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Archival description
US UK-PWP01 PWPFOC001-PWPFOCI039 · Item · March–April 1982
Part of Focus Publication

This issue extensively documents torture by South African and Namibian security forces, including affidavits, testimonies, and reports of death in detention. Key features include the disappearance of Johannes Kakuva, violent repression of SWAPO sympathisers, use of poison gas in Angola (Operation Daisy), and the intensification of military presence in Kaokoland. It also covers numerous political trials (Oscar Mpetha, Robert Adam, Masabata Loate, etc.), repression in Ciskei and Venda, and the detention and death of unionist Dr. Neil Aggett. Detailed lists of new detainees and evidence of abuse by security forces appear throughout.

US UK-PWP01 PWPFOC001-PWPFOCI040 · Item · May–June 1982
Part of Focus Publication

This issue reports on the tightening of apartheid security laws following the Rabie Commission, including proposed new terrorism, subversion, and sabotage laws. It details intensified repression across South Africa and Namibia, mass detentions, psychological torture, political trials, and restrictions on the press. The issue also includes a major review of the South African Police, extensive political trial updates (including Barbara Hogan, Oscar Mpetha, and SWAPO guerrillas), and the arrest and detention of many students, trade unionists, and church workers. Notably, it reports hunger strikes and deaths in custody, and increasing international protest against detention conditions.

US UK-PWP01 PWPFOC001-PWPFOCI042 · Item · September–October 1982
Part of Focus Publication

This issue focuses on the controversial parole of political prisoners in South Africa, political trials of ANC and SWAPO members, deaths in detention (Muofhe and Depale), widespread use of the Terrorism and Internal Security Acts, bannings, banishments, repression of trade unions, the Rabie Commission reforms, and intensified state surveillance. It includes reports on the torture of detainees, new legislation affecting civil liberties, restrictions on media coverage, and paramilitary operations like Koevoet in Namibia.

US UK-PWP01 PWPFOC001-PWPFOCI043 · Item · November–December 1982
Part of Focus Publication

Issue 43 provides in-depth coverage of labour repression in South Africa, including mass strikes, police violence, dockworker and miner disputes, and the suppression of the General Workers Union. It documents political trials of ANC members, including those of Barbara Hogan, Alan Fine, and others, with graphic accounts of torture. The issue includes updates on detentions and preventive detention under the new Internal Security Act, the massacre at Oshikuku (Namibia), SWAPO activities, and constitutional reforms aimed at entrenching apartheid. A full list of political detainees and those who died in custody since 1963 is also included.

US UK-PWP01 PWPFOC001-PWPFOCI044 · Item · January–February 1983
Part of Focus Publication

This issue focuses on increasing military control in Namibia, particularly through South Africa’s use of intelligence and military figures to override civil authority. It documents multiple cases of deaths in detention (notably in Kavango), systemic torture by security police, conditions in Namibian hospitals, repression of trade unionists, political trials (including Barbara Hogan, Cedric Mayson, and Allan Fine), abuses of the Internal Security Act, political detentions, and apartheid’s legal manipulation. Includes statistical updates, case reports, and trial summaries relating to anti-apartheid activists, students, and workers across Southern Africa.

US UK-PWP01 PWPFOC001-PWPFOCI045 · Item · March–April 1983
Part of Focus Publication

Issue 45 provides detailed accounts of repression through tightened pass laws, the criminalisation of residency, and the use of state security forces to restrict African movement and employment. The issue features an obituary tribute to Canon John Collins and reports on mass detentions, child imprisonment, police violence, and political trials of ANC and SWAPO members. It also includes updates on union suppression, school and student protests, the Maseru Raid, Namibia detentions, and Angola incursions. A full review of the 1982 armed struggle is included, with statistical breakdowns of sabotage operations, and evidence of state disinformation regarding guerrilla activity. Ciskei repression and its 'Sword of the Nation' squad are also featured.