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…
Revisiting the Nkomati Accord: 16 March 1984
Revisiting the Nkomati Accord: 16 March 1984 According to the African National Congress’s analysis of the Nkomati Accord, its principal objectives were “to isolate the ANC throughout southern Africa and to compel the independent countries to act as Pretoria’s agents in emasculating the ANC as the vanguard movement of the South African struggle for national liberation. To liquidate the armed struggle for liberation in South Africa. To gain new bridgeheads for the Pretoria regime in…
Apartheid South Africa Withdrawn from the British Commonwealth
Apartheid South Africa Withdrawn from the British Commonwealth On 15 March 1961, at the Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference, apartheid South Africa announced that it was to withdraw from the Commonwealth when the South African Constitution of 1961 came into effect. The 1961 Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ Conference was the eleventh Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in the United Kingdom in March 1961, and was hosted by that…
Apartheid and Jazz: Arts, Culture and Heritage Focus
Apartheid and Jazz: Arts, Culture and Heritage Focus (Extracts from an Article by Peter Sinclair, published in Sechaba, August 1970) “On my arrival in South Africa some ten years ago I followed the course of my interests. This path led me to a building known as Dorkay House in Johannesburg, where I was privileged to be able to hear ‘live’ the type of music I had previously only heard on record. Dorkay House is the…
ANC Headquarters in London is Bombed
ANC Headquarters in London is Bombed On 14 March 1982, the African National Congress (ANC) headquarters in Islington, London, England, was bombed. Historically, these offices served as the ANC’s headquarters in Europe since the 1960s. The offices were wrecked by an eleven-kilogram bomb which exploded against the rear wall at 09:00 in the morning, with windows up to 400 yards away being broken. The caretaker, an ANC voluntary researcher, Vernet Mbatha, who was sleeping in…
Lilian Ngoyi: These Are Also Hours of Serious Danger
Lilian Ngoyi: These Are Also Hours of Serious Danger Remembering MaNgoyi: 25 September 1911 – 13 March 1980 “The minister of native affairs has announced that African women will in future be requested to pay poll-tax. This decision had three objects, firstly it is intended to force the African to pay the costs of Apartheid, secondly it is intended to answer the attack on the Nationalists by United party to the effect that the Nationalists…
Minister of Defence P.W. Botha and Rebuilding the SA Defence Industry
Minister of Defence P.W. Botha and Rebuilding the SA Defence Industry “South Africa had taken part in a secret international conference ‘at service level’ with friendly nations of the Southern Hemisphere about joint defence of sea routes. … It is our duty to be ready for anything in the light of continual meddling in South Africa’s domestic affairs, threats of sanctions and boycotts, and open animosity in certain circles.” – Defence Minister P.W. Botha (Parliament…