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…
Moses Mabhida Funeral: Three Streams of the Liberation Struggle
Moses Mabhida Funeral: Three Streams of the Liberation Struggle Forty years ago, on 29 March 1986, Moses Mabhida, the General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP), member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress (ANC) and Vice-President of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU), was buried in Maputo, Mozambique. At the funeral, Mozambican President Samora Machel said the following, “Dear Comrades, the whole of Africa, of progressive mankind…
Dulcie September: Viciously Murdered in Paris
Dulcie September: Viciously Murdered in Paris “If ever there was a soft target, Dulcie September was one.” – Alfred Nzo, 30 March 1988 – On 29 March 1988, Dulcie Evonne September, a prominent revolutionary cadre and Chief Representative of the African National Congress (ANC) in France, was assassinated in Paris. Dulcie, who was 52 years old at the time, and was killed around 09:45 in the morning, while she was opening the ANC office on…
Battle of Mutale River – 28 March 1988
Battle of Mutale River – 28 March 1988 On 28 March 1988, nine Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Soldiers, aged between 19 and 21 years were surprised by heavy enemy fire from the apartheid South African Defence Force (SADF) and the then Bantustan Venda Defence Force (VDF), in what came to be known as “The Battle of Mutale River”. The MK Unit was tasked with infiltrating the rural areas of the then Venda Bantustan homeland in…
Oliver Tambo: A Transfer of Political and Economic Power
Oliver Tambo: A Transfer of Political and Economic Power (Sechaba Interviews Oliver Tambo, Acting President-General of the African National Congress of South Africa, on Southern Africa, South Africa and the ANC – 27 March 1968) Question: Mr Tambo, you have just completed a tour of some African countries; what was the aim of this tour and what are its results? “Our delegation has been to Algeria and Tunisia. Other ANC delegations have visited other States.…
27 March – World Theatre Day
27 March – World Theatre Day “Theatre as a total art form can make us see what was, what is and what our world could be.”– Willem Dafoe, Message for World Theatre Day 2026 – 27 March World Theatre Day, which is celebrated annually on March 27 since 1962, is a global initiative by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) to promote theatre arts, highlight their value, and encourage international cultural exchange. It serves to remind…
All-in Africa Conference in Pietermaritzburg, Natal
All-in Africa Conference in Pietermaritzburg, Natal 65 years ago, on 25 – 26 March 1961, the two-day All-in African Conference – with approximately 1,400 delegates from 145 religious, cultural, peasant, intellectual and political bodies – was hosted in the Manaye Hall in Plessislaer, Pietermaritzburg, Natal. The conference called for a national convention of elected representatives of all adult men and women, regardless of race, colour or creed, which was in direct reaction to the white…