Anti-Apartheid News

The April issue reported on the rejection of proposals for a settlement on Rhodesia by meetings held by the Pearce Commission all over Zimbabwe. In Britain, MPs handed in to 10 Downing Street an 80,000-signature petition calling for no independence before majority rule. In Namibia, AA News reported on more strikes and detentions of Namibian workers. MPLA leader Daniel Chipenda revealed that MPLA had opened a new front near the Cunene dam project on the Namibian border. Recently released prisoners Fred Carneson and Hugh Lewin told AA News about the conditions endured by white political prisoners in Pretoria Local Prison.

AA News again led on the British Government’s attempts to override the rejection of its settlement proposals by the people of Zimbabwe. It reported on protests at the AGM of Barclays Bank against the bank’s Southern African operations, the first time a company AGM had ended in uproar. On Namibia AA News revealed that SWAPO guerrillas were now fighting in the Caprivi Strip and more than 900 workers had been detained after the recent strike wave. A centre spread featured the Conservative MPs who were profiting from their holdings in companies involved in Southern Africa.

In a summary of the Pearce Commission report AA News showed how the people of Zimbabwe had overwhelmingly rejected the British Government’s settlement proposals. A paper prepared by Ruth First for an international conference on Namibia analysed the apartheid government’s plan to divide and rule the country. In the run-up to the planned 1973 rugby Springbok tour of New Zealand, HART (Halt All Racist Tours) chair Trevor Richards described the background to New Zealand’s sporting links with South Africa. The issue reprinted extracts from an interview with FRELIMO President Samora Machel about the guerrilla war in Mozambique’s Tete province.

Under the headline ‘Who is kidding who?’ this issue exposed the British Government’s failure to implement sanctions against the Smith regime in Zimbabwe. It reported on the state of emergency imposed by the regime and on the formation of a joint guerrilla command by Zimbabwe’s liberation movements ZAPU and ZANU. In a report on the Brussels International Conference on Namibia held in May, AA News listed boycott targets. A centre spread featured South African student action against apartheid. The newspaper carried extracts from ANC President Oliver Tambo’s speech on South Africa Freedom Day on 26 June calling for united action against racism.

The September issue reported on the annual conference of the black student organisation SASO, highlighting a speech by Steve Biko. An interview with the former Organising Secretary of ZANU, Michael Mawema, exposed attempts by the Smith regime to misrepresent African opinion in Zimbabwe. A special feature on Namibia reported on the apartheid government’s plans to set up Bantustans there. AA News revealed a developing two-way arms trade between Israel and South Africa. 

AA News reported on the TUC decision to sell its holdings in companies with subsidiaries in South Africa. Leading members of CFMAG (Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guine) told of their visit to the liberated areas of Mozambique. An interview with ZAPU (Zimbabwe African National Union) National Secretary Edward Ndlovu highlighted armed struggle as the only path to democracy in Zimbabwe. A feature on South Africa’s relations with African states argued that Prime Minister Vorster’s policy of dialogue had failed. A centrespread focused on British student action against apartheid.

A report on the AAM’s annual general meeting highlighted campaigns to stop a sell-out on Zimbabwe, for an end to investment and trade with South Africa, and support for SWAPO’s armed struggle in Namibia. AA News revealed how the British Government was undermining sanctions against Rhodesia. In an interview, MPLA leader Jose Condessa, asked for educational materials for schools in Angola’s liberated areas. A centre spread featured the British companies that backed UKSATA (UK-South Africa Trade Association). 

This issue highlighted the strike by thousands of Durban dockworkers and the poverty wages paid to black workers in South Africa. An article by John Sprack analysed ‘Apartheid – Rhodesian Style’ and Ruth First reported on the talks held by UN special envoy Dr Albert Escher with Prime Minister Vorster on Namibia. Pam Logie told of her conversations with women in the liberated areas of Mozambique when she visited Tete province. AA News special correspondent Antonio de Figueiredo reported on Portugese war crimes in its African colonies exposed by Portuguese priest Father Luiz Afonso da Costa.