This issue documents the aftermath of the Soweto uprising, ongoing unrest throughout South Africa, and widespread repression. Topics include political trials (ANC and Black Consciousness), arrests of children, use of the Terrorism Act and preventive detention, the role of the Riotous Assemblies Act, military operations in Ovamboland, torture allegations, and the deaths of detainees such as Mapetla Mohapi. Additional sections cover Transkei, Namibia, Rhodesia, and continued censorship and bannings.

Issue 49 focuses on violent repression of SWAPO activism in Namibia during the UN Secretary-General’s visit, the ongoing arrests and torture of activists, and bans on key political figures. It includes detailed lists of restricted and detained persons, coverage of constitutional resistance through the UDF’s launch, and increasing detentions of students and trade unionists in South Africa. It also highlights the torture of detainees, psychiatric abuse, and the use of treason trials to suppress dissent. The issue documents major political trials, mass protests, state censorship, and population clearances in the Kavango region of Namibia.

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.