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…
Commander Lizo Bright Ngqungwana of the Western Cape
Commander Lizo Bright Ngqungwana of the Western Cape Forty years ago, at around 02:00 in the morning of 23 April 1986, while Lizo Bright Ngqungwana was asleep in a three-roomed cabin in Crossroads, Cape Town, with his girlfriend and their seven-week-old child, he saw lights flickering through the window. The lights silhouetted the frame of a person standing outside the house, which made Ngqungwana to wake up and watch. Sergeant Riaan Bellingan, who was a…
Lenin the Liberator: 22 April 1870
Lenin the Liberator: 22 April 1870 On 22 April 1970, the underground organisation of the South African Communist Party – SACP – carried out a nationwide, illegal distribution of educational material among the working people of South Africa where the Party had been outlawed since 1950. Among the materials circulated was a special miniaturised leaflet, titled “Lenin the Liberator”, commemorating the centenary of his birth. The full text of the leaflet is reproduced below –…
Nelson Mandela: The Struggle By Other Means
Nelson Mandela: The Struggle By Other Means On 21 April 1964, newspapers were selling like hot cakes following Nelson Mandela’s statement from the dock at the Pretoria Supreme Court the previous day, during the Rivonia Trial, where both racially-divided galleries of the court were packed. The sitting was also attended by Leslie Minford, Consul-General of the United Kingdom, and John Miles, Counsellor of the United States embassy. On 20 April, Bram Fischer, QC, informed Judge…
Fidel Castro: We Must Defend Our Country – Denouncing US Bay of Pigs Aggression
Fidel Castro: We Must Defend Our Country – Denouncing US Bay of Pigs Aggression On 19 April 1961, the Bay of Pigs Invasion became a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in by the United States and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front (DRF), consisting of Cuban exiles who were opposed to the Cuban Revolution, led by Comandante Fidel Castro. The invasion, which was clandestinely and directly financed by the Central Intelligence…
18 April World Heritage Day: From Kongwa to Freedom Park
18 April World Heritage Day: From Kongwa to Freedom Park On 18 April, World Heritage Day, also known as the International Day for Monuments and Sites, is celebrated annually to promote awareness of cultural heritage, diversity, and the importance of preserving historical sites and monuments. Established in 1983 by The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the day highlights the vulnerability of…
Oliver Tambo – The Spirit of Bandung
Oliver Tambo – The Spirit of Bandung (On 18 – 24 April 1955, the first large-scale Afro–Asian Conference, also known as the Bandung Conference, which was a meeting of Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, took place in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. We take extracts of an Address to the International Conference in Support of the Liberation Movements of Southern Africa and in Support of the Frontline States by O. R.…