MK Mutiny in Angola: The Stuart Commission Report
Following the acts of mutiny in the Viana Transit Camp, on 13 February 1984, the Working Committee of the African National Congress (ANC) appointed a Commission of Inquiry chaired by James Stuart (real name “Hermanus Loots”), an Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Luthuli Detachment Veteran.
The members of the Commission flew to Luanda and went straight to work, and they consisted of Aziz Pahad, Sizakele Sigxashe, Antony Mongalo and Mbuyiselo Mntu Dwyili, all of whom were non-NEC (National Executive Committee) members. For a period of three weeks, members of the Stuart Commission visited and interviewed practically all the occupants of the Viana Transit Camp, as well as the other camps affected by the mutiny.
Meanwhile, on the same day, 13 February, the Headquarters of the ANC in Lusaka had received a message that the Committee of Ten and approximately 23 MK cadres were arrested and taken to Luanda’s Maximum-Security Prison under Angolan military escort. Moreover, all the Viana protestors were reported to have been disarmed, and most were transported to the two camps north of Luanda, Quibaxe and Pango.
The Commission also interviewed the 33 cadres, including the members of the Committee of Ten, who had been arrested by Angolan government forces, and submitted its report on 14 March 1984. The conclusions reached by the Commission were that there was no reason to believe that the mutiny was the result of a plot by enemy age
