Anti-Apartheid News

AA News mourned the death of Dulcie September, assassinated in Paris by agents of the apartheid government. It welcomed new prospects for the independence of Namibia, insisting that the withdrawal of South African forces from Angola was an essential precondition for negotiations. It revealed that nearly a fifth of British companies operating in South Africa had pulled out in the last two years. It reported on a visit by members of the British local government trade union NALGO to South Africa and support from the Women’s TUC conference for anti-apartheid campaigns. The issue also exposed a big drop in British financial support for the frontline states.

‘I will return’, declared Nelson Mandela in a message read by his daughter Zinzi at a rally in Soweto, reported AA News. The newspaper exposed military collaboration with South Africa by the governments of Israel, Chile and Taiwan in contravention of the UN mandatory arms embargo. In an interview, AAM President Trevor Huddleston explained the importance of the movement’s ‘Nelson Mandela: Freedom at 70’ campaign. AA News featured the Commission of Inquiry set up inside South Africa into the detention and torture of children by the security forces and the explosion in the number of anti-apartheid activists detained without trial.

This issue featured the explosion in mass protests in South Africa and Namibia and in international solidarity action. Four hundred million people in 60 countries watched the Nelson Mandela 70th birthday concert at Wembley stadium. The newspaper analysed hurdles in the talks between the USA, South Africa, Cuba and Angola designed to lead to Namibian independence. It reported on the launch of the World Gold Commission, set up to campaign against sales of South African gold, and on the TUC’s award-winning commercial promoting the boycott of South African goods. It featured events organised by local AA groups all over Britain to celebrate Mandela’s 70th birthday.

AA News’ editorial hailed the success of industrial action by workers in South Africa and Namibia. It asked how the mass support for the AAM’s ‘Nelson Mandela: Freedom at 70’ campaign in Britain could be transformed into pressure to force the Thatcher government to support sanctions. It reported on SWAPO’s backing for the agreement between Cuba, Angola and South Africa on the implementation of UN resolution 435 on Namibia. Jeremy Cronin analysed the relationship between the struggle for national liberation and working class action in South Africa. The issue reported on the celebrations of South African Women’s Day, 9 August, in Britain and South Africa.

This issue led on South Africa’s failure to implement its commitment to withdraw its armed forces from Angola. It exposed secret talks that would safeguard South Africa’s nuclear capacity. It announced plans for the AAM’s ‘Boycott Apartheid ‘89’ campaign and reported on the award of the TUC’s Congress gold badge to Nelson Mandela. In a special report from the Cape, AA News revealed how the apartheid authorities were evicting residents from informal settlements and pulling down their homes. AA News again called for action to save the lives of 60 political prisoners awaiting execution on death row.

Elections for segregated local councils in South Africa’s townships were a propaganda fraud, alleged this issue of AA News. In its editorial, the newspaper again focused on the implementation of UN resolution 435 on Namibia and on the need for pressure on the apartheid government to stop the hanging of political prisoners. It announced the formation of a liaison group to coordinate action by Western European anti-apartheid groups to press for European Economic Community sanctions against South Africa. The newspaper exposed the detention and torture of children in South Africa and Namibia and the increase in the number of women detainees.

AA News headlined SWAPO’s call for mass resistance inside Namibia to force South Africa to honour its commitments in independence talks. Abdul Minty accused Israel, Chile and Taiwan of breaking the UN arms embargo. AA News showed how South African companies were planning to increase coal exports to Britain. The ANC’s representative in Britain, Mendi Msimang, warned against attempts to separate Nelson Mandela from the liberation struggle. AA News highlighted the role of South African church leaders in resistance to apartheid and analysed the devastating effect that disinvestment by British and US companies was having on the South African economy.

AA News launched the AAM’s ‘Boycott Apartheid 89’ campaign, calling for a new drive for sanctions against South Africa and a people’s boycott of all apartheid goods. The campaign would target Shell, gold and coal imports and tourism. The newspaper again warned about South Africa’s attempts to undermine Namibian independence and called for support for the AAM’s ‘Free Namibia Now’ lobby of the British parliament on 7 December. It highlighted the emergence of a radical Muslim grouping aligned with the mass democratic movement in South Africa. The newspaper publicised the March Month of Action on Women organised by the AAM Women’s Committee.