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.
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This issue covers the 'Pretoria Twelve' ANC trial, the SASO-BPC convictions, banning orders, detentions, and deaths in custody. It reports on police impunity legislation, the status of Robben Island, the banning of Winnie Mandela to Brandfort, the Red Cross Geneva protocols, and ongoing Rhodesian executions and repression. Includes special coverage of ANC underground structures, student trials, and international legal developments.
This issue provides in-depth reports on executions of Zimbabwean nationalists, the SASO-BPC and Pretoria 12 trials in South Africa, deaths in detention, detentions and bannings, new apartheid legislation, protected villages, police violence, military occupation in Namibia, Rhodesian cross-border raids, and worsening health conditions in rural areas. Key trials include those of Robert Bhebe, Painos Zehama, and SWAPO activists. It also documents torture, forced removals, and mercenary use on white-owned farms.
This issue reports the mass banning of Black Consciousness organisations and individuals on 19 October 1977, including the SASO, BPC, and Soweto Students’ Representative Council. It details arrests, detentions, and police violence during student uprisings and protests, particularly in Soweto, Eastern Cape, and universities. Coverage includes Steve Biko’s death in detention, memorial actions, and international solidarity. Rhodesian repression, Namibian occupation, and emergency powers in Bophuthatswana and Ciskei are also covered. Political trials, such as the Pretoria Twelve and Springs Six, and inquests into deaths in detention are documented.
This issue highlights torture and political repression in Namibia, including sworn affidavits of electric shock torture and abuse of detainees like Bernadus Petrus. It covers arrests of SWAPO leaders, police crackdowns on rallies, and controversial security laws such as AG9. South African topics include trials, bannings, deaths in detention (e.g., Steve Biko, Rick Turner), Goch Street shootings, and Spring Six sentencing. Other topics include educational repression, press censorship, Rhodesian executions, guerilla warfare, and the seizure of banned organisations’ assets.
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 documents mass executions under Rhodesian martial law, including hangings and firing squad deaths; political trials and detentions in South Africa and Namibia; the torture of SWAPO official Axel Johannes; repression of election activity under Rhodesian martial law; starvation and violence in rural areas; cross-border military raids by South Africa into Angola and Zambia; and detailed lists of political prisoners, detainees, and court rulings. The issue also highlights the censorship of political prisoners, private armies in Zimbabwe, and the use of elections as political manipulation by the Rhodesian regime.
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 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.