Anti-Apartheid News

The March issue led on the role of Albertina Sisulu, banned co-president of the United Democratic Front, in the anti-apartheid struggle. It reported on the hunger strike by South African detainees and the calls by organisations in Britain for their release. It exposed how the British Government was still promoting trade with South Africa, in defiance of Commonwealth moves to step up sanctions. In an interview, Barbara Switzer, Assistant General Secretary of the MSF trade union, talked about the union’s support for the AAM. The centrespread displayed pictures of women in struggle in South Africa and Namibia and of solidarity action by British women.

The April issue focused on the international effort to ensure that elections scheduled for November 1989 in Namibia were free and fair. It publicised the launch of a SWAPO Election Appeal sponsored by the leaders of all the main British political parties, apart from the Conservatives. It again highlighted the hunger strike by South African political detainees and the failure of the Thatcher Government to bring pressure on the apartheid regime. A feature by the ANC’s Nkosazana Zuma asked for support for the newly established Health and Refugee Trust of South Africa (HEART). SANROC Chair Sam Ramsamy wrote about the campaign for a sporting boycott of South Africa.

The April issue focused on the international effort to ensure that elections scheduled for November 1989 in Namibia were free and fair. It publicised the launch of a SWAPO Election Appeal sponsored by the leaders of all the main British political parties, apart from the Conservatives. It again highlighted the ongoing hunger strike by South African political detainees and the failure of the Thatcher Government to bring pressure on the apartheid regime. A feature by the ANC’s Nkosazana Zuma asked for support for the newly established Health and Refugee Trust of South Africa (HEART). SANROC Chair Sam Ramsamy wrote about the ongoing campaign for a total sporting boycott of South Africa.

SWAPO blamed British Prime Minister Thatcher, on a visit to Windhoek, for an intervention with the UN Special Representative leading to a breakdown of the ceasefire in Namibia. AA News warned against lifting the European Economy Community’s nuclear sanctions against South Africa. It reported on a Europe-wide conference in Rome to campaign for an EEC boycott of South African coal and on the AAM’s plans to contact every retail outlet in Britain to identify those which boycotted apartheid products. It featured new publications from the British Defence and Aid Fund’s Education Group promoting teaching about Southern Africa.

The June issue accused the British media of ignoring South Africa’s defiance of the UN plan for Namibian independence. It reported that 70 political prisoners were now on death row in South Africa. Shell’s annual general meeting was disrupted by anti-apartheid protesters and local AA groups picketed Shell garages all over Britain in May. AA News reported that 85 per cent of Tesco stores had been picketed by anti-apartheid supporters at the end of April. It welcomed the acquittal of the ‘Alex Five’, community activists in Alexandra Township, accused of treason for organising a rent boycott. 

The July-August issue again warned of the South African threat to free and fair elections in Namibia and publicised SWAPO’s election appeal fund. It reported on UDF co-president Albertina Sisulu’s visit to London and her condemnation of Prime Minister Thatcher’s meeting with South African President F W de Klerk in June. A feature article by Mary Turok told the history of South Africa Women’s Day, 9 August. AA News sent 60th birthday greetings to Rivonia trialist Ahmed Kathrada, serving a life sentence on Robben Island. It condemned the harassment of South African trade unionists and advertised the AAM’s new campaign video Fruits of Fear.

AA News headlined UDF leader Murphy Morobe’s appeal for support for the new defiance campaign rocking South Africa. Its editorial condemned the planned cricket tour of South Africa by a team led by England cricketer Mike Gatting and welcomed the ‘Conference for a Democratic Future’ bringing together a wide range of anti-apartheid organisations in South Africa. It reported on a meeting between a delegation from the UDF with Prime Minister Thatcher and on COSATU’s support for the Mass Democratic Movement. On Namibia, it carried a special report of a visit by Glenys Kinnock to monitor preparations for the country’s independence elections.

Namibia’s November election was a historic milestone in the Southern African freedom struggle, proclaimed AA News. The newspaper’s editorial called for pressure on British banks to refuse to reschedule South Africa’s debt. It hailed the launch of the Southern African Coalition in September as the largest ever grouping of British organisations opposed to apartheid. It reported that South Africa’s two-day stay away to protest against the whites-only elections was the most widely supported in the country’s history. In a special feature, Delmas treason trialist Tseko Simon Nkoli described his experiences as a gay anti-apartheid activist and political prisoner in South Africa.