Southern African Liberation Movements Meet with the Soviet and Cuban Leadership

Southern African Liberation Movements Meet with the Soviet and Cuban Leadership

On 29 March 1977, in Luanda, Angola, leaders of the southern African liberation movements, Oliver Tambo of the African National Congress (ANC), Joshua Nkomo of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) and Sam Nujoma of the South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO), met with the President of Cuba, Fidel Castro, who was on an African tour, wherein he pledged to render material support to the anti-imperialist struggle.

Cuba became involved in the training of ANC cadres as soon as they arrived in Angola, in 1977, beginning with the June 16 Detachment of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), and following that with the Moncada Detachment. The Moncada Detachment was named after the military barracks attacked by the Cuban revolutionaries under the leadership of Fidel Castro, which was symbolically to accord appreciation towards Cuban support.

At the Moncada Detachment’s graduation ceremony, Oliver Tambo said, “Cadres of the ANC, of Umkhonto we Sizwe, have completed their course, taken under guidance and instruction by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba, on ground made available by the Angolan Government and under the security of the People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA)” (Shubin).

However, there were also discussions under way regarding the greater involvement of the Soviet Union, especially in the provision of supplies of military hardware and training facilities in their own country, but also the assistance of the Soviets in the actual organisation of military training of MK cadres in Angola. This initiative actually was raised by Jorge Risquet, who was at that stage the head of the Cuban contingent in Angola, and was later involved in talks on the Angolan-Namibian settlement.

The meeting between Castro and the leaders of the national liberation movements was preceded by a crucial meeting with Nikolay Podgorny, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, on 28 March 1977, in Lusaka, Zambia. Podgorny, who was effectively the Soviet Head of State, issued a joint statement with Tambo, Nkomo and Nujoma at the conclusion of the two-hour meeting. According to the statement, “The Soviet Union believes that the liquidation of the last vestiges of colonialism and racism in Southern Africa is one of the most important international tasks”. The statement added that “Mr Podgorny underlined that the Soviet people will in future permanently support the just struggle of the fighter for the liberation of Southern Africa” (Simpson).

Since the first discussions in Moscow in 1961, the Soviet Union had been training batches of MK, ZIPRA (Zimbabwe African People’s Revolutionary Army – for ZAPU) and PLAN (People’s Liberation Army of Namibia – for SWAPO) cadres on Soviet soil, but it was only in 1979 that Soviet instructors participated in the training of MK fighters in Angola. The direct involvement of Soviet officers, whose number increased gradually as the training became more sophisticated, helped to raise the level of combat effectiveness of MK units, especially with regard to the organisation of the armed underground.

The benefits of the visit by Podgorny were however negated by his dismissal in May 1977, when Leonid Brezhnev took over the position of being the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, and most of the details of the agreements were not consummated. Nevertheless, in June 1977, an ANC delegation led by Oliver Tambo visited Moscow wherein they accurately characterised the situation in South Africa as being fraught with danger.

Regarding MK actions inside the country, Joe Slovo characterised the situation in South Africa as extremely favourable for carrying out ANC strategy and tactics. However, victory was “not around the corner”, as the enemy was still strong and the neighbouring African countries, which could provide favourable rear bases for MK fighters, had suffered great difficulties.

Speaking to the United Nations General Assembly the year before, on 26 October 1976, the Acting President of the ANC, Oliver Tambo, emphasised that “The victory of our cause is assured. As no force is able to deny the peoples of Viet Nam, Mozambique, Angola and Guinea-Bissau their right to national self-determination, equally no force will able to deny us our liberation. The peoples of Zimbabwe and Namibia will be free sooner rather than later, and so will the people of South Africa.”

According to Tambo, “We have set ourselves one task and one task only – to seize power from the Fascist regime. To achieve that, we have been forced to take up arms. We shall pursue the armed struggle not merely for the abolition of racial discrimination or for amendments to the apartheid system of national oppression, super-exploitation and fascism. We fight to transfer political power into the hands of the people.”

Sources:
Vladimir Shubin, “ANC: A View from Moscow”, Jacana, 2008.
Thula Simpson, “Umkhonto we Sizwe: The ANC’s Armed Struggle”, Penguin, 2016.
Oliver Tambo, “The Victory of Our Cause is Assured”, Sechaba, Vol. 11, Second Quarter, 1977.

Castro Khwela
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