Issue 57 outlines the intensifying political repression in South Africa and Namibia during early 1985. It highlights escalating political trials, over 1,100 detentions in 1984, censorship and state raids on press agencies, the trial of SWAPO fighters under repressive conditions, and the growing use of the Internal Security Act. The issue reports on community resistance, school boycotts, labour union suppression, press censorship, and constitutional manipulation to preserve apartheid structures. It includes detailed trial summaries, prisoner lists, and coverage of Nelson Mandela’s conditional release rejection.

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 covers school boycotts and the violent repression of student protest in South Africa, particularly in the Cape and Transvaal provinces. It details political trials, including the ANC guerrilla trials, the imprisonment of journalist Msekeli Mgijima, and union repression cases. Detentions under various security laws are documented, including hunger strikes, torture allegations, and the death of a Transkei official in custody. The newsletter features an interview with SWAPO President Sam Nujoma, highlighting repression in Namibia, including new police units, forced removals, and militarization. Also covered are conditions in Robben Island, internal exile, and the targeting of student activists and civic leaders. A large section lists detainees and political prisoners.