Sechaba, Aug. 1981

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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 1981-08 Resource type Journals (Periodicals) Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1981 Source Digital Imaging South Africa (DISA) Rights By kind permission of the African National Congress (ANC). Format extent 36 page(s) (length/size)

Page 2 of 38 Page 3 of 38 SECHA African National CongressSouth Africaand oth w 5 rue Ben M'hidi LarbiANC Pub s: ALGIERSAlgeriaare obtainable The Representativefrom the follow African National Congress -South AfricaAddr 5 Ahmad Hishmat StreetL-ZAMALEK CairoArab Republic of EgyptThe RepresentativeAfrican National CongressAfrican National Congress - of South AfricaSouth Africa 310 East 44th Street,P. O. Box 1791 NEW YORK, N. Y.LUSAKA NYC 10074 - USA.ZambiaAfrican National Congress -African National Congress - South AfricaSouth Africa Box 302P. O. Box 2239 Adelaide Postal Station,DAR ES SALAAM TORONTO - Ontario M5C-2J4Tanzania CanadaAfrican National Congress - African National Congress -South AfricaSouth Africa F-- 68 - Bhagat Singh MarketP. O. Box 3523 NEW DELHI - 1LUANDA IndiaPeople's Republic of AngolaThe RepresentativeThe Representative African National CongressAfrican National Congress of South Africaof South Africa P. O. Box 2073Federal Government Special S--103 12 SCOCKHOLM 2Guest House SwedenVictoria IslandLAGOS The RepresentativeNigeria African National Congressof South AfricaThe Representative Via Ca po d'Africa 47African National Congress 00184 ROMEof South Africa Italy26 Avenue Albert SarrautDAKAR SECHABA PublicationsSenegal 28 Penton St,African National Congress - LONDON N1 9 PRSouth Africa EnglandCalle 21A NR 20617 DDR-1106 BERLINEsquina 214 Angerweg 2Atabey, HAVANA WilhelmsruhCubaPublished by the African National Congress of South Africa, P. O. Boz 31791 LUSAKA, ZAMBIAPrinted by the Drudrerei 'Erich Weinert', 2000 Neubrandenburg, G.D.R.

Page 4 of 38 Page 5 of 38 SJULY ISSUE, 1981oooaooooooa~ooo000ooooaoo0oo00000000000000P.O. BOX 38,28 PEN TON STREETLONDON N1 9PR UNITED KINGDOMTELEGRAMS: MAYIBUYETELEX: 299555ANCSAGTELEPHONE: 01-837-2012SEND YOUR ORDERS NOW TOSECHABA PUBLICATIONSP.O. Box 38, 28 Penton Street, London N1 9PR00ALL ORDERS OF TEN OR MORE COPIES- 050% DISCOUNTKINDLY INCLUDE A DONATION WITH YOURORDER IF POSSIBLE0SAMPLE COPIES OF SECHABA AVAILABLE ONREQUEST IF ACCOMPANIED BY A POSTAL ORDER(OR IN THE UNITED KINGDOM WITH STAMPS)00000$12,0o 0 6,00 O0S 30,, 0050E~0000000000aOOO00uO00RADIO TANZANIAshortwave 19 m band, 15.435 Kh7 El8,15 pm-Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday; O31 m band-6,15 am Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday CTO DEFRAY POSTAL COSTSANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONSUSAand CANADA (airmail only)ELSEWHERESINGLE COPIESUSA and CANADA (airmail only)ELSEWHERELISTEN TORADIO FREEDOMVOICE OF THE AFRICAN NATIONALCONGRESS AND UMKHONTO WESIZWERADIO MADAGASCARshortwave 49m band, 6135 KHz-8-9 pm dailyRADIO LUSAKAshortwave 41 m band, 7.3MgHz-8,30 to 9am dailyRADIO LUANDAshortwave, 40 Er 30 m bands;medium wave 27,6 m band-7,30 pm dailyEDITORIAL:Anti-Communism in South AfricaAUGUST 9:They Threw off their ShawlsGUEBUZA SPEAKSO. R. TAM BO:The Spirit of June 26PRESENTATION OF ISITWALANDWE,SEAPARANKOE 17NICARAGUA:A Poor People But Rich in DignityANC (S.A.) AND SWAPODELEGATION IN U.S.A.XIHOSHE:Poetry Towards the RevolutionPROFILE:DENNIS GOLDBERGANC IN PICTURES212!Y2"2729;1000000000000000oaooo000aoooo000o000ouoaoo0no0n00

Page 6 of 38 EDITORIAL:Anti-Communism inSouth AfricaIt is a known fact that the so-calledSuppression of Communism Act in SouthAfrica is a piece of legislation aimed atsilencing the voice of the oppressedespecially the fighting black masses. Manyof our comrades - including priests andreligious people - have been arrested anddetained under this law; some have evenbeen killed "because they are communists."The South African regime - that racistmonster on the African continent - isafraid of what it calls the black danger(swart gevaar). This black danger becomesmore dangerous when it is combined withanother danger: the red danger. Thereforelet us do away with both dangers - this isracist logic!This combination of racism with anti-communism expresses itself inanti-Sovietism. This anti-Sovietism takesridiculous forms in our country. Let ustake one example. Recently theunderground guerrillas of our liberationmovement intensified the struggle insidethe country through strikes, demonstrations,sabotage and armed actions. In their attemptto minimise the effects of these attacks,the racists invented a story: they told theworld that these actions were planned andmasterminded by Dr. Solodovnikov, theSoviet ambassador in Lusaka, Zambia!One wonders when the Soviet ambassadorhas time to do his diplomatic work whenhe is busy "planning and masterminding"the South African revolution!The racists do not stop at that. Theytell the world that they have to occupyNamibia so as to counteract ' Sovietinfluence; they attack Angola because ofthe presence of the Cubans there; theyattack Mozambique because it harboursmembers of the African National Congressthere.The racists are able to do this becauseof the support they receive frominternational imperialism. The imperialistcountries support the racist regime not somuch because of the so-called Soviet threatbut because they participate in the super-exploitation of our people and the resourcesof the country and the militarisation of theIndian Ocean, especially Diego Garcia,is seen by them as an aspect of their globalstrategy. Hence the talk about racist SouthAfrica's existence being an aspect of thedefence strategy of the major imperialistcountries: if you do not support us we shallnot give you any minerals.Recently the Reagan administration hada lot to say about what they called "inter-national terrorism." Yet the frontline statesare being daily threatened or attacked bythe forces of racism in Southern Africa.Angola is a case in point and Namibia isbeing misused to attack Angola, a countrywhich does not share a border with SouthAfrica. This attack on Angola, this attackon Mozambique, this colonisation andmisuse of Namibia to attack independentAfrican states, these attempts at destabilisingthe region of Southern Africa - this is"international terrorism" and yet Reaganhas nothing to say about it!A characteristic feature of the bogeyof anti-communism in South Africa is thatthe Blacks are not at all involved in thisdiatribe. They find such discussionsirrelevant ; a waste of time. They rememberthe words of Nelson Mandela in his Rivoniaspeech when he said:"It is perhaps difficult for White SouthAfricans, with an ingrained prejudice against

Page 7 of 38 communism, to understand why experiencedAfrican politicians so readily acceptcommunists as their friends. But to us thereason is obvious. Theoretical differencesamongst those fighting against oppressionis a luxury we cannot afford at this stage."111andela went on to explain the activities,role and struggle of the communists inSouth Africa and stated:"Because of this, there are many Africanswho, today, tend to equate freedom withcommunism. They are supported in thisbelief by a legislature which brands allexponents of democratic government andAfrican freedom as communists ... underthe Suppression of Communism Act."The Blacks are concerned with morerelevant issues; they are busy discussing theFreedom Charter, that is solving theideological questions of our struggle andshortening the spears. They are demandingthe release of Nelson Mandela and allpolitical prisoners in South Africa; they areorganising, educating the masses throughword of mouth and leaflets; they areengaged in strikes and demonstrations;they mobilise the religious people, thewomen and youth and they back up theiractions with armed struggle and sabotage.They are more and more identifying withthe ANC which is the only organisationthat will bring about change in SouthAfrica. It seems they are doing all thisin preparation for the 70th anniversary ofthe ANC which takes place on January8, 1982.AUGUST 9-They Threw off theirShawlsAugust 9, 1981 marks the 25th anniversaryof the 20,000 strong women's march onPretoria in 1956. This day signifies theheight of the struggle of our women andtheir courage, dedication and massparticipation in the struggle for nationalliberation. In the words of the late President-General of the ANC, A J. Lutuli this day is:"... one of the most important land-marks in our Freedom Struggle calendar.On this day the women of South Africa ...of all races and cultures, from all walks oflife ... made a mighty and memorabledemonstration against the issuing of the`dompas' to African women ... It saw thevisible beginning of a United FreedomFront of the Womanhood of South Africa.To a good number of women it marked apoint of `No Turning Back' from theliberation struggle until freedom is won".This year we are commemorating August9 on the eve of the 70th anniversary of theANC on January 8, 1982. It is thereforeappropriate and fitting to look at this eventhistorically and from a vantage point ofhistorical retrospection we shall be betterable to take stock; to evaluate our pastin the context of present day demandsso that we can look into the future witheyes wide open. This is all the more sobecause the history of our country andespecially the history of the ANC wasnot made by men alone - women also,played their role.History of ResistanceThe basis of this massive anti-passdemonstration was laid in the long historyof resistance struggle waged by theoppressed people of South Africa againstEuropean colonisation and dispossession,a struggle in which women have taken partfrom the very outset.Before 1913 passes had been issued onlyto African men. The first time passes were

Page 8 of 38 Sol Plaatje - ANC Secretary-general1912/1917 - "African women: the firstBlack Suffragettes".introduced for African women was in thelittle town of Winburg in the Orange FreeState in 1913. Women fiercely opposed thisand staged a demonstration to the officeof the local administrator, where they madetheir point: "WE WILL NEVER CARRYPASSES OR ANY OTHER DOCUMENTTHAT PERPETUATES OUROPPRESSION". Sol Plaatje, the SecretaryGeneral of the ANC at the timeappropriately referred to the women as"the first Black suffragettes". In his classicbook "Native Life in South Africa" hedevotes a whole chapter to the women'sstruggles of 1913'.In this book he states that whilst theANC was dealing with the problems arisingfrom the Union Act and Land Act a newproblem arose - African women in theOrange Free State were being forced eitherto buy passes every month or to go toprison and in both instances they wereexposed to the indecent provision of thelaw which authorised male constablesto insult them. These women were forcedto pay one shilling a m=en the resultthat a family consisting of, say, a motherand five daughters would pay themunicipality 6 shillings every month"whether as a penalty for the colour oftheir skins or a penalty for their sex it is notclear".The Africans made all possible constitu-tional appeals against these outrages -without success. A deputation of womenfrom Bloemfontein: Mrs A. Gabashane,Mrs Kotsi and Mrs Louw, went to CapeTown to air their grievances about passesto H. Burton, Minister of Native Affairs.They sent a petition to Lady Gladstone.They exhausted all these constitutionalchannels; witnessed the spread of troubleWomen's leaders delivering protest forms. (1-r) L. Ngoyi; H. Joseph; R. Moose;S. Williams.

Page 9 of 38 to the women and children under theNatives' Land Act and they decided to"throw off their shawls" and take the lawinto their hands. Sol Plaatje relates theseevents:In Bloemfontein: "A crowd of 600women, in July 1913, marched to theMunicipal offices at Bloemfontein andasked to see the Mayor. He was not in,so they called for the Town Clerk. TheDeputy Mayor came out, and they depositedbefore him a bag containing their passesof the previous month and politely signifiedtheir intention not to buy any more passes."At Jaggersfontein a similar demonstrationwas led by a Mozambican lady. They werearrested. They refused to pay the fines:"As the authorities were scarcely preparedfor such a sudden influx of prisoners therewas not sufficient accomodation for fifty-two women, who were conveyed on donkeycarts to the adjoining village ofFauresmith".In 'Linen there was similar trouble.800 women marched to the Town Hallsinging hymns and addressed the authorities.Women were tired of making friendlyappeals which bore no fruit. They resolvedto carry no passes, much less to pay ashilling each per month for passes:..." theyall resolutely refused to pay their fines,and there was a rumour that the CentralGovernment had been appealed to forfunds and for material to fit out a new jailto cope with the difficulty".Brutal methods were used to deal withthe women protesters:"The first batch of prisoners from Bloem-fontein were conveyed south to Edenburg:and as further batches came down fromBloemfontein they had to be transferrednorth to Kroonstad".Plaatje visited the prison in Kroonstadin August 1913 accompanied by the wifeof Rev. A .P. Pitso of Kroonstad and MrsPretus. He was shocked to see the conditionsof the women:"A severe shock burst upon us, insidethe prison walls, when the matron withdrewthe barriers and the emaciated figures ofladies and young girls of our acquaintancefiled out and Greeted us. It was anexceptionally cold week and our heartsbled to see young women of Bloemfontein,who had spent all their lives in the capitaland never knew what is was to walk withoutsocks, walking the chilly cemented floorsand the cold and sharp pebbles withoutboots. Their own boots and shoes had beentaken off, they told us, and they were,throughout the winter, forced to performhard labour barefooted ... "Plaatje and the members of his delegationreacted to this scene and their hearts werefilled with pity and sympathy - but therewas a sense of pride and confidence whichexpressed itself in mutual solidarity:"Tears rolled down our cheeks as wesaw the cracks on their bare feet, theswellings and chilblains which made themlook like sheep suffering from foot andmouth disease ..."To our surprise, however, they vowednever to buy passes, even if they had tocome back".The white racist attitude towards thisinhumanity was characteristic: "instead ofbeing sent to prison with hard labour, thesemad caps should be flogged".Plaatje as Secretary-General of the ANCtelegraphed General Botha "and pointedout to him that over two hundred colouredwomen were at that time languishing injail for resenting a crime committed uponthem." Botha remained silent.The women's struggle continued underthe new and difficult conditions imposedby the First World War. It was not until1918 that the Bantu Women's League wasformed as a "branch" of the ANC. CharlotteMaxeke was the moving spirit. We havealready written a profile of CharlotteeMaxeke (Sechaba, August 1980. p.23)Perhaps at this juncture it is importantto mention that in 1930 Dr Xuma wrotea 27 page pamphlet entitled: "CharlotteManye (Mrs Maxeke): What An EducatedAfrican Girl Can Do, with a foreword byDr W.E.B. Du Bois. In his foreword DrDu Bois, a leading Afro-American andAfrican statesman and academic wrote:"I have known Charlotte Manye Maxekesince 1894 when I went to WilberforceUniversity as a teacher. She was one of thethree or four students from South Africa,and was the only woman. She was especiallythe friend of Nina Gomer, the studentwho afterward became my wife. We wereinterested in Charlotte Manye because ofher clear mind, her fund of subtle humourand the straight-forward honesty of hercharacter ... she did her work with a slow,

Page 10 of 38 *ARCHING TO PRETORIA .r wrn.'V+4.arINAl4oNn L--.L.p YrN(1. Ik Lww Irr4rArnwuwrCgl.ow Vv .ok..^` pm1.H h.nw, aW r n N.i r..r~ Idl 4. rR41. y...Nill.wr.. Nn. IIr4r~` Nn LJw \~ww ry W.n. ~.~n 7..vMN.luw~ (Irr ~w Ik w~~ dwr Nr wh. Ik hwliwuquiet determination that augured well for herfuture. Since then, and at long intervals, Ihave had the opportunity of followingher work through the glimpses which I havehad from far off South Africa. I regardMrs .-eke as a pioneer in one of thegreatest of human causes, working underextraordinarily difficult circumstances tolead a people, In the face of prejudice,not only against her race but against hersex. To fight not simply the natural andinherent difficulties of education andsocial uplift, but to fight with little moneyand little outside aid was indeed atremendous task. I think that what MrsMaxeke has accomplished should encourageall men, and especially those of Africandescent. And in addition to that, it shouldinspire the white residents of South Africaand of America to revise their hastily-made judgments concerning the possibilitiesof the Negro race."This was a great tribute by a great man toa great woman.This pamphlet by Xuma on CharlotteMaxeke is interesting for another reason.In our article in Sechaba we said she wasborn in Ramokgopa in the NorthernTransvaal and Xuma says she was born inFort Beaufort in the Cape where her mothercame from. Her father came fromyMillion SignatureCampaign Opens inEastern CopeRamokgopa. Again in the Sechaba articlewe said she was called by Enock Mambato work among the Tthembus and Xumasaid it was Paramount Chief DalindyeboWe mention these seemingly minor detailsbecause they show a descrepancev betweenthe facts given by T.U. Mweli Skota (whoseboox was the main source of the factualmaterial used in our Se chaba article) andXuma. Mweli Skota knew Charlotte Maxekevery well; so did Xuma. All this means isthat there is a need for more research tobe done on the life and times of CharlotteMaxeke. Perhaps the Women's Section ofthe ANC should undertake to do this.But why the Women's Section? CharlotteMaxeke was not just a women's leader,she was a national figure, some people mayargue. This is all true but somebody hasto take the responsibility of doing researchon this fabulous woman before the racistsrelegate her to oblivion.Charlotte Maxeke died in 1939 but herspirit did not die. One of the resolutionsadopted at the annual conference of theANC held at Bloemfontein on December14-16, was the "Resolution on the WomenSection" which read:"That this conference recommends to theparent body the necessity of reviving thewomen's section of the congress in terms

Page 11 of 38 of the provisions of the constitution.Further that women be accorded the samestatus as men in the classification ofmembership. That the following means bemade to attract the women:a) to make the programme of the Congressas attractive as possible to womenb) a careful choice of leadership"In 1943 the ANC Women's league wasformed, under the leadership of Madi-Hall Xuma and it was inaugurated at the1948 Annual General Conference of theANC.It should be noted that the women werenot just involved in women's problems.They were involved in ANC and ANCYouth League politics. Writing about theANC Youth League at the time of itsformation in 1943 Mary Benson states:"Two of the Youth Leaguers weremedical students, others were teachers,young women too; one - Albertina, anurse - became Walter Sisulu's wife in1944".The ANC Women's League set itself thefollowing tasks:"Apart from their duties as membersof the ANC, women members of theCongress have special additional dutiesand responsibilities:a) to arouse the interest of African womenin the struggle for freedom and equality;and assist the widespread organisationof women;b) to take up special problems and issuesaffecting women; andc) to carry on propaganda against Apartheidand discriminatory laws among Africanwomen."This shows abundantly clear that the womensaw the struggle for women's emancipationas an inseparable aspect of the struggle fornational liberation; that the oppression ofthe women -- as Blacks, workers and women- was a product of a system which had tobe destroyed in order to end the three-foldburden of their suffering. This was in theearly 1950's.Another significant organisationaldevelopment , which played a fundamentalrole in raising mass participation of women,was the formation of the Federation ofSouth African W=in April, 1954. TheFederation was formed in response to agrowing need that women felt for anorganisation which would:"Embrace all women irrespective ofrace, colour or nationality;help to strengthen, build and bringtogether in joint activity the variouswomen's sections in the liberatorymovements and other women'sorganisations;express the needs and aspirations of thehouse-wives, wage earners, peasants andprofessional women of South Africa;bring about the emancipation of womenfrom the special disabilities sufferedby them under laws, customs andconventions and strive for a genuineSouth African Democracy based oncomplete equality and friendship betweenmen and women, and between eachsection."The Federation of South African Womenunited women of different nationalitiesand cultures on the basis of an unequivocalcommitment to the liberation struggle.Together with the ANC Women's Leaguewith which it intimately worked and whosememb-4ip played a leading role in it,the Federation expressed an organisationalunity which, in many respects was a preludeto the broader unity which was toencompass the Congress movement at thehistoric Congress of the People in Kliptownin 1955. Women were organising to meetthe fascist monster which was rearing itshead in South Africa.PassesA pass or reference book! This is a thick48 paged document with a hard blackcover. Six and a half by three inches. Thedocument must be carried by every Africanman or woman in South Africa, above theage of 16. Failure to produce the pass ondemand means on-the-spot arrest. Thedocument serves the ends of the Apartheidrulers in South Africa - to regulate themovement of Africans to restricted areas;to determine where an African can or maynot be employed; where he can live; wherehis dead body may or may not be buriedand even to determine who one's wife orhusband should be!The Nationalist Party, on coming topower in 1948, launched a vicious assaultagainst the few rights and liberties remainingto the oppressed Black majority. Thisoffensive vas threefold:

Page 12 of 38 Firstly, the regime aimed to suppressany organisational resistance of theoppressed and instal indisputable exclusivewhite domination;Secondly, in an attempt to increasecontrol over the labour force, the regimesought to tighten and extend the functioningand practice of the pass laws and influxcontrol;Thirdly, to achieve a physical separationand dispossession of the Black majorityto their right to full political, economicand social rights in a unitary South Africa;a process of Bantustanisation was set inmotion which had as its corollary theGroup Areas Act for the Indian andColoured communities.All these measures were intimatelylinked and combined with the BantuEducation and Industrial Legislation Actsto extend, tighten and strengthen fascistcontrol and domination over the oppressed.The so-called "Abolition of Passes andCoordination of Documents Act of 1952"had absolutely nothing to do with abolishingpasses. Instead, it meant that the hatedpasses were again being introduced towomen. These women, who are regardedas "superfluous appendages", were to bekept out of the urban areas, whichonly need the cheap labour of African men.Signs of ResistanceA government statement said that the firstpasses would be issued to women in theOrange Free State. the area that had beenmost active in the previous anti-passcampaigns. The successful introduction ofpasses in this area would have meant thatthe regime would not be faced with a lotof resistance in other areas. The samestatement threatened that "if anybody,like the African National Congress,attempted to launch a campaign ofresistance, the government would take thenecessary steps." Three million books -the passes - were ready, and these wereto be issued immediately.By this time the ANC had issueddirectives to all its branches to take upand fiercely resist the issuing of passesto African women. The ANC Women'sLeague in particular, in collaboration withthe Federation of South African Women,begun organising for a massive campaign.

Page 13 of 38 At the founding conference of theFederation, the women had resolved tobecome active in campaigning against thepass laws, which were "hounding theirmen":"The intensification of pass raids inrecent months has reached alarmingproportions and created an intolerablesituation, which has infuriated the mothersof Africa", they declared.During the whole of October 1955vigorous preparations were made by theANC Women's League in Johannesburgto stage a demonstration in Pretoria, theAdministrative Capital of South Africa.Letters were sent out to the Ministersof Interior, Labour and Justice, requestingfor an appointment with them for October27th, for the women to present theirpetitions. The pass laws, the classificationof races, procedures, the Group AreasAct, restrictions on civil liberties and tradeunion legislation were some of the issuesto be raised at the meeting. The issue ofpasses was however the most urgent.Despite difficulties created by the regimeto prevent the women from staging theirdemonstration, which had been declaredillegal, 20,000 women filled the amphi-theatre ofthe Union Buildings. They quietlystood there, while the leaders of thedemonstration went up to the offices ofthe three Ministers. But none of them wasto be found. One of them had replied tothe request for an appointment with thewomen : "Racially-mixed delegations fromracially-mixed organisations are notreceived." Typical apartheid racial hatred!The pile of protest letters was left on thedoormat of the deserted offices.ANC Take up Women's Pass CampaignThe annual Conference of the ANC heldin December, 1955 paid a great deal ofattention to the Women's Anti-Pass struggle.The report of the National ExecutiveCommittee stressed that the pass laws werethe most burning grievance of the people.The statement went on:"We who know the suffering the passlaws have brought to us over the decadeswill not tolerate the extension of thishated system to our womenfolk We warnthe government: making women carrypasses will be like trampling on the tail ofa puff adder."And the next few years' fierce anti-pass resistance proved just that! Branchesthroughout the country embarked onhouse to house, yard to yard, locationto location and factory to factorycampaigning. The women were particularlyenthusiastic and fearless. Lilian Ngoyisummarised the feeling of the women:"If the government deports women inthe impending struggle against passes, theywill bring new hope to those in whosemidst they are thrown in their deportation;if they are sent to jail they will convertthe jails into institutions of universaleducation."The women knew that the governmentwas ruthless and savage in its attacks onthe African people and on their rights,and that the campaign, like others beforeit, would not be easy. But they knew theburden that their men had to carry underthe pass laws, and spoke as sufferers underthese laws. The pass is a badge of slavery,and had to be rejected by all means.It is not possible to record all the demon.stration, all the deputations and petitionsto the Native Commissioners that weresent during the whole of 1956. The moodwas the same everywhere, and the messagewas one; "We do not want passes. We fearfor our homes when we too are arrestedunder the pass laws. What is to becomeof our babies dependent on their mothers'milk, if we are to be torn from them forfailing to produce a pass. We do not wantto carry a pass."On March 11th, 1956 the TransvaalRegion of the ANC Women's Leagueorganised a meeting to commemorateMarch 8th -- the International Women'sDay. Prominent on the agenda of thatmeeting was the issue of passes. It wasfrom the same meeting that a resolutionto march to Pretoria was unanimouslyadopted by the over 2,000 delegates presentat the meeting.Meanwhile, women in the Free Statewho had been tricked into accepting passes,had moved to the office of the NativeCommissioner. They had the passes in abag, some had them in their hands. Tothe utter disbelief of this governmentagent, they poured petrol over the passes

Page 14 of 38 and set them alight! A deputation fromKlerksdorp had handed a letter to Verwoerd,which concluded: "If you force us to takepass books we shall burn them in front ofyour eyes."The country was on fire. In Cape Town,Johannesburg, Germiston, Brakpan andeverywhere else women were presentingpetitions, demonstrating and organising forthe anti-pass campaign.By the 2nd of August, an official letterhad been written by the Federation to thethen Prime Minister to meet the NationalProtest at the Union Buildings on Thursday,the 9th of August at 2.30pm. On the 6th ofAugust, Strijdom replied to say that it wasnot possible to meet the demonstrators.When there was such evidence to thecontrary, he further said that it was "nottrue that pass laws were being extendedto Bantu (African) women".August 9th 1956The little town of Lady Selbourne, on theoutskirts of Pretoria, had turned into anovernight transit place for the over 20,000women who answered the call for theNational Demonstration. Coming from everycorner of South Africa, with delegationsof as much as 500 from one area, theyconverged on the capital from as early asAugust 7th. Every participant in thisdemonstration signed the protest form.Signature collectors worked the wholenight collecting these signatures. `l' he womenwere in high spirits. During the nightproceeding August 9th, Lady Selbourne'sTown Hall was made into a make-shiftconcert hall, Different delegations presentedsongs, most of which were on the anti-pass campaigns in their areas. The hit songof the night as presented by the Free Statedelegation, related the story of the burningof passes by women in Winburg.The next morning, tired but determined,the women moved out of the houses,churches and halls. It took two and a halfhours for the procession to file throughthe entrance to the Union Building amphi-theatre. After all had passed through, nineleaders selected from the different areasand carrying huge piles of protest forms,moved from the amphitheatre to enter theUnion Buildings. They were stopped by aCommissioner, who after consultation withthe police, agreed to let only five of thenine women leaders through.The Union Buildings has always been ahive of activity. Being racist South Africa'sadministrative centre, it is remarkable thaton that day the state machinery had beenbrought to a halt! Not a single soul wasto be seen inside the building. In spite ofthe "non-admission" sign that had beenput up on the door leading to Strijdom'soffice, the gallant leaders, Lilian Ngoyi,Helen Joseph, Lily Diedericks, ltahimaMoosa and Sophie Williams marched in andleft the bulk of petition forms with hissecretary. In all there were more than100,000 signatures.Meanwhile, outsic'c ~'irilling singingof a few national songs chosen for theoccasion continued. The most popularand expressive was the now famous:"Strijdom, wathint' abafazi,Wathint' imbokodo,Uzakufa."Translated:"Strijdom, You have touched the womenYou have struck a rock,You have dislodged a boulder,You will die."The leaders of the delegation then steppedout, briefly reporting to the multitude ofwomen what had happened. With theirthumbs up in the Afrika salute, the womenrose to observe a chilling half hour ofcomplete silence. Only the occasionalsound of crying babies accentuated thetense stillness. After this gracious displayof disciplined resolve, the 20,000 heroinessilently dispersed. 'they had added a pagein the history of the struggle of the womenof South Africa against oppression andhumiliation. They had done something theworld will never forget.The great August 9th demonstration wasnot only in Pretoria. For every womandemonstrator in Pretoria, there were manymore in the homes and villages who werepart of this snowballing protest movement.For many years after 1956, the anti-passcampaign gained momentum. The regimewas prepared to go on with its enforcementof passes. The people's fighting spirit wasundaunted. As Lilian Ngoyi had predicted,the women converted the jails intoinstitutions for universal education andreorganisation. 'they led hunger strikesto protest about conditions in the jails. 9

Page 15 of 38 Enforcement of PassesBy 1967 the regime was using all tricksat their disposal to enforce passes on theAfrican people. Without a pass one couldnot get a house, a job and could be thrownout of an urban area at any time. Withouta pass the children could not be registered.Most ridiculous was the fact that onewas not even expected to die without apass, because the family left behind wouldhave problems in burying the body. AfterSharpeville, when 86 people, including 40women and 8 children were brutally shotand killed by the police during an anti-pass demonstration, thousands of peoplewere arrested and charged for pass offences.Many leaders of the Congress Movementthat had organised the anti-pass campaignswere either arrested, banned or banished.This weakened the organisational capabilitesof the anti-pass resistors. Thus whenProclamation 268 and Government Notice1722 of 26 October 1962 were announced,resistance was scattered and sporadic. Theselaws made it obligatory for African womento carry passes as beginning from February1st, 1963.In the rural areas land hunger, theimposition of Bantu Authorities and otherabuses, such as the maintenance of livestockdipping tanks by unpaid female labour,the prevention of home brewing and theopening up of state beer halls, combinedwith anti-pass resistance to set the country-side aflame. Militant defiance in Zeerustand Sekhukhuneland, Pondoland, the Ciskeiand in the Orange Free State unleashed areign of bloody state terror, with hundredsof resisters being arrested and imprisoned,tens of hundreds were driven from theirhomes, beaten, shot and wounded, thehomes burnt and their livestock confiscated.Democratically elected leaders werebanished to remote regions far from theirpeople and others were forced to flee toneighbouring states, seeking refuge from theregime's violence which was scouring thecountryside.Undeterred and fearless, the peoplecontinued their defiance, destroying dippingtanks, boycotting schools and post officesand attacking all those symbols of apartheidterror. Puppet leaders installed by localNative Commissioners without the consentand against the will of the people fearedto move from their kraals. In the Transkei,for example, dusk to dawn curfews wereimposed around the kraals of the BantuAuthority `chiefs', and many did notescape the wrath of the people. The peopleof the rural areas were prepared to makethe supreme sacrifice in their struggleto defend themselves and their people.Chieftainess Madinoge Pholokwe of. thevillage of Madibong in the NorthernTransvaal and 15 others were sentenced todeath for their resistance to the impositionof Bantu Authorities in Sekhukhuneland.The ANC was banned in many of theseregions in 1958, marking the prelude to amassive campaign of repression by theregime which was to follow a few yearslater.Makabongwe AmakosikaziThe women of South Africa have been noless responsive to the demands of theliberation struggle than women of otherlands and times. This rich page of historyhas been indelibly printed on the collectiveexperience of the oppressed people of ourcountry as our struggle advances towardsthe seizure of power. The women haveshown and are showing today that fornational and social emancipation they areprepared to sacrifice all. As Blacks, youth,workers and women, in our people's army,in trade unions and community organisa-tions, in the churches, South Africanwomanhood is playing a decisive part inthe all round struggle being waged againstthe fascist Botha/Malan dictatorship. Thepeople, intent on waging the struggle to itsinevitable just conclusion are resourcefuland inventive, devising new ways and meansof overcoming every obstacle placed in theirpath, drawing from the experiences oftheir brothers and sisters, parents andforefathers, the rightful heritage of astruggling nation.August 9th Lives On!The fact that it took the regime ofApartheid 50 years to extend their hatedpass laws to African women shows theorganisational talents of the women ofSouth Africa. Today the predictions of thewomen of the 50's have come true. Passeshave been the cause for the break-up of

Page 16 of 38 African homes. Pass laws have preventedAfrican women from getting employmentin the urban areas. Failure to produce apass has resulted in more than 50,000African women being thrown into prisonseach year. But the legacy of August 9thlives on, not only in South Africa, butthroughout the world, August 9th iscommemorated by democratic andprogressive forces.GVEBUZASPEAKSOn June 26th, 1981 the ANC PresidentComrade O.R. Tambo and the .11ozambicanDeputy minister of Defence, ComradeArmando Guebuza, addressed a rally inLondon to mark South Africa FreedomDay. li'e reproduce extracts of their speechesbelow.During the meeting, there was a shortbut very moving presentation of theIsitwalandwelSeapamnhoe award to Arch-Bishop Trvor Huddleston, President of theAnti-Apartheid Movement, by APresident O.R. Tambo. The Arch-Bishop,then Father Huddleston first received theAs we commemorate the 25th anniver-sary of the South African Women, Day,let us remember our sisters who are politicalprisoners in Botha's dungeons. Let usintensify the campaign for their release.Let us involve more women in our struggleand let us say. "i`IALIBOtiGWE IGAblALAMAKHOSIKAZI" WE THANK YOUWOMEN!award at the Congress of the People in1955 - this then was only to standardisethe medals now done in gold.In his speech to the June 26 Freedom DayIleeting, Comrade Armando Guebuza under-lined the ties of friendship, brotherhoodand solidarity between the peoples of\lozambique and South Africa: "We he,the echo of people crying in Soweto. Wesee the wounds of those militants, dedicatedSouth Africans who- are killed in Sowetoor Matola".Referring to the widespread anti-RepublicDay protests that took place in May ofthis year, Comrade Guebuza emphasisedwhat was involved in the burning of theracist South African flag which occurreda number of times: "It is the flag ofoppression, of fear, of massacre. It is theflag flown by the troops who committedmurder in Sharpeville, Soweto, Matolaand in so many other places. The real flagof the South African people is the onethat was flown from the rooftops of Sowetoon 16 June - the flag of the AfricanNational Congress".Comrade Guebuza also emphasised thedangers involved for the peoples ofSouthern Africa which he described asone of the critical zones of the world atthe moment - a zone which faces theconstant danger of war. He stressed thatthis threat came from the fascist Apartheidregime. At the same time as this menaceexists, the US administration and theirwestern allies were playing a very dangerousgame over the future of the people ofNamibia, he said. "We think that the Westshould realise that time is running short.Africa cannot wait all this- time ... We thinkalso that it is time for the Western world,to prove that it is against inhuman, brutal

Page 17 of 38 treatment against the people of SouthAfrica and Namibia."The issue of sanctions was also dealtwith by Armando Guebuza who exposedthe fraudulent arguments put forwardby western countries that they are againstsanctions because these will harm thefrontline states more than South Africa.""The economy of South Africa dependson the Western powers. The Western powersshould be the ones to apply economicsanctions! We shall know how to play ourrole."Comrade Guebuza ended his speach byreiterating his country's determination tosupport the liberation struggle in SouthAfrica and Namibia and declared: "Weare sure that with the courage of the peopleof South Africa but also with the responsibleattitude on the part of other peoples andother countries, in particular those thatsustain the South African regime, we aregoing to win sooner than the apartheidregime expects."O.R. TAM BO-The Spirit of June 26I think you will agree that we have togetherjust listened to a most inspiring messagefrom the representative of a country of nomean consequence for the people of Africaand especially the people of SouthernAfrica.Yesterday, as Comrade ArmandoGuebuza has said, was FRELIMO's sixthanniversary of independence, Mozambique'sindependence. We should like from thisplatform, to convey to Comrade Guebuza,through him, to the people of Mozambiqueour congratulations and our gratitude forthe struggle of the Mozambican people.Not only are we neighbours bygeography, but these two crucial datesaffecting our countries are also neighbours.ANC and FRELI:~'IO have marched togetherfor many years now, have been up anddown together and have supportedeachother. As President Samora Machelsaid in February after the Matola Raid,the people of Mozambique will alwayssupport the struggle of South Africa. Indeedhe declared that we are bound togetherin the same struggle -- in the struggle forpolitical, economic, social and culturalliberation.We greet the people of Mozambique onthis day in the name of the people of SouthAfrica, and we welcome particularly thegreat honour done us today in having inour midst one of the topmost leaders of thatcountry, to participate with us on ourNational Day. Long live the PeoplesRepublic of Mozambique!I should like also to make special noteof the fact that not for the first time andI know, not for the last, we are celebratingthis occasion in the company of our brotherpeoples of Namibia, led by SAPO andrepresented here today by Comrade BechaviMunyaro.What binds the people of South Africato the Namibians is, apart from anythingelse, that we are fighting the same regime.We are fighting almost on the same basisfor the illegal occupation of Namibia differsonly in degree from the illegality of theoccupation of South Africa by a whiteminority regime. Like the Namibians wehave no control over our country. We themajority. South Africa is another militarycamp differing only in degree from themilitary camp into which Namibia hasbeen turned.We are fighting in Namibia a coloniseracross the border. In South Africa, we havea local coloniser, who has been dispensing"independence" to tribal groups in thepast few years and intends to do so againin December. We are fighting together aparticularly racist regime. Together weare fighting the last national liberation

Page 18 of 38 Comrade Ruth Mompati Charing the June 26 meeting addressed byPresident O. R. Tambo.struggle on the African continent and wehave become very close in this struggle.Today also, of course, we areparticipating side by side with the BritishAnti-Apartheid Movement and MAGIC.We are pleased to note the heavyrepresentation of the diplomatic corps,the presence of Church leaders, the tradeunion movement, and the representationof some of the political parties of thiscountry. I should like, at the very outset,to express the very deep appreciation ofthe African National Congress and of thepeople of South Africa for thisdemonstration of solidarity and supportwhich is expressed in your presence heretoday.More than a National DayJune 26th is more than a National Day.It is an occasion for rededication by thepeople of Southern Africa. It is an occasionwhen we look more to the future thanto the past. It is an occasion when we askthe question: For how much longer? Andwith each passing year, this questionbecomes more pressing.The first time June 26th was marked wasin 1950. Today, 31 years later, we mustask how much longer. We need to try andunderstand why it has taken 31 years inour case and what is required to be doneto avoid an additional 31 years. Thepersistence of the apartheid system in thatperiod of three decades can be evaluatedin terms of hundreds of thousands of peoplewho have either died prematurely at birth,in childhood, killed by the system, by itsviciousness, by its violence, by its destructivenature, thousands killed deliberately -murdered.These years can be expressed in termsof the dispersal of a whole people intoexile, into different parts of the world,into different parts of South Africa -removed by force. If that were not enough,the system by its very nature has crossedour borders and is reeking terror,destabilisation and mass murder" SouthernAfrica. How much longer? Angola has been

Page 19 of 38 subjected to these murders from the daythat the South African army invaded thatcountry. The permanence of theapartheid system has been the permanenceof the misery, death and destruction inNamibia. Thanks to this system there isinsecurity and instablity, uncertainty aboutthe future in Southern Africa. How muchmore of this?Have we Sacrificed Enough?Experience in Southern Africa alone clearlyteaches us that= will be no voluntaryabdication of power by this regime. Thereis no basis upon which we can expectanything but another 31 years unless onoccasions like these we make a new andresolute pledge.I want to say thank you for thecompliments paid to the African NationalCongress in its leadership of our struggle,thanks very much for recognising thesacrifices that have been made by membersof Umkhonto we Sizwe. Thank you too fornoting the mtancy of our people, theirdetermination. But let us face it. Have wesacrificed enough?On this day, which each year is amilestone marking not only our advancetowards victory, but also the passing oftime, we should not stop at congratulatingourselves. We should say quite frankly andboldly: Need it have taken 31 years sincethe first June 26th?I believe however, that these questionsare being put by our people to themselves.I believe that the National ExecutiveCommittee of the ANC is putting preciselythis kind of question to itself. I believethat the cadres of Umkhonto we Sizweare saying - is what we have done enough?What is wanting? Aggressiveness, makingapartheid unworkable; facing up to thetorture which is there anyway; acceptingthe possibility of being kidnapped intoprison where so many have gone anyway;facing up to the possibility of being killedand shot which is happening to manyanyway.New Dimension of UnityThere is some indication that the level ofunity in the opposition to this regime hasreached a new dimension. At the beginningof this year, most people in South Africaand certainly the Blacks, were horrifiedand angered at the brutality of the Matolamurders. United in that anger.Later, elections were taking place, electioncampaigns among those with a privilegedskin colour and a government was put intopower with their mandate. In May thatgovernment was leading its people incelebrations of the 20th anniversary of thisRepublic. The most significant thing aboutthose celebrations is the extent to whichthey united the opposition to the Republicand even more significant were the armedactions which in that context were directedat the Republic itself.Where do we go from that point? Theseforces which united against the Republicshould now hold together and defuse,reject the Republic in actions. The workersare doing this. The students are doing this.People in different walks of life are involvedin this but not yet the combined mass ofour people, not yet all the workers. Greatcredit is due to those who have sustainedthe struggle. But what we need to do isto bring the regime down, to bring itsstructures down, to bring its economydown, to bring its forces down.Why am I saying this in London? Whatis this to do with their Excellencies whohave come here? Why would the trade unionmovement represented here be interested toknow? Because I believe that those whohave come here are the concerned andbecause they are the concerned, they arepart of the worldwide movement of peoplewho would like to see justice, freedom andpeace everywhere in the world and certainlyin Southern Africa and particularly inNamibia and South Africa itself. I believeyou should support us not becausewe are making the sacrifices we ought to.You should support us the more perhapsbecause we are weak and it may be thatwe are not doing more because you are notsupporting us more. It is your struggle asit is ours and we dare not pretend to you,lest it should take another 31 years.There has been ready reference heretoday to the role of South Africa inSouthern Africa. Particularly in relationto Namibia. The importance of this questionlies in the fact that it has been complicatednot only for the Namibians but also tosome extent for the South Africans, by the

Page 20 of 38 declarations of the United Statesadministration. By its demands that defyall logic, by the indications of South Africabeing an ally of the United States, especiallyin relation to matters of national liberationstruggle; the conditions which South Africademands are the reason why the UnitedStates is going back on their agreementthat it had settled last year. These demandsare, rejected by the people of Namibia,led by SWAPO, they are rejected by Africa.In South Africa we reject them too.We think the international communityhas been all too accommodating to theracists. But the implications of an alliancewith South Africa which has set itself thetask of dominating the countries ofSouthern Africa, all of them, the implica-tions are that the United States is nowgoing to be actively involved directly andindirectly in subverting these countries.We feel that the United States administra-tion should be made aware of the hostilityof mankind to its move to destabilise theworld, to its move to perpetuate theapartheid system and even the continuedillegal occupation of Namibia. The otheraspect of the US policy related to whatis a national liberation movement. SouthAfrica defines national liberation movementsas "terrorist, communist organisations".And having sent this signal to the westerncountries, it proceeds to murder, to kill,to massacre, in the name of westerninterests. In doing so it has the supportand approval and no doubt, the assistanceand the encouragement of the UnitedStates.We are projected as the vanguard ofan expansionist move by the Soviet Union.The reason, it is said, and I have beenhearing this wherever I have gone, is thatSWAPO and ANC are supported by theSoviet Union.That is the only reason. Reject supportfrom the terrorist= Union - you cease to bea terrorist communist. Who takes the placeof the Soviet Union. Will Washington?Can they give us the guns? Did they notgive them to Portugal and to Ian Smith?Would Southern Africa be what it is ifthe liberation movement had no weaponsto fight with? Could they have had thoseweapons if they did not have countrieslike the Soviet Union which were readyto donate them?And tomorrow we shall be needingmore and more weapons to fight and destroythis criminal regime. We shall go all overthe world including the Soviet Union andif they give us weapons, we shall be grateful.But we do not like this distortion of facts.Many people in Britain give us theirpolitical, diplomatic and even materialassistance. Many governments in Europe,in western Europe, are indesponsable in theirsupport for our struggle. We should liketo assure those who are concerned aboutwhere we get our assistance from, that weshall continue to accept assistance from theenemies of apartheid and racist domination.But that acceptance does not dictate in anyterms what we want our countries to be.Indeed it is based on what we say we wantto be.The assumption that a black person ismotivated in whatever he or shedoes by considerations of pleasing someoneelse - that contempt of black people, ofAfrica; this refusal to accept us as equals;this continued excuse for subjecting us tocontinued domination is bound to fail.It is bound to fail because even black people,and this is true of black people in the UnitedStates I have found, and certainly inSouthern Africa where we have gonethrough all these wars, we cannot bedeceived by this kind of propaganda. Wejust hope that our friends will not bedeceived either.The spokesmen of the African continentare very clear about what we all want.Therefore we need to try and convey to theReagan administration and its allies inEurope and elsewhere, that no matter whatthe US administration does, the strugglewill continue until we reach the objectivethat we have set ourselves.Increase SolidarityI should like to conclude, by acknowledgingthe support which we have received fromthe Anti-Apartheid Movement in thiscountry and from the body known asSATIS - South Africa The ImprisonedSociety, especially for the campaign to lsecure the release of political prisoners.'e plead that this should not be slackenedlet alone abandoned. Our people are'trooping into jail. The voice of the rest ofmankind will need to be heard more loudly

Page 21 of 38 Bishop Trevor Huddleston awardedthe Isidwalandwe/Seaparankoe byComrade O. R. Tambo.Bishop Trevor Huddleston awardedthe Isitwalandwe/Seaparankoe byComrade O. R. Tambo.76and not merely as a voice but as a deviceit must be employed to make sure thatat least those who have been there foryears upon years, like Nelson Mandela andothers, are released. That fight should befought with determination. We appreciatewhat has been given by way of supportin this regard.We appreciate the support of thecountries represented at this meeting.We appreciate the support of theinternational community. But we alwayshave a special appeal to make to the peopleof Britain because Britain is the source ofour misery in South Africa. This is not amatter we can reasonably or realisticallyplace before the Prime Minister of thiscountry but I think we can realisticallyplace it before the British people.What is their true role in SouthernAfrica, the British? In whose name otherthan that of the British people does theBritish Government decide on policy inrelation to apartheid South Africa andNamibia? It is this kind of action by theBritish people as well as by us in SouthAfrica which is going to bring the problemsof Southern Africa to an end. Those whohate racism should fight with increasedvigour.We must welcome today, the encourage-ment we received from fellow freedomfighters, the PLO, the Chilean people,POLISARIO, opponents of fascismeverywhere in the world, fighters for peaceeverywhere in the world; those who areopposing the determined efforts to bringabout a world conflagration; those whoare resisting attempts to arm the wholeworld and saturate it with destructiveweapons. Those who are mobilising armies,distributing weapons, those who areworking desperately for World War Three -they should be denounced as the enemiesof mankind.For what we are fighting for ultimately,as liberation movements, is for , peace.Peace, where today violence prevails, theviolence of the system. We wage wars ofliberation in pursuit of peace. We hopethat the next 12 months will bring inNamibia as well as in South Africa, changesof a kind which indicate an early emergenceof peace in Southern Africa.Thank you.

Page 22 of 38 PRESENTATION OFISITWALANDWE/SEAPARANKOEOn June 27th 1981, the President of theAfrican National Congress (SA), CommdeO.R. Tambo, presided over a very solemnand dignified ceremony at the ConnaughtRooms in London.It was the occasion of the awarding ofthe IsitwalandwelSeaparonkoe Awards -posthumously to Bishop Ambrose Reevesand inabsentia to Govan Mbeki (serving lifeon Robber Island). The awards werereceived by Mrs Reeves and Comrade ZaneleMbeki on their behalf. Awards were alsopresented (standardised golden ones) toformer recipients --Izitwalandwe.Those awarded at the Congress of thePeople: Dr YM. Dadoo and Chief A.J.Lutuli. Dr Dadoo was present and ComradeMB. Yengwa received on behalf of theLutuli family.For the late Comrade Moses Kotanewho was awarded on August 9th 1975,it was received by his son Comrade Joseph.The dignity of the ceremony signifiedthe seriousness with which the ANC takesthe honour of those who have made anoutstanding contribution to our struggle.FAr the latoi Chief,A. J. Luthull,the StandardIsitwblandtiis '~. Sespa:ankot. i~',reuivad byw. -111: H. Yenpuraon behalf. of the.Luthu~i fartr ;mily. ' .;.

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Page 24 of 38 NICARAGUAA Poor PeopleBut Rich in DignityDuring a conference organised by theInternational Organisation of Journalists(IOJ) in Nicaragua, Sechaba had theopportunity to interview Father FernandoCardenal, the Coordinator of the SandinistaYouth in Managua, capital of Nigargua.He spoke about the important topic ofthe theology of liberation, a theme whichis relevant to our own liberation struggle.What led Nicaragua to the revolution?Basically, the most important elementwas the objective situation of oppression,injustice and dictatorship that our peoplehad experienced since 1934. This is thefundamental cause. Gradually conditionsbecame more and more oppressive andat the same time, through the actions ofthe Sandinista National Liberation Frontwhich was formed in 1961, people becamemore and more aware and conscious ofthis oppression, of this structural injustice,that our people suffered.There were two factors of utmostimportance: an objective factor which was.the reality of exploitation, dictatorship,misery, the reality lived by the peoplewhere a group had seized most of thewealth and most of the population livedin sub-human conditions. But theseobjective conditions were increasinglydeepened by the developing consciousnessof the people in two fundamental aspects.First, the realisation that there was aSomoza dictatorship and that there wouldbe no peace in Nicaragua as long as we didnot free ourselves of the yoke of thisdictatorship. But at the same, time themost reactionary sections of the populationwere becoming conscious of the injusticeof the economic .system and that therewould be no peace in Nicaragua unlessthe system itself were changed. AsCommander Carlos Fonseca Amador, the,founder of the Sandinista National Libera-tion Front put it, it was not merely a matterof replacing persons or a government, butit was necessary to change the wholeeconomic and political system in order tobring about real justice in Nicaragua.These two factors, then, made theRevolution in Nicaragua possible, that isto say, the objective situation ofexploitation and the developingconsciousness through the vanguard roleof the Sandinista National Liberation Front.What role did the US play in Nicaraguasince the beginning of this century. Whatwere the characteristics of US involvement?The role of the US throughout this centuryhas been one of clear and overt militaryintervention in order to determine thepolitics of Nicaragua. In 1912, the Presidentof the United States, in a note known asthe Kno. letter, deposed General Zelayawho was initiating an independent patrioticprogramme of a bourgeois nature. WithZelaya's deposition from power, thebourgeoisie lost its chance to be a classin their own right and to consolidatethemselves as a class.The US also intervened in 1906, 1912,1916 and 1926. In 1926 they intervenedin order to halt the triumphant revolution:K led by General Moncada from the AtlanticCoast. The conservatives were protectedby this intervention, and succeeded inpersuading General Moncada to give in,to halt his triumphant march on Managuaand to surrender under the condition thathe would be made the new President whichwas achieved the next year.

Page 25 of 38 During this period the US dismissedand appointed Presidents at will. They alsoran the customs, the banks and the railway.They controlled the economy and aboveall they were in charge politically.In order to understand the heroism ofGeneral Sandino and the anti-imperialistspirit so peculiar to our Sandinistarevolution, one has to see the US's rolein our country during this century as everpresent and manipulating politics througharmed intervention.In answering the first question, youmentioned the role of the Sandinista Frontin the Nicaraguan Revolution. Can youtell us more concretely how the Sandinistasemerged?In 1933, General Sandino succeeded bymeans of guerrilla warfare in driving outthe most powerful army in the world:theUS marines. But only one year later, in1934, Sandino was cheated, asked to goto Managua where he was killed by GeneralSomoza. San dino remains the patrioticprototype in our history, the man whofights without ulterior motives forautonomy, for national independence:against US intervention, against imperialism.In 1961, Carlos Fonseca Mador foundedthat group of young people who were tofly Sandino's flag again, that flag whichhad become second-rate since 1934, whichhad been covered in lies and slander bySamoza's attempt to smeer Sandino"heroism. The Sandinista Movement tookup Sandino's cause again and Carlos FonsecaAn ador understood that Sandino was notmerely a date when one demonstratedthe universities but also that Sandiinnoprovided a means. Sandino shows us theway to oppose dictatorship and imperialism.It was in that period of struggle againstSomoza and imperialism that the SandinistaNational Liberation Front was formedand which, after 18 years of battles, orguerrilla warfare and finally spearheadingpopular insurrection, succeeded in topplingthe Somoza dictatorship and in initiatingthe process of popular revolution. ThisRevolution has begun to make the firststeps towards a total and radical transforma-tion of the socio-political structures of thepast.The Church played an important role inthe liberation of Nicaragua. Could youtell us something about its role and thereasons behind it?The Church in Nicaragua began to undergoprofound changes from 1968 onwards,that is to say, after the Latin AmericanEpiscopal meeting held in Medellin,Columbia, in 1968. Our Church started totake its inspirations from the spirit of thetexts of this meeting which left behindthe exaggerated spiritualism - socharacteristic of church history - andbegan to live the Christianity that makesits own the cause of the majority of thepeople who suffer social oblivion andmarginal isation.This Church spontaneously understoodthat it is impossible to love God withoutloving one's neighbour, to be committedto eternity without committing oneselfto. the temporal. It also understood theimpossibility of loving the soul of otherswithout fighting for their problems, fortheir temporal problems. And this youngChurch, revived through the 2nd Vaticanand the Latin American Episcopal meetingof Medellin, finds that there is a group ofyoung idealists, namely the SandinistaNational Liberation Front, which becomesthe vanguard of this compromise with thepoor's cause.And the masses of this peoplewho are Christians spontaneously joinedthe struggle.Many of the people, peasants, workersand students, joined the armed struggleimmediately. At the same time priests,religious men and women, started to supportguerrilla warfare and the freedom fighters.They started to hide them and supply themwith material and logistical aid.We can say that our Christian peoplechose to participate in the armed struggle,in the struggle of the Front, and in thespirit of the Latin American translation ofthe gospel, as the Nicaraguan translationof the understanding reached in Medellinby Latin American bishops, to fight forthe liberation of the peoples.In addition, the Episcopal Conferencewhich did not represent the whole Church,but an important part of the Church, playedan important role, because, being concernedwith human rights and motivated by love,it strongly denounced and exposed the

Page 26 of 38 Somozaist repression at the right moment.It also denounced the complete lack of allsorts of rights under the Somoza regimewhen torture, prison and murder weredaily events. The voice of the EpiscopalConference which played an importantpart in our struggle, also demonstratedabroad the justice of the popular struggle,when the bishops attacked the Somozaregime on the issue of human rightsviolations.Were there differences of opinion withinthe Church vis-a-vis the revolutionarystruggle during the liberation process,before the war?In Nicaragua, like anywhere else, the Churchis highly divided. Thus Monsenor Romero(Archbishop) was accused of being acommunist by the same Salvadorean bishopsand Monsenor Casaldani in Brazil wasequally accused of being a communist bya fellow Brazilian Bishop. It is true thatour Church in Latin America is divided,because our Church is composed of men,and men are tied to particular interests,men who belong to a social class or whohave identified with the interests of asocial class. In the Church, too, there arepositions which originate not from aninterpretation of the gospel, but from aclass position, from the perspective of asocial class, from the interests of that class.We believe that this should not shock us,but rather motivate us to fight more forChurch unity, which, in order to beauthentic has to be a unity based on thecompromise with the poor.That's where we have to unite: those whopresently attend to the interests of therich and those who have identifiedthemselves with the cause of the poor. Wehave all to meet, but the meeting place,the place of unity, does not consist in eachrespective group giving up its aims, becauseprinciples cannot be abandoned. We cannotgive up our duty towards the poor. Weare prepared to give our lives for thisobligation towards the poor, and we havedone so. We cannot make any concessionson this point. We think that it is on thispoint that we have to unite. The criticismsof this process have to be made from theunderstanding that there is an obligationtowards the poor and not as is beingpresently done by a section, from classinterests.Then we can say there are differences:there are divisions with wide dimensions.There is sufficient maturity in the Churchhere really to avoid these tensionsbreaking unity for good. Instead theseprocesses and these divisions are beingexperienced in a dynamic manner and weare all participating in the work of thisChurch without allowing the tensions tobreak our fraternity and cooperationcompletely.What was the position of the Churchtowards the armed struggle?Our Christian people joined the armedstruggle, spontaneously and fought formany months, determined and courageous;amongst them were even some priests,amongst who the most famous, our he.Commander Giaspar Carcia Laviana, diedin combat. Our people chose the armedstruggle as the only viable option left.They did not choose the armed strugglebecause it might be nice, because it mightbe pleasant or comfortable, but becauseit had become the only means left to fightthe Somoza dictatorship after 45 years ofstruggle and the exhaustion of all othermeans to fight the regime.On various occasions, the bishops hadwritten against violence; they said in arather unanalytical way and with littledepth that they opposed all forms ofviolence, no matter who were to indulgein it. It seems to me that this judgementwas unjust because it equated the violenceof the oppressor with the violent resistenceof the oppressed. But in the end, a few daysbefore the final insurrection, the Nicaraguanbishops wrote a letter in which they justifiedthe use of violent means in Nicaraguabecause it had become the last desperateway left to the people to achieve theirfreedom.There is a concept some people call the"theology of liberation". Would you pleaseexplain to us what your understandingof this concept is?The theology of liberation is thegospel here and now. The gospel iseternal, it was valid in the Ist, in the 5th,

Page 27 of 38 in the 16th centuries and it is valid in the20th century, and it also applies to Italyas well as it does to Nicaragua. But thisGospel must be adjustable, it must haveinterpretations related to our era, ourcontinent and our country.There is no universal theology, but atheology that adjusts to changing realitiesor situations, to the realities of each eraand of each nation. The Latin Americantheologians who joined the struggle fromsome trench, who joined the struggle ofthe Latin American people, were lookingfor answers in their individual readingsof the Gospel. The problems they wantedto be answered were those emanating fromthe situation of a continent where culturalinjustice and evil - a sinful situation -were dominant, as the bishops say in thedocuments of Medellin. The reading of theGospel from the viewpoint of the sinfulsituation, from the structural situationof evil, lead to an interpretation of thegospel which answers the questions of thepeople. This interpretation of the Gospelwhich gives answers to the problems of ourtimes and of our era, is what is understoodas the theology of liberation. It gains itshighest expression in the Medellindocuments, where the Second GeneralConference of Latin American bishopstook place in 1968.It is a theology which leads to involve-ment, a theology of flesh and blood; atheology which definitelyopts for the causeof the poor, a theology which leaves behindthe deviations of the past, the manipulationsof capitalism and which abandons for goodits concubinage which the Churchmaintained in many sectors and countrieswith capitalism. The Church had beenliving with capitalism and the final divorceofficially came about at that meeting inMe dellin, 1968. It is a theology that hasgained the admiration of the great Europeantheologians and we can say that LatinAmerica, for the first time, has somethingto say to European theology. For the firsttime, Latin America ceases to be thecontinent where missionaries have to cometo in order to repeat the catechism to thenatives. We are these natives because we arestarting to say our word and to think asgrown-ups within the Church. All this isthe theology of liberation.What is the role of the Church in the freeand liberated Nicaragua of today?The Church has an eternal role which isits mission to spread the gospel, to makeJesus present in every nation, in everypeople and in all times. This mission is notchanged by the economic or political systemin the country. The mission of theNicaraguan Church continues to be theteaching of the gospel, to make Jesuspresent, to be the arms, to be the feet,the hands and the mouth of Jesus carryinghis message of liberation.The Church, finding itself in thisliberation process which in Nicaragua iscalled the Popular Sandinista Revolution;without any doubt, must become fleshand blood within this process, and if itdoes not like to be in the clouds like inthe past, if it wants to be like the seed sowedin the ground, if it wants to flourish, thenit has to become flesh and blood, then ithas to become part of this revolutionarySandinista process and be the light andferment, but not from Miami, where manyof those who called themselves fermentand Christians escaped to. At the same timethey left behind the masses whilst thinkingof themselves as being the light, as beingthe ferment; they went to Miami. TheChristian has to stay here with the massesand illuminate, preserve and maintain,in this process, the prophetic, critical andauthentic vision of what human andChristian values have to be like in orderto make the process succeed.Concretely speaking, we think that theChurch has to have a position with twobasic elements which is to support theSandinista revolutionary process which is aprocess in favour of the poor. There is noreason why this process should not besupported, seeing that everything is aimedat benefit the poor.There is not a single reason why theinterests of the powerful, of the rulingclasses, should be defended. On thecontrary, Christianity has to support thisprocess which is in favour of the poor.But this support has to be a critical one,that is, without idealizing the processand aware of the fact that it is made bymen, by sinners which we all are, the Pope,the bishops, us priests and all Christians.And we have to be in a process of perpetual

Page 28 of 38 renewal, that is, us and all those who areimmerged in this process. But nobodycan be converted from the outside, and inorder to be the light and the ferment wehave to endorse this process. Our propheticword should not become a stone-throwfrom the outside. but should be the criticalvoice capable of analysing from the insideand indicating errors as well as pushingand supporting whatever is necessary.What message would you give to theChristians in South Africa especially theoppressed black christians?I think the Christian message has got a veryimportant element for these peoples, andthis is hope. We have to commit ourselves,motivated by love, by the love for justice,and fraternity. In this commitment ourChristian faith speaks of hope, the hopethat grows from the understanding thatthere is a God working on history, that thereis a God who is not alien to the liberationprocess of peoples, the God who once InEgypt with his people knew how to descendand save the Israelites from oppression inEgypt. And God continues to work throughmen in history, dying and fighting for theliberation of these peoples. Let us add thestrength of hope to the strength of loveand the many strength we gain from humansense and from our values. We shall notdespair, because victory will be ours. Let usalways have hope as a permanent forceof energy, knowing that we may die, butour cause will persist and triumph, becauseit is the cause of justice, because it is thecause of love, because it is the cause of God.ANC (S.A.) AND SWAPODELEGATIONIN U.S.A.M A joint delegation of Southern Africa'sliberation movements, SWAPO of Namibiaand the African National Congress of SouthAfrica made a brief but effective visit ofthe United States of America. Thedelegation was led by Comrade O.R. Tambo,President of the ANC(SA) and Comradeoses Garoeb, the Administrative SecretarySWAPO (who represented SWAPOPresident Sam Nujoma who could not attendowing to a country-wide speakingengagement of Zimbabwe).This was a response to an invitation bythe African-American Lobby group -TransAfrica and the Southern AfricanSupport Project to attend a conferenceof black leaders in Washington in responseto the Reagan Administration's policieson Southern Africa and to visit Atlanta,Georgia.The invitation came just before whatwere then "secret" documents on themeetings between Botha (racist foreignminister) and Malan (racist defence minister)and Chester Crocker in Pretoria and abriefing to US Secretary of State GeneralHaig on the meeting he was to hold withBotha during his condemned visit to theUnited States. The documents were leakedto executive director of TransAfrica, RandallRobinson, by sympathisers in theAdministration staff.The discussions reveal a seriouscontemplation of war against the liberationforces and independent states in defenceof the imperialist outpost - ApartheidSouth Africa. They are plots against thepeople of Namibia and Angola in particularand the rest of the sub-continent. Thebasis of this special friendship is thecommitment to fight what they term "sovietpresence" in Africa. In short, they

Page 29 of 38 constituted the most dangerous and deadlyrecipe for war, fought on African soil butinvolving the whole of humanity. Theyare planning to do the impossible - stopthe tide of liberation which is sweepingthe sub-continent in favour of peace,national liberation and social progress.The tour and conference per se wastimely and effective and could not havecome at any better time. It was in thisfavourable atmosphere that the delegationwent about its successful business right inthe belly of the beast.Conference in WashingtonThe National Conference whose theme was"Building forces against United Statessupport for South Africa", convened onthe 8th June. at the Blackburn StudentCenter, Howard University, Washington D.C.This was preceded by a press conferencechaired by Randall Robinson and addressedby Comrade President O.R. Tambo,Comrade Moses Garoeb, Ambassador Clarke(Nigerian representative to the UNO andChairman of the Special Committee onApartheid), Congressman William Grey andSylvia Hill, Co -chairperson of the SouthernAfrican Support Project. This pressconference almost degenerated into anAmerican court, with the ANC Presidentin the dock to answer charges on"communism" -- which was based on thecharacterisation of Liberation Movementsas "terrorist organisations", which are"an extension of international terrorismand communism". That is the low levelto which some journalists have stooped.The Conference itself was attended byleading personalities from the blackAmerican Community, representing thechurches, trade unions, solidarity organisa-tions, political groupings and members ofthe diplomatic corps in Washington.The welcome address was made by theMayor of Washington, the honorable MarionBarry. The first session, which was a round-table discussion on "The struggle to liberateNamibia and South Africa and US Foreignpolicy collaboration with the South Africanregime" was chaired by Dr. RobertCummings, Chairman, Department ofAfrican studies at Iiarvard University. Themain papers were presented by the followingspeakers , who constituted the panel:* Comrade President Oliver Tambo,President, African National Congress (SA).* Moses Garoeb, Administrative SecretarySWAPO of Namibia.* His Excellency B.A. Clark, Ambassaforfrom Nigeria to the United Nations andChairman, U.N. Special Committee onApartheid.* Congressman William Clark, US Houseof Representatives; Vice-ChairmanCongressional Black Caucus; Chairman BlackCaucus Foreign Affairs Committee.* Randall Robinson, Director, TransAfrica.* Sylvia Hill, Co-Chairperson, SouthernAfrica Support Project, Washington D. C.In the discussion that followed thepresentations, the points below were madeby the participants:+ Namibia's independence is not the endof decolonimtion.+ Communism has never been a threatto Africa - only colonialism, racism andimperialism. "communism" is used as anexcuse and this is meant to confuse peopleabout the real perspectives of the Africanliberation process - hence labels of"Terrorism and Communists" to liberationmovements.+ The Western press distort andmisrepresent Liberation Movements inAfrica.+ Conference will seek to clarify toAmerican people the relation betweenracism and war and that "to stand upagainst what is happening in SouthernAfrica is to stand up for ourselves." Thereis a need to galvanise against racism and war+ A representative from Grenada, broughtspecial greetings from the Prime Minister ofGrenada to Comrade President Tambo andthe ANC. She also declared that the"Caribbean people stand with the peopleof the US in the struggle against Reagan'Ipolicies. Caribbean people will alwayssupport the people of South Africa andNamibia - led by the ANC and SWAPO".+ the participants commented at lengthon the "secret" documents. "They containan attack on the U.N. by attempting to usethe old tactic of divide and rule. These areattempts to split the UN, the OAU and thenon-aligned movement. To say the UN isnot responsible for the independence ofNamibia is to attack a policy which hasbeen there (since 1945). The struggle for

Page 30 of 38 PresidentO. R. Tambowith RandalRobinson,executive Direc-tor of Trans-Africa inWashington -D. C.global resources is bent on destroyingthe people of the third world."The 2nd Sessions' theme was the"Summation of the Current efforts in theUnited States to mobilise opposition againstUS Collaboration with South Africa."There were panel presentations on"An overview of the US Anti.ApartheidMovement" and "The Task of buildinga National Network Against U.S. Collabora-tion with South Africa" presented byBelvie Rooks from the Bay Area SupportCommittee, San Francisco, California andSylvia Hill, repectively. The session waschaired by Canon Robert C.S. Powell,Director, Africa Office, National Councilof Churches, USA.In the discussion that followed, thesewhat is left is the translation of the commit-ments made into united mass action againstthe Reagan policies.Rally at Howard UniversityIn the evening, at the Compton Auditoriumon the campus of Howard University, amoving rally was organised to "show theworld over visible support for the liberationstruggle in South Africa and Namibia."The rally was addressed by ComradePresident Oliver Tambo, Comrade MosesGaroeb and the Rev. Ben Chevis of theWilmington 10. On the chair was thedirector of TransAfrica, Randall Robinson.The messages were interspersed with thebeautiful and political music of SweetHoney - a Washington based musicalgroup, who captured and conveyed in songand poetry the struggle against racism in theUnited States and against apartheid fascismin South Africa.The rally was indeed a fitting tributeand welcome to the delegation of theliberation movements. Their response wasan assurance that in the children of Africain the United States, the people of SouthernAfrica have a powerful and natural ally.MeetingsOn Capital Hill, the seat of power, seperatemeetings were held with the representativesof Congress, House of Representativesand Senate sub-committees on Africa.There was also a meeting at the editorialoffices of the Washington Post with thenewspapers' editors, including the formereditor of the World and Post, Percy Qobozawho is on the Washington Post editorialstaff.A discussion on the perspectives forfurther developing and strengthening oflinks between the liberation movementsand the solidarity movement was held withrepresentatives of the Southern AfricanSupport Project.The delegation, accompanied by RandalRobinson went to Atlanta where theywere received as guests of the mayor. After 25

Page 31 of 38 a brief meeting they were introduced toelected black officials in the State ofGeorgia. Also attending were religious andcommunity leaders, students and politicalactivists on African issues. The meetingwas addressed by Comrade President O.R.`I' ambo and Comrade 'Moses Garoeb.Immediately after the meeting therewas a press conference co-sponsored bythe 1'Iayor Lowery, Senator Julian Bondand Mrs Corretta Scott King - widow ofDr Martin Luther King Jr.This was followed by a business lunchwith Andrew Young, the former ambassadorof the United States to the UN and MrsCorretta Scott King. Thereafter thedelegation was taken on tour of the cityand saw the graveside and constructionsite of the Dr Martin Luther King Jr.Memorial Center.Atlanta UniversityThe politics department of the Universityof Atlanta organised a briefing session onthe situation in Southem Africa. Thediscussions focussed mainly on the policyof the US on Southern Africa and the levelof the struggle both in Namibia and SouthAfrica.These discussions were very lively,fruitful and frank. They benefited thestudents who had already showed theirpoints were made:* Smccesive administrations have neverhad relations with liberation movements,nor have they ever called for severingrelations with South Africa.* That the current policy is not acompletely new policy.* Participants were in favour of workingtowards a policy on sanctions against fascistSouth Africa. It was also noted that noadministration has ever supported sanctions.* Also discussed was the arrogance of USadministration's "linkage" policy of makingNamibian independence conditional on thewithdrawal of Cuban friendly forces fromthe Peoples Republic of Angola.* There is a definite need for setting upa machinery to mobilise material and overallsupport for the liberation struggle inSouthern Africa.* Participants were urged to attend anICSA regional conference to be held inNew York in October. The need forcommitment towards rallying support forthis conference was emphasised.The last stage of the Conference was adiscussion of a draft national declarationcalling for commitment towards specificprogrammes to rally support for theliberation struggle in South Africa andNamibia. The document was unanimouslyadopted with a pro-visa that the pointsraised in the discussion be incorporatedin the final report. On the whole, theConference achieved its main purpose andsolidarity in January of this year when theylaunched a demonstration against thebrutal murder of ANC cadres at Matolain Mozambique.An evening discussion with 41 people,mainly from the support groups in Atlantawas introduced by Comrade PresidentTambo and led by Comrade Moses Garoebof SWAPO. The focus of the discussionwas the Reagan policies and means oforganising to oppose them.Also in attendance were the black authorand activist James Baldwin and the widowof Walter Rodney. The meeting concludedby agreeing on a date for a discussion onhow to organise in Atlanta and link upwith other groups mobilising in otherparts of the United States.The Atlanta programme was also a greatsign of encouragement and inspiration.All the support and welcome the delegationenjoyed came amidst a tense anddemoralising atmosphere engendered by theunsolved murders of black children. OnBehalf of the delegation, the ANC Presidentexpressed the condolences of the peopleof South Africa and Namibia to the parentsand residents of Atlanta.At the United NationsOn the morning of the 11th June, theANC President and Comrade Garoebaddressed a special session of the UnitedNations Special Committee on Apartheid,chaired, for the last time, by AmbassadorAkpokorode Clarke, Nigerian Ambassadorto the UN and Chairman of the SpecialCommittee. The meeting was attended bythe member-countries of the SpecialCommittee and other representatives fromthe diplomatic corps.

Page 32 of 38 Both Comrades Tambo and Garoeb paidtribute to the work of Ambassador Clarkand to Nigeria on their practical examplein dealing effectively with South Africa'sallies - the latest example being the warningthey had given to New Zealand on theconsequences of allowing a springboktour of that country.In turn Ambassador Clarke expressed hisappreciation for the honour accorded himand his country in chairing the Committee.The main content of the messages dealtwith the current balance of forces in SouthAfrica and Namibia and the implicationsof the war policies of Reagan and his alliesin the imperialist west.ConclusionThe tour by the delegation of the liberationmovements had a very resounding impacton those people and organisations who arecommited to building support for theliberation struggle against ApartheidColonialism and mounting effectiveopposition to Reagan's policies. On the sideof the liberation movements the tour wasa source of inspiration gained in theknowledge that our firm and dedicatedallies in the United States are growing instrength.The resilient and consistent fight on bothfronts, - the United States and SouthAfrica - is the main effective guaranteethat plots hatched in Washington andPretoria will be defeated.XIHOSHE:Poetry Towards the RevolutionWe have temporarily digressed from ourspecific examination of particular blackSouth African poets so that we mightbriefly look at a few theoretical issues.We shall be returning, as promised in anearlier article, to poets such - S'P'-'a'Serote, Brutus, Kunene. and also tophenomena such as the use of "streetlanguage" in poetry; and in the meantimewe welcome comment on the series.We have in two earlier discussions lookedfairly closely at individual poets and/orpoems, and in the first had raised questionswhich have since been left largelyunanswered. We wish with these pointsand notes to mix the two approaches to oursubject, and to hazard some answers, a fewperspectives.SCHOOLS & MOVEMENTS & STREAMSWhen we proposed dealing chiefly withpoetry of black South Africans, it wascertainly not to be "racially" exclusive,not even in terms of an apartheid in reverseoverturning of the prominence inpublication and appraisal heretoforebestowed on white South Africans, howevermuch such a redress is needed, especiallyto indicate the mass, weight , tone aaddirection (as well as influence) of thisgenerally neglected oral and writtenmaterial.No, rather it was an expression of astrongly held certainty that to an extremelylarge extent the last two/three decadeshave seen an outpouring of and a manifesta-tion in poetry from Blacks that istantamount to a "black" poetic renaissanceand a "new" aesthetic. Now, this renaissance(with its coincident aesthetic) is one aspectof the art-cultural utterance thataccompanied the experiences, activitiesand awareness of the political, social andeconomic realities of South Africa, ofSouthern Africa, and of the world, ascertain very important changes were taking

Page 33 of 38 place, and were made to take place in theaftermath of the 1939-1945 war, andespecially during the 60's and 70 's.It is axiomatic that the same eventsaffect people in different class positionsin quite different ways. In the sense ofthis same truism, it stands to reason thatthe South African reality with its hierarchiesand divisions of class, colour, language]and polity should, by and large, find theseexperiential realities perceived, conceivedand expressed differently in/by the differentconstituent communities of the body politic.Hence our pro-tem use of an otherwisehighly suspect distinction between blackand white South African poets.That a certain set of experiences, andthe resultent outlook and sensibility, canlead to an artistic movement can be broadlyattested to by the following.First, more or less concurrent with theIndustrial Revolution in England and thegrowth of nationalism (or bourgeoisdemocracy) in most of the rest of Europe,we have the development of what isgenerally known as Romanticism. To limitourselves to British poets, it is legitimateto regard writers like Coleridge, Wordsworth,Byron, Shelley and Keats as Romanticists.Their shared interest in nature, in the pastand the future, in democracy and thecommon man, their awareness of substantialchange and the need to support itsprogressive and to fight its negative features,their themes and the voice they find fortheir concerns, all these make them differentfrom their poetic precursors and theircontemporary traditionalists.Again, the realism of novelists likeDreisser, Upton Sinclair, Sinclair LewisHohn dos Passos and Steinbeck, an attitudeand a style that differed sharply from whatwas made pormative by writers like HenryJames, could express social concern andsocial criticism because of how the writerssaw and experienced, personally andpolitically, what American society offeredbetween about 1918 and 1940, in NewYork, Chicago and California, to thoseless privileged than the Jamesian NewEnglander whose heart and mind wereoften in Europe.Third, the generation of Afro-Americanpoets and fir tionalists who constitute whatis generally known as the HarlemRenaissance do have in common a wholerange of rhythms and topics, of idiom andreference that may have been denied theirwhite contemporaries and that their blackprecursors often denied themselves. Thatthat group is as various as to include ClaudeMcKay, Langston Hughes, James NeldonJohnson, and Jean Toomer does not lessenits impact as a contributor, a co.tributary,to the stream of American letters, norinvalidate its being identified as a specificsub-stream, a tidal movement.And almost as a continuation of theHarlem Movement, but in a differentcontext, the poets Leon Damas, AimeCesaire, Leopold Sedar Senghor, BiragoDiop and David Diop, whether they wereborn in Africa or in the Caribbean, whetherbrought up at home and further educatedin France or largely reared in France, allfelt so much the bond of their colonialcondition that they together constitutean important portion of the poetry of themovement known as Negritude.Finally, for our purposes, though thelist is hardly exhausted, two more recent,mainly poetic, schools: (i) the "Black IsBeautiful, "Black Power" and "FreedomCalls For Militant Vigilance" school ofexpression that changed the names and thestyles of poets, or determined the voicesof poets in America, includes Don L. Leeand Leroi Jones/Amiri Baraka, as well asthe early Nikki Giovanni and some of themodulations of middle Gwendolyn Brooks;and it is, of course, difficult to see eventhe most wildly imaginable shift ofconsciousness consistently produce this kindof poetry in the Euro-American mainstreamor without the political activities thatbrought the shift from civil disobedienceto vigil and self-defence; (ii) the AfricanLusophone poetry of Mozambique, CapeVerde, Angola and the other Portuguesecolonies in Africa produced in Rebelo,dos Santos, Noemia de Sousa, Craveirinhaand Agostinho Neto - as well as CostaAndrade - (whose membership oforganisations like FRELI,lo or MPLAis definite in the case of three of our sixnamed above) was one aspect of a broaderfight against the Portuguese colonialpresence. The anti-colonialist,anti-exploitative utterance is here the onethat makes for a unified stream of Africanpoetry_ in Portuguese from about 1950to 197.

Page 34 of 38 We shall, soon, be considering, again invery general terms, the positive valuesto be derived from grouping writers who"belong together", and shall, also, giveattention to the need to discriminatethe individuals in "a school" from oneanother, or phases in an individual fromeach other. We conclude this one herewith only the addition of a short, tentativebibliography to guide those who are newto South African verse by black poets.LIMITED INTERIM BIBLIOGRAPHYBrutus, Dennis: A Simple Lust (1973)Stubborn Hope (1978) both Heinemann,London.Kgositsile, Keorapetse: Spirits Unchained(1969) Broadside Press, Detroit. For Melba(1970) Third World Press, Chicago. MyName Is Africa (1971) Doubleday, NewYork. Heartprints/Herzspuren (1980)Schwiftinger Galerie-Verlag (in English andGerman).Kunene, Mazisi: Zulu Poems (1970) DeutschLondon. Emperor Shaka the Great (1979)Heinemann, London.Mtshali, Oswald Mbuyiseni: Sounds of aCowhide Drum (1971) Oxford Univ. PressLondon.Nortje, Arthur: Dead Roots (1973)Heinemann, London (posthumouslypublished).Sepamla, Sipho: The Soweto I Love (1977)Collings, London.Serote, Mongane Wally: Yakhal'Inkomo(1972). Tsetlo (1974). No Baby Must Weep(1975). Behold Mama, Flowers (1978)Donker, London.PROFILE:DENNIS GOLDBERGIn June 1964 Denis Goldberg was sentencedto life imprisonment, to incarcerationin a South African prison for the rest of hisnatural life.When he was sentenced, at the end ofthe Rivonia Trial, Denis was 31. Now heis 48. Like his comrades on Robben Island,Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, RaymondMhlaba and other "lifers" Denis has alreadyserved 17 years. Since 1971 his wife Esmehas not been allowed to visit him depiterepeated applications. His mother Annie,who died in 1975 was given permissionto visit her son once (after she moved toEngland) in 1974. And in 1980 his fatherSam who had been his constant link withlife outside, died in Johannesburg.Both Annie and Sam Goldberg werelife-long political activists, members of theCommunist Party and participants in thenational liberation struggle in South Africasince the 1930's when they first came tothe country, Annie originally fromLondon, Sam from Lithuania. Denis grewup in Cape Town in an atmosphere ofheightened political consciousness,discussion and activity.At Observatory Boys School his athleticabilities developed as did his gift for thepractical and scientific. He qualified as acivil engineer at the University of CapeTown and met and married EsmeBodenstein, a champion swimmer and hismatch in every way. They both joined theModern Youth Society which attractedyoung people of all national groups whowanted a change of government based on"one person, one vote". In 1955 Deniswas among the founding members of theCongress of Democrats (COD) and waselected Treasurer. At the time COD workedfor mass support for the Congress of thePeople and Denis attended the historicKliptown Conference in 1955 as a delegatefrom the Western Cape, arriving despitepolice blockades, lorry breakdown andimpediments all the way of the journey.For those young years Denis was practicaland intrepid. He always believed and madeothers believe that obstacles were there

Page 35 of 38 to be overcome and his enthusiasticoptimism infected those who workedwith him. That optimism is with him stilland sustains him through all the horrorsof South African prison existence.In his book "A Healthy Grave" JamesKantor describes his first meeting withDenis in Pretoria Maximum Security Prison."When we were taken out for exerciseI noticed that there was another detainee.The newcomer was a stocky well-builtman ... and walked in a peculiar way ...I heard a metallic noise and with horrorrealized the reason for his peculiar gait.A length of thick, linked chain ran betweenhis ankles ... The chain was some four feetin length and weighed over ten pounds.Although I had never seen him beforehe smiled at me ....."Again when Denis was brought to courtin chains his spirit was high, undauntedwaving, smiling and shouting messages tohis comrades. For his attempts at escapinghe had suffered long spells in solitaryconfinement, with "meals" a euphemismfor punishment by the withdrawal of food.His letters from his wife have for yearson end been undelivered. Yet an unflaggingspirit informs his letters to his family andto those of his friends whom he is stillallowed to write to. While in prison he hastaken 3 degrees with UNISA and keepsup with current trends in every field.On August 3, 1977 "Denis Goldbergand Seven Others" brought an action againstthe Minister of Prisons, General Willem duPreen and Brigadier Ferdinand Gerickefor denying them their rights as set outin the Prison Act.'Phe men had the utmost difficultyin bringing the action. Hiding behind theshield of "state security" the prisonauthorities placed every conceivable obstaclein their way and constantly threatenedthem with punishment.In this case Denis Goldberg's affidavitwill remain an important testimony to theconditions under which political prisonersin South Africa struggle. After describingtheir complaints in detail he states:"Since 1964 I have raised the matterscomplained of with various Ministers ofJustice, Commissioners of Prisons and theCommanding Officers, and have even writtento the Prime Minister. I have maderepresentations to judges and also to theCommission on Penal Reform which rejectedthe memorandum signed by several of theapplicants on the main ground that it wasconcerned with "Penal Reform" and not"Prison Reform"." (Such an applicationwas also drawn up by Comrade Bram Fischerbefore his untimely death). In his legaldealings Goldberg reported that he hadbeen refused permission to hand anydocuments over to his attorney, Mr 'Pucker.All information and lengthy statementshad to be read aloud to the attorney andconsultations had been prolonged andhampered at every stage. As could bepredicted the application failed in court.Denis' dedication to the liberationmovement and his sense of personaldiscipline are salient characteristics andresponsible for his having joined Umkhontowe Sizwe in 1961. He and his mother weredetained after the Sharpeville massacre inMarch of that year and on his release fromprison he saw no other alternative than tojoin the military wing of the ANC. In1963 he went underground in order toserve on the High Command of MK. Whenthe security police raided the cottage of theRivonia house Denis was there with theleaders. When he was sentenced to lifeimprisonment in June 1964, Denis shoutedto his wife in court: "Life, life to live".Anyone who came into contact withBram Fischer was immediately encompassedby his warmth and compassion and hisevident humanity. When Bram was ill hiscomrades began to bang on the cell wallsin unison demanding that someone staywith Bram overnight in his cell. The persondeputed to do so was Denis, the practical,considerate and sensitive fellow prisonerwho would know what to do for Bram whowas at that time already suffering fromcancer. Just as Bram was an inspirationto those who witnessed his courage, sohas Denis inspired in the younger prisonerswho came to Pretoria, an admiration andstrength of purpose.It is almost two decades since DenisGoldberg has been confined by prisonwalls. News of the tide of events in Africareaches him as it does his fellow prisoners,and we have every reason to envisage a daywhen Denis and all others serving lifewrAences in South Africa will shout"Inkululeko" and welcome freedom'smorning.

Page 36 of 38 ANC IN PICTURESGouwenius, P. Power To the People! SouthAfrica in Struggle: A Pictorial History,Zed Press (London) 1981;Weinberg, E., Portrait of a People: Apersonal photographic record of the SouthAfrican liberation struggle, InternationalDefence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa,London 1981.The book by Peder Gouwenius, a graphicartist from Sweden, uses strip cartoonsto tell the story of the struggle of theSouth African people for over three hundredyears. This is a different type of a "comic"without superman. It is an interesting story,done in an interesting way, a bit too bulky(140 pages) and therefore difficult tofollow though the language and style issimple.There are problems with this bookespecially in depicting the history of theANC. The ANC is said to be "an ordinaryreform movement, promoting neithercommunism nor revolution" (p109) andthe Communist Party "faced a time oftroubles due to their excessive loyalty totheories and strategies formulated in theSoviet Union, far from the realities ofSouth Africa" (p54). Gumede who wasnever a communist is described as follows:"Unfortunate: a hot head - a communist".(p55) and about the Alexandra bus boycottof 191, we read "yes, the present leadershipis no good, run by a handful of whitecommunists.." (p112).One wonders whether the space givento the PAC and comments on it are worthit considering the historically brief periodof existence of that movement and thefact that it was politically never effectiveexcept for the Sharpeville and Langaincidents in 1960 - even then the majorityof the people killed there were ANC peoplebecause they thought it was a Congresscall PAC called itself "Congress' . Wecannot agree with the impression createdin the portayal of the Defiance Campaign-- it seems people just wanted to go to jailand throughout the Africans were hopeless:"There is nothing we can do" (p136).The mission of the external mission ofthe ANC is totally misunderstood: "Manyleft and walked over the borders to a lifeas refugees - The ANC told some leaderslike Oliver `fambo to leave to function as"ambassadors". The photograph of NelsonMandela at the end of the book is impressivebut it would have been more impressivehad Mandela been portrayed in the contextof the emerging and developing undergroundANC and Umkhonto we Si-e. By the waythe differences in the ANC never tooka form of a "generation gap" -althoughsuperficially they might have given thatimpression - it was a question of whichpolitical line to take and what is morethis was made possible by the ANC itself:the ANC as a "parliament of the people"created conditions for those differencesto exist and it solved the problems withinthe structures of the ANC.Product of Life ItselfThe second book by Eli Weinberg is some-what different in that its not a product ofa creative imagination but of life itself -the photographs were produced from reallife; from the struggles of our people thatis before they went to the laboratory. Elisays in the introduction:"I hope my photographs will show thata deep-rooted resistance movement againstapartheid has always existed and continuesto exist in South Africa; that this movementhas well-considered directions and 31

Page 37 of 38 objectives; and that at every stage of itsdevelopment it has had, and continues tohave, the loyal and enthusiastic supportof the majority of South Africans." (p5)But it suffers from the weakness of all"personal photographic records" in thatwhat we see is what Eli Weinberg saw andadded to that is the fact that he was bannedfrom the trade unions, restricted,imprisonedand house arrested. To add insult to injury:"In my precipate flight from SouthAfrica I was unable to take with me mycollection of negatives built up over theyears. When I subsequently tried to recoverthem, there occurred one of those tragedieswhich are the inevitable by-product of anactive political life. In a sad set of circum-stances the bulk of my collection was lostor destroyed and I managed to recover onlya small percentage of the total. Of this,the photographs in this book are aselection".These two books do - in the opinionof this reviewer - give us in a simple mannerthe picture of South African resistance.The authors who did not depend much onthe type writer and the pen turned theirtalents into weapons. We recommend themto the readers of Sechaba.F.M..PORTRAIT OF A PEOPLEA personal photographic record of the South African liberation struggleby ELI WEINBERG

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