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…
Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the June 16 Soweto Uprisings
Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the June 16 Soweto Uprisings. Castro Khwela Good morning fellow Compatriots!
Botha Declares a State of Emergency to Curb June 16 Celebrations
Botha Declares a State of Emergency to Curb June 16 Celebrations On 12 June 1986, apartheid State President P.W. Botha declared a national State of Emergency to curb June 16 10th Anniversary celebrations. In an Editorial in its Official Organ, ‘Sechaba’, the African National Congress (ANC) wrote, that “The racists have been running mad since the beginning of June, or even earlier. They detained and arrested more than 4 000 people. The aim of this…
Oliver Tambo: Act With A Sense of Urgency
Oliver Tambo: Act With A Sense of Urgency (Statement of the President of the African National Congress of South Africa, Oliver Tambo, at the meeting of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid, New York, 11 June 1981). Your Excellencies, “I should like, on behalf of the delegation that is travelling around with me in the United States, a delegation comprising ANC and SWAPO representatives, to thank you most sincerely for this opportunity to meet members…
Bambatha Uprising: Significance to the Anti-Imperialist Revolution
Bambatha Uprising: Significance to the Anti-Imperialist Revolution Exactly 120 years ago, on 10 June 1906, British colonial troops under the command of Colonel Duncan Mckenzie, which consisted of a large militia that was raised from Natal, Johannesburg and the Cape, encountered the warrior forces led by Bambatha ka Mancinza Zondi along the Mome Gorge, near the Nkandla forest. In a half-hour’s engagement, Bambatha’s followers were massacred, and nearly 600 lives were shed. A body that…
Remembering the Moroka Three: Ruthlessly Murdered by the Apartheid Regime
Remembering the Moroka Three: Ruthlessly Murdered by the Apartheid Regime On 9 June 1983, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) operatives, Jerry Semano Mosololi (aka “Dragon Mosepedi”), Thelle Simon Mogoerane (aka “Seiso Moletsane”) and Marcus Thabo Motaung (aka “Abbey”) were executed for their part in a hit on Wonderboompoort police station. The three MK soldiers were brought to court on charges relating to attacks on racist police stations at Orlando, Moroka and Wonderboompoort, during which four apartheid…
Johannesburg Bar Opposes the Suppression of Communism Bill
Johannesburg Bar Opposes the Suppression of Communism Bill On 8 June 1950, the Johannesburg Bar declared that if the Suppression of Communism Bill was passed, the freedom of people in South Africa would be in jeopardy. The Bill was established by the Johannesburg Bar to contain an overly broad, unreviewable definition of communism that allowed the government to criminalise almost any form of political opposition. The Bar made this point with reference to a speech…