Hands Off the People’s Republic of Angola: Africa Stands Firm Against Imperialism

Hands Off the People’s Republic of Angola: Africa Stands Firm Against Imperialism

On 13 January 1976, Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), William Aurelien Eteki Mboumoua, issued a statement on the OAU Extra-Ordinary Meeting of African Heads of State and Government that was held in Addis Ababa from 10 – 12 January 1976. The meeting was specifically convened to address the War in Angola, foreign intervention in the country and the issue of recognising the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) as the legitimate government of the People’s Republic of Angola.

The main purpose of the meeting was to find a unified African solution to the Angolan crisis, which had become a proxy war with the direct military involvement of apartheid South Africa in support of opposition movements and the intervention of extra-continental powers, such as the United States and the Soviet Union.

The meeting had to discuss the complex situation in Angola following its independence from Portugal in November 1975, which had immediately descended into a large-scale war involving three rival liberation movements: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which was supported by the Soviet Union and other socialist countries, and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) factions, which were backed by the United States and apartheid South Africa.

African leaders were divided on how to respond, with some advocating for a government of national unity and an end to all foreign intervention, and others supporting the MPLA due to the involvement of the South African apartheid regime with its rivals. The conference therefore was aimed at determining the OAU’s official stance, specifically whether to recognise the MPLA as the legitimate government – which had already assumed power in the capital, Luanda – or to call for a government of national unity and an end to all foreign interference.

A key point of contention was the involvement of South African forces, which was universally condemned by all OAU delegations. During the meeting, Nigeria’s Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed, delivered a notable speech asserting that “Africa has come of age” and should not “take orders from any country, however powerful”, in a strong rebuke to United States President Gerald Ford’s opposition to the MPLA.

The meeting ultimately ended in a stalemate and was adjourned without a unified resolution. The assembled leaders were evenly divided, with 22 member states voting in favour of recognising the MPLA and an equal number backing a government of national unity and a ceasefire. Due to this deadlock, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government could not reach the necessary two-thirds consensus for a binding resolution. Ultimately, the OAU Assembly decided to adjourn the summit meeting and requested the OAU Chairman and officials to continue monitoring the Angolan problem closely.

The issue was addressed again at the subsequent Twenty-Sixth Ordinary Session of the OAU Council of Ministers held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from February 23 to March 1, 1976, wherein a resolution was passed condemning South African aggression and urging support for Angola’s independence and admission to the United Nations. The MPLA government eventually gained widespread recognition from OAU members.

Following the meeting, and after Angola was admitted as the OAU’s 44th member state, the OAU Council of Ministers later passed resolutions that strongly condemned South Africa’s “unspeakable aggression” against Angola and called on member states to provide assistance to the newly independent state. The inability of the OAU to take decisive, unified action during the January 1976 meeting, highlighted the challenges posed by its policy of non-interference in internal affairs and the need for reform.

The primary resolution regarding Angola was titled “CM/Res. 454 (XXVI)”, which addressed the situation following the country’s independence. Key elements included: strong condemnation of apartheid South Africa for its “unspeakable aggression” against the People’s Republic of Angola and its occupation of a certain part of Angolan territory; support for the MPLA government by all OAU member states, who were urged to cooperate fully with the government of the People’s Republic of Angola to defend its independence and territorial integrity; and assistance to the new state, with member states providing political, diplomatic, economic, technical and material assistance to the newly independent nation.

Furthermore, the resolution urged all member states to: struggle for Angola’s admission to the United Nations and its specialised agencies; ensure UN Security Council action, that the African Group at the UN must call for an emergency meeting of the Security Council to address South Africa’s aggression; push for the isolation of South Africa by all member states that had not yet done so to cease all forms of cooperation with the “racist regime” in South Africa; and the OAU Liberation Committee to officially admit the People’s Republic of Angola as the 20th member of its structure.

What was mainly interesting about this process, was the unequivocal stance undertaken by the national liberation movements in Southern Africa in supporting the MPLA-led government of the People’s Republic of Angola and the fervent condemnation of imperialist aggression towards the country, especially by apartheid South Africa, which was reinforced by the United States. In a Statement made by the Secretary-General of the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, Alfred Nzo, to the Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the Heads of State and Government, he emphasised the significance of African unity in addressing the Angolan situation.

According to Alfred Nzo, “In itself, this emergency summit is a defeat for the forces of imperialism and reaction. As usual, over the past few days and weeks, these forces endeavoured to make it impossible for us to meet, and, ultimately, endeavoured to lay the basis for the break-up of the OAU and the destruction of Pan-African solidarity in the struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism and racism. … We are convinced that out of this extra-ordinary session will come decisions which will aim at responding to the call of the Angolan people to aid them to beat the forces of imperialist aggression. That will represent even greater defeat for the forces of imperialism and reaction.”

Furthermore, Nzo added that “Crucial as this task is, the matter cannot end there. The battle that is joined over Angola is also a battle joined over the whole future of the African Revolution. Angola has become the decisive theatre in which world imperialism also wants to settle, in its own favour, two fundamental issues of the African Revolution. The first of these is the genuine national liberation, independence and majority rule for the Peoples of South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe. The second is the struggle of the Peoples of independent Africa to consolidate their independence, against relations of neo-colonialist dependence on world imperialism.”

In a subsequent speech delivered by Dr Augostinho Neto, the President of the MPLA and of the People’s Republic of Angola at the opening session of the Emergency International Conference of Solidarity with the Struggle of the People of Angola and the MPLA, held in Luanda from 2 – 4 February 1976, he maintained that “Imperialism manoeuvred to sabotage our independence to divide the country, persistently trying to disrupt the MPLA through the infiltration of agents, attempts at corruption and attempts at physical liquidation. Although consistent in its reactionary activity and despite its dynamism, it did and never will succeed in its desire to establish a neo-colonial regime in Angola. It failed in its support for Portuguese colonialism, and it will fail again in its support for its puppets, because it does not and cannot understand the direction of the course of history.”

A LUTA CONTINUA! A VITÓRIA É CERTA!

Source:
South African History Online (SAHO).
Alfred Nzo, “Hands Off the People’s Republic of Angola”, Sechaba, Second Quarter, 1976.
Augostinho Neto, “We Love Independence”, Sechaba, Second Quarter, 1976.
Editorial Notes, “Angola’s Lesson for South Africa”, The African Communist, No. 65, Second Quarter 1976.
Virginia Morris, “Organization of African Unity: Declarations, Resolutions and Decisions”, African Institute of International Law, 2023.

Castro Khwela
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