The Motshabi Commission Report
The Motshabi Commission Report On 2 May 1975, the Motshabi Commission delivered an interim report on the condition of the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) existing People’s Army abroad. The “Commission on the State of Affairs in Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in East Africa” was established by the ANC Revolutionary Council on 17 April 1975, with a mandate to investigate the causes of and possible remedies for the “deterioration of the standard of military life and…
First MK Conference in Venda and the Pain of Liberation War Veterans
First MK Conference in Venda and the Pain of Liberation War Veterans On 9 – 11 August 1991, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) held its first conference at the University of Venda, in Thohoyandou, following African National Congress (ANC) President Nelson Mandela’s instruction to the ANC Conference in Durban in July the same year that he must set-up a conference to address the concerns of MK Cadres. Hopes for a peaceful transfer of power from the…
First MK Group for Military Training in the Soviet Union
First MK Group for Military Training in the Soviet Union On 10 August 1963, a group of thirty Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) recruits were flown on a British Overseas Airways Corporation plane from Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika, to Khartoum, Sudan. From the Sudan they were flown on a Russian aeroplane to Moscow, in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the Soviet Union. They were then met by Russian officials in civilian clothes, who took them…
Women: A Pillar of the National Democratic Revolution
Women: A Pillar of the National Democratic Revolution “To drive this profound societal shift, the country must move from treating women’s empowerment as a social welfare issue to treating it as a hard macroeconomic strategy.” During the 1950s and 1960s in South Africa, the apartheid regime heavily suppressed liberation movements, forcing organisations like the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) underground. As thousands of male…
Apartheid SADF Defeat ‘Linked’ to Ceasefire in the Angola War
Apartheid SADF Defeat ‘Linked’ to Ceasefire in the Angola War On 7 August 1988, the People’s Republic of Angola, the Republic of Cuba and apartheid South Africa agreed to a formal ceasefire. Under the terms of the ceasefire and later treaty, Cuba was to withdraw its forces from Angola, and South Africa was to grant Namibia independence and withdraw its forces and elections were to be held in Namibia. The ceasefire was reached through a…
Signing the Controversial Pretoria Minute
Signing the Controversial Pretoria Minute On 6 August 1990, the Pretoria Minute became a historic agreement signed between the apartheid government, led by F.W. de Klerk, and the African National Congress (ANC), led by Nelson Mandela. Building on the earlier Groote Schuur Minute, it aimed to clear legal and political roadblocks to formalise the transition toward democracy. The document focused on mutual concessions to foster a peaceful negotiation climate. The ANC agreed to suspend its…
Rioting Erupts Again in Soweto and Spreads Countrywide
Rioting Erupts Again in Soweto and Spreads Countrywide On 4 August 1976, riots erupted again in Soweto and spread to other townships in South Africa, as the country experienced a major resurgence of violence. This second wave of rioting was caused by a massive student-led march to demand the release of political detainees, which was paired with a coordinated worker stay-away. Organised by the newly formed Soweto Students’ Representative Council (SSRC) under the leadership of…