Newsletters

Women from all over Britain joined the march to a Festival in London’s Clapham Common, coming together in a special women’s section. From inside South Africa the newsletter carried an interview with Nozizwe Madlala, Chair of the Natal Organisation of Women and a letter from Helene Passtoors, a Belgian citizen convicted of terrorism.

Issue 28 focused on the situation of black women workers under apartheid, with an article on women’s struggle for a living age and for political rights, and an interview with Mary Mkhanazi about the formation of the domestic workers union, South African Domestic Workers Association. It also reported on a meeting to celebrate South Africa Women’s Day, 9 August, in Hackney, East London.

News briefings on women’s resistance to apartheid inside South Africa included reports about squatter camps in the Western Cape, the arrest and imprisonment of women activists, and violence against women and children by South African police and soldiers in Namibia. A round-up of campaigning activities in Britain reported on material aid collections and a conference organised by the National Assembly of Women. The newsletter asked for support for an AAM Women’s Committee resolution to the AAM AGM proposing the appointment of an AAM Women’s Organiser.

News briefings from South Africa and Namibia reported on the launch of a trade union for domestic workers (SADWU), the arrest of striking women hospital workers and the rape of women in northern Namibia by South African soldiers. The issue advertised a conference on women in Southern Africa organised by the National Assembly of Women and the Women’s International Democratic Federation. It highlighted the detention of over 8000 children following the declaration of a State of Emergency in South Africa in June 1986. It reported on the refusal by some women’s magazines in Britain to carry ads from the TUC calling for a consumer boycott of South African goods.

Issue 31 highlighted a resolution passed by the AAM AGM recommending an increased profile for women’s work in the Movement. It reported on a conference on women in Southern Africa organised by the Women’s International Democratic Federation and carried an interview with Makhosazana Njobe from the ANC Women’s Section. Under the headline ‘Front Line Women Seek Trade Links’ it advertised earrings, textiles and handicrafts sourced by AA Enterprises from women’s co-ops in Angola and Zimbabwe.

Issue 32 featured LINKS, a women’s organisation that encouraged liaison among women’s groups set up to campaign on single issues, and reported on a meeting to celebrate International Women’s Day organised by the AAM Women’s Committee. It asked women to support the AAM’s sanctions campaign by taking part in its National Convention for Sanctions Against South Africa.

Issue 33 carried a centrespread on the growth of the South African Domestic Workers Union and the plight of domestic workers forced to leave their children with grandparents in poor rural areas. It gave advice about how to collect goods for South African and Namibian women and children living in exile in ANC and SWAPO camps in Tanzania and Angola, and asked readers to celebrate South Africa Women’s Day, 9 August, by taking action to support South African women.

Issue 34 focused on women in Namibia, celebrating Namibian Women’s Day, 10 December, and exposing the exploitation of Namibian women workers. It showed the almost total lack of medical facilities for women and looked at SWAPO’s plans for training in basic health care in a liberated Namibia.