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…
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…
Joseph Nduli and Cleophas Ndlovu Abducted on the SA-Swaziland Border
Joseph Nduli and Cleophas Ndlovu Abducted on the SA-Swaziland Border In the evening of 25 March 1976, precisely fifty years ago, apartheid Security Branch Major Jacobus de Swardt was leading a section of nine police officers who had accompanied Samson Lukhele to the crossing point in the Pongola-Piet Retief Road, where “illicit” border crossings were taking place. After waiting for a few hours, they decided that nothing was going to take place that night, and…
25 March: International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
25 March: International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade One of the most horrific crimes in history, slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, it enslaved Africans dehumanised more than 15 million men, women and children for more than four centuries, brutally robbing them of their human rights and leaving generations of trauma in its wake. It also gave rise to false narratives of white supremacy and racial inferiority,…
Cuba Awards ANC President OR Tambo the Order of Playa Giron
Cuba Awards ANC President OR Tambo the Order of Playa Giron On this day, exactly forty years ago, 24 March 1986, at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba, African National Congress (ANC) President O.R. Tambo was awarded the Playa Giron Order, a national order conferred by the Council of State of Cuba to honor individuals for exceptional contributions to anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist struggles, or for efforts toward peace and human progress. The Playa Giron…