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…
Nothing Will Change Our Resolve
Nothing Will Change Our Resolve: 40th Anniversary of the Year of the People’s Army, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Excerpts from an Editorial Comment, “Nothing Will Change Our Resolve”, published in Dawn, the Journal of Umkhonto we Sizwe, Vol.10, No. 4, 1986). Lest We Forget “As our people are determined that nothing will stop our forward march to victory, the minority regime is determined that nothing short of bloodshed will destroy apartheid. Commando units known as municipality…
Apartheid’s ‘Total Strategy’: Arming the Racist State – Part 1
Apartheid’s ‘Total Strategy’: Arming the Racist State – Part 1 Introduction On 31 March 1977, the apartheid government released a Defence Force White Paper in the House of Assembly, which called for a “total national strategy” for defence, because South Africa was at war “whether we wish to accept it or not”. The document mentioned Soviet and Cuban intervention in Angola, which it cited as a “clear indication of Soviet imperialism which will confront Africa…
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.…