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This issue asked British women’s organisations to celebrate 1984 as ‘The Year of the Women’, designated by the African National Congress. Its debate column defended the decision to set up the women’s committee, partly on the grounds that women faced special obstacles in taking part in political campaigns. It also remembered the women and children who died in the South African armed forces attack on Namibian refugees at Kassinga, Angola in May 1978. Its guest column, by the Greater London Council’s Anti-Racist Year Co-ordinator Pamela Nanda, reported on the action taken by the GLC to implement its Anti-Apartheid Declaration.

Issue 13 featured an interview with veteran anti-apartheid campaigner Helen Joseph, former Secretary of the Federation of South African Women and treason trialist, for many years banned for her role in the struggle. The debate column presented an alternative perspective on the contraceptive Depo Provera, arguing that it was a convenient option for many black South African women. The issue called for the release of Albertina Sisulu and highlighted the special deprivations faced by women political prisoners.

South African Prime Minister P W Botha’s visit to Britain in 1984 provoked an unprecedented wave of opposition. This issue of the newsletter asked women to join the AAM’s demonstration against the visit on 2 June. It also celebrated the release from prison of ANC women’s leader Dorothy Nyembe and carried Part 2 of an interview with Helen Joseph.

The South African Women’s Day issue mourned ANC member Jeanette Schoon and her daughter Katryn, assassinated by a parcel bomb in Angola, where they were living in exile. Its guest column by writer Beverley Naidoo exposed the racist literature available in many British public libraries. SWAPO activist Magdalena Nghatanga joined the debate on Depo Provera, arguing that all South African women should be offered a full choice of contraceptive methods and not be forced to use Depo Provera. 

Issue 16 featured 100 years of struggle for self-determination in Namibia and the visit to Britain of three leading members of the SWAPO Women’s Council. It reported on a 1000-strong meeting in Hackney Town Hall, held to celebrate South African Women’s Day on 9 August. It reproduced an article that first appeared in the South African War Resisters Journal Resister about the role of women in armed struggle in Namibia and South Africa.

In 1984 South Africa’s townships rose in revolt, marking a new phase in the anti-apartheid struggle. The newsletter highlighted the role of women in the new militancy and sent solidarity greetings to the resurgent Federation of South African Women. A guest column by Glenys Kinnock argued that South African women were oppressed on the grounds of sex, class and colour and pledged to campaign among British women in response to their courage.

Issue 18 focused on the boycott campaign and ‘the politics of shopping’, listing products and companies that should be boycotted. In the debate column Mildred Mkandla exposed the UN Decade for Women’s failure to have any significant effect on the discrimination and exploitation faced by Southern African women.

As part of the AAM’s relaunch of the South African boycott campaign, this issue of the newsletter focused on how to refute arguments against the boycott. It called for the release of Albertina Sisulu, arrested and held in solitary confinement. It celebrated the 30_^th anniversary of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU). A guest column reported on the mushrooming of anti-apartheid campaigns in the USA