirown party, the right-wing, white-supremacistAction Christian National won three of the 72Constitutional Assembly seats. And they willhave the complete backing of the right-wingpolice in South Africa, thousands of whom sup-port the Conservative Party and belong to the

Page 30 of 38 neo-Nazi Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging(Afrikaner Resistance Movement).David Webster's term "The South AfricanContras" highlights the fascist ideology and ter-rorist nature of these South African hit teams.They are no different from the Contras inNicaragua or the death-squads in El Salvador.They even employ the "disappearing" methodthe Argentine military used during the dictator-ship of 1974-1983. Some anti-apartheid figuresjust vanish. One such case is that of StanzaBopape. Police say he escaped from custody in1988, but his family has not heard from himsince. Apparently for the police, any kind ofmurderous approach will do.One of the strangest and most sinister episodesoccurred over a two-month period last year inNamibia and the United States, and may havecome close to touching the White House. TheReverend Frank Chikane, Secretary-General ofthe South African Council of Churches andoutspoken critic of apartheid, becamemysteriously ill while on a trip to Namibia onApril 24th. He suffered nausea, sweating andshortness of breath. Within two days he hadrecovered, so he proceeded on an important visitto the United States, where he was due to meetPresident Bush. While staying with a physicianfriend in Wisconsin Rev. Chikane collapsed andalmost died. He stopped breathing, and had tobe put on a respirator. Again, he recoveredwithin two days, but quickly fell ill twice morewith same symptoms.According to The New York Times, Rev.Chikane's friend, Dr Daniel J Smith, an Assis-tant Professor at the University of WisconsinMedical School, studied the symptoms and thelaboratory blood tests, and diagnosed his condi-tion as a form of nerve-poisoning. Dr Smith iden-tified the toxin as organophosphate anti-cholinesterase, commonly used as a insecticide,and applied as a powder or gas. If inhaled or ab-sorbed through the skin, it paralysed the nervoussystem.Rev. Chikane says he was using the same lug-gage and set of clothes and shoes on both his tripsto Namibia and the USA. When he returned toSouth Africa, he had both his luggage and clothestested, but nothing was found. Dr Smith pointsout that many variants of the chemical compoundare almost impossible to trace. However, on June26th, back in Johannesburg, a cyanide-based in-secticide was sprayed inside the college chapelwhere the Rev. Chikane was due to conduct theannual general meeting of the South AfricanCouncil of Churches (its offices were destroyedin a bomb blast in 1988). Several members ofthe cleaning staff became violently ill and hadto be rushed to hospital.While in the USA, Rev. Chikane was too illon May 18th to meet President Bush in the WhiteHouse with other church leaders. You can im-agine how sick he must have felt to pass up suchan important meeting. If he had managed to getthere, an invisible chemical may well haverepresented South Africa's death squads theretoo, poisoning the inner sanctum of the WhiteHouse, just as it did that college chapel a fewweeks later.Our minds go back to that forensic policelaboratory mentioned by Coetzee. Is that wherethis insidious poisonous substance came from?General Lothar Neethling, Head of thelaboratory, has been named by Coetzee. Whathappened to Rev. Chikane last year is reminis-cent of a crude poisoning attempt made in 1977on the daughter of Donald Woods, Steve Biko'sfriend and biographer. As documented in the filmCry Freedom, a commemorative Steve Biko T-shirt was sent in the mail to the young girl justafter Biko was murdered. It was impregnatedwith phosphoric acid.The death squads are crude, merciless, im-placable. Perhaps their cruellest, most callouskilling, was the 1985 murder of VictoriaMxenge. She died four years after her husband,that same Griffiths Mxenge who was hacked todeath by Butane Nofomela's squad in the pay ofCaptain Coetzee. Not content with making Vic-toria Mxenge a widow in 1981, her police killersdecided to make her children orphans in 1985.But, utterly uncowed by her lawyer husband'sassassination, this brave woman, also a lawyer,vowed to unmask her husband's killers and con-tinued to resist apartheid. At the time she wasmurdered, Victoria Mxenge was representingand defending four anti-apartheid activists whohad sought refuge in the British Consulate in

Page 31 of 38 Durban.Griffiths and Victoria Mxenge are dead. TheRev. Frank Chikane is still alive. The bright lightof public exposure in The New York Times mayhave halted his slow death by poisoning. Buteven though Griffiths and Victoria Mxenge havedied, their names have been brought back intothe light by the confessions of Butane Nofomelaand Dirk Coetzee. And the Rev. Frank Chikane,together with the Rev. Allan Boesak, and Arch-bishop Desmond Tutu, recently met with the newState President of South Africa, FW de Klerk,who asked their advice about peaceful change.As the man who sits on top of the rock of policeoppression, protecting and nurturing those night-creatures underneath, President De Klerk wouldalso do well to consult these three church leadersabout the spiritually cleansing effects of confes-sion, repentance, and final absolution. LikeNofumelo and Coetzee, he and his people are inmortal need of it.EDITOR'S NOTEThe revelations on police and military hit-squadsactivities have led to F W de Klerk being forcedto take a position against them. Several policeofficers have appeared in court whilst others havegone into hiding after warrants of arrest wereissued against them. Peter Casselton, who wasresponsible for the bombing of the ANC officein London in 1982, said that the information hehas could bring the regime down. More recently,Magnus Malan was the object of a parliamentaryscrutiny because of his involvement in themurderous activities of the Civil Co-operationBureau which operated under the military. Thisis the body that was revealed to be responsiblefor the murder of Anton Lubowski. Typically,Malan defended himself by trying to smearAnton Lubowski as an agent of racist SouthAfrica's military intelligence. The world, and in-deed the South African government itself usedas it is to hearing him tell blatant lies such asthat Dulcie September was killed by the ANC,dismissed him with contempt.Now that the Harms Commission into hitsquads activities has been formed, the demandshould be for a full and open report. Nothingshould be hidden. Those who must fall must fall.>.LNE THEPIRIT OF code,ice, SI tOW5KIProtest at the death of Swapo official Anton Lubowski. The CCB has been implicated in his murder

Page 32 of 38 INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY BACKS SANCTIONSTHATCHER'S PLEAREJECTED WORLDWIDEAlthough welcoming the release of Nelson Mandela, world leaders have sent a clearmessage to the Pretoria regime that sanctions will stay until apartheid has ended.However, the British government has proved itself seriously out of step with interna-tional opinion by its decision to lift its ban on new investment in South Africa.Britain's move is in defiance of the ANC and alsothe European Community. The action was im-mediately called a "very dangerous precedent forEuropean political co-operation" by the IrishForeign Minister and president of the EuropeanCommunity Foreign Ministers, Gerry Collins.At its recent meeting to discuss the situation, allEC members, with the exception of Britain andPortugal, agreed not to reconsider lifting sanc-tions until the state of emergency in South Africahad been lifted and all political prisonersreleased.Secretary General of the ANC, Alfred Nzo,again re-stated the ANC's firm opposition to anylifting of sanctions: "There has been no changewhatsoever. We are still very firm that sanctionsmust be maintained, despite what Mrs Thatchersays."The President of the United States, GeorgeBush, said the United States could not relax sanc-tions without further reforms taking place inSouth Africa. He added that although he did notwholly approve of sanctions, he was bound bythe sanctions law passed by Congress over threeyears ago. "Nelson Mandela's release fromprison, which we've waited for and workedtoward for so long, is another important sign thatSouth Africa may soon begin negotiating ademocratic, non-racial society, and at last be onthe way to ending apartheid once and for all, "Bush said.The Soviet Union welcomed Mandela's re-lease, calling it an overdue step on the way todismantling apartheid. "Together with all coun-tries and peoples, we hail the release of NelsonMandela," Foreign Ministry spokesmanGennady Gerasimov said.British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher,lost no time in applauding F W de Klerk on hisreforms. She immediately launched an inter-national campaign for the relaxation of sanctionsagainst South Africa, beginning with the can-cellation of the voluntary ban on new investment,and with other measures to follow. She said itwas time to use encouragement and not "thestick" in South Africa."The sanctions are very small indeed. Theyare gesture sanctions. When people are doing theright thing, as boldly and courageously as Presi-dent de Klerk, it seems quite absurd to still usesticks to beat them with, however small thosesticks may be," she said.However, British Opposition leaders insistedthat sanctions should continue.Labour leader, Neil Kinnock, said: "To relin-quish any sanctions now would simply tell Presi-dent de Klerk that, in return for the most nominalchanges and release of a man who should neverhave been in jail, he can win the whole prize."Labour's Foreign Affairs spokesman, GeraldKaufman, told the House of Commons that SouthAfrica would reman a prison for Nelson Mandelaand the black population until apartheid and thepolice state were completely dismantled.The Commonwealth Secretary General, Son-ny Ramphal, welcomed Mandela's release as a"triumph for national resistance and internationalpressure over apartheid's custodians at home andits apologists abroad. " He added that it was notyet time to demobilise the international support

Page 33 of 38 for apartheid's victims. This was supported bythe Development Commissioner of the EuropeanCommunity, Manuel Marin, who said he wascompletely in favour of retaining sanctions untilapartheid was abolished. While welcomingMandela's release, Irish deputy premier, BrianLenihan, said: "The release is a start, but onlya start. It would be very undesirable for anyEuropean Community member to breach theCommunity approach and ease sanctions on aunilateral basis."The Executive Secretary of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, Mike Terry, said thatMargaret Thatcher had a "brazen nerve" to in-vite Nelson Mandela to Britain: "... her govern-ment has not lifted a finger to secure his release,"he said.The Secretary General of the Organisation ofAfrican Unity, Salim Ahmed Salim, welcomedMandela's release, but urged continued sanctionsagainst South Africa. Zambian President Ken-neth Kaunda also cautioned against the lifting ofsanctions. He said that the ANC must now begintalks with President de Klerk. "The time for talk-ing has come," he said.The President of Mozambique, JoaquimChissano, said: "It is negotiations with the ANCand other democratic forces that will reallyindicate the moment at which the internationalcommunity should lift sanctions." PresidentRobert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has called MrsrPRRTNfJ'~IWE SAY*%7IONS- NThatcher's reaction "too hasty an embrace." Hesaid: "We see no reason why all those who havebeen imposing sanctions should relax thesesanctions. "Indian Prime Minister V P Singh urged thatall strength and pressure be directed to the com-plete dismantling of apartheid, while Australia'sForeign Minister Gareth Evens said that the pointabout sanctions was not to secure the release ofNelson Mandela, but about the abolition ofapartheid.The National Executive Committee (NEC) ofthe ANC has strongly condemned the positiontaken by the British government regardingsanctions.In its statement of February 16th, the NEC saidthat the international community had imposedsanctions against South Africa with the purposeof ending the apartheid system and that thereforethere was no justification for lifting these sanc-tions at this stage.Britain's position would not only hinder theprocess leading to the speedy liquidation of apar-theid, but was a betrayal of the decisions of theEuropean Community and the United NationsGeneral Assembly (to which the British govern-ment is party), that sanctions would not be lifteduntil profound and irreversible changes had takenplace in keeping with the United Nations Dec-laration on South Africa adopted unanimouslylast December.

Page 34 of 38 SANCTIONS HAVE TO BE MAINTAINEDUNTIL APARTHEID IS ENDEDStatement by the South African delegationto the Southern Africa Coalition Lobby of ParliamentBritain committed itself last December, both atthe European Heads of Government Summit inStrasbourg and the United Nations GeneralAssembly Special Session, to maintain sanctionsuntil "profound and irreversible changes" havetaken place.What are these profound and irreversiblechanges? The United Nations General AssemblyDeclaration on Apartheid and its Destructive Con-sequences in Southern Africa says: "we shall con-tinue to do everything in our power to increasesupport for the legitimate struggle of the SouthAfrican people, including maintaininginternational pressure against the system of apart-heid until that system is ended and South Africais transformed into a united, democratic and non-racial country with justice and security for all itscitizens." Britain voted for this declaration.The entire world community has thereby com-mitted itself to maintain sanctions until: The laws that establish apartheid are scrapped;* A new constitution has been democraticallyadopted by a truly representative body of the SouthAfrican people.It is quite clear that "irreversible change" goes farbeyond the beginning of negotiations. There isnothing irreversible about starting negotiations.Rather, negotiations have to be successfully con-cluded to be irreversible. As yet, negotiations havenot even begun - most of the pre-conditions havenot been met. Once negotiations do start, sanc-tions are an essential pressure to keep De Klerkon track to end apartheid, since delaying or abor-ting the process will exact a high price.Therefore we urge the British people, includingthe Conservative Party, to call on Mrs Thatcherto reverse her current policy. She is rapidlycreating the belief amongst South Africa's peoplethat Britain is opposed to their liberation.Britain stands isolated in the world, and its standis jeopardising all future British relations with afree South Africa.Now is the time to change this indefensiblepolicy.(signed)Rev. Dr Frank ChikaneGeneral Secretary, South African Council ofChurchesMr Popo MolefeGeneral Secretary, United Democratic FrontMr Elijah BarayiPresident, Congress of South African TradeUnionsLondon, February 27 1990

Page 35 of 38 LETTER TO THE EDITORDear ComradeWhen the time comes for us to begin buildinga post-apartheid South Africa, installing a newsystem of education will have to be a priority.The future of our country will depend largely onthe nature of the schools and universities we setup - the skills that are taught, the attitudes andexpectations that are encouraged.In her thoughtful and timely article Languageand the National Question in the March issue ofSechaba, Dawn Karim drew our attention tolanguage in education. The article will no doubtgenerate a debate, and my intention is to con-tribute some ideas to it.The question of what language should be us-ed for teaching has caused conflict in SouthAfrica in the past, between parents and pupilson one side and the regime on another. It wasthe trigger for the demonstration of June 161976. It is also a crucial question, educational-ly, socially and politically.According to the Freedom Charter, educationshould open the "treasures of mankind" to ourpeople. We intend to offer an education thatopens doors to a wider world, and it was becausethey wanted such an education for their childrenthat many South African parents have preferredthem to be taught in English. At the same time,the Charter commits us to nurturing the differentcultures in our country; and Dawn Karim is right- language cannot be separated from culture.Though we have many languages, we are veryclear about our intention of building one nation,not several. We want a democratic South Africathat is unitary and non-racial. It is essential thatthe members of our society should be able tocommunicate with each other, and to achieve thiswe need a lingua franca (for example, English)as suggested by Comrade Karim.The basis of education is laid in the schools.How is a lingua franca to be handled there?It can be taught as a second language, with thehome language as the medium of instruction.This policy would help to preserve and en-courage national cultures, but could create prob-lems with specialised terminology outside theschool. It would also involve the creation ofseparate schools - or at least separate language-based classes within each school - and the ef-fect would be to separate the pupils along 'ethnic'lines. In the cities, particularly, this would bedivisive. We will need to integrate our young-sters from an early stage.Dawn Karim suggests the lingua franca as themedium of instruction throughout, after the firstfew years of primary school, while second andthird languages are taught, of which the homelanguage would probably be one. Such a policywould satisfy most of our needs, and wouldenrich all pupils with a deeper understanding oflanguage, but it would have drawbacks, too. Ina group of mixed linguistic backgrounds, (andmost city groups will be linguistically mixed)native speakers of the language of instruction willhave an advantage.It is in the language of instruction that studentsgrasp ideas, handle them, perceive their implica-tions. They are learning to reason in thislanguage, and if it is not spoken at home, thehome cannot effectively reinforce the learningat school. We would have to think about com-pensatory education to correct the disadvantage,for the principle of equal opportunity must bethe foundation of all our planning in education.The Charter promises a campaign to end adultilliteracy. Some people may wish to learn in theirown language. Others may choose the linguafranca, and, if they are not yet fluent in it, theywill have the double task of learning a languagewhile learning the principles of reading andwriting at the same time. We will need numbersof highly trained teachers in all languages.These problems can be solved, and we shouldaddress them. The sooner we begin, the moreassured the future of our country will be.Claris

Page 36 of 38 ATHOL FUGARDTHE WRITER UNDER APARTHEIDBy Kader AsmalThis was a programme note written for a per-formance of Hello and Goodbye by the RedKettle Theatre Company in Waterford,Ireland, in November 1989.Nothing in South Africa is non-political. Racetouches, blights and destroys every aspect of life.Racial classification is the determining factor.A few years ago, a police officer decided the raceof a foundling of three weeks on the basis of asingle strand of hair. That was a life sentence.These latter-day Nuremburg laws. as thoroughand systematic as anything conceived by theNazis, will decide who the foster parents of thefoundling will be, where she may live and go toschool. They decide what trains, hotels, restau-rants, cinemas and theatres she will enter. Thathair, until 1985, decided whom she took as alover or husband. What her political rights willbe, what jobs will be open to her and what old-age pension she will get are still decided by herrace. One day, these laws will decide even whereshe is to be buried.These laws establish and feed the two SouthAfricas that exist. The four and a half millionWhites have the power and the status, and theytake priority regardless of merit and intelligence.To the:n belong the splendid facilities and palacesof culture, where the 'theatre' is a social occa-sion with musicals and extravaganzas. There isan attempt to retain cultural contact with Europeand New York.For the black people of South Africa, whoseoppression has been long and harsh, the expres-sion of their fear, pain, hope and determinationthrough the arts has been a lifeline. For these 28million, whose political rights are denied them,culture has been one of the few forms of creativi-ty, protest and self-affirmation open to them.Cultural traditions damagedIn this 'other' South Africa, families and com-munities were broken up by the demand forlabour on the farms, on the mines and in thetowns of white South Africa. Cultural traditionssuffered. Some survived, adapted to the harshconditions of township life and work with its all-male compounds and its soulless housing. Otherswere deformed by being deliberately preservedfor white audiences as examples of 'native art.'European culture, imported with white suprem-acy, elevated the written word and the individualartist to the detriment of the more oral and com-munal African style, and made 'literature' vir-tually synonymous with 'English literature.'Church and secular education confirmed thisprocess.But there have always been counter-currents.Stories and poems have reflected major eventsand personal responses, and freedom songs haveevolved in the struggle for a non-racial society.Writers took part in this struggle, directly andindirectly, and the list of those forced into exileby the middle of the sixties reads, as AnthonySampson has described it, like "drumbeats fora casualty list."Fugard stayed at home, for the pressures onhim were different from the pressures of theghetto on a black writer. His 30 plays reflect hispersonal insights and experiences. Although hehas described himself as "a harmless old liberalfossil," he had to endure the revocation of hispassport from 1965 to 1971 and the threat of cen-sorship from the regime.With its focus on a system of race classifica-tion that destroys love because it is irrational andcruel, The Blood Knot was a watershed in thetheatre in South Africa.

Page 37 of 38 Fugard lived up to his own demand that "thetheatre's major importance in an oppressivesociety is to break the conspiracy of silence thatalways attends an unjust system." His greatervictory was that he was able to involve black ac-tors, and collaborate with them so that his moreovertly political plays became indictments ofaspects of institutionalised violence. In themagnificent Sizwe Banzi is Dead, he presentedthe pass laws as the single most oppressive aspectof apartheid, because, without a reference book,a Black over the age of 16 did not exist.In The Island, he touched on the pain andhumiliation of the political detainee and thetriumph of the human spirit which sustained theMandelas, the Sisulus and the Kathradas of Rob-ben Island and Pollsmoor Prison. For those out-side South Africa, it has been the craftsmanshipand sincerity of his social vision as reflected inthese plays that has gained critical acclaim.Sorrow transformed to determinationEven in the bleaker plays, such as Marigolds inAugust and Boesman and Lena, where the land-scape is sordid and the characters despairing orunloved or ugly, there is the implicit socialbackground of evictions, harassment and no-hope of apartheid. When Lena cries out, "I wantmy life. Where's it?" the cry arises from thealienation and dehumanisation of apartheid, likethe cry in Sizwe Banzi is Dead when the switchis about to take place: "Am I not a man?"Fugard's contribution to the theatre of protestin South Africa is an historic one, and he hasachieved international acclaim. But inside SouthAfrica, in the past decade, the limitations of hisapproach have been criticised by the resurgentwave of cultural energy within the black com-munity, which is more overtly political, op-timistic and committed. The new theatre is partof the political impulse which has aimed to re-affirm black identity and dignity in the face ofthe onslaught from apartheid, and is part of thecommon desire for liberation. The emphasis inthis theatre is on poetry, but with a shift awayfrom an essentially white audience to a black one,analysing the black experience for the Blacks.As Sipho Sepamla, a black playwright, put it:"They write plays about us for us." The earlieremphasis on sorrow and protest against white-inflicted injustice has been transformed in thenew work, which involves black anger and deter-mination to bring change, and is consciously partof the liberation process. The reaction of theSouth African regime to the black theatre, withits overt political involvement, has been savage:torture, the bannings of producers and directors,the banning of a number of cultural organisationsin 1978. But these actions have not deflected thewriters who are allied with liberation and thesearch for self-reliance.Fugard and the cultural boycottThis has faced writers such as Athol Fugard andNadine Gordimer with difficult choices. Fugardhas opted for a more personal vision since his1982 autobiographical Master Harold and theBoys. He has had to recognise that the oppres-sion of the black writer with the appalling con-ditions, laws and regulations, which do not toucha white writer, is fundamentally different fromthe alienation of a white writer in South Africa.A sensitive man, he suffers from his awarenessof the injustice of apartheid and the deep divi-sions it has produced; at a personal level, he hastried to overcome these divisions by collabor-ating with Blacks; but he has never been able tocommit himself to the liberation struggle. He hasstood aside from the call for a cultural boycott.Black organisations inside South Africa con-tinue to call on all artists not to go to SouthAfrica, and to support their cause by isolatingapartheid. Their appeal has been echoed byUnited Nations resolutions. Athol Fugard has notsupported them, which in itself is a political act.But the cultural boycott was never intended tovictimise opponents of apartheid. The theatre,poetry and writing of the democratic forces mustbe supported. Liberation will come in SouthAfrica, and will free the vast human reserve ofenergy, passion and creativity in that society. Thewriter in South Africa has reached a new stage,no longer embattled and alone, but part of theprocess of liberation.

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