The Bureau of State Security (BOSS) vs. the Anti-Apartheid Struggle
On 19 November 1970, the head of the apartheid Bureau of State Security (BOSS), General Hendrik Van Den Bergh, briefly appeared on Rhodesian Television (now known as Zimbabwe Television) telling viewers that anti-apartheid protests overseas were cautiously planned by communists linked to the South African Communist Party (SACP) and leftists in exile.
He was interviewed in a weekly slot called “The South African Scene”, which was produced by the apartheid South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Van Den Bergh claimed that anti-apartheid protests were all part of the Cold War and had been carefully planned, including the demonstrations against the whites-only rugby team, “The Springboks”. This claim was made on the basis of the SACP’s relationship with the Soviet Union, suggesting that it was being used by Moscow to pursue its Cold War agenda.
The apartheid regime, through BOSS, propagated the conjecture that the capacity of the African National Congress (ANC) to embark upon and sustain the armed struggle depended on its alliance with the SACP, which in turn counted on the moral, military and material support from Moscow. By extension therefore, viewers were expected to infer that the ANC was also a tool of the Soviet Union in its aspirations to spread its influence and gain a strategic advantage during the Cold War.
BOSS was at the cutting edge of apartheid South Africa’s fight ag
