1960s

The September issue welcomed Liberal MP David Steel as President of the Anti-Apartheid Movement. Recently released political prisoner Dennis Brutus gave an inside account of the brutal treatment of prisoners on Robben Island. An article by Fabian Society representative Margaret Roberts exposed the failures of the Labour Government’s policies on Southern Africa. The issue also carried a piece by former SWANU (South West Africa National Union) President Jariretundu Kozonguizi on the International Court of Justice’s failure to rule that South Africa had violated its mandate in South West Africa (Namibia).

The October issue accused Britain’s Labour Government of siding with apartheid and called for new protests against its policies on Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and South West Africa (Namibia). It exposed starvation conditions among black South Africans in rural areas. The issue profiled Johannes Vorster, who took over as South Africa’s new Prime Minister after the assassination of Hendrik Verwoerd in September 1966.

In an editorial, AA News warned that the Wilson Government was about to do a deal with Ian Smith in Rhodesia and launched a new campaign against any settlement that fell short of majority rule. A report on the AAM’s annual general meeting recorded the failures of the past year and the AAM’s difficult financial situation. Alan Brooks wrote about conditions for white political prisoners in Pretoria Central Prison. In an article headed ‘The fight continues’ Judy Todd warned that Rhodesians had decided that the only way they could achieve a democratic majority government was by force of arms.

This issue carried a detailed analysis of the British Government’s proposals for a settlement with the Smith regime. An editorial argued that sanctions against Rhodesia could only be effective if the international community acted to stop South African sanctions breaking. On the eve of Swaziland’s independence, Caroline de Crespigny highlighted its economic dependence on South Africa. AA News reported on growing West German and US investment in the apartheid economy.

AA News called on the Labour Party and trade union movement to join with members of other political parties to pressure the Labour Government to commit to overthrowing the illegal white minority regime in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). It reported on the growing disinvestment campaign in the USA and analysed the vulnerability of the South African economy to economic sanctions. It revealed the apartheid government’s plan to stockpile oil as an insurance against an international oil boycott. It exposed a government plan to change the racial balance of South Africa’s population by restricting the birth rate among South Africa’s majority African population.

This issue’s editorial argued that change in any one part of Southern Africa could not be isolated from change in the region as a whole, and advertised an AAM conference on the theme ‘The Crisis in Southern Africa’. It reported on South Africa’s attempts to counter the sporting boycott campaign by making irrelevant relaxations in sports segregation. It carried an article by a recently deported South African priest examining the role of the church under apartheid.

In a report on the AAM’s ‘The Crisis in Southern Africa’ conference, this issue highlighted the sense of betrayal felt by anti-apartheid campaigners at the Labour Government’s policies on Southern Africa. It profiled four centuries of exploitation by Portugal’s colonial regime in Angola and exposed the farce of ‘partial self-government’ given by the South African Government to Ovamboland in the north of Namibia. It also reported on a set-back for South Africa’s attempts to counter the international sporting boycott, when Tunisia and Morocco withdrew from the International Cross-Country Championships in protest against South African participation.

The May issue exposed links between far-right organisations in South Africa and the British consul-general in Johannesburg. It carried an exclusive interview with banned South African Helen Joseph and extracts from Alex La Guma’s new novel The Stone Country. It also reported on the police harassment of Winnie Mandela.