Anti-Apartheid Alert

Contents: NAMIBIA THE ELECTION IN DANGER • LEGISLATIVE UPDATE • SENATE STALLS SANCTIONS BILL • SANCTIONS HIT SA ECONOMY • AFRICANS TALK IN BAY AREA by Karen Kramer • BOOK REVIEW by Terry Tricomi • African Exchange "People to people" • WHAT IS THE TRUTH WORTH? • BLACK AND WHITE by D.J. Gynes • Anti-Apartheid Peace Seals • ANTI-APARTHEID CALENDAR • T SHIRT • The newsletter says Namibia's drive toward independence continues in spite of South Africa's attempt in April to thwart it by attacking SWAPO units awaiting contact with the United Nations Treaty Assistance Group (UNTAG); South Africa's characterization of the incident as an invasion of Namibia by SWAPO backfired, instead undermining South Africa's credibility; it soon became clear to the world that the attack was yet another atrocity committed by South Africa, itself. The newsletter says since that tragedy, a number of SWAPO leaders have returned to Namibia from exile, and it is said SWAPO president Sam Nujoma will return in August; in June, S.A.'s Pieter Botha signed a proclamation granting amnesty to the Namibian guerrillas and repealing certain apartheid legislation in Namibia, paving the way for the return of over 40,000 refugees and political exiles; the election in November will be for a constituent assembly that will draft a constitution, with actual independence to follow in 1990. The newsletter says already, three ways South Africa may subvert the elections can be seen. Namibians in exile or in the SWAPO army encounter problems on re-entry such as arrest by South Africa on various pretexts, intimidation, or denial of registration. The newsletter says also, churches report that Angolans who are part of the UNITA contras are entering Namibia and being given Namibian identity cards; S.A. will probably register them as Namibian voters, and S.A. soldiers and police might also be "transformed" into Namibians. The newsletter says the new Bay Area coalition, NAMIBIA INDEPENDENT WATCH, is raising funds to send 10 observers to Namibia during its pre-election period; it is also planning outreach to the churches, unions and the community with educational material and appeals for financial aid to SWAPO's election campaign and beyond. The newsletter says unionists from AFT, AFSCME, MOLDERS and LONGSHORE& WAREHOUSE locals join Free South Africa Labor Committee and SFAAC in picketing Sen. Pete Wilson at his Embarcadero office. The newsletter says claiming that the Bush administration is not ready to give testimony, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee bottled up action on the Kennedy-Simon Comprehensive Sanctions Bill S.507; the Bill is a twin of the House Bill, H.R.21 (Dellums). The newsletter says the withdrawal of Mobil and Goodyear sent the message to South Africa that it is not a good place to do business; sending a similar message is the city of Dallas which has now divested; also, the Coca-Cola boycott has led Tufts University, Hampshire and Mount Holyoke Colleges to remove coke from their campuses. The newsletter says two anti-apartheid activists visited the Bay Area during June and spoke about conditions in South Africa and Namibia. The newsletter says Johnny De Lange is national secretary of the National Association for Democratic Lawyers (NADEL), a non-racial organization of attorneys in South Africa formed in 1987; De Lange discussed at length the importance of strengthened sanctions legislation by Congress; he stated that all of the democratic organizations in South Africa strongly endorse sanctions. The newsletter includes a photograph of hundreds of bodies of Namibians, killed by South African forces, being dumped into mass grave; the caption says forensic experts showed they were shot in the head at close range - not as if they were in battle. The newsletter includes a review of the book Frontline Southern Africa: Destructive Engagement edited by Phyllis Johnson and David Martin. The newsletter says another important new institution, AFRICA EXCHANGE, has taken root in the Bay Area - dedicated to forming links between North Americans and Africans; its co-founders are Dr. Kevin Danaher and Medea Benjamin; in March next year they will conduct a 16-day tour to Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The newsletter discusses Walvis Bay, Namibia Watch, AFT (American Federation of Teachers), AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), Democrats, Charles Robb, Terry Sanford, AFRICA TODAY's George Shepherd, Jr., South African Institute of International Affairs, Dr. A. du Pisani, the South African Chamber of Mines, Tom Main, oil, inflation, long term debt, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, John Lind, CANNICOR Research, the television news show South Africa Now, John Sears, Walter Turner, the Africa Resource Center, Reagan, Stuart Spencer, businessmen, military spending, Bantustans, Citibank, loans to apartheid, Amnesty International, the Lawyers Guild Anti-apartheid Subcommittee, Cliff Rechtschaffen, P.W. Botha, a speakers bureau, the Bay Area Campaign for Aid to Namibia, children detained without trial, Kuiri Tjipangadjara, and free and fair elections. [Note: This newsletter is incomplete, pages 3 and 4 are missing.]