Sechaba, Apr. 1987

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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 1987-04 Resource type Journals (Periodicals) Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1987 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 1987official organ of the arican national congress south africaARCHIE GUMEDE,CO-PRESIDENT OF UDF

Page 3 of 38 SECHABA and other ANCpublications are obtainablefrom the followingANC addresses:ALGERIA5 Rue Ben M'hidi LarbiAlgiers.ANGOLAPO Box 3523Luanda.AUSTRALIABox 49 Trades Hall4 Goulburn StreetSydney NSW 2000.BELGIUM9c Rue de Russie1060 BruxellesCANADAPO Box 302Adelaide Postal StationTorontoOntario M5C-2J4.CUBACalle 21aNR 20617Esquina 214 AtabeyHavana.(Room 23)NIGERIAFederal GovernmentSpecial Guest HouseVictoria IslandLagos.SENEGAL26 Avenue Albert SarrautPO Box 3420, DakarSWEDENPO Box 2073S-103 12 Stockholm 2TANZANIAPO Box 2239 Dar es Salaam.PO Box 680 Morogoro.UNITED KINGDOMPO Box 3828 Penton StreetLondon NI 9PRUNITED STATES801 Second Avenue Apt 405New York NYC 10017ZAMBIAPO Box 31791Lusaka.DENMARKLandgreven 7/31301 Copenhagen KEGYPT5 Ahmad Ishmat StreetZamalekCairo.ETHIOPIAPO Box 7483Addis Ababa.FRANCEz8 Rue des Petites Ecuries75010 ParisGERMAN DEMOC^AT1C REPUBLICAngerweg 2WilhelmsruhBerlin 1106.FEDERAL. REPUBLIC OF GERMANYPostfach 1901405300 Bonn I.MADAGASCARPO Box 80AntananarivoITALYVia S. Prisca 15a00153 Rome.INDIAApt 350 KP Thacker Block, Asian Games VillageSiri Fort RoadNew Delhi 110040LISTEN TO:Radio FreedomVoice of the African National Congressand Umkhonto We Sizwe, the People's Army.Radio Luandashort wave: 30 & 40 in. bandsmedium wave: 27.6 m. band7.30 p.m. daily.Radio Lusakashort wave: 31 m. hand, 9580 KHz.7.15-8.00 p.m. Monday to Friday10.05-10.35 p.m. Wednesday10.30-11.00 p.m. Friday7.00-8.00 p.m. Saturday8.00-8.45 p.m. Sunday, 17895 KHz.Radio Madagascarshort wave: 49 in. band, 6135 KHz9.30-10.00 p.m. daily.Radio Ethiopiashort wave: 31 m. hand, 9545 KHz9.30-10.00 p.m. daily.Radio TanzaniaShort wave: 19 in. band, 15435 KHz.Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday,8.15 p.m.31 m. hand,Tuesday. Thursday & Saturday.6.15 a. iii.Published by theAfrican National Congress of South AfricaP.O. Box 31791, LUSAKA, ZAMBIAPrinted by the Druckerei 'Erich Weinert',2000 Neuhrandenhurg, G.D.R.

Page 4 of 38 Mandela and Sisululed a pass-burning campaignin 1960.

Page 5 of 38 SECHABAAPRIL 1987CONTENTS:EDITORIALDemocratic Forces Smashing the White Laager 1TOWARDS PEOPLE'S WAR AND INSURRECTIONBy Mzala 2THE SOUTH AFRICAN LEGAL PRESSSELF-CENSORED, BIASED, BOUND BY LEGISLATIONBy Tony Holiday 8SOMAFCO: DOORS OF LEARNING AND CULTUREBy Teacher Freda and Teacher Anna 12CENTRE PAGE:The Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College 16UNITA: MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC DEFEAT 18By Marga Holness 18ARCHIE GUMEDE SPEAKS 24ATTACKS ON DEMOCRATIC FORCES:INJUSTICE AND THE COURTSBy Jean Middleton 26DEATH SENTENCES: SAVE THEIR LIVES! 29WOMEN FIGHT STATE OF EMERGENCY 30BOOK REVIEW 32Send Hour Subscriptions to:Sechaba PublicationsP.O. Box 38, 28 Penton Street, London N 19PIZUnited KingdomTelephone: 01-837 2012Telex: 29955AN('SA(: Telegrams: \lao.ihtio:eDonations welcome

Page 6 of 38 EDITORIALDEMOCRATIC FORCESSMASHING THE WHITE LAAGEREach and every political move and reform planthe Whites-only National Party makes leads tofurther deep crisis. The grand counter-insurgency plans of the SADF generals havefailed to crush the struggle for a united, non-racial democratic South Africa. The oppress-ed and exploited masses of our people haveequated life with freedom, nothing less. It isas White domination is confronted with thiscourageous decision that it is cracking at everyturn. The news media on the other handengages in a great speculating game of who isverkrampt and who is verlig. Perhaps the Na-tional Party will win more seats or the Pro-gressive Federal Party will increase its minori-ty, they would say. Or they would play the ex-treme right-wing bogey, about the HerstigteNasionale Partei of Jaap Marais will unite withthe Konserwatiewe Partei of Andries Treur-nicht and Terreblanche's Afrikaner Weer-standbeweging or maybe they will not.Or that the right wing will unite and theliberal opposition unite to halve the NationalParty majority? This Whites-only electionfarce usually, in our view, ends with the Na-tional Party leaders giving themselves morepower and increasing. repression on ourpeople.But this time, to the shock and dismay of PietBotha, it is the Blacks who are really votingin genuine elections of democracy overfascism. It is the liberation movement, led bythe ANC, who are voting in strikes by theirtrade unions, rent boycotts, school boycotts,in their civic associations, street committeesand in other forms of struggle. It is thedemocratic movement which is determiningthe mood, the direction and final outcome ofthe real political contest between the oppressorand the oppressed. Clearly power is slowly,and at a great cost, changing hands. But chang-ing hands all the same. The Whites-only ritualis fast developing into, a small, miserableside-show.What then is one to make of the baloohuhaaabout Dennis Worrall, the Stellenboschacademics, the restive Afrikaner business peo-ple and the declaration that Afrikanerdom hasgot a left wing? Is the long-predicted crackingof Afrikanerdom and the laager in generalfinally taking place?The Dennis Worrall phenomenon as a poli-tical development produced by the struggle ofthe democratic forces shows the realignmentof forces arrayed against us. Our enemy is shif-ting positions, forced to do so by our strug-gle. Afrikaner businessmen are feeling the heatof the struggle by the Blacks in their factories,farms and businesses and the groundswell ofrevulsion against apartheid from the interna-tional community. Their base is threatened athome and abroad. That is what makes themrestless. The central issue to these develop-ments is that all people, Black and White,must, as these people have done, abandon thepolitics of White domination and bantustanismand then throw in their lot with the future SouthAfrica of a non-racial, democratic and unitedcountry.We, and we alone, the democratic forces,are the only force which can smash the Whitelaager of apartheid. It is our own armed strug-gle, mass mobilisation and resistance that willbring down apartheid and bring fundamentalchange in South Africa.1

Page 7 of 38 TOWARDS PEOPLE'S WARAND INSURRECTIONBy MzalaIn line with the decision adopted by the NationalExecutive Committee of the ANC in August1979, which constituted the main starting pointin determining our strategic perspectives, andwhich defined the main content and the principalimmediate policy on our line of struggle duringthat phase of our revolution, armed struggle wasregarded as secondary to the principal task ofbuilding up political revolutionary bases. Thismeant that the main purpose of military activitiesthat took place in that three-year period was: To stimulate political activity and organisa-tion of the masses; To keep alive the perspective of people'srevolutionary violence as the ultimate weaponfor the seizure of power by the democratic ma-jority under South African conditions.What political developments took place duringthat three-year period which demonstrated thatwe had taken the right strategic decisions?The beginning of the 1980s transformed thepolitical and revolutionary organisational situa-tion in South Africa beyond ordinary imagina-tions. Never before, at least not since threedecades previously, when our movement was stilloperating legally inside the country, had the vastmasses of the oppressed people so arisen as one,"uniting in action and acting in unity" (Tambo),under the guiding principles of the African Na-tional Congress, increasing in the process theirrevolutionary consciousness, and, in mind-defying feats of political mass actions, challeng-ing the legitimacy of the apartheid regime, as wellas virtually unbanning their own organisation,the ANC.Another Mass Uprising1980 saw the development of another mass upris-ing in South Africa.An estimated 10 000 secondary school pupilstook part in a successful campaign for the boycottof classes in Cape Town, Durban, Bloemfontein,East London, Port Elizabeth, the Western Cape,Kimberley, Johannesburg and other areas, whichforced more than 100 schools to close down; and,more than that, caused 2 000 matriculationstudents not to write their examination. Violentclashes took place between the students and thepolice, resulting in deaths on both sides. Violencewas the characteristic feature of the uprising.As distinct from the 1976 uprising, the 1980events involved greater numbers of the workingclass, acting either independently or in communi-ty with the students.Civic associations made the students'grievances their own, while branches of COSASand AZASO involved themselves in communi-4y problems such as rents and bus fares in theirareas of operation. While publicists and theoreti-cians debated in various journals about the rela-tionship between factory-floor action and com-munity organisations, the people in struggleresolved the debate by practice, and demon-strated that now there can be no Chinese Wallin the theatre of people's struggle.Workers Make DemandsIn the Cape, Natal and the Transvaal, there werehuge strikes involving many thousands ofworkers, in spite of police harassment (police in-tervention in strikes was recorded on 94 occa-sions). These strikes demonstrated the level ofpolitical consciousness and the prevailingfighting mood among this most vital sector of thepopulation.In a paper entitled, Strikes as as SocialPhenomenon, Dr Loet Douwes-Dekker of theGraduate School of Business Administration,University of the Witwatersrand, suggested inhis conclusions that the widespread strikes whichcharacterised 1980 "cannot be perceived as riots;they are a challenge to the existing order of con-trol ... (they) serve as a notice to all concernedthat the status quo cannot be recovered."Meanwhile, Release Mandela Committeesmushroomed in many districts of the country, ac-companied by a signature campaign. Throughouti he political activities of the year, the Freedom2

Page 8 of 38 Charter, the basic policy document of the ANC,served as the rallying banner of the people'sdemands.The year 1981 was greeted by a country-widecampaign to boycott the Republic Festival ac-tivities that were being planned by the apartheidregime. Trade unions, local communityorganisations, churches and students joinedhands in a massive wave of political demonstra-tions and protest, during which the racist republicwas exposed as undemocratic and the basic causeof Black misery.The Racist Flag BurnedIn several instances the people publicly burnedthe flag of the racist republic. The regime thenintroduced the Republic of South Africa Con-stitution Second Amendment Act, No 101 of1981, which provided that anyone found guiltyof maliciously destroying or of mutilating the"National" flag, or of holding it in contempt, orof having removed it without permission froma place where it was being displayed by orderof any authority, would be liable to a fine not ex-ceeding RIO 000 or imprisonment for a periodnot exceeding five years.At the same time, this activity was accom-panied by the growth in the popularity andprestige of the African National Congress, whichmanifested itself in the raising of its flag in theplace of the destroyed flags of the regime. Therewere numerous other manifestations of thisdevelopment, among which was the attendanceby thousands of people at a service at ReginaMundi Cathedral, Soweto, in memory of 12ANC members killed in January by racist arm-ed forces in Matola, near Maputo, Mozambique.The funerals of fallen guerrillas of UmkhontoWe Sizwe were attended by thousands ofmourners, and so also were those of known ANCmembers, as in the case of Sebina Letlalo inJanuary, a founding member of the ANC, whowas buried by more than 6 000 mourners.In another campaign, the ANC undergroundpolitical machinery called publicly for a boycottof the South African Indian Council elections,which proved strikingly successful. Only in oneNatal constituency was there a reasonable turn-out of voters, which was 40.1 %. Generally,however, the poll was under 20 %. In the Fords-burg constituency, precisely 70 people voted outof a possible total of 3 987.The schools boycott of 1980 continued in someareas into 1981.There were more strikes - in the motor in-dustry in the Eastern Cape and at WilsonCivic Associations: Are, they real people's power?3

Page 9 of 38 Rowntree, and in Pretoria over managementrecognition of the National Union of Motor, Rub-ber and Assembly Workers (NUMARWOSA).Prestige of the ANCIn 1982, the year of the 70th anniversary of theANC, the prestige of the ANC reached its peak.The anniversary was commemorated in variouscities and towns by mass meetings. Moved bythese events and revelations, the official opposi-tion in South Africa, the Progressive Federal Par-ty, argued in parliament (according to the RandDaily Mail of May 21st) that "the ANC is apopular political movement with which thegovernment will have to come to terms."The Star newspaper of January 9th supportedthis view by noting that the country-wide mark-ing of the 70th anniversary showed that: "theANC has become an increasingly revolutionaryforce, and these are facts with which White SouthAfricans have to reckon." The previous year thesame newspaper had taken a poll and revealedthat the ANC had emerged as "the most popularpolitical movement in South Africa," withNelson Mandela chosen as their leader by 76%of the sample.COSAS, AZASO and The Federation of SouthAfrican Women (Fedsaw) held meetings com-memorating and 30th anniversary of the DefianceCampaign, and women's organisations all overthe country observed South African Women'sDay on August 9th.;The response of the regime to this widespreaddevelopment was none other than its military at-tack on ANC refugees in Lesotho, during which42 people, including Basotho nationals, werekilled.According to the statistics given by theMinister of Manpower, there were 342 strikesand work stoppages during this year, involvingmore than 84 000 African workers.Planning for People's WarIt is these events among others which called forthe search for a new approach in our militaryplanning and activities. The basic and most fun-damental strategic question asked within theranks of our movement was: "Has the time comefor the arming of the masses?"A document of military strategy entitled, Plan-ning for People's War, was drafted in 1983 bythe Political-Military Committee under the in-structions of the National Executive Committeeof the ANC, and was later discussed within allpolitical and military structures of our movementas well as during the 1985 Second National Con-sultative Conference. The document acknow-ledged the significance of this debate, and thecentrality of the question of arming of the massesin the new phase of armed struggle, when itstated:"A considerable amount of discussion has beentaking place recently in our ranks on the conceptof an armed, people as the vital element in thepursuit of people's war. As a general proposi-tion this concept is correct. But we have to bea little more clear about what exactly we meanin practice."The debate was precisely about what was thepractical meaning of the policy of "arming thepeople" in the context of the South Africanrevolution.In South Africa, the development of ourmilitary strategy has been conditioned by a detail-ed study of the specific South African conditions.The aspect of the colonial context of our strug-gle confronts us on numerous occasions, whenwe find that in fact we share with the formerlyoppressed people of Cuba, Vietnam, Mozambi-que, Angola and so on, precisely those condi-tions which made them and make us a colonisedpeople. Whenever we have made reference to theexperiences of these countries, it was not becausewe denied the industrial development of SouthAfrica but because there exist concrete commonfeatures of some fundamental aspects of ourstruggles, despite certain distinctions as well asdifferences.Two South AfricasAs a result-of this colonialism, there exist twoSouth Africas. One is that of the Whites, wholive in advanced capitalist conditions in both townand countryside, in the same way as the Por-tuguese and French lived in Portugal and Francein relation to Angolans and Vietnamese respec-tively. The other South Africa, however, is thatof the Blacks, particularly Africans, who arecharacterised by land dispossession, politicalenslavement, absence of basic democracy,absence of economic leverage for progress, ex-periencing cultural suffocation, living in ban-tustans and urban ghettoes far from the cities, andwho are kept unarmed.4

Page 10 of 38 These conditions give the Whites in SouthAfrica the character of an alien group in referenceto the living conditions and ways of life of theBlacks. Put in other words, Black South Africais the colony of White South Africa itself; WhiteSouth Africa is France and Black South Africais Vietnam, but all situated within the same ter-ritory. It is this feature of South Africa as wellthat determines our military strategy.Proceeding from this recognition, the Plann-ing for People's War discussion document statesthat:"... the policy of 'arming the people' cannot meanthat we begin now to distribute arms, towhosoever wishes to receive them among the op-pressed. In the first place, we have neither thecapacity nor the means to do this on any mean-ingful scale. In the second place, it would be com-pletely wrong to engage in a policy of merelydistributing weaponry to people, trusting to luckthat they will use them on the side of therevolution."The policy of 'arming the people' has com-pletely different meanings in different phases ofrevolution ... In other words, if the concept of'arming the people' is to become anything morethan a nice-sounding cliche, it must become partof a policy to involve more and more armed peo-ple as organised contingents in support of ourstruggle and acting under our leadership."In this regard, then, the document concludes:"If there is s short way of defining what the mainemphasis of our strategic line should be, it is: wemust plan for a protracted armed struggle inwhich the foundation of a people's war must beurgently organised, and we must be ready to ac-cept all the sacrifices and the patient dedicationwhich such a perspective entails."In a way, the approach to armed struggle that con-fines our military strategy within a perspectiveof a purely protracted guerrilla warfare, istraceable to our 1969 Strategy and Tactics docu-ment. Looking at our struggle by the conditionsof that time, our strategists could not have plann-ed for anything more than what was the prevail-ing situation at the time. The whole 1969 docu-ment looked at things in this strict category:"Guerrilla warfare, the special, and in our casethe only form in which the armed liberationstruggle can be launched, is neither static nordoes it take place in a vacuum. "The political situation, however, has equallynot been static. The objective as well as sub-jective factors have changed radically duringthe decade of the 1980s, giving birth, for thefirst time in our history, to mass insurrec-tionary zones in numerous Black districts ofour country. The masses of our people havemade a transition in their struggle from sim-ple political demonstrations of a peacefulnature to a semi-armed uprising (in the senseof being armed with rudimentary weapons),some kind of partial insurrection. And wemust be able to adapt our tactics and immediatetasks to the concrete features of every givensituation.Armed Insurrection Now PossibleIn 1969, the realistic military perspective wasto wage only a protracted guerrilla struggle,but in the 1980s we have seen our struggle takea leap forward, and the situation today haswithin it the seeds and concrete possibility foran insurrection. The person who now speaksonly of protracted guerrilla war is behind thetimes; such a person is reiterating old ap-proaches senselessly learned by heart, insteadof studying the specific features of the new andliving reality.The question of insurrection has alreadybecome a possibility in the South Africanrevolution, manifesting itself at this stage on-ly in partial forms. The actual struggle hasthrown it from the realm of theory into therealm of practicality. And insofar as themasses of our people have acted in an insur-rectionary way, despite the absence of modernarms in their hands, a new and additional tasknow faces our military strategists: to prepareourselves for partial and general insurrections.A conservative approach to armed strugglein South Africa has at times manifested itselfin the inability to accept this new developmentof insurrectionary conditions, and in thefailure to reckon with the fact that the onlyscientific approach to military strategy underthe present circumstances will proceed fromthe fact that we have in South Africa today,side by side, existing together, simultaneous-ly, the possibilities of preparing both for pro-tracted guerrilla warfare and armedinsurrection.5

Page 11 of 38 In view of this present-day reality, it isnecessary, in addition to our other general tasks: To begin to promote among our people,especially the working class, the new. insurrec-tionary dimension to the perspective of our armedstruggle. To begin to recruit, train and arm combatunits in factories, mines, farms and bantustans,and organising in their neighbourhood secretarms, and ammunition depots which can be usedinstantly in the event of a suddent and unexpectedcombination of mass battles that may add up toan insurrection. To work politically within the armed forcesof the enemy, with the aim of organising politicalsympathy for political change, leading up to the_neutralisation, or even the winning over, ofsignificant sections of the enemy forces to the sideof the revolution.During the Second National Consultative Con-ference of the ANC in 1985, the Commission onStrategy and Tactics put the relationship betweenpeople's war and insurrection in the followingsuccinct way:"By People's War we mean a war in which aliberation army becomes rooted amongst the peo-ple, who progressively participate actively in thearmed struggle both politically and militarily, in-cluding the possibility of engaging by partial orgeneral insurrection. The present disparity instrength between the enemy's forces and our owndetermined the protracted nature of the strugglesin which we need to reduce the enemy'sresources, reserves and endurance, whilst gather-ing our own strength to the point where we arecapable of seizing power."Such a struggle will lead inevitably to arevolutionary situation in which our plan and aimmust be the seizure of power through a generalinsurrection (or whatever ways might presentthemselves). What will count in such a situationwill be our capacity to take advantage of thatrevolutionary situation. Unless we have thenecessary forces and means under our commandand at our disposal, there is no way we can suc-ceed, and the opportunity will pass us by."As for the question of how long we have towait for such a situation to mature, this is im-possible to state. The crisis in our country is suchthat we must be ready to respond to the mostdramatic turn of events which might bring thewhole situation to a decisive turning point.Already the present explosive situation in thetownships is pregnant with such possibilities, anddemands our decisive action, irrespective of ourcurrent strength ..."Whilst we emphasise the need to purposefullyand patiently build up the forces and means forthe revolutionary seizure.of power, waging Peo-ple's War as we do so, it is necessary to stressthat an insurrection cannot be mechanicallyplanned on a drawing board to take place at someprescribed date in the future. It could occur asa result of a chain of events which trigger offwidespread initiative from the people themselvesor as a result of a call from a revolutionary move-ment in the development of our revolutionarysituation, or as a result of a combination of both.We must see to it that we are, in every respect,ready for any of these eventualities in future."For the present, it is essential that we grasp theincontestable truth that a revolutionary strategistmust take cognisance of the developing revolu-tionary situation, and accommodate it in plann-ing, and not merely cling to a theory of a decadeago, which like all theories was only outliningthe general situation of that period. A dialecticalmethod of appraising the revolution requiresprecisely the recognition of theory, not as dogma,but as a guide to action; it requires of us a strict-ly exact and objectively verifiable analysis of theconcrete features peculiar to each historicalsituation.Let me say, in parenthesis, that the outstan-ding success of the African National Congressalso consists in its ability to perceive of theemergence of a historic turn of events and op-portunity to develop the revolution to higherlevels in order to achieve victory within theshortest possible time. After our study of the re-cent political developments, we have pointed tothe fundamental turning point in the balance offorces between the revolution and counter-revolution as well as the new advantages we findin the political situation after the creation ofrevolutionary political bases, the defeat of theapartheid organs of administration and the birthof structures of people's power. The National Ex-ecutive Committee's Call to the Nation is aprecise indication of this truth.6

Page 12 of 38 THE SOUTH AFRICAN LEGAL PRESS:SELF -CENSORED, BIASED,BOUND BY LEGISLATIONBy Tony HolidayLate last year, the Botha regime added new andterrifying dimensions to the censorship alreadyin force under the emergency. Promulgated onDecember 11th, the new regulations force all sec-tions of the media to seek ministerial permissionbefore discussing or reporting on: unrestanywhere in the country, action by the securityforces, boycotts, the treatment of detainees, therelease of any detainee, people's courts, streetcommittees and statements critical of compulsorymilitary service. Newspapers are even forbiddento leave blank spaces on their pages to indicatethat a report has been censored.This action was followed on December 19thby orders issued under the emergency by Major-General C A Swart, divisional commissioner ofpolice for the Western Cape. These banned ac-tivities which could encourage support for therelease of detainees, the unbanning of the ANCor any other banned organisation or thewithdrawal .of troops or police from any area'twhere they perform functions in connectionwith the state of emergency."It makes no difference whether some or all ofthese restrictions are tightened, loosened orlifted. The stark truth is that the very fact thatthey have been imposed means that the legal op-position press, as White liberalism conceived ofit, will never be the same again. From now on,the barons of the Newspaper Press Union and theshadowy giants that lurk behind them in the formof the mining house and banking conglomerates,will be aware that what was done to the mediabefore can be done again; that the rightist politicalforces they once thought to control, or at leastkeep in check, have outgrown them, just asHitler's Nazis outgrew the restraints the Germanindustrialists, who began by supporting them fortheir own ends, sought to impose. Inevitably, andeven if the emergency is lifted before this articleis published, what has happened will mean thatthe legal press will practice a degree of self-censorship undreamed of even a few years ago.Its readers may expect to be told the correct stock-exchange prices, the actual cricket and rugbyscores. But they can be certain of being inform-ed accurately of precious little else.Pretoria Plots Further MurdersThe immediate motives behind this latest exam-ple'of state terrorism are not far to seek. Theyhave very little to do with curbing armed actionsto mark the anniversary of the founding ofUmkhonto we Sizwe. Given the powers the ar-my and police already possess, it is hard to seehow further ravagings of the right to free expres-sion could assist the regime in that respect. Theyhave everything to do with masking the genocidalacts whereby Botha and his henchmen - par-ticularly the Defence Minister, Magnus Malan,and the Police Commissioner and former headof the Security Police, Johann Coetzee - hopeto crush further mass resistance to apartheid.To say this is not to sound hysterical falsealarms. The indications are undeniably real.They are to be seen in the murders of UDF ac-tivists by the 'death squads' which roam thetownships, in the rise of the police-backed'witdoek' and 'Russian' vigilante squads. Mostof all are they to be seen in the detainee deathsand in the murderous volleys fired each day bytroops and police.The experience the regime has of the effect ofnewspaper reporting of the deaths in 'resettle-ment' camps during the early 1970s have taughtit that even its allies in Britain, the FederalRepublic of Germany and the United States havelittle stomach for mass murder on this scale andof this type. If it is indeed plotting butchery onan even more horrific scale than we have so farwitnessed, then it makes perfect sense for it toapply just those measures against the media thatit has in fact applied.The NPU Censors ItselfSuspicions that the regime is intent on just suchexpedients gain substance from the fact that the7

Page 13 of 38 NPU undoubtedly offered Pretoria a compromisein the form of self-censorship - something theyhave done during similar crises in the past - butthat even this was insufficient to stave off the newcurbs. What other explanation could there be forthe fact that the regime was not appeased by theservility of the Newspaper Press Union (NPU),other than that Pretoria has things on its agendaof such breathtaking criminalityy that even somefigures in the NPU could not be counted on toplay along?So much for the immediate intentions behindthe new restrictions. The important question iswhat is to be done about them. Must the silenc-ing of the liberal and semi-liberal press mean thatno dissenting media is to exist in our country:that South Africans are to be deprived of all ob-jective reportage, comment and analysis? Canthe underground structures and external missionsof the ANC, and the sources available to the UDFand the popular resistance generally adequatelyfill the role that was played by elements of thelegal, professionalised South African press? Inorder to answer these questions, we need toreflect for a moment on the history of the SouthAfrican newspaper industry in order to under-stand the strengths and weaknesses which havecontributed to its present predicament.Colonialist Press TraditionBattles with authority have always been a promi-nent feature of the life of the South African press.The first independent newspapers took some 170years to appear after the first Dutch settlementin 1652. When they did appear, their editors andproprietors defended their right to carry free andcritical comment and objective reportage witharguments derived from the ideology of Britishliberalism. Thus Thomas Pringle's confrontationwith Lord Charles Somerset over the Governor'sdetermination to censor the South African Jour-nal in 1824, was in part a clash between ideasconcerning individual rights of free citizens toexpress themselves, on the one hand, andaristocratic and absolutist notions of state powerand Crown prerogative on the other.It is important to note that liberalism - cer-tainly in the versions of it expounded by theEnglish philosophers, John Locke and JohnStuart Mill - is by no means a revolutionaryideology. Nor were the early pioneers of an in-dependent press in South Africa in any sense

Page 14 of 38 revolutionary radicals. Pringle, Fairbairn andthose who followed them did not question thebasic assumptions underlying European col-onisation. Still less did they criticise the proper-ty relations and ideas about ownership whichwere basic to nineteenth century capitalism andthe imperialism which had grown out of it. Paperslike De Zuid Afrikaan might publish Karl Marx'sanalysis of the approaching Crimean War in1854, but their owners and readers were, for themost part, soaked in colonial and capitalistvalues.It was, therefore, no accident that FrancisDormer, founder of the Argus Company whichtoday dominates the newspaper publishing scenein South Africa, should also have been the ar-chitect of the Newspaper Press Union, whichbrought together newspaper proprietors from allover South Africa at its founding conference inGrahamstown in 1882.Racist Mentality in the English PressThis fatal combination of capitalism and colonialperspectives was bound to breed a racist men-tality within the innermost ranks of the alleged-ly liberal English press. The 1905 congress ofthe NPU was the last of its kind to be attendedby one of South Africa's greatest pioneering jour-nalists, John Tengo Jabavu, editor of the coun-try's first African newspaper, Imvo Zabantsun-du. At its 1912 Congress, the NPU, blind to thecontribution made by Jabavu and other Blackjournalists, barred all Black newspaper ownersand editors from its membership. Significantly,this move was instigated by an immigrant NewZealander, G H Kingswell, founder of the Sun-day Times, who represented the Rand Daily Mailat the Congress. It is doubly significant that theban was not rescinded until 1975. As De Kock*points out, moreover, the 1912 congress mark-ed the launching of the South African press asa modern capitalist industry embodying "a newspirit of purpose and competitiveness." So it wasthat the entrance of the Establishment press intoa new industrial era was marked by an act offlagrant racism from within its own ranks.This reactionary tendency remained a promi-nent feature of the Establishment's media, andwas in evidence even in the inner sanctums ofthe opposition press, being exacerbated after theNationalists came to power in 1948. It is true that,after that time, the racism of most White SouthAfricans was whipped up further by NationalParty mouthpieces like Die Burger and DieTransvaler and by radio and television controll-ed by the regime. It is also true that many jour-nalists and editors on opposition newspapersbravely resisted and continue to resist thesetendencies. But there is insufficient realisationof how much racism, reaction and general.backwardness was and is still to be found in thenewsrooms and boardrooms of that section of theEnglish press which still claims to be fightingapartheid.Such attitudes grew more prevalent as the bat-tle for circulation and advertising grew amongthe press giants. By 1982, newspapers provideda living for more than 36 000 workers, and SouthAfricans were buying more than nine millionnewspapers and magazines. But already in thelate 1960s it was clear that the country had amedia market that was among the most over-saturated in the world. The situation was worsen-ed by the late advent of television. The competi-tion for advertising and readership became a bat-tle for commercial survival.Inevitably this brought changes in the at-mosphere of many newsrooms and in the con-tent of the news and comment columns.`Elementsin the top management of both South AfricanAssociated Newspapers and the ever-growingArgus Company held the view that not only couldthe market not carry so many English-languagenewspapers, but that such newspapers as hopedto survive could no longer afford to employ jour-nalists or adopt political stances which wouldmake them unpopular competitors for the loyal-ty of White readers. Among the upshots of thisview were the dismissal of the liberal politicalcommentator, Allister Sparks, from the editor-ship of the Rand Daily Mail and the demise laterof the newspaper itself. Of course, complianceof this sort did nothing to appease the regime,but was merely interpreted as what it was - asign of weakness. The press curbs of December11th, 1986 are - at least in part - a result ofthe Botha dictatorship's estimate of thenewspaper owners' unwillingness to resist them.Need for a Revolutionary PressThe lesson of all this is that, if there is to be mean-ingful resistance to the terroristic stifling of ourcountry's news media, then it will have to comefrom broad movements and organisations which9

Page 15 of 38 are untainted by racist and colonialist prejudices.The present economic and political crisis has nowreached the point where only the revolutionaryforces, comprising the ANC and its allies, canfulfil that role. There simply are no other in-stances with the moral, political and organisa-tional capacity to accept this immenseresponsibility.Awesome as this task seems, it also representsa magnificent and challenging opportunity. For,in undermining press freedom to the extent thatit has done, the apartheid regime has also under-mined the credibility of all legalised media inSouth Africa, not least its own mouthpieces, theAfrikaans press and the South African Broad-casting Corporation. People are rapidly ceasingto believe what they read in the legal newspapers,hear on the radio or see on television, especiallywhen it relates to politics, the economy, foreignaffairs, 'unrest' in the townships and rural areasand the operations of Umkhonto We'Sizwe. Theregime itself has told them that it can no longerafford to let them hear, read or see anything otherthan its own version of events. In this way it hascreated a huge credibility gap for itself.How can we best seize the advantage Botha'sterrorists have offered us? Many of the in-struments for doing so are already in our handsin the form of the underground editions of ourjournals which circulate among the masses, ourpamphlets and the radio braodcasts beamed intothe country from our external missions. What isneeded is a sophisticated overall strategy aimedat increasing the quality and quantity of theunderground media. The following eight-pointplan is intended to serve as a discussable skeletonof such a strategy. The established journals of our movementmust be made to serve as the central theoreticaland policy-determining basis for the wholeoperation. They will be the forums of debate andthe medium of political education, dealing withbroad national, international, cultural and. philosophical issues in clear precise language.These must create a form of mass-consciousness,a communal understanding, capable of graspingthe meaning of day-to-day events. Theunderground editions of these journals must beexpanded and their content must constantly im-prove in quality. The volume of journals and newssheets writ-ten and produced at home by cadres of the move-ment in legal or semi-legal conditions must in-crease, and their primary task must become thatof conveying truthful, accurate and crisply writ-ten information to the public of the sort theEstablishment press is no longer able or willingto print. Special newssheets to serve communi-ty, trade union, student and other needs must beset up. They will take their political line fromthe journals already referred to. The work ofthese newssheets can be supplemented if our ex-ternal broadcasts place more emphasis ontransmitting newsworthy and relevant politicalfacts.# In the past, our movement has often had suc-cessful recourse to whispering campaigns to getits message across. We must intensify such cam-paigns and train cadres to initiate campaignswhich combine agitational work and calls to ac-tion with the transmission of factual information. Agitational work must improve in quantityand quality. We must flood the townships, cam-puses and factories with pamphlets, make moreuse of pamphlet bombs and tape-recordings.These must be well-written and well prepared. More use must be made of video-technologyto counter the influence of the state-controlledtelevision networks. Our people must be giventhe chance to see, as well as hear, Mandela, Tam-bo, Nzo and Slovo talking to them. Throughvideos we can give them visual instruction inarms-making and street-fighting techniques. We must study and deepen our understan-ding of the uses of armed propaganda, co-ordinating it as far as possible with the other ac-tivities already listed. Our armed actions shouldspeak as clearly as our words, directing people'sattention to specific issues and places in theenemy's armour which need to be attacked. In all this we must not neglect the struggleagainst censorship that still goes on in some areasof the legal media. We must continue to try towin journalists of goodwill to our cause. Thedegree of free expression allowed to theEstablishment media will very probably wax andwane for a long time to come, thus creating op-portunities for ANC sympathisers among thereporters and leader writers to serve ourmovement. The creation of an underground media net-work presuposes an intelligence-gathering and10

Page 16 of 38 intelligence-dissemination policy which can meetchanging conditions and changing needs. Theenemy is increasingly making use of disinforma-tion against the ANC and its allies. To counterthis effectively with genuine information we willneed to know more and more about the enemy,his secret weaknesses, plans and policy-makingprocedures. Like our armed forces andunderground organisation, our intelligence ap-paratus can never be 'good enough'.In carrying out all these eight tasks, we must beguided by revolutionary principles of trust in theintelligence of our compatriots and respect forthe truth. We must claim no false victories, makeno wild promises and always aspire to keep thepeople's trust.* Wessel de Kock, A Manner of Speaking, TheOrigins of the Press in South Africa, Saayman andWeber, Cape Town, 1982, pp. 118-119.Demonstration against media clampdown, Johannesburg 1986. (Left) Winnie Mandela.11

Page 17 of 38 THE SOLOMON MAHLANGU FREEDOM COLLEGE:DOORS OF LEARNING ANDCULTUREBy Teacher Freda and Teacher AnnaThis month, it is eight years since Solomon Mahlangu was murdered by the South Africanregime. A hero of the South African people, he was the first member of Umkhonto WeSizwe in the 1976 generation to die on the gallows. His name is now given to the largeand rapidly growing ANC educational complex in Tanzania. By educating our youth,by helping them develop into full human beings and cadres of our movement, weremember him.This article is written by two teachers who taught at the primary school. It is nottheir intention to present an analysis or evaluation of the Solomon Mahlangu FreedomCollege, to assess to what extent it is successful in carrying out ANC education policy,or even to state what its major problems are and its attempts to solve them. Their in-tention is simply to give readers a general view, and a feeling of what it is like to liveand work there.Situated in Mazimbu, on an old sisal estate givento the ANC by the Tanzanian Government, is aneducational complex different from all others.It is called the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom Col-lege (SOMAFCO) after a young freedom fighterwho was hanged by the South African regime in1979.The place is a living memorial to SolomonMahlangu. It also enshrines the names of otherSouth African heroes and heroines. In thePrimary School, there is a Mandela Bush Clubin which children learn the skills of the bush.Various buildings and sectors are named afterLilian Ngoye, Charlotte Maxeke, Kate Molale,J B Marks and Eli Weinberg. Part of the Mazim-bu complex is called Kliptown. The name of RuthFirst is commemorated at the Development Cen-tre, run by the ANC at nearby Dakawa.SOMAFCO was conceived after the 1976 stu-dent uprisings, and was originally intended as asecondary school to provide for some of theyoung people who had left South Africa - manyof them with the expressed purpose of seekingan education and training they could not receiveat home. Classes began late in 1977, the buildingof the school and dormitories began in 1979, andonly a few years later, President Tambo describ-ed the complex at Mazimbu as "a picture ofmodern Africa."Rapid DevelopmentMazimbu is in one of the most fertile-parts of Tan-zania. There are a few streets, the buildings areone-storeyed - school buildings, dormitories,offices, neat new houses in garden plots, oryellow and whitewashed buildings dottedthrough the complex as reminders that the sitewas originally a sisal estate. To the south andwest are mountains, craggy and misty enough tohold your gaze at all times; to the north and eastis flat open space; and there are acres of sky. ItsAfrican beauty, dominated by the mountains, ispowerfully mirrored in the children's art andpoetry.Apart from the secondary school, there is nowa Primary School; the Charlotte MaxekeChildren's Centre, incorporating the NurserySchool and the Day Care Centre; the Kate Molale12

Page 18 of 38 Mother and Baby Home. In this short time, thewhole Mazimbu complex has developed - dor-mitory blocks, staff housing, several halls, in-cluding the J B Marks Hall and the Lilian NgoyiHall; the ANC Holland Solidarity Hospital, alibrary, administration offices, the Eli Weinbergphotographic laboratory and various workshopshave been constructed. There are small industriesand a horticultural section. A large farm has alsobeen developed. All these sectors make asubstantial contribution to meeting the needs ofthe community.The people of Mazimbu are not helplessrefugees - their aim is to become as self-sufficient as possible. Nevertheless, without thetremendous solidarity and support that has comefrom sympathetic governments, organisationsand individuals, the complex could not have beenbuilt. And this help is still needed.It is here in Mazimbu, and in Dakawa, that ourpeople learn the job on the job, and so receivetraining and experience which helps to equipthem to be cadres of the movement.Education for LiberationOn the formal academic side, the secondaryschool aims at providing the qualifications whichenable students to take up scholarships all overthe world. They then return to sections of themovement - perhaps to Mazimbu itself - tocontinue to play their part in the struggle forliberation.Learning at Mazimbu at all levels, from daycare to adult education, is based on the FreedomCharter, and consequently involves complete re-jection of Bantu Education. ANC policy statesthat education will be revolutionary,. dynan-fic anduniversal. It will bridge the gap between mentaland manual work, and it aims at creating a newtype of South African, dedicated to serve the in-terests and needs of the South African people asa whole, both before and after liberation.In a speech in Mazimbu in 1983, in which hecommemorated the death of Solomon Mahlangu,0 R Tambo said:"SOMAFCO ... will not be an institution ofsuperhumans, but it will be an institution in which13

Page 19 of 38 we have developed in our students a profoundcommitment to our cause, and therefore a veryhigh level of discipline, efficiency and capabili-ty. To be here, for you, students of SOMAFCO,is to be on a mission. The mission is to qualify,to do your work, to pass your examinations, tomove on as required. The basic consideration is:what are the needs of our struggle today andtomorrow?"The programme is being put into practicethroughout the complex, beginning in theChildren's Centre, where the little ones learntraditional songs and dances as well as thosereflecting the struggle for freedom. They listento folk tales, and to other stories, stressing co-operation, friendship, justice and self-reliance,and they participate in celebrating national dayswith the rest of the community. At a graduationceremony of teachers, three-year-olds stood upand sang, "Solly Mahlangu, you are a hero ofSouth Africa." And they are also encouraged towork and play together, to help each other inevery way, and to take part in the care of theenvironment.A Corner of South AfricaSOMAFCO, and indeed the whole Mazimbucomplex, are unique for many reasons. There isthe physical situation - in a way, a landlockedisland in exile. The complex is surrounded byTanzania - small villages, a town nearby - butmost of the people are confined to Mazimbu mostof the time. They live in a situation quite differentfrom that of the Tanzanians, and have their ownlanguages and culture. Although an increasingnumber of children have Tanzanian mothers, andspeak Kiswahili fluently, they spend most of theirlives in what the ANC Secretary of Education,Comrade Henry Makgothi, has called: "a littlecorner of South Africa (which) has emerged inTanzania."To Mazimbu have come people of differentages and nationalities. The majority are SouthAfricans. There are cadres of our movement wholeft South Africa many years ago to carry on thestruggle in Tanzania and the Front Line States.There are their children and their families. Thereare the more recent arrivals and there arevolunteers - the solidarity workers from Scan-dinavia and other European countries, fromAfrica and from the socialist countries, includingCuba.Apart from the philosophy on which the educa-tion is based, there are other factors that makeSOMAFCO different from other schools. Manypupils have been through horrendous ex-periences; some are survivors of the massacresat Matola, Maseru and Gaborone; someremember suffering at the hands of the SouthAfrican police at home. The majority are withouttheir parents. Some are so unhappy and distractedthat learning can be virtually impossible. At allages, they need a great deal of understanding andtender, loving care.There is the additional factor of the frequentshortage of teachers, especially trained ANCteachers. The position is improving in all the sec-tors, and the Primary School has been particular-ly fortunate in that SIDA, the Swedish interna-tional aid agency, has set up a special one-yearcourse for ANC teachers, and the teaching prac-tice is done at SOMAFCO. But it is in the natureof the place that people are called to differenttasks or sent to study abroad. Most of the childrenlive in dormitories, far away from their parents- if they have parents - and there can be a highturnover of adults coming into and out of theirlives suddenly and uncertainly. However,teachers, social workers and the community tryto tackle these problems, and one of the tremen-dous rewards is to witness the healing process.There are some dramatic cases of severelydamaged children who eventually settle into nor-mal school life."To Love their People and their Culture"Everyone is conscious of the political reasons forthe existence of SOMAFCO. All learn the historyof the ANC, and they are reminded in manyways, every day, that they are ANC cadres whohave a duty to their country and people. Thechildren learn and write revolutionary poems,poems about death and war, poverty and loss,freedom, liberation and peace. They quote thewords of their leaders, and write letters abouttheir lives and beliefs to others all over the world.The children are very interested in world newsand events. The death of Olaf Palme, for in-stance, started an avalanche of poems, letters andpictures. They have a great vitality and an enor-mous capacity for enjoyment of words, musicand dance. They have a voracious appetite forbooks and information, especially about theirhomeland. Apart from reflecting the Africanlandscape around them, the art work is of a highlypolitical nature. There are some strikingly good14

Page 20 of 38 artists and poets - some of a young age - whosework has been used in the struggle, and exhibitedinternationally - recently in Japan, for instance.The Freedom Charter declares that: "Thedoors of learning and culture shall be opened... "and people shall learn "to love their people andtheir culture."National Days CommemoratedCulture plays a very important part in the life ofthe, people of Mazimbu. It is integrated into thecuriculum, especially of the Nursery andPrimary Schools, and there are many culturalevents, including those which form part of thecelebration of South African national days. Tan-zanian national days are also celebrated. Celebra-tions can begin with a toi toi - the morale-building dawn jog around the complex - follow-ed by the raising of the flag. On occasions suchas the celebration of. Nelson Mandela's 67thbirthday, there is a Letsema - a communallabour programme.Last year marked the tenth anniversary of theSoweto Uprising. Several teachers at Mazimbuhad been directly involved. They spoke to all thepupils from six to 16 years old, and a powerfulmessage came through of the importance for ourstruggle of education, and therefore of SOMAF-CO. One young woman teacher had read aboutSOMAFCO in South Africa, and came out tocomplete her high school education. She joinedthe Primary School while waiting for a scholar-ship. She told a group of children aged 9 to 13:"With your pens and your paper, with yourEnglish and maths, with your culture, you canfight apartheid."The youngest children acted out the Uprising ofJune 16th, the oldest held serious political discus-sions with their teachers and others in the com-munity who had been involved in the Uprising- and at all ages, there was the usual flood ofprose, poetry and art.Hard, Rewarding WorkTeaching at SOMAFCO is not easy. The frequentshortage of suitably qualified ANC teachers, thepsychologically and emotionally damagedchildren, the shortage of some of the necessaryteaching materials, are not the only problems.English is the medium of teaching throughout theschools, and English is the second or thirdlanguage for all the younger children and manyof the older students and teachers. In one primaryclass of 20 children, 13 different spokenlanguages were identified.Then there is the enormous range of educa-tional background within any age range.Teachers have to prepare a good deal of their ownmaterials. There is ongoing discussion amongstthose in the educational sector about how bestto overcome the difficulties there and provide thesort of education that is needed.Teachers are also involved in running clubs fortheir students, and in dormitory, evening studyand other duties. Like all members of the com-munity, they have to share household duties.Some teachers have their own young children tocare for. There are ANC meetings, as well asthose for the whole community, including thesolidarity workers. A young primary schoolteacher said that at the end of a day's work shefelt as if she had carried three bags of mealies- but she found it rewarding and worth while.She knew she was playing her part in the struggle.Busy Community LifeSecondary school students have regular nightlynews briefing sessions - they take turns inmonitoring the daily news. They have a Students'Council and are active in their own student af-fairs. Teachers have regular staff meetings andpolitical discussions covering a wide range oftopics. There are regular Production Unitmeetings for all working sectors. It is no wonderthat it can feel like carrying three bags of mealies!As yet there is no social centre on the complex.Leisure time is spent in sporting activities, wat-ching videos, in cultural activities and in meetingfriends at home. The houses are shared by ANCmembers of the community, as well as thesolidarity workers, and they reflect traditionalAfrican hospitality. The Nursery boarding sec-tion, the Primary and Secondary dormitories,hold parties, discos and video shows. As in anycommunity, there are birthday parties, weddingsand funerals. As at home, the funerals can bemoving political events.Visitors from all over the world come to seethis "window into a future South Africa," asSOMAFCO has been called. SOMAFCO, Ma-zimbu and Dakawa are part of our struggle.There are considerable problems which have tobe faced, and solutions sought. The struggle con-tinues, and victory is certain.15

Page 21 of 38 SOLOMON MAHLANGUFREEDOM COLLEGESO WE TO UPRISINGChildren have lost mothersand fathersMothers have lost childrenFathers have lost wives.All of that means somethingIn the ear of Mother Africa.She feels the painwhich pricks her soul.We shall fight back forThose who have fallen.- Nana, aged 13 yearsDear Comrade Nyerere,I am Pholo. I say to you, Thank you for saying to us welcome to Mazimbu. I am not going to forgetyou because you said to us welcome and I think when we are in South Africa we will also say toyou welcome to visit us too and thank you for the nice Mazimbu. You must also come to visit uswhen South Africa is free.- Written by an eight-year-old.When I see Mazimbu, when I see its mountains, I remember South Africa.- From a poem by a 12-year-old.

Page 22 of 38 SOLOMON MAHLANGUFREEDOM COLLEGESO WE TO UPRISINGChildren have lost mothersand fathersMothers have lost childrenFathers have lost wives.All of that means somethingIn the ear of Mother Africa.She feels the painwhich pricks her soul.We shall fight back forThose who have fallen.- Nana, aged 13 yearsDear Comrade Nyerere,I am Pholo. I say to you, Thank you for saying to us welcome to Mazimbu. I am not going to forgetyou because you said to us welcome and I think when we are in South Africa we will also say toyou welcome to visit us too and thank you for the nice Mazimbu. You must also come to visit uswhen South Africa is free.- Written by an eight-year-old.When I see Mazimbu, when I see its mountains, I remember South Africa.- From a poem by a 12-year-old.

Page 23 of 38 UNITA:MILITARY AND DIPLOMATICDEFEATBy Marga HolnessThe writer of this article is a worker in theAngolan information service.It has now become clear that in 1981, when thecurrent administration took office in the UnitedStates, it believed that joint South African andUNITA military activity would be sufficient tooverthrow the Angolan Government. That sameyear, South Africa's persistent aggression againstAngola was stepped up, resulting in the occupa-tion of a substantial part of the country's southernCunene Province for more than three years. Thisoccupation not only obliged the Angolan armyto concentrate on the South African menace inthe south, but enabled the SADF to infiltrate theirUNITA surrogates further to the north of Angola,where they carried out a number of publicity-seeking attacks and kidnappings. By 1983, theyhoped to be able to take Luanda.However, the Angolan army was beingreorganised and re-equipped, with new comman-dos trained for what are known as 'anti-banditoperations'; not the same kind of war as thatagainst the regular SADF forces. The first bigvictory against UNITA forces infiltrated upthrough eastern Angola from bases in Namibiawas at Cangamba, in Moxico Province border-ing Zambia, in August 1983. An attempt by theterrorist group to take the small town was com-pletely defeated and the South African air forcefor the first time openly intervened in the defenceof UNITA, bombing the positions of FAPLA,the Angolan armed forces.By 1985, FAPLA anti-terrorist operationswere gathering further momentum, and in Julythat year conservative members of the US Con-gress succeeded in securing the repeal of theClark Amendment, the legislation officially ban-ning US military assistance to anti-governmentforces in Angola. It was during the big FAPLAoffensive in Moxico and Kuanda Kubango pro-vinces later that year, when South African radiobroadcasts were referring to "the gravity ofUNITA's position," a trip to Washington wasorganised for Savimbi.Pretoria Pleads for US HelpThe position of UNITA was indeed grave. SouthAfrican Defence Minister Magnus Malan appeal-ed for western intervention. South AfricanForeign Affairs Department officials went toWashington to plead for US assistance for theirproteges.The Windhoek Advertiser on 19th September1985 carried the headline, "UNITA aided bymassive SA airlift?" and went on to say:"An extensive aid air-bridge seems to have beenestablished between northern Namibia andbeleaguered UNITA rebels fighting to withstanda massive Angolan Government assault, seniorUnited States officials in Washington maintain."Commenting on the death in Moxico Provinceof a South African medical orderly, Lance-Corporal Bruce Andrews Fidler, the WindhoekAdvertiser reported the SADF claim that hispresence so far north was a result of the apart-heid army's "humanitarian" aid to UNITA.However, the paper added, "the Americangovernment opinion is that South Africa's aid inthe face of the FAPLA onslaught is much moreextensive."Therefore, it is abundantly clear that the sup-port the Reagan administration gives UNITA issupport for the Pretoria regime's attempts tooverthrow the Angolan Government, just as itis seeking to overthrow, or at least seriouslydestabilise, all the independent governments inthe region, with a view to postponing the in-evitable day when the apartheid system is sweptaway by the South African people.The US Colludes With PretoriaWhen they met in Washington in February 1986,Reagan promised Savimbi to provide the UNITA18

Page 24 of 38 FAPLA soldiers in Cunene Provinceterrorists with 'effective' military assistance. Asecond option, in view of the failure of UNITAto seize power by force, is to use military meansto try to force the Angolan Government tonegotiate with the terrorists. Time is running outfor the apartheid regime and its allies. The ir-reversible character of the struggle inside SouthAfrica today means that the regime cannot sur-vive, notwithstanding the time or the sacrificesit may need to abolish it. South Africa has in-deed become ungovernable, and this spells doomfor all Pretoria's proxy forces throughoutSouthern Africa. Hence the hasty and desperateattempts to try to continue to use UNITA as aninstrument to push back the frontiers of indepen-dent Africa.The Washington Post reported on March 30th1986 that CIA director William Casey, of'Irangate' notoriety, "visited Africa this monthto meet with Savimbi and assure him that'effective' anti-aircraft weapons were on theway." The same newspaper revealed the follow-ing day that Casey's visit had in fact been to SouthAfrica, where he reportedly also discussed withofficials of the apartheid regime how SouthAfrica could be "hermetically sealed off" fromthe US programme of supplying Stinger missilesto UNITA. The US does not wish to be seenbreaking the South African arms embargo. TheWashington Post concluded: "that makes Zaire,a long-time friend of the United States, thenecessary gateway for the new weapons ... " Top-level representations to President Mobutu ofZaire by leaders of Front Line countries (Zaireanminerals transit Zambia and Zimbabwe on theirway to South African ports) indicate that the routethrough Zaire, as well, is fraught withproblems for the United States.UNITA: Continual Military FailuresSavimbi announced in 1983 that he would takeLuanda by Christmas, and failed to do so. In 198419

Page 25 of 38 he again stated that he would take Angola byChristmas, and again failed to do so. In late 1985,far from contemplating an attack on the capital,he was desperately calling for assistance fromWashington to prevent FAPLA from overrunn-ing his propaganda base, called Jamba, in theremote south-east of Angola bordering onNamibia. In the event, the SADF intervened withits air force and infantry to save its UNITA pro-teges from destruction.Although a continuing western press campaigngives the impression that UNITA is makingmilitary advances, the opposite is true. And thevarious military reverses it has sustained explainSavimbi's current pleas for negotiations.In the speech he made on the anniversary ofindependence in November 1985, President dosSantos said:"... the UNITA puppets decided to change tac-tics and to appear to the world as people interestedin peace. They hope, through this step, to distractthe attention of all their members who are bccom-ing tired of fighting an unnecessary war againsttheir own people ... The US administration ishaving contacts with the UNITA puppets and sen-ding repeated invitations to meet representativesof the Angolan Government ..."He added:"It is not right that the administration should makedemands of the Angolan Government when itdoes not even formally recognise it."Speaking to Italian journalists in December 1985,President dos Santos elaborated on this theme.He said that to agree to negotiate with the racists'proxies would violate a governing principle ofthe international community, since:"... it would be to accept that any state couldorganise a group of terrorists, give them armsand destabilise another state, and then insist thatthis state accept the group in its government. "Villagers liberated by FAPLA from UNITA.20

Page 26 of 38 This was the background to Savimbi's trip toEurope in 1986. It was an attempt to salvage theterrorist group at a time when it has sufferedserious military setbacks, and to muster increasedEuropean support for the group's destabilisingactivities in Angola.The red carpet treatment afforded him earlyin 1986 in the United States seemed to have goneto his head. He obviously expected to be public-ly received at the same high level in WesternEurope, particularly in Britain and the FederalRepublic of Germany, closely allied with the USand strongly resistant to sanctions against SouthAfrica.Relations Between EEC and AngolaHowever, the visit - during which Savimbireportedly travelled on a South African passport- did not go as planned. In Strasbourg, seat ofthe European Parliament, he was not allowed toaddress the parliament, and Jacques Delors,President of the EEC Executive Commission,wrote to Angolan President Jose Eduardo dosSantos to say that Savimbi would not be receiv-ed at any level whatsoever by the Commission.The ACP - Africa Caribbean and Pacificgroup - had protested at the visit, as had theOAU. It was particularly condemnable in viewof the fact that in 1985 Angola signed the LomeIII Convention, which links the ACP group ofcountries with the European Community, and theEEC is becoming increasingly actively involv-ed in development projects in Angola. An EECdelegation headed by Dieter Frisch, Develop-ment Director-General, had visited the countryearlier that month to discuss co-operation in thefive-year period 1986-90, during which Angolais to receive EEC assistance amounting to aboutUS$95 million.Savimbi finally had to content himself with ad-dressing an informal meeting of about 100 EuroMPs, most from ultra-right-wing parties, and thePan-African News Agency reported that 415 ofthe 518 members of the assembly "chose to gofishing" rather than meet him.During the visit, a plenary session of the Euro-pean Parliament adopted a resolution condemn-ing the United States for supporting UNITA, andcalling on EEC member states "to entertain norelations with this terrorist organisation, whichsupports the South African regime by continu-ing to destabilise Angola and Southern Africagenerally."An Embarrassing GuestIn Paris, he was received by Jacques Chaban-Delmas, President of the National Assembly, andFrancois Leotard, Minister of Culture andSecretary-General of the Republican Party.Yet the terrorist chief had seriouslymiscalculated the situation in Paris too, fornotable among those who had invited him toEurope were representatives of Jean-Marie lePen's National Front Party. The South Africanpaper, the Daily News, commented that UNITAhad failed to realise how damaging a connectionwould be with the European Far Right. Savimbihad failed to take into account the embarrassmenthe could cause to governments which havediplomatic and growing economic relations withAngola and are also under public pressure todistance themselves from the Pretoria regime thatsustains him.He was told that a possible meeting withFrench Prime Minister Jacques Chirac wouldhave to be cancelled. This in turn led to thedefinite cancellation of other possible meetingswith government leaders of Britain and theFederal Republic of Germany.The Angolan Embassy in Paris issued a state-ment describing the Chaban-Delmas meeting asan "unfriendly gesture towards the People'sRepublic of Angola," and President Jose Eduar-do dos Santos called off plans to attend theFranco-African Summit in Lome. A visit toFrance by President dos Santos, put off becauseof the death of President Samora,Machel, waspostponed indefinitely. The Southern AfricanFront Line States and Nigeria officially protestedat the reception given to Savimbi in France.An editorial in the influential French daily, LeMonde, summed up the situation succinctly andput Savimbi in his proper context:"Indeed, Paris is currently welcoming an embar-rassing guest, Mr Savimbi, head of the AngolanUNITA guerrillas; is preparing to receiveanother, Mr Pieter Botha ... and has been rid ofa third one, the former Centrafrican emperor,Mr Bokassa."The British Foreign Office had already publiclyannounced that Savimbi would not be officiallyreceived, and he cancelled his visit to Britain.21

Page 27 of 38 There is no doubt that the adulation lavishedon him by Pretoria, Washington and most of thewestern press has given the terrorist chief a gross-ly inflated view of his own importance. Just likeany traitor used by foreign aggressors anywhere,he is expendable. Even Washington and Pretoriawill drop him without a second thought when heno longer serves their designs,During his stay in Paris, Savimbi had a meetingwith Chester Crocker, United States AssistantSecretary of State for African Affairs. They aresaid to have agreed on "a process of reconcilia-tion among all Angolans." This does not meanthat the US wishes UNITA to stop its massacresof Angolan men, women and children. It meansthat the Angolan Government should bepressured into negotiations and 'power-sharing'with UNITA.Savimbi Appeals for 'Negotiations'Indeed, the most significant aspect of Savimbi'sEuropean trip was the fact that on ,every possi-ble occasion he appealed for western pressure onthe Angolan Government to persuade it tonegotiate with him. "We have fought longenough and the time has come for dialogue, " hetold Le Monde. "We are ready to negotiate aceasefire right away and without conditions."The true import of this becomes clear if it isrecalled that only a few years ago he was verynoisily proclaiming that he would seize powerby military means.UNITA's strategic offensive has beendefeated, but with SADF support its acts of ban-ditry and terrorism continue. Significantly,UNITA massacres and atrocities have been mosthorrific in the Central Highland provinces ofHuambo and Bid, home of the Ovimbundu peo-ple who, according to propaganda claims, sup-port UNITA. No one who has seen the womenand children victims of UNITA mine-laying inHuambo hospital, or spoken to the survivors ofUNITA massacres there and elsewhere, canhonestly believe this.The Forming of NationsAlthough this would be the subject of another ar-ticle, it is interesting to note here the role playedin the historical process of nation-formation bythe liberation movements in Southern Africa.Whether it be the MPLA in power in Angola,or the ANC leading the struggle in South Africa,they have sought to unite their peoples, irrespec-tive of racial, tribal or other factors, to build anew type of society based on justice. A substan-tial part of pro-UNITA propaganda assumes thatsince Savimbi was born in Bie Province all thepeople of his ethnic and linguistic group supporthim. This type of assumption is a legacy of col-onial thinking about Africa. It is a legacy in keep-ing with the thinking of the Pretoria regime,which defines and divides people along purelyethnic lines. This is one of the ideologicalmeeting points of Botha the racist and Savimbithe tribalist.The massacres and military defeats are alsotaking their toll within UNITA's ranks. Memberswho are captured or who give themselves up tothe Angolan authorities speak of the demoralisa-tion affecting the terrorists, many of whom aretired of fighting a war against their own people.Dissent among them has led to the disappearanceand reported execution of many former UNITAleaders, including Jorge Sangumba, once its veryvociferous secretary for foreign affairs, andSamuel Chiwale, the former military chief. AsPresident dos Santos has said:"Time is passing, people are getting older andmost of UNITA's cadres and members havealready understood that Angola is really indepen-dent and that our country has a very big sea, lotsof fish, lots of forests, lots of wealth and, aboveall, very good people. What we are beginningto see is repentance for mistakes made, but theydo not yet have the courage to face reality andlay down the bloodstained weapons of the SouthAfrican racists they so shamelessly took up."The Angolan Government's policy of clemencyhas offered a way out to all those formerly ledastray who give themselves up and wish to workfor national reconstruction. Many have alreadytaken advantage of this. The US administration,were it serious in calling for "nationalreconciliation" in Angola, should use its con-siderable influence with UNITA to press it to takethis course, instead of arming it to kill moreAngolans.Angola's sovereignty and independence con-tinue to be threatened by the military operationsof the mightiest army in Africa, the SADF,assisted by its UNITA hirelings and supportedby the biggest Western power, the United States.Continual aggression has caused untold suffer-22

Page 28 of 38 ing to the Angolan people, including hundredsof thousands of displaced persons, countlessdead, widows, orphans and disabled people, tosay nothing of the disastrous effects on effortsto rebuild an economy emerging from colonialexploitation and the years of the independencestruggle.FAPLA Confronts the SADFIt is also true, however, that the Angolan armedforces are the only ones in Africa to have facedup, increasingly successfully, to the onslaughtsof the apartheid regime's regular forces, not inguerrilla warfare but countering the conventionalstrategy and tactics of a modern war. Not onlyhave FAPLA operations forced Savimbi to pleadfor negotiations, desperately seeking Westernsupport for those pleas, but there is every indica-tion that the balance of military power has alsochanged in martyred southern Angola.During Pretoria's previous acts of aggressionagainst Angola, particularly its 1981 invasion andoccupation, it was South Africa's air superiori-ty which proved decisive, so-called 'softening-up' bombing raids preceding SADF ground troopoperations. In January 1987, the South Africanmajor-general, George Meiring, officer com-manding the so-called territorial forces inNamibia, complained that the Angolan air forcenow believed it could challenge South Africanair superiority in the region, and spoke ofAngolan air defence systems 200 miles from theNamibian border.In line with Pretoria's persistent propaganda,Angolan defensive measures were naturallypresented as a threat to South Africa. Statementssuch as Meiring's have also, in the past, alwaysbeen a prelude and pretext for the stepping upof South Africa's undeclared war against Angola.This may well be the motive for them. They mayalso be aimed at uniting the White electorate inthe face of a purported external threat. Yet themajor-general's complaints, when analysed inconjunction with Angolan reports of SADF at-tacks repulsed, indicate that the murderousmachinery of the apartheid regime can no longersimply impose its dictates in the Front Line anymore than it can in South Africa itself.UNITA bandits captured by FAPLA23

Page 29 of 38 ARCHIE GUMEDE SPEAKSArchie Gumede, co president of the UDF, wasin Britain for two weeks in February. He metleading politicians, public figures includingmembers of the government. He held a press con-ference at the House of Commons where heanswered questions from journalists.What is the reaction of the UDF to the sugges-tion by the the current chairman of the OAUpresident of Congo that a constitutional con-ference or national convention should be conven-ed on South Africa?In regard to the suggestion of the CongolesePresident, I will say that a development of thatnature would save a lot of bloodshed. Providedof course, the people involved are relevant peo-ple, men of courage, men of dedication, men ofintelligence such as Nelson Mandela, OliverTambo and others who are presently in prisonor in exile. Here is M B Yengwa with us. Thereare many others of that calibre who would be anessential part of such a conference. Those men,the men who are there, must have the opportunityto place their views before the people and receivea mandate from the people to act and speak forthem at such a conference.What is your reaction to the resignation of DennisWorrall? Is it a positive thing for your struggle,has he got any contribution to make to the strug-gle against apartheid?I regard his resignation as positive in so far asthe National Party regards it as negative. I don'tknow what support he has in the country. I doknow that he was held in high esteem by thewhole of Afrikaners for the role he played whenthe South African govermnent refused to returnthe four or five men who had been released onbail on a charge of smuggling weapons from Bri-tain. And I do believe that to those who do wishto substitute their minds for their hearts in deter-mining this question, they will find it necessaryto re-examine their attitude and act accordingly.Could you say something about the UDF afterthe emergency; do you still have good channelsof communication throughout the country? If so,could you tell us the level of resistance in thetownships?I think you can read between the lines. Wouldthe state of emergency continue if the resistanceto apartheid had been broken completely? WhatI would say in so far as channels of communica-tion are concerned, the nature of the organisa-tions that were involved in the UDF were suchthat not all of them were political organisations,as a result they have not received the attentionwhich the political organisations have received.But the contact between political organisationsand those organisations has not decreased andtherefore that contact is serving a purpose inkeeping the spirit and existence of the organisa-tion alive.What is the relationship between your organisa-tion and the ANC?The relationship with the ANC is that oforganisations having more or less similar aims,independently and independent of each other.The aim being to resist apartheid which affectseverybody. Apartheid has been called a crimeagainst humanity. If it's a crime to oppose acrime, then there is a crime being committed bythe UDF. I believe the ANC also is determinedto destroy apartheid in South Africa..What is the relationship between the so-calledvigilantes and Inkatha and the SADF?I will say definitely there have been instanceswhere the SADF personnel in police vehicleshave accompanied Inkatha-mabutho to gather-ings of people. They have not intervened, theyhave not tried to stop any attacks on the people.For instance, at the memorial service for MrsMxenge at a cinema at Umlazi. The police werepresent and assisted the mabutho by firing teargas24

Page 30 of 38 into the hall where the audience was assembled,giving an opportunity to Inkatha-mabutho led byMr Sabela, a member of the parliament(KwaZulu), who on that occasion killed 13 peo-ple. Afterwards when a funeral was being heldin Umlazi the mabutho came again and sevenmore people were killed. This was done open-ly. Not a single one of those people has been pro-secuted, charged or anything. These things havebeen done in broad daylight. This is not anisolated incident; there have been many caseswhere this has taken place. The last incident waswhen 13 people died after a house had been at-tacked. This was the home of an activist of theKwaMakutha Youth League, affiliated to theUDF. These people arrived in a car and wereshooting; people saw them but there has been noprosecution, no follow up. Later, the son of theman who was killed in that house was pursuedby members of the Inkatha Youth Brigade. It wasalleged that they wanted to kill him. So that wehave no doubt as to the role of Inkatha in thesevigilantes.(Left to right): Neil Kinnock, Leader of the British Labour Party,Archie Gumede, Co-President of the UDFand Dennis Healey, Labour Party Spokesman on Foreign Affairs.25

Page 31 of 38 ATTACKS ON DEMOCRATIC FORCES:INJUSTICE AND THE COURTSBy Jean MiddletonAt the time this is being written, there are 21 peo-ple awaiting execution in South Africa on chargesdirectly related to the vicious repression in thecountry today, to the war the regime is wagingagainst the people of the townships and the coun-tryside, and to the people's resistance. All 21were convicted of murder, and of other chargesas well, such as 'public violence.' Their trialsand sentences arise directly out of the politicalsituation.The Black townships are ungovernable now,and organs of apartheid government are, beingreplaced by organs of people's power, represen-tative of the people themselves, and answerableto them. The regime is making desperate effortsto regain control - the police use armoured cars,fire power, rubber bullets, sjamboks, armedvigilantes - and in the last year or two it has beenusing charges of murder, together with suchcharges as armed robbery, arson, and publicviolence.The old laws concerning 'public violence' havebeen massively used by the police, and monitor-ing organisations in the country have given uptrying to keep count of public violence trials. Itwas estimated that there were 25 000 in 1985,but there is no estimate for 1986. Charges ofpublic violence are brought - for example -after demonstrations, against people. who arefound to have what the police call 'riot-relatedinjuries' - wounds from lead bullets and rub-ber bullets and sjamboks - that is, injuries thathave been inflicted by the police themselves.Charges of public violence seem, in fact, toarise from occasions when the police, and notthe public, have been violent. A notable instanceof this is the police action that followed thenotorious '.Trojan horse' massacre, when 13children who had been throwing stones werecharged with public violence, though the chargeswere dropped against those who had been shotdead. Those who shot them dead were not charg-ed at all, neither with public violence nor withmurder.Policemen, Spies and Traitors AttackedThe murder charges come as a consequence ofoccasions when the people have turned againstrepresentatives of the regime and traitors col-laborating with it. Security policemen have beenkilled; Josiah Tsawane and Daniel Maleke weresentenced to death in September 1986, allegedto have killed a security policeman. Communi-ty councillors have been killed, such as SamDlamini of Sharpeville, for whose death theSharpeville Six now await the death sentence, andBenjamin Kinikini of Kwanobuhle. Some regard-ed as spies for the regime have died, and so have'vigilantes,' those agents of the police who domuch of their murderous work for them.The trial of Moses Mnyanda Jantjies, aged 21,and Mlamli Wellington Mielies, aged 22, ofKwanobuhle near Uitenhage, is typical of thepolitical trials now taking place as a result of suchevents. On November 28th 1986, twenty monthsafter the two were first arrested, they weresentenced to death on six charges of murder andone of public violence. Three minors, accusedand convicted with them, escaped the deathsentence because of their youth, and weresentenced to 20, 16 and four years respectively.All had pleaded not guilty to killing aKwanobuhle community councillor named Ben-jamin Kinikini, four other members of his fami-ly and a friend.Paid Servants of the PoliceBenjamin Kinikini owned a supermarket and anundertaker's business.'He was the only com-munity councillor left in Kwanobuhle, the othershaving all resigned. As a councillor he wasdespised by the people of the township. Much26

Page 32 of 38 more than that, he and his whole family werehated, because, together with a man named Jim-my Claassen (who was frequently mentioned incourt, but who never appeared), they formed thecore of an armed vigilante group known as the'Peacemakers.'The name of the Peacemakers had come upbefore in trials related to people's resistance inthe area of Uitenhage; they 'arrested' people,'tried' them, 'punished' them and handed themover to the police. Counsel for the defence saidin court it was well known that they were in thepay of the police. One of the Kinikini family wasfacing a murder charge at the time of his death(though the police were not holding him incustody) and it was generally believed that thePeacemakers had been responsible for petrol-bombing the house of Fikile Kobese, a communi-ty leader whom the police later detained.The funeral parlour (generally called the"barracks") was well known in the township asa place where the Peacemakers held theirprisoners. A 16-year-old girl testified at the trialthat she had once been abducted by one of theKinikini men together with some others, hand-cuffed, beaten up, raped and then shut all night.in a coffin, before being asked to give the namesof people who had stoned Kinikini property.The People Demand Their ChildrenThe killings took place on March 23rd 1985, twodays after the Uitenhage massacre, when thepolice shot 17 people dead. Anger and indigna-tionwere running high in Kwanobuhle. Very ear-ly that morning, Jimmy Claassen and some others(including at least one of the Kinikinis) kidnap-ped four youths at gunpoint from their homes.People assembled, and later moved to the funeralparlour to demand the release of the youngsters.Police witnesses were later to disagree on the sizeof the crowd, but there were at least a thousandpeople.The young men had been held captive for awhile in the, mortuary (they called it the "fridge"when they old the story afterwards) but by thetime the crowd arrived they were no longer there.They had been taken to the bush, where they werebeaten with sjamboks, and then to the police sta-tion, from which they were later released.The crowd, meanwhile, attacked the under-taker's building and set it alight; the six men, whohad been trying to defend themselves withfirearms, met with a violent death.Where Were the Police?The police were not present at the time of the at-tack, though they had been there earlier, triedunsuccessfully to disperse the crowd withbuckshot, helped to secure the mortuary win-dows, and had then gone. back to the station. Theydidn't return until after the men were dead.Perhaps they feared for their own skins; perhapsthey thought the Kinikini men, armed as theywere, would be able to fend off the attack;perhaps they had decided to sacrifice the Kinikinifamily in order to get convictions and deathsentences. At all events, they made no seriouseffort to explain their strange behaviour whenthey gave evidence in court; Constable April saidthey had left because it was time for their mealbreak, and Major Theron gave no reason at all,simply saying he had returned by helicopter andhad watched the crowd from above.Though the police were not there, they musthave left at least one well-equipped spy behindthem, for a video film of the crowd was shownin court. It doesn't seem to have incriminatedanyone by showing any killing taking place,though it showed the bodies. According to thepress, it showed MnyandaJantjies "shouting andspitting on" one of the bodies, but the chief statewitness said he was surprised at this, becausewhen he had seen Jantjies in the crowd, Jantjieshad been "standing at a distance, impassively."Where is the Evidence?There was no satisfactory evidence to show thatit was the five men eventually convicted who hadkilled the six vigilantes. The crucial evidenceagainst Mlamli Mielies was a 'confession' he wasalleged to have made to the police after his ar-rest. There was legal argument in court overwhether this was admissible evidence, but in theend the court found the police who testified tothe statement to be honest and reliable witnesses.This was strange in view of the vague and con-tradictory nature of the testimony given by theother police witnesses in the trial. Thesedisagreed with each other over the size of thecrowd - Constable April said it was 1 000strong, Major Theron said 3-4 000 - and whenone of the young men who had been kidnappedsaid he had shown his sjambok wounds to thepolice at the station, the police said they had no27

Page 33 of 38 record of the incident, and could not remember it.The police seem to take little trouble about put-ting their evidence together and getting theirstories straight.Sometimes they are exposed in court as liars.In the case of the Vaal Six, the court found theevidence of some state witnesses to be conflic-ting and untrue, and in the Duduza trial the judgedescribed a magistrate who gave evidence as an"untruthful" witness.Generally, however, the courts have taken theposition of the police, and too often give credenceto the police case, shaky as it is. In December1985, the Sharpeville Six were sentenced to deathon the basis of evidence from two chief statewitnesses, both of whom had clearly been beatenup and threatened in detention until they agreedto testify, and one of whom contradicted evidencegiven by a third witness. The court that tried Jan-tjies and Mielies believed the police.What made the police select Jantjies; Mieliesand 11 others out of the huge crowd that storm-ed the funeral parlour? What made them chooseto charge the Sharpeville Six out of the manythousands of people out on the streets the day ofthe demonstration against rent increases, whenSam Dlamini enraged the crowd by firing on it?The Police Out for BloodTheir carelessness with evidence may show howmuch they are stretched; it is undoubtedly a signthat they believe they have the courts in theirpockets. It certainly shows clearly that they arenot particularly interested in whether or not theirvictims actually did what they are accused of hav-ing done. What the police want is convictions,either to intimidate others, or to get rid of localcommunity activists by framing them on seriouscharges. Mielies had only recently faced a chargeof being in possession of a petrol bomb, and therehad been discrepancies in the evidence given bythe investigating officer in that case. There wereoriginally 13 accused in the Kwanobuhle case,and charges were dropped along the way; thepolice evidently spread their nets as wide as theycan on the principle that the more people theycharge the more they will get.The coupling of charges is perhaps the :mostsickening feature of these murder trials; the in-tention is clearly that those who slip through thenet of one charge may be caught in the next one.The wicked cynicism of this policy is clearlydemonstrated in the case of another of the 21,Paul Tefo Setlaba, whose trial arose out of anincident in October 1985, when a woman waskilled. He was sentenced to death, but(presumably because he had a chance of beingacquitted on appeal) also to two years for publicviolence, one year to be suspended for five years.The Accused Are SalutedDuring the period of the Kwanobuhle trial, thepeople of the township more than once showedtheir feelings about the regime, about its servantsthe Kinikinis, and about the accused. The accus-ed, when they first appeared in court, weregreeted with clenched fist salutes from a crowd-ed public gallery. They were given clenched fistsalutes again, during an inspection in loco inKwanobuhle itself, when they were handcuffedand in a police van, and a crowd that gathered"welcomed" them, according to a press report,"almost as heroes." By contrast, at the inspec-tion in loco, the chief state witness was describ-ed by the press as having "trembled visibly" atthe sight of the crowd.The feelings of the people were also clear toBenjamin Kinikini's widow. Called as a witness,she wept in court, and denied she had behavedarrogantly. She had gone to London in 1985 todemonstrate against "terrorism" outside theANC offices there; but after her husband's deathshe told the press she was tired of being ostracisedand "on the run." Significantly, she went toapologise to the Eastern Cape UDF, therebyacknowledging the political role of thePeacemakers, and the part they had played instate persecution of the growing communityorganisations.Such trials as that of Jantjies and Mielies, andthe circumstances surrounding them, are part ofthe growing and bitter-struggle for liberation. Theseries of trials known to the press as 'unrest-related' trials, so far the cause of 21 deathsentences, are yet another form of repression.The 21 sentenced to death are political prisoners,and we demand their release.We demand the release of all political prisonersand detainees. We demand the dismantling ofapartheid. We shall replace its institutions withinstitutions of democratic government, chosenby the people and answerable to them.28

Page 34 of 38 DEATH SENTENCES:SAVE THEIR LIVES!The following people are at present in the death cells in PretoriaCentral Prison. Sentenced as a result of people's resistanceto the regime, they are political prisoners.The Sharpeville Six, sentenced December 1985:1. Mojalefa Reginald Sefatsa (30)2. Reid Malebo Mokoena (22)3. Oupa Moses Diniso (30)4. Theresa Ramashamola (24)5. Duma Joshua Khumalo (26)6. Francis Don Mokhesi (29)Two from Tzaneen, sentenced June 1986:7. Solomon Mankopane Maowasha (20)8. Alex Matshapa Matsepane (23)Three from Oudtshoorn, sentenced September 1986:.9. Patrick Manginda (23)10. Desmond Majola (27)11. Dickson Madikane (26)Two from Sebokeng, sentenced September 1986:12. Josiah Tsawane (29)13. Daniel Maleke (19)One from Jansenville:14. Elile WebusheTwo from Uitenhage, sentenced November 1986:15. Moses Mnyanda Jantjes (21)16. Umlamli Wellington Mielies (22)One from Colesburg, sentenced December 1986:17. Paul Tefo Setlaba (22).Four from the Eastern Cape, sentenced January 1987:18. Mziwoxolo Christopher Makaleni (22)19. Makheswana Menze (43)20. Ndumiso Silo Siphenuka (26)21. Similo Lennox Wonci (22)29

Page 35 of 38 WOMEN FIGHTSTATE OF EMERGENCYTsebanang Bagaetsho, an executive memberof Federation of Transvaal Women (FED-TRAW) and United Democratic Front (UDF) ispresently visiting Sweden. We asked her aroundwhat issues were women being organised andhow the women's movement was affected byBotha's state of emergency. She started by link-ing the present organisations of women to theFederation of South African Women (FEDSAW)of the 1950s, saying:"Their demands of 1954 ... the abolition ofapartheid, the pass system, even if the boersclaim it is abolished, is still there, Influx Con-trol is even more intense now. So when theFederation of Transvaal Women was formed in1980, actually I am one of the people who form-ed it. It started in Diepkloof, Soweto. The firstmeeting was not far from the home of MarcusMotaung, Mofoko, Mkhubu (members of MKwho fell in Silverton and other areas) and all thoseguys. Basically the meeting was just on thatstreet. We called ourselves Women's Federationof South Africa, even if we were only in theTransvaal, basically because we wanted to takethe form and feature, the method of organisingof the old Federation of South African Women.Veterans Lead the Resistance"There are women who were active in the 1950sand 60s. Originally they are the first people whostarted it jointly with other women. I can men-tion a few like Greta Ncapayi, Albertina Sisulu,Thoko from Alexandra, Frances Baard,Sihlangu, Lisiya, Florence Mkhize, WinnieMandela and many others. They are still theregiving guidance to the new generations. And theyare still very active."We are organising all women, Black, White,green, yellow. The objective is still the same.The old demand is - we want to see the end ofapartheid. We have specific demands, that arebroadly demands in alliance with other groupslike the Congress of South African Students,(COSAS) which is now banned, youth groupsunder UDF, COSATU - those are practicaldemands that are being advocated by a wholerange of people."We organise women around issues such asrent. We move into all the townships of theTransvaal, looking into things that affect themfrom grass roots. We organise street committees,area committees, block committees, women arebeing organised from all angles. They are beingdrawn into the Women's Federation. We alsoorganise around the issue of education. Studentsare boycotting education, so we take it up asmothers."We organise women in all areas, even in ruralareas around the issue of education. We alsoorganise women on high fares and the cost of liv-ing. The past' year the regime increased taxes,the General Sales Tax on basic commodities. Ob-viously that money is feeding defence. So we arecampaigning against this sales tax. We are say-ing we can't be subsidising our own death. Theyare being drawn into the Federation."They are also being organised on militarisa-tion, that is White women, because we don't onlyorganise Blacks. We also organise Whitewomen. We organise them around militarisationand conscription of their children. You know lotsof White children at the age of 17-18 are con-scripted into the army. This is a real problem inthe White families. It affects women a lot. Theyreally are against that. The reality in South Africais a war situation. White soldiers when they comeback, some have no arms, some die in Angolaor Namibia wherever they are sent to fight. Someof them are breadwinners. Women have to strug-gle when the person is away. Even if industrypays them and pays insurance, that does not coverall the costs, I mean taking into consideration thehigh inflation.Soldiers Must Leave Townships"Also there is the question of soldiers occupy-30

Page 36 of 38 ing the townships. We really organise aroundsoldiers occupying the townships because it isa burning issue in the townships. Even in the ruralareas lately, you see the whole range of Hipposmoving full of soldiers. Women are beingorganised around that. We say we don't want thearmy in the townships. They are occupying thetownships. They are also harassing students andresidents. They cause friction."At some stage the soldiers were forcing theteachers to teach in schools. Even asking thestudents, when they go to the toilet, what are yougoing to do. And if you say, "I am menstruating"they say, "let me see." So the Federation ofTransvaal Women takes this issue just there rightin the school. It is an issue affecting women."We have branches in the rural areas. In thenorth-east Transvaal, although the state ofemergency has done some damage, at least wecan still count on those branches. We havewomen in Tzaneen, who were working in thefields and still attending confences and contributing. Besides that we have women inLebowa, in the northern Transvaal, in thewestern Transvaal, right in Boputhatswana. InMabopane those areas, in Winterveldt. We ac-tually even have a project, a creche right inWinterveldt which is run by women."The state of emergency has affected us. Thatis why I am here. Some of our organisers are indetention now. Even if some of the leadershipare still around like Mrs Sisulu and others theycan't really organise as before. Basically becauseit is difficult. The more people come in tryingto organise, the more they pick them up. But peo-ple still devise ways of organising. Despite thestate of emergency women are organising aroundretraining for nurse-aides, so that when policeshoot people, they should at least help in theirhouses with first aid. And also they are providingthe political education. We know that it is im-portant for women to have political con-sciousness, otherwise we will not be able tomarch forward. There are small groups organis-ing and training women politically. They debate,they talk, a very good thing to happen."Black Consciousness under AZAPO, I wouldsay academically is there. We can't ignore it.Although it is a very, very small group. Theystarted what was called Women Unite, that waswhen we started our Women's Federation in1980, to be against us. But it didn't survivebecause they haven't got history, they haven'tgot programmes, theirs is not what the peoplewant. They are just liberating the mind. InAugust, one group came, I can't call it BlackConsciousness, except that it involved somemembers of Black Consciousness. It had ameeting in one of the rich hotels, where anybodywho attended the congress had to pay R150. Theyhad fashion shows and so on. I would say it ispetty bourgeois women trying to come together.We Organise All Women"There are a lot of welfare approach groups. Likethe one under Bridget Oppenheimer, the wife ofHarry Oppenheimer, Women for Power, forPeace I think they call themselves, YoungWomen's Christian Association, Women'sLeague of Sally Motlana, Zamani Sisters andIkageng Women's Group. Among these groups,especially those which are grassroots organisa-tions like Zamani Sisters, Young Women'sChristian Association, Ikageng Women's Group,where you find women like Mrs Kotane, wifeof Moses Kotane, they are not political groups.They are not antagonistic to the Federation ofTransvaal Women. Some members of FED-TRAW are members of these groups on welfarebasis. They have working relations with FED-TRAW. They are not antagonistic towards FED-TRAW but then FEDTRAW has to devise waysof winning them over. And FEDTRAW on theground has similar projects which are welfareprojects. Like Orlando East creche, Orlando EastOld Age Home. We have an old age home in achurch in Orlando East under Mrs Mkhwayi, thewife of Wilton Mkhwayi which is run on welfarebasis and is similar to the programmes of thesewomen's groups. It is up to FEDTRAW to winthem over rather than antagonise them.I~~IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINIIIIIIIIIIIIII 111111111111111111 IIIIIU 1111111111111LET US ORGANISE OUR OWN!%'ZoiEO WOMENC ORGANISATION_lUll11UU~~~IWllIIIWIIIUllIliliiiiiiilIIWIIIIImuWll1II+31

Page 37 of 38 eBOOK REVIEWWorking Under South African Occupation -Labour in Namibia, IDAFFact Paper No 14, In-ternational Defence and Aid, London, 1987, 1.This fact paper is a timely reminder of the op-pression of Namibian workers under the colonialrule of the apartheid regime.SACTU recognises the strong and unbreakablebonds we have with our Namibian comrades. Weview the struggle of the Namibian workers as thesame struggle that we wage. We face many ofthe same bosses; we face the same troops as acolonising power. Many SACTU leaders haveshared imprisonment with their Namibiancolleagues.Like South African workers, the people ofNamibia were di iven from the land and coercedinto the barbaric practice that is now known asmigrant labour. The paper documents the col-onisation process and the brutal laws that weredeveloped to enslave the Namibian people, theextremes of degradation to which the regime hassought to drive them. What must be shocking toall those who read the fact paper is the extent ofrepression of genuine trade union organisati6nin Namibia today.Every aspect of the lives of Namibian workersis controlled. It is ironic that the so-called scrap-ping of the pass laws came much earlier inNamibia than in South Africa. This act was view-ed as a 'major' reform in the Western world. Yetthe 'removal' of influx control has gone hand inhand with a tightening of movement to the cities.African workers need official permission fromlabour bureaus, and are placed in the impossi-ble position of first having to find housing in theovercrowded Black townships.Namibian comrades face high unemploymentand inflation and are forced to live in extremepoverty, while multinationals continue their il-legal exploitation of Namibian wealth. Workersin smaller companies, on farms and in domesticservice, face extreme racism and slavery; theyare assaulted by the bosses and attacked by theoccupying racist military. Workers on Namibianmines have seen little improvement in wages andconditions, and, at' Rossing, uranium mine,workers are,exposed to intense radiation levels,with radioactive waste being dumped irrespon-sibly, thus spreading the risk to the neighbour-ing areas where Black miners are forced to live.Worker militancy in Namibia has a proudhistory, going back to the earliest days of col-onial rule. Each attempt at establishing tradeunion organisations met with brutal repression.In 1971, Namibian workers staged theirhistoric National General Strike, which was metwith untold violence by the racists. The strikewas followed by continued resistance, withworkers taking action against the pass system,bantustan policies and work conditions. Workersincreasingly identified themselves with the na-tional liberation movement, led by SWAPO.By the end of 1978, the National Union ofNamibian Workers (NUNW) had firmly estab-lished itself nationally. During the sham electionsin December 1978, the regime swooped onNUNW organisers, detaining many under theTerrorism Act. By early 1980, NUNW officesin Windhoek were closed by the regime, propertyand records seized and NUNW funds frozen.Over the past year, the NUNW has been steadi-ly re-establishing itself. During 1986, twoNUNW industrial unions were launched - theNamibian Food and Allied Workers' Union andthe Mine Workers' Union of Namibia. Namibianworkers are increasingly demonstrating their fullcommitment to the struggle waged by SWAPO.This fact paper is a vital document which wehope will arm Namibia's friends abroad againstthe lies perpetrated by the regime. It is clear thatthe Multi-Party Conference (MPC) is nothing butnew clothing for the apartheid colonial master.On the labour front the MPC has been as viciousas in all its other actions. Through the NationalLabour Council it seeks to isolate and crushgenuine democratic unions, while promoting thepuppet White unions and staff associations.What becomes even clearer is that' NUNWrepresents the genuine wishes of the Namibianworkers in their struggle against colonialism andexploitation. This alone guarantees the future ofNUNW.SACTU32

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