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…
Congress Alliance Debates the Armed Struggle
Congress Alliance Debates the Armed Struggle On 2 July 1961, the night following the debate the African National Congress (ANC) had in Groutville, near Stanger, on the armed struggle, the meeting of the Congress Alliance Joint Executives took place in a beach house, also near Stanger. Nelson Mandela had arrived for the ANC National Working and Executive Committee meetings disguised as a chauffeur for Hymie and Hazel Rochman. Mandela had used the Rochman Johannesburg residence…
The SACP Electing for Training Abroad, the ANC Debating the Armed Option
The SACP Electing for Training Abroad, the ANC Debating the Armed Option Exactly sixty years ago, on 1 July 1961, Tennyson Makiwane was conversing with Wilton Mkwayi and Moses Mabhida about the South African Communist Party’s (SACP) December 1960 decision to take steps to initiate the training and equipping of selected personnel in new methods of struggle and thus prepare the nucleus of an adequate apparatus to lead struggles of a more forcible and violent…
The SA Reserve Bank and the National Democratic Revolution
The SA Reserve Bank and the National Democratic Revolution On 30 June 1921, the South African Reserve Bank was established in terms of the Currency and Banking Act, 1920 (Act No. 31 of 1920) in the Union Parliament. This came into being after a Gold Conference was held in October 1919. Prior to its establishment South African commercial banks issued banknotes to the public, as they had to convert the notes from the public in…
The ILO Calls for Apartheid SA’s Withdrawal at the Geneva Conference
The ILO Calls for Apartheid SA’s Withdrawal at the Geneva Conference On 29 June 1961, during its plenary conference in Geneva, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) adopted a resolution condemning the racial policies of the South African government and calling for South Africa’s withdrawal from the organisation, by 163 votes to nil, with 29 abstentions. The ILO is the international organisation responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labour standards. It is the only “tripartite”…
Jeanette Schoon and Daughter Killed in Lubango, Angola
Jeanette Schoon and Daughter Killed in Lubango, Angola On this day 28 June, in 1984, Jeanette Schoon, who was former member of South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), and her six-year-old daughter, Katryn, were killed by a letter bomb at their Lubango house, in northern Angola. The explosion occurred in Schoon’s kitchen, while Jeannette’s three-year-old son, Fritz, was also in the kitchen at the time, but he was not hurt. The African National Congress’…
Ghana Imposes Sanctions Against Apartheid South Africa
Ghana Imposes Sanctions Against Apartheid South Africa On 27 June 1961, the government of Ghana imposed a total ban on the export of all Ghanaian produce to South Africa and South West Africa, as a protest against apartheid. This export ban was part of a multilateral arrangement driven by the Pan-African movement and collective resolutions passed by independent African states. The decision stemmed directly from multilateral agreements made during the Second Conference of Independent African…