This issue details the South African government's deepening apartheid policies after the 1977 elections, repression through political trials, detentions, and bannings. Major trials include the Pretoria Twelve, Springs Six, and PAC-related cases. It reports on torture in Namibia, police killings, arson trials, and student resistance. The issue includes coverage of Steve Biko’s aftermath, the death of Robert Sobukwe, Soweto’s community council elections, detentions of minors, and rising legal and political suppression.
Ciskei
10 Archival description results for Ciskei
This issue covers the emergence of 'private armies' in Rhodesia following the internal settlement, including reports of guerilla activity, auxiliary forces, and repression. Topics include the Elim Mission massacre, security force abuses, wage disparities, police shootings of miners, numerous political trials and executions, including the death sentence of Solomon Mahlangu. Also covered are detainee lists, deaths in detention (including Lungile Tabalaza), torture allegations, and forced deportations of Roman Catholic clergy.
This issue highlights the violent police raids on Crossroads squatter camp, political trials including the Mothopeng and SASM 11 cases, detention of activists, the death of Lungile Tabalaza, and the publication of IDAF's 'Prisoners of Apartheid'. The issue also covers South Africa’s intensified legal repression, martial law expansion in Rhodesia, repression in Ciskei and Venda, deportations, and the death of student activist Johannes Matsobane.
This issue reports on the execution of Solomon Mahlangu, Soweto student trials (Soweto Eleven), new political trial convictions including Mzilikazi Khumalo and Norman Ngwenya, and ongoing PAC and ANC-related legal cases. It covers the death in detention of Mputie Matsobane on Robben Island, detention statistics, banning orders, and claims for damages by families of detainees like Steve Biko and Joseph Mdluli. Zimbabwe elections, martial law, and South African collaboration with the Rhodesian regime are also addressed. Further topics include press censorship, guerrilla detentions, and the militarization of the border zones.
This issue details a new phase of military escalation in Namibia, including South African troop build-ups, air raids in Angola, martial law extensions, and mass detentions in Windhoek. It covers the repression in ‘Zimbabwe-Rhodesia,’ highlighting political trials, executions, the Mothopeng PAC trial, and press censorship. Key developments include the sentencing of PAC members, reports of sexual violence by security forces in protected villages, new appointments to suppress dissent, and the systematic use of curfews and detentions without trial.
This issue covers the major treason trial of 12 alleged ANC guerillas, repression under martial law in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), escalating political trials in South Africa, continued security legislation abuses, and numerous detentions and bannings. It includes detailed reports on the use of torture, child detentions, the settlement of civil suits like the Steve Biko case, and bans imposed on legal defenders like Priscilla Jana. Reports on trials span across Transkei, Ciskei, Namibia, and Botswana. Also included are conditions in resettlement camps like Dimbaza and Ilinge, treatment of political prisoners on Robben Island and Kroonstad, and censorship cases involving journalists.
This issue details extensive torture allegations in Rhodesia, including specific cases of teenage detainees Benchard and Leavit Katumba, Bibo Chitsedza, and Duster Katanha. It reports on political trials, executions, petitions for clemency, and the expansion of martial law across prisons in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia. It also covers SWAPO detentions in Namibia, repression in South Africa (including bannings, exile, and suppression of political activists), the creation of a South West African Defence Force under South African control, and press censorship. Further reports cover banned and exiled individuals, refugee crises, and new powers granted to police and Bantustans to restrict movement and civil liberties.
This issue documents the death sentence imposed on Markus Kateka in Namibia, mass detentions under apartheid and occupation laws, torture and health crises in prisons, political trials involving ANC and SWAPO activists, testimonies of disappearances and cross-border raids, and systemic repression through censorship, bannings, and restrictions on civil society. Highlights include the trials of ANC guerrillas, the SWAPO activist Ida Jimmy, brutal detention of juveniles, the case of Dr. Nafta Hamata, and state-sanctioned killings and disappearances in Namibia. The issue also includes coverage of forced removals, health inequalities under apartheid rule, and testimony to international bodies including the UN and OAU about South African attacks in Angola.
This issue details South Africa’s continued occupation and military offensive in southern Angola (Operation Askari), systematic torture of detainees in Namibia, SWAPO trials, and the expansion of South Africa’s armed forces. Key topics include Ida Jimmy’s reduced sentence, Kavango detainees' torture affidavits, political trials involving ANC and PAC members, censorship enforcement, and high-profile detentions. It also highlights poverty in Namibia, with case studies revealing the state’s discriminatory benefit policies and extreme deprivation. Notable incidents include the Robben Island protest for elderly detainee release, the ‘roasting’ torture case in Kavango, and multiple political trials including that of Sister Mary Bernard Ncube.
This issue reports on the release of SWAPO leader Herman Toivo ja Toivo, his public reaffirmation of SWAPO's mission, and the continued detention of Kassinga survivors. It features court actions to free detainees, detailed lists of those imprisoned, and affidavits documenting torture and unlawful detention under Proclamation AG9. It covers new detentions, student protests, pass law convictions, school boycotts, the Alexandra bus boycott, forced removals, and increasing repression in Namibia and Venda. Major sections report on death in detention, political trials, abuses by security forces, and a growing list of detainees. The newsletter also documents the high-profile trial of journalist Gwen Lister and the deportation of British researcher Alun Roberts.