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.
Robben Island
13 Archival description results for Robben Island
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 reports on the execution of Solomon Mahlangu, Soweto student trials (Soweto Eleven), new political trial convictions including Mzilikazi Khumalo and Norman Ngwenya, and ongoing PAC and ANC-related legal cases. It covers the death in detention of Mputie Matsobane on Robben Island, detention statistics, banning orders, and claims for damages by families of detainees like Steve Biko and Joseph Mdluli. Zimbabwe elections, martial law, and South African collaboration with the Rhodesian regime are also addressed. Further topics include press censorship, guerrilla detentions, and the militarization of the border zones.
This issue covers the major treason trial of 12 alleged ANC guerillas, repression under martial law in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), escalating political trials in South Africa, continued security legislation abuses, and numerous detentions and bannings. It includes detailed reports on the use of torture, child detentions, the settlement of civil suits like the Steve Biko case, and bans imposed on legal defenders like Priscilla Jana. Reports on trials span across Transkei, Ciskei, Namibia, and Botswana. Also included are conditions in resettlement camps like Dimbaza and Ilinge, treatment of political prisoners on Robben Island and Kroonstad, and censorship cases involving journalists.
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.
This issue centers on the campaign to release Nelson Mandela, political trials involving ANC members, widespread detentions, prison conditions, and regional instability due to South African military incursions into Angola and Zambia. Key trials include those of James Mange, Renfrew Christie, and numerous ANC guerrillas. The issue details amnesties in Zimbabwe, restoration of study rights for political prisoners in South Africa, torture accounts of detained youth, and the banning of religious and civil society organizations in the Transkei. Also discussed are border attacks, military build-ups, and systematic pressure on frontline states.
This issue documents intensified repression of black trade unions, including police brutality, deportations, and censorship of union material. It covers mass removals under apartheid laws, including the Hout Bay evictions, relocation of farm squatters, and resettlement for wildlife conservation. A major feature is the in-depth testimony of ANC official Zinjiva Nkondo, abducted and interrogated by South African security forces. Also included are reports on student repression in the bantustans, widespread bans on political gatherings, censorship of Mandela campaign material, trials of ANC guerrillas, Robben Island prison conditions, and Namibia's 'internal settlement' military and administrative developments.
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 issue documents the South African raid on ANC residences in Matola, Mozambique, killing 15 people, including ANC and SACTU members. It reports widespread detentions, school boycotts, union crackdowns, and new censorship laws. It includes a testimony from SWAPO's Axel Johannes detailing 15 months of solitary detention under Proclamation AG26. Key events include the banning of six journalists, mass opposition to conscription in Namibia, accounts of torture, detentions of AZAPO members, the death of Jonas Shimuefeleni on Robben Island, and the escape of Kassinga detainees. The issue underscores militarization in Namibia, legal mechanisms used for indefinite detention, and state suppression of media and civil liberties.
This issue documents the massive state security operation during anti-Republic Day protests, widespread student and labor detentions, guerilla actions by the ANC, and extensive trials under apartheid-era laws. Major topics include detentions of COSAS members, SAAWU and AZAPO activists, Robben Island releases, union suppression, and forced removals. It contains full trial listings, bans and restrictions, Namibia militarization, Kassinga anniversary, and a historical review of 20 years of repression since the Republic’s founding. The issue also exposes systemic use of torture, curfews, censorship, rape by soldiers, and the conscription system in Namibia.