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…
The United Republic of Tanzania is Born: A Beacon of the African Revolution
The United Republic of Tanzania is Born: A Beacon of the African Revolution On 26 April 1964, the United Republic of Tanzania (Kiswahili: Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania) was established as a result of the unification of Tanganyika (the mainland) and the Zanzibar islands. The union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar, which created the present-day United Republic of Tanzania, stands out among the longest lasting political arrangements of its kind in Africa, and has shaped the…
A Moment of Unity and Renewal: The Morogoro Conference Revisited
A Moment of Unity and Renewal: The Morogoro Conference Revisited On 25 April 1969, speaking at a conference hall of more than seventy people, in Morogoro, Tanzania, Acting President of the African National Congress (ANC), Oliver Tambo, mentioned that in the past, too much emphasis was placed on international solidarity work, which was perhaps a legacy of the initial role of the ANC’s External Mission. It was not that solidarity work was not necessary, but…
Mdala Oliver Reginald Tambo Passes On
Mdala Oliver Reginald Tambo Passes On On this day, 24 April 1993, after suffering complications following a stroke, Oliver Tambo passed on at the age of 75. His death came 14 days after Chris Hani’s assassination and one year before the 1994 general elections. “Mdala” or “OR”, as Oliver Reginald Kaizana Tambo was fondly referred to in the camps of Umkhonto we Sizwe, was an outstanding South African revolutionary, a gentle freedom fighter, who served…
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…