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 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 supplement to FOCUS No. 87 provides an analysis of the steps taken and obstacles remaining in the process of negotiating an end to apartheid in South Africa as of early 1990. It details the partial reforms initiated by the apartheid regime, including the unbanning of political organisations, the release of some political prisoners, and the lifting of certain emergency regulations. The supplement critically examines the limitations of these reforms, the continued existence of repressive legislation, the ongoing state of emergency, and the regime's retention of significant powers of repression. It also covers the responses of the African National Congress (ANC) and the international community, and outlines the requirements of the Harare Declaration for genuine negotiations.