Showing 3 results

Issue No. 1 of 'Focus' bulletin, dated November 1975, detailing the intensification of political repression in Southern Africa, including mass detentions, torture, political trials under the Terrorism Act, and increasing use of banning orders. Specific cases, trials, and legislative actions in South Africa, Rhodesia, and Namibia are described.

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 article details a campaign by the South African regime to undermine SWAPO (South West Africa People’s Organization) and associated church groups in Namibia during the mid-1980s. It describes the infiltration of SWAPO by South African spies, the dissemination of propaganda, and the targeting of church organizations such as the Council of Churches in Namibia (CCN). The article references press conferences, confessions by captured agents, and attacks on church property, as well as the international response to these events. It also includes statements from SWAPO leaders and church officials, and discusses the broader context of repression and resistance in Namibia.