Issue 55 chronicles the intensified resistance to apartheid in South Africa, focusing on rent boycotts, township uprisings, school and university protests, mass detentions, and political trials. It documents electoral boycotts of the segregated parliament, bans on political gatherings, deaths in detention, and brutal state repression. Coverage includes SWAPO's military and political strength in Namibia, press censorship, and war zone atrocities in the Kavango region. Also featured are trials of student activists, trade unionists, and members of banned organisations such as the ANC and AZAPO.

This issue of Focus (no. 92) covers political trials, detentions, and the struggle for the reincorporation of the Bophuthatswana bantustan in South Africa during late 1990 and early 1991. It documents ongoing legal repression, mass detentions, bail applications, prison sentences, and mass action against apartheid-era authorities. The issue includes case studies, named individuals, and references to legal and political developments, as well as coverage of campaigns for the release of political prisoners and the activities of anti-apartheid organizations.