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.
Newsletters
77 Archival description results for Newsletters
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.
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.
This issue reports on the trial of three SWAPO guerrillas in Namibia, with a legal challenge for prisoner-of-war status under the Geneva Conventions. Topics covered include the continued banning of Nathaniel Maxuilili, torture and detentions in northern Namibia, attacks on Angola, education boycotts, and widespread political trials in South Africa. The issue exposes security force abuses, displays of guerrilla corpses, school protest crackdowns, press censorship, and trade union repression. It also covers the new IDAF constitution and the continued use of solitary confinement and psychological torture against detainees such as Neil Aggett. Legal cases include Barbara Hogan, Oscar Mpetha, and SWAPO youth leaders, among many others.
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.
This issue highlights escalating political repression, including deaths in detention (notably Joseph Mdluli), torture under the Terrorism Act, and mass arrests in South Africa, Namibia, and Rhodesia. It covers the Namibian SWAPO trial, state violence against Black Consciousness members, demolitions in Windhoek, and rural forced removals in South Africa (Majeng case). Also includes updates on political trials and mass arrests in Zimbabwe.
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.
Issue 38 centers on the politically motivated assassination of anti-apartheid lawyer Griffiths Mxenge, as well as widespread detentions of students, trade unionists, and church workers. It documents deaths in detention (e.g., Tshifhiwa Muofhe, Manana Mgoweto), ongoing trials (e.g., Oscar Mpetha case), censorship, new security legislation in Namibia, and the continued militarization of Angola and Namibia. Coverage includes Operation Protea aftermath, juvenile political trials, the rise of civil disobedience by churches, bans and passport seizures, attacks on the South African Council of Churches, and the Red Cross involvement in prisoner welfare.
Issue 37 provides detailed reporting on repression in the Ciskei bantustan, the South African invasion of Angola (Operation Protea), political detentions, bannings, student and trade union trials, and prison conditions. It includes first-hand accounts, trial updates (including those of Oscar Mpetha and ANC guerillas), figures on political prisoners, juvenile detentions, and restrictions on journalists. Reports also highlight police violence, attacks on press freedom, and widespread protest against 'independence' imposed on Ciskei.
This issue details the South African invasion of southern Angola, including town occupations, bombings, and destruction of infrastructure. It provides accounts of torture and abuse of SWAPO detainees, repression in Namibia under conscription, destruction of the Anglican seminary in Odibo, mass pass arrests in the Cape, increased military and police operations in urban areas, and ongoing political detentions and trials of trade unionists, students, and ANC members. Notably, testimonies of detainees, statistics on South African aggression in Angola, and reports on religious persecution and the expansion of South African military bases are included.