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International Solidarity and Support, Volume1South African Democracy Education Trust
CONTENTS
PREFACEBACKGROUNDThe South African Democracy Education Trust (SADET) was established as a project Trust after President Thabo Mbeki indicated his concern about the paucity of historical material on the arduous and complex road to South Africa's peaceful political settlement after decades of violent conflict. Following discussions with the private sector, core funding for SADET was provided by MTN and the Nedbank Group. In 2004 MTN became the leading sponsor of the project, while the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund gave SADET a grant to carry out the research. SADET's activities are overseen by a Trust Board, chaired by the Minister in the Presidency, Dr Essop Pahad, and includes Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, Dr Meshack Khosa of MTN (replacing Dr Yvonne Muthien in 2005), Adv. Selby Baqwa (SC) of the Nedbank Group, General A. Masondo (retired Chief of Service Corps, South African National Defence Force), Mr Isaac Makopo of the MK Veteran's Association, Mr Seth Phalatse, Dr Vincent Maphai, Dr Eddy Maloka of the Africa Institute of South Africa, and Professor Bernard Magubane (SADET). A project management and research team was established, and consisted of Professor Bernard Magubane (Project Leader), Dr Gregory Houston (Project Coordinator), Dr Sifiso Ndlovu (Senior Researcher) and Mrs Elsa Kruger (Project Administrator). In 2004 Dr Houston was appointed Executive Director and Professor Magubane Editor-in-Chief. MISSIONSADET's mission is to examine and analyse events leading to the negotiated settlement and democracy in South Africa with a focus on:
The study will result in, among others, the publication of 5 volumes of research covering the successive decades of The Road to Democracy in South Africa in the run up to the first democratic elections. Volumes 1 and 2 of The Road to Democracy in South Africa have already been published and the team is working on Volume 3 on the 1980s. The current Volume is the first of SADET's second main series of publications which will focus on International Solidarity with the liberation struggle. The series covers the contribution of various international organisations, governments and their peoples, and solidarity organisations to the liberation struggle in South Africa. Work has already begun on the second volume, which will focus on African solidarity with an emphasis on the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and its Liberation Committee, various countries in the Southern African region, including the role that Tanzania and Zambia played, as well as countries in west, east and north Africa. TERMS OF REFERENCEThe Road to Democracy project is a chronological analysis of four decades - 1960-1970, 1970-1980, 1980-1990, 1990-1994, bearing in mind the four areas of focus above and the following themes for each decade:
METHODOLOGYSADET commissioned scholars in a variety of countries, with an emphasis on nationals from the countries under study, and/or major actors in the international organisations, governmental agencies or solidarity movements being reviewed here. INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY, Volume 1
The South African Government spurned all appeals to revise its policies, but the United Nations discussions internationalized the racial problem in South Africa and built a consensus against apartheid. After the Sharpeville massacre of 1960, the newly independent African States, responding to the request of the liberation movement, pressed for sanctions against South Africa. In 1946, the UN General Assembly decided, despite opposition of Western governments, to request all States to consider a series of sanctions against South Africa. In 1963 the Security Council called for a "voluntary embargo" on the sale of arms to South Africa. The Council was unable for many years, because of the opposition of major Western powers, to decide on mandatory sanctions which all governments are required to implement. The United Nations became a forum where non-aligned and Communist states, in particular, tried year after year to press for mandatory sanctions. In 1977, the Security Council decided unanimously on a binding arms embargo against South Africa, but was unable to decide on any economic sanctions. Meanwhile, spurred by its Special Committee against Apartheid, the United Nations promoted an oil embargo and other measures by governments; established funds for assistance to South African political prisoners and their families, refugees and the liberation movement; encouraged boycotts and other action by the public. By 1984, most of the smaller Western States, led by the Nordic countries, supported sanctions against South Africa and assistance to the liberation movement. The crisis in South Africa in the mid-1980s and the pressure of public opinion persuaded the major Western powers to apply some sanctions while international financial institutions stopped loans to South Africa and hundreds of corporations withdrew investments in that country. The advance of the liberation struggle, together with actions by the governments and the public, obliged the South African Government to end repression and begin negotiations with the genuine representatives of the people. The United Nations played a crucial role in helping the South Africans to overcome serious difficulties during the process of negotiations and in ensuring free and fair elections in April 1994. In chapter 3 Vijay Gupta documents in detail the solidarity and support the Indian government, solidarity movements and the people offered to the struggle in South Africa. A year before achieving formal independence on August 15 1947, India took a major step in the international arena when it drew attention to South Africa's racial policies at the United Nations (UN). In June it requested the UN General Assembly to consider the treatment of Indians in South Africa, and withdrew its High Commissioner from that country. India's complaint internationalized the racial problem in South Africa. In addition, during the last fifty years of the liberation struggle in South Africa a strong solidarity movement was built among non-governmental organisations in the country. Starting with a small discussion group, it eventually reached remote corners of India. But no separate anti-apartheid movement was formed in India because the government was taking action with the full support of the people. The government, various political parties and the people in general supported the struggle of the South African people in a variety of ways. India's role in solidarity has a longer history than that of any other nation. It has covered many fields. Few countries equalled India in consistent diplomatic, political, economic and other support to the cause of liberation in South Africa for well over half a century. India and Indians played an important role in promoting solidarity by governments and the public in other countries. It has taken up the issue not only in the United Nations and in the Commonwealth, but in many other forums such as the International Olympic Committee and other international sports bodies. It has been consistent and this has involved considerable sacrifice. All political parties and public organisations - trade unions, student organizations, etc. - were united in solidarity despite their serious differences on other issues. The years 1956 to 1991 saw an attempt by the apartheid regime to crush the Liberation Movement through the courts. This strategy had a dual aim: firstly it was an attempt to criminalize the struggle and its leaders, and to enable the regime to present itself as a standard-bearer of "Western Civilization" under attack by communism, saboteurs and terrorists; secondly to neutralize anti-apartheid activists by detaining and imprisoning them. In chapter 4 Al Cook tells the story of IDAF which helped ensure that neither of these objectives were realized. IDAF grew out of a Fund that was formed to defend the accused in the Treason Trial of 1956-61, and to assist their dependants. It went on to provide legal defence for the members of all liberation organizations in the great majority of trials for this entire period. And it provided assistance to sustain the families of those detained, imprisoned, and in some cases hanged. It paid for inquests like those of Looksmart Ngudle, Steve Biko and Neil Aggett, and produced factual information that it distributed internationally to publicize what was happening under apartheid and "keep the conscience of the world alive to the issues at stake". Its activities were a great boost to the morale of political prisoners and their families. It was banned in South Africa in 1966, but continued its work clandestinely from London until it closed at the end of 1991, transferring its work to South African organizations best placed to carry it out. Together with the USA, Britain was South Africa's main ally throughout the apartheid era. In Chapter 5 Christabel Gurney describes how the British Anti-Apartheid Movement grew from a group founded by South African exiles in 1959 into a British mass movement which united key constituencies in the trade unions, churches, universities, political parties and local authorities to take anti-apartheid action in the 1980s. The Boycott Movement was formed in Britain to internationalise the South African Congress Movement's call for a boycott within South Africa of goods produced by firms which supported the National Party. After the banning of the ANC and PAC in 1960, it was transformed into the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), which took up the more radical call of the ANC's underground emergency committee for UN sanctions and the total isolation of South Africa. This was a key plank of the AAM's platform until the run-up to the 1994 freedom election. The chapter argues that in campaigning for sanctions and for support for the liberation movements, the AAM challenged economic interests and racial assumptions which permeated British society. At the same time it campaigned against repression and for freedom for South African political prisoners. In this it worked closely with the other main anti-apartheid organisation in Britain, the International Defence and Aid Fund (see Chapter 00). In the 1980s the underlying situation was transformed by Britain's economic reorientation towards the European Community, a change in 'racial norms', South Africa's isolation within the Southern African region and above all by the explosion of opposition to apartheid within South Africa. The AAM won mass support within Britain for sanctions and economic disengagement from South Africa, and played a leading part in the world campaign for the release of Nelson Mandela and all other South African political prisoners. The chapter argues that in spite of Prime Minister Thatcher's intransigence, the British AAM played a seminal role in the world campaign for sanctions and helped to win international recognition of role of the liberation movement. "No Irish voice has been lifted up in praise of ... Imperialism ... because Ireland has taken sides for ever with the poor" wrote the poet W B Yeats. It was this anti-imperialist spirit that accounted for much of the success of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement, which succeeded in rallying people from all walks of life and of varying political views, from the north as well as the south of Ireland. Chapter 6 is a study of the Anti-Apartheid movement in this small country, which had little trade with South Africa and was not in a position to exert a material influence when it came to sanctions. Louise and Kader Asmal and Thomas Alberts show that the determined stand of Irish people against apartheid in sport, manifested when all-white sports teams toured the country in the 60s, made a considerable impact. For most of its existence, the IAAM was staffed entirely by volunteers, and depended largely on the subscriptions of its members and affiliated organisations for finance, as well as on the generosity of artists who performed at concerts or donated paintings for auction. Its greatest support came from the trade unions, north and south, and it was their refusal to provide the necessary services that brought about the cancellation of a number of sporting events and conferences where South Africa was represented. The Irish Government, though in agreement early on to putting South Africa on the United Nations agenda, was not so keen to take concrete steps to end apartheid. It took 10 young women shopworkers going on strike for three and a half years in 1984 because they refused to handle South African fruit to finally persuade the Irish Government to ban the import of apartheid fruit and vegetables. For nearly 30 years the Movement publicised events in South Africa, always scrupulous in recording the facts as accurately as possible. It relied greatly for its material on the International Defence and Aid Fund, with which it had a close relationship, as well as on the United Nations Centre against Apartheid. It's nearly thirty years of existence were not without controversy. At the end of the day though the influence of Irish history, the inclusive spirit of the Freedom Charter of the African National Congress, and the example set by the liberation movement members who upheld their principles of non-racism in the face of appalling racist oppression, came powerfully together. The combination brought a high level of awareness and support for the liberation struggle in Ireland. During the Cold War, the South and Southern African liberation movements were generally shunned by the Western world as 'Communist' or 'terrorist'. Guided by the UN General Assembly, as early as in 1969, however, the Swedish parliament voted to assist them with official humanitarian assistance, breaking the mould which reduced the liberation struggles to a battlefield between the contending super powers, as well as paving the way for a unique and expanding involvement by the Nordic countries in practically all fields barring the supply of arms. In Chapter 7, Tor Sellström paints a background to the dissident Nordic position; outlines the policies adopted by Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden; discusses how the ANC was regarded as a South African 'government-in-waiting'; and gives an account of the actual assistance. The issue of economic sanctions is also covered. While the Nordic NGO anti-apartheid movements played a decisive advocacy role, Sellström describes how a close partnership developed between the ANC and the Nordic governments, with a particular focus on Sweden. Tables on official assistance are included, illustrating that Sweden was the prime financial supporter of the ANC in exile, as well as during the transition of 1990-94. In recognition of his particular role, the chapter ends with a note on the late Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme and his contributions towards a principled, non-aligned stance in favour of liberation, non-racialism and majority-rule. The early Dutch colonization of South Africa, the traditional religious connections, the links with the Afrikaner language and the relative large number of Dutch emigrants in South Africa all contributed to the large interest in South African affairs, including the anti-apartheid struggle, in Dutch society. They explain the extensive media coverage and the emergence of strong anti-apartheid movements in the Netherlands, which is the subject of chapter 8, written by Sietse Bosgra. Bosgra shows that the issue of apartheid led to frequent and heated confrontations between a majority in parliament and many sectors of civil society on the one hand, and the government on the other, about sanctions against South Africa. For instance, the protestant churches supported sanctions and assistance to the ANC, while the trade unions and development NGOs played an important role in the anti-apartheid campaigns. Local authorities often found themselves in conflict with the Dutch government as they introduced their own economic sanctions against South Africa. In the 1970s and 1980s these contradictions became more and more evident. The motor of this development were the Dutch anti-apartheid organisations (AAMs). The AAMs were able to mobilize public opinion and would for a large part determine the agenda of the political discussions in the press, in parliament and government. Among the most important issues that they raised were the oil embargo, loans by Dutch banks to the apartheid state and its organs, the import of coal, the sale of Krugerrands, and the sale of South African products in major retail stores. In some respects they were able to influence government action, for instance, when it forced the government to introduce some non-economic sanctions such as denouncing the cultural agreement with South Africa and the introduction of visa requirements, and blocking the entry into the Netherlands of officials of the South African government and the "independent homelands" and visitors who came for sport, culture and science. The AAMs also provided much needed Dutch material support to the ANC. After the introduction of apartheid in South Africa the West European countries continued the close and friendly relations with white South Africa. They were based on economic profits and feelings of kinship. Moreover, during the Cold War era, South Africa was considered part of the "free world" of anti-communist states. But, as international opposition to apartheid grew, national anti-apartheid organisations emerged in the different European countries under study. The result was that governments and companies were increasingly forced to change their policy and South Africa became more and more isolated. In chapter 9 the role of nine West European countries and the work of their anti-apartheid movements are described by a variety of authors. The Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, Britain and Ireland will be described in other chapters in this Volume. Although the development of anti-apartheid movements was to a large extent similar, each country had its own particularities. In the early 1960s France played important role as a supplier of arms to apartheid South Africa, while Italy also was not only an important arms exporter to South Africa but was also involved in the large scale importation of South African gold. West Germany was in the front line in the anti-communist struggle, which formed an important impediment for the anti-apartheid campaigns. Belgium, which is splitting up into a French and Flemish, had two distinct sets of relationships with apartheid South Africa and separate anti-apartheid movements. In the Flemish half of the country feelings of kinship with the Afrikaners had an influence on the anti-apartheid activities. The linkages Austria and Switzerland had with the apartheid state were less obvious and therefore often overlooked, and this constituted an obstacle for the anti-apartheid movements which was not easy to overcome. Portugal, Spain and Greece had limited relations with South Africa, and here the anti-apartheid movements were less developed. During the apartheid period more and more West European countries became members of the European Communities (EC), and more and more powers were transferred from the national governments to the EC. The West European anti-apartheid movements concluded that they had to coordinate their activities on the EC level. "The Liaison Group of Anti-Apartheid Movements in the EC" was born as a strong trans-national anti-apartheid movement. West-European members of parliament who supported the anti-apartheid struggle also concluded that they would have to coordinate their activities, leading to the establishment of AWEPAA, the Association of West European Paliamentarians for Action against Apartheid, based in Amsterdam. In Chapter 10 William Minter and Sylvia Hill trace the long history of ties between opponents of racism in the United States and South Africa and the stages by which anti-apartheid organizations and political sentiment became strong enough in the 1980s to shift public opinion and government policy even in the conservative Reagan era. They survey the contradictory contexts of U.S. government and business complicity with the white minority regime and the evolution of the U.S. civil rights, Black power, and anti-war movements, essential historical contexts within which African solidarity and anti-apartheid groups evolved. The story includes not only a range of national Africa-focused organizations, including the Council on African Affairs, the American Committee on Africa / The Africa Fund, the American Friends Service Committee, TransAfrica, and the Washington Office on Africa, but also a host of local groups like the Southern Africa Support Project as well as sector-specific or shorter-lived groups that collectively reached almost every sector of American society with the anti-apartheid message. While this diverse movement in a racially and socially divided and geographically vast country never featured an organizationally unified national coalition, it successfully mobilized around the twin themes of support for African liberation and opposition to the complicity of U.S. business and government with apartheid. The movement involved not only African Americans but also white Americans, Africans from other countries, and those of other minority racial groups, Throughout this history, South African visitors and exiles played catalytic roles in the organization of the movement in the United States, from early ANC leaders such as A. B. Xuma and Z. K. Matthews to later activist exiles such as Miriam Makeba, Dennis Brutus, and Dumisani Kumalo. In chapter 11 Joan Fairweather demonstrates how, as a predominantly "white" middle power, Canada's contribution to South Africa's liberation struggle was somewhat ambiguous. While the Canadian government was openly critical of apartheid policies it was often reluctant to transform its abhorrence into meaningful action. Throughout the period under review, Canadian foreign policy relating to Southern Africa was heavily influenced by its relationships with Britain and the United States, its closest allies and trading partners. However, thanks to public pressure and the tireless efforts exerted by Canadian churches, trade unions, and development organizations, Canada gradually developed other allegiances - the most important being with newly-independent African states and fellow-members of the Commonwealth. Although these connections tended to be concentrated on trade and humanitarian aid, as opposed to direct assistance to the liberation movements, Canada's friendship was recognized by many African leaders and laid the groundwork for a more significant role in South Africa's liberation struggle. While no single, cohesive anti-apartheid organization emerged in Canada, the public sector drew inspiration and direction from a wide range of partner organizations in South Africa and became the backbone of Canada's solidarity movement. In chapter 12 Peter Limb presents the history of the anti-apartheid movement in Australia and New Zealand. The nature of this movement is explained, its history in both countries and their interactions detailed, and the movement's significance and lessons are discussed. The history of the anti-apartheid movement(s) in Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australia is the history of multi-faceted solidarity action with strong international but also regional and historical dimensions that gave it specific features, most notably the important role of sports sanctions and the relationship of indigenous peoples' struggles to the AAM. Most writings on the AAM in Australia are in the form of memoirs and New Zealand too has seen insightful memoirs and several fine studies of the divisive 1981 rugby tour, as well as comprehensive studies of South Africa-New Zealand relations. However, the internal history of the AAM is less known. What were its origins, divisions, and triumphs? To what extent were its politics influenced by ideas of solidarity, or were they more a reflection of South African political forces (including exiles) or perhaps of national politics? How united, how effective, was it? This chapter comprehensively outlines the history of the movement in all its components and phases. The chapter traces the early history of ties between the countries and South Africa, the first protests against South African racially-selected sporting teams, and the emergence of the AAM from the 1960s. The struggle over sanctions is a major theme. The little-known history of the liberation movements overseas forms an interesting and important part of the chapter. The relations of the USSR/Russia and its allies in the Eastern Europe with the liberation movement in South Africa have been a subject of research by many academics, as well as the issue for official statements and speculation in the press. But unfortunately, too often their content was obscured and distorted. Quite a number of publications in South Africa and in the West claim that the ANC was playing role of the Soviet "proxy" or "task force." Chapter 13, written by Vladimir Shubin, is primarily an attempt to assess the USSR/Russia's attitude to the ANC during the three decades when the organisation was banned and especially during the period of profound changes in the two countries. As for the other East European countries, Bulgaria has been chosen as a case study. This choice was made, because, as distinct from other former Moscow's allies, Bulgaria's relations with the South African liberation movement is undergoing a thorough review by Marina Traikova, a Bulgarian citizen, who worked in the archives of that country; a relevant part of the chapter is based on her Master thesis. Hans-Georg Schleicher argues in chapter 14 that the German Democratic Republic (GDR) proclaimed anti-imperialist solidarity a basic foreign policy principle and based her relationship with the South African liberation movement on common ideological and political values. Common overall interests between the GDR and the liberation movements were to some extent conditioned by the East-West Cold War confrontation. In the GDR the Solidarity Committee was the major instrument for mobilising, organising and implementing solidarity, co-ordinating the efforts of political parties, the trade unions as a main sponsor and other mass organisations. It was embedded into the political structures of the GDR under the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED). Church-related anti-apartheid groups acted outside the official solidarity movement. There was a broad sense of solidarity among the GDR population to draw on - but the centralistic and administrative way of organising solidarity trimmed initiatives from below, undoubtedly a weakness of GDR solidarity. At the same time the efficiency of the support for and close relations of the GDR with the liberation movements were after all results of the strong personal commitment of many East Germans. Early contacts existed between the SED and SACP, between the GDR trade unions and SACTU, and, from 1960 onwards, between the GDR's Solidarity Committee and the ANC. Solidarity campaigns and practical support for the struggle during the 1960s and early 1970s focused on the boycott movement, on economic and sports sanctions against the apartheid regime and on solidarity with political prisoners in South Africa. Major areas of GDR assistance were political and diplomatic support in international organisations, training of cadres, material support, propaganda and armed struggle. That included printing of periodicals, books and other material for the ANC. More than 1,000 MK cadres have been trained in the GDR besides individual fighters being prepared for the deployment in the underground. Scholarships, training of skilled personnel, support for ANC training centres, substantial material and infrastructural assistance, medical treatment for the sick and wounded add to the dimension of assistance. Party-to-party relations between the SED and the ANC and a semi-diplomatic ANC mission in Berlin indicated the level of bilateral relations. While the economic crisis in the GDR in the 1980s limited the material means of GDR solidarity, the help for the liberation movements was, however, not reduced. "New thinking" in the GDR Africa policy in favour of a political settlement in Southern Africa did not affect the support for liberation movements negatively. The brand of GDR solidarity has always been partnership on equal terms and speedy and efficient support, thus providing a valuable contribution for the South African liberation struggle. The collapse of the GDR in 1989/90 interrupted solidarity relations. It took some time for efforts to preserve valuable traditions and maintain the commitment to solidarity, but meanwhile solidarity in East Germany has been resurrected from the grassroots. From the very start, after the triumph of the Revolution in January 1959, Cuba supported the anti-apartheid struggle, including at different international events, where its representatives condemned the racist policies and racial segregation of that system institutionalized by Pretoria; at the same time, they urged support for the South African people's fight for national liberation. That support increased continually, and is the subject of Chapter 15, written by Hedelberto Lopez Blanch. Cuban troops, sometimes numbering up to 50,000, fought together with Angolan forces against South Africa's troops, until then described as "invincible." Intense military combat took place in Angola from 1975 to 1988, culminating in the disaster for the racist South Africans at the battle of Cuito Cuanavale. Given the constant threats against Cuba by various administrations of the United States - a staunch enemy that in 1960 imposed an unending, ferocious blockade against the small Caribbean island - and the modesty that has characterized leaders of the Cuban Revolution, many of the events and information narrated in this chapter appear for the first time, given that author Hedelberto López Blanch was given access to recently declassified documents. The tripartite talks between Cuba, the ANC and the Soviet Union; the holding of the Seventh Congress of the South African Communist Party in Cuba; the training of ANC guerrilla fighters in Cuba and other African countries; the combats against racist forces in Angola, and the discussions that opened the way to Namibia's independence and subsequently, the first free elections in South Africa, as well as comments by high-ranking leaders of the ANC and outstanding South Africans, are included in this chapter, which is also a reflection of the Cuban people's lofty spirit of humanism and internationalism. In the chapter 16, China's Support to and Solidarity with South Africa's Liberation Struggle, Zhong Weiyun and Xu Sujiang make an introduction on New China's policy towards Africa and its evolution and changes. Then they focused on the development and changes of China's, especially the CPC's relationship with ANC, PAC and SACP. They also touch upon the political, moral and material support and training that China rendered to these organizations. The concluding part of the chapter deals with the Chinese government's trade and economic sanctions against South Africa.
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