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Struggle for Liberation in South Africa and International Solidarity A STRUGGLE FOR LIBERATION IN SOUTH AFRICA AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY A Selection of Papers Published by the United Nations Centre against Apartheid Edited by E. S. Reddy Senior Fellow, United Nations Institute for Training and Research STERLING PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED NEW DELHI 1992 INTRODUCTION One of the essential contributions of the United Nations in the international campaign against apartheid in South Africa has been the preparation and dissemination of objective information on the inhumanity of apartheid, the long struggle of the oppressed people for their legitimate rights and the development of the international campaign against apartheid. For this purpose, the United Nations established a Unit on Apartheid in 1967, renamed Centre against Apartheid in 1976. I have had the privilege of directing the Unit and the Centre until my retirement from the United Nations Secretariat at the beginning of 1985. The Unit on Apartheid and the Centre against Apartheid obtained papers from leaders of the liberation movement and scholars, as well as eminent public figures associated with the international anti-apartheid movements. A selection of these papers are reproduced in this volume, especially those dealing with episodes in the struggle for liberation; the role of women, students, churches and the anti-apartheid movements in the resistance to racism; and the wider significance of the struggle in South Africa. I hope that these papers will be of value to scholars interested in the history of the liberation movement in South Africa and the evolution of United Nations as a force against racism. The papers were prepared at various times, mostly by leaders and active participants in the struggle, and should be seen in their context. For instance, the papers on students were prepared before the Soweto massacre of 1976 and the nation-wide upsurge of the students; those on churches before they defined apartheid as heresy and defied the apartheid regime; and the paper on anti-apartheid movements before they grew into mass movements forcing reluctant governments in the West to impose sanctions against apartheid. They reflect and describe the long effort required to develop resistance and solidarity. The struggle for freedom in South Africa was waged under enormous difficulties and assumed great significance nationally and internationally. The papers show how, under a wise leadership, the national liberation movement was able to avert a race conflict and, indeed, unite people of all racial origins in a common struggle against racist tyranny. By its sacrifice, statesmanship and commitment to non-racialism, this leadership was able to attract the sympathy and support of governments, organisations and eminent public figures around the world. World public opinion was inspired by the movement and played a crucial role in ensuring effective international action to force the racist authorities to abandon their inhuman policy and seek negotiations on the future of the country. While we look forward to reconciliation and peaceful settlement in South Africa, and the emergence of a non-racial democratic society, we dare not forget the past - the barbarity of racism, the heroism of the freedom fighters and the spirit of human solidarity which prevailed. Or we will fail to draw the lessons and prevent a recurrence. I am grateful to the United Nations Secretariat for giving me permission to edit and publish these papers, and the Centre against Apartheid for its co-operation. March 1992 E. S. Reddy CONTRIBUTORS ASMAL, Kader. A South African by birth, he went to Britain for higher studies and was one of the founders of the British and Irish Anti-Apartheid Movements in the 1960s. He was Vice-Chairman and later Chairman of the Irish movement from 1964 to 1990, while a professor at the Trinity College, Dublin. He was invited to many conferences of the United Nations on apartheid and represented the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union at the International Trade Union Conference against Apartheid in Geneva in June 1973. He has written extensively on the legal aspects of apartheid and the status of the South African freedom fighters. He returned to South Africa in 1990 and was appointed Professor of Law at the University of the Western Cape. In 1991 he was elected a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress and chairman of its Constitutional Commission. ASMAL, Mrs. Louise. She was honorary administrative secretary of the Irish Anti- Apartheid Movement and editor of its monthly newsletter, Amandla. She was particularly active in promoting assistance to South African political prisoners and their families. BENSON, Ms. Mary. A writer born in South Africa and long active in support of the struggle for freedom in South Africa, she appeared several times before United Nations bodies to testify on the situation in South Africa. She was served with stringent banning orders by the South African regime and deported from the country in 1966. Her writings include a history of the African National Congress, biographies of Chief Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela and a BBC radio play, A Place for Martyrs. FLANNERY, Father Austin. Born in Tipperary, Ireland, in 1925, he entered the Dominican Order in 1943. He obtained a Doctorate in Theology from Angelicum University, Rome. He was Chairman of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement for many years, and editor of Doctrine and Life, a monthly on Christian life and teaching. HOUSER, George. He had been involved in non-violent resistance to racism in the United States as Executive Secretary of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) from 1944 to 1952. From 1952 to 1981, he was Executive Director of the American Committee on Africa. He now directs a programme on southern Africa at the State University of New York. He is the author of No One Can Stop the Rain: Glimpses of Africa’s Liberation Struggle, 1989. La GUMA, Alex. Author, journalist and member of the National Executive of the Coloured People's Congress of South Africa. He was one of the accused in the Treason Trial of 1956-61. He was served with banning orders in 1961 and placed under 24-hour house arrest in 1962. He went into exile in the 1960s, and was appointed representative of the African National Congress in Havana. He died in exile. MEER, Mrs. Fatima. A former professor of sociology at the University of Natal in Durban, and now director of the Institute for Black Research. Author of Higher than Hope, a biography of Nelson Mandela, and numerous books and papers on South Africa. She has been active in the freedom movement since her student days, suffering imprisonment and restriction on several occasions. NAICKER, M.P. He was Joint Secretary of the Natal Action Committee of the African National Congress and the South African Indian Congress. He went into exile in 1966 and became Director of Publicity and Information of the African National Congress of South Africa and editor of Sechaba, its monthly organ. He died in exile in 1977. REEVES, The Right Reverend Ambrose (1899-1980). He went to South Africa in 1949 and was bishop of the Anglican diocese in Johannesburg until 1961. He was highly respected by the freedom movement for his courageous opposition to apartheid. In 1950 he publicly opposed the Suppression of Communism Act. In 1953 when the Government took over African education from the Churches and sought to provide Africans with what it termed "Bantu education", he refused to hire out Church buildings to the Government. In 1956 he became chairman of a committee which collected funds for the defence of 156 South African leaders who were charged with treason for their opposition to apartheid. After the Sharpeville massacre of March 21, 1960, he visited the wounded at their hospital beds and collected affidavits on the basis of which he charged that the shootings were entirely unprovoked. The South African Government deported him in 1961. He was President of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement from 1965 to 1980. The African National Congress honoured him in 1980 with its highest award, Isitwalandwe. SCHMIDT, Ms. Elizabeth. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, she has been active in the anti-apartheid movement in the United States and has written several papers on southern Africa. The paper published in this collection was from the M. A. dissertation she submitted to the University of Wisconsin. SIBEKO, David. A journalist and political leader, he was director of Foreign Affairs of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania and its representative at the United Nations for several years. He was assassinated in Dar es Salaam in 1979. VERKUYL, Dr. J. He was Professor of Missionary Theology at the Free University of Amsterdam and general secretary of the Missionary Council for the Netherlands. He denounced apartheid as a total contradiction of the Christian message, at the 1968 Reformed Ecumenical Synod in Lunteren (Netherlands) and during a tour of South Africa in March-April 1970. CONTENTS THE STRUGGLE IN SOUTH AFRICA HAS UNITED ALL RACES Mary Benson INTERNATIONAL IMPACT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN STRUGGLE George Houser THE AFRICAN MINERS` STRIKE OF 1946 M. P. Naicker THE DEFIANCE CAMPAIGN RECALLED M. P. Naicker THE SHARPEVILLE MASSACRE - A WATERSHED IN SOUTH AFRICA The Rt. Rev. Ambrose Reeves THE SHARPEVILLE MASSACRE: ITS HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST APARTHEID David Sibeko STUDENT MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA: A STUDY OF THREE STUDENTS MOVEMENTS ILLUSTRATING STUDENT PROBLEMS AND THE GOVERNMENT’S RESPONSE University Christian Movement of the United States WOMEN IN APARTHEID SOCIETY Fatima Meer NOW YOU HAVE TOUCHED THE WOMEN: AFRICAN WOMEN’S RESISTANCE TO THE PASS LAWS IN SOUTH AFRICA, 1950-1960 Elizabeth S. Schmidt APARTHEID AND THE COLOURED PEOPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA Alex La Guma DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE IDEOLOGY AND PRACTICE OF APARTHEID Dr.
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