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…
Nelson Mandela and the National Democratic Revolution
Nelson Mandela and the National Democratic Revolution The National Democratic Revolution (NDR) is the foundational ideological framework of the African National Congress (ANC) and its Tripartite Alliance partners, designed to transform South Africa from an apartheid state into a non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society. Nelson Mandela served as both the strategic spearhead and the primary architect of this revolution, shifting it from a national mass struggle to armed resistance, and ultimately steering it into…
Eli Weinberg Passes On in Exile in Dar es Salaam
Eli Weinberg Passes On in Exile in Dar es Salaam Exactly 45 years ago, on 18 July 1981, Eli Weinberg passed on in exile in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Eli Weinberg was a Latvian-born Jewish immigrant, prominent trade unionist, and foundational photo-documentarian who became a major figure in the South African liberation struggle. He is best remembered for using his camera as a strategic weapon to expose the brutality of apartheid to the world. Working…
Bantu Authorities Law Establishes Ethnic Fragmentation, Land and Citizenship Theft
Bantu Authorities Law Establishes Ethnic Fragmentation, Land and Citizenship Theft On 17 July 1951, exactly 75 years ago, the Bantu Authorities Act, 1951 (Act No. 68 of 1951) officially came into effect in South Africa. This cornerstone apartheid legislation abolished the Natives’ Representative Council and established a system of tribal, regional, and territorial authorities, laying the groundwork for the creation of Bantustan “homelands” designed to strip Black South Africans of their citizenship. The Act was…
Increasing Number of Banned Persons Under Apartheid
Increasing Number of Banned Persons Under Apartheid On 16 July 1966, the apartheid government released its updated consolidated registry of banned individuals and the data published on this day provided a stark statistical milestone of the state’s expanding crackdown. In apartheid South Africa, the state routinely published lists of restricted persons in the “Government Gazette” to notify the public and the media. However, on this day the state’s registry revealed that the number of active…
Apartheid Minister Kruger Amends the Internal Security Act
Apartheid Minister Kruger Amends the Internal Security Act On 15 July 1976, almost a month after the June 16 Soweto Uprisings, and in the midst of the unrests, the Minister of Justice, James Thomas “Jimmy” Kruger, announced that the provisions of the Internal Security Amendment Act, 1976 (Act No. 79 of 1976), allowing for the unlimited detention without trial of persons deemed to be threatening public order, were amended. The new amendments were meant to…
The Young and Courageous Nat Nakasa Passes On
The Young and Courageous Nat Nakasa Passes On On 14 July 1965, the highly influential anti-apartheid and non-racialism champion journalist and writer, Nathaniel Nat Nakasa, tragically died at the age of 28 after falling from a high-rise building in New York. Nakasa was stripped of his citizenship by the apartheid government to take up a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard. Nathaniel “Nat” Nakasa was denied a passport by the apartheid regime because his high-profile journalism openly…