Anti-Apartheid Alert

Contents: CUITO CUANAVALE-WHERE THE TIDE TURNED: A VICTORY FOR ALL HUMANITY • LEGISLATIVE UPDATE • Stop A FILIBUSTER! • SUPES SAYS NO TO S. AFRICA REP by Cliff Rechtschaffen • SOUTH AFRICA'S CRISIS by Sam Gold • JOIN THE WORLD OUTCRY! • WHAT ABOUT NAMIBIA? By Cati Okorie • Dear Reader • Film Review: A WORLD APART • The newsletter says Cuito Cuanavale, the little farming town in southeast Angola, and major Angolan military base, was the center of raging battles between South African troops and the Angolan-Cuban-SWAPO forces, from the start of 1988 through June; on January 23, the SADF announced the capture of Cuito Cuanavale and the impending fall of Angola's government; this announcement was premature; by the end of June, the tide had turned, due to a tremendous coordinated offensive by Angolans, Cubans, and SWAPO (South West African People's Organization); Angolan planes held sway in the air and a mutinous SADF was being mauled in their retreat toward Namibia; the South Africans were over extended; their minority 6 million whites were inadequate for an apartheid empire; troubles were mounting in their illegal occupation of Namibia, there was growing ANC-inspired disruption at home, and an eroding economy. The newsletter says we now know the items of negotiations: South Africa was to get out of Angola by September 1st, then, out of Namibia starting in November in accord with the UN Resolution 435, and that Cuban forces would leave Angola if these two items were achieved. The newsletter says Angola insisted that the U.S. must stop supplying the UNITA contras, and rejects any special status for Savimbi's UNITA. The newsletter says H.R.1580, the comprehensive sanctions bill introduced by Ron Dellums passed the House on August 11, 1988; now we must immediately turn our attention to S.2378, the Senate version of the House bill introduced by Senator Kennedy; S.2378 mandates complete disinvestment of all U.S. corporations from South Africa and Namibia within one year of the bill's passage. The newsletter says the present limited sanctions law enacted in October, 1986 was an important step in ending U.S. support for the apartheid regime, but its provisions have often been circumvented. The newsletter asks people to write Sen. Claiborne Pell, Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. The newsletter says in the first concrete application of San Francisco's new "city of refuge" resolution, two visitors from South Africa were denied a meeting with members of the S.F. Board of Supervisors recently. The newsletter advertises a picket at Senator Wilson's office to demand his active support of Sanctions Bill S2378 on September 20. The newsletter says a financial crisis is around the corner, warned South Africa's Finance Minister DuPlessis, Director General of Finance; Chris Stals likewise revealed that imports are exceeding exports, creating a serious imbalance; Stals also reported an increased flight of capital, and a sharp drop in gold reserves. The newsletter says besides the 162 companies that have quit South Africa since '84, another 115 non-U.S. multinationals have done so; the latest U.S. pullout is UNISYS, second largest computer maker; many of U.S. corporations, such as Coca Cola, Ford, IBM, etc., however, continue to profit indirectly. The newsletter includes a review of the book Winnie Mandela: The Soul of South Africa by Milton Meltzer and illustrated by Stephen Marches. The newsletter says protest messages demanding the freedom of Nelson Mandela the Sharpeville Six, Moses Mayekiso, and thousands of other political prisoners should be sent to: South African Ambassador J.H.K. Beukes in Washinton, DC. The newsletter discusses the SADF (South African Defence Force), the ANC (African National Congress), Nelson Mandela, Jonas Savimbi, Solly Simelane, President Reagan, lobbying, corporations doing business in South Africa, Sen. Robert Byrd, Sen. Alan Cranston, the U.S. Information Agency (USIA), Gerhardus C. Oosthuizen, Nancy Walker, the Botha regime (P.W. Botha), the Berkeley City Council, Lawyers' Guild Anti-Apartheid Subcommittee, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Joe Slovo, the Rand, unemployment, whites, the world sanctions-divestment movement, Bantustans, military occupation, slave wages, the People's Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), Ruth First, Shawn Slovo, David Reed, Rhoda Norman, Arla S. Erta, Martha Bryson, and the Soweto Uprising. [Note: This newsletter is incomplete, pages 3 through 6 are missing.]