Report by Professor Harold Rogers, Chair, African-American Studies, Department, Olive-Harvey College and Rachel Rubin, MD, MPH, Attending Physician, Cook County Hospital. The report says the current struggle for the freedom of the black majority in South Africa has reached a critical stage; the National Party of F.W. de Klerk is trying to destabilize the liberation movement led by the African National Congress {ANC) and its allies, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the trade unions led by the Congress of South African Trade Unions {COSATU). The report says since the release of Nelson Mandela, the minority government has been forced to enter into talks with the ANC; these talks about...
Report by Professor Harold Rogers, Chair, African-American Studies, Department, Olive-Harvey College and Rachel Rubin, MD, MPH, Attending Physician, Cook County Hospital. The report says the current struggle for the freedom of the black majority in South Africa has reached a critical stage; the National Party of F.W. de Klerk is trying to destabilize the liberation movement led by the African National Congress {ANC) and its allies, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the trade unions led by the Congress of South African Trade Unions {COSATU). The report says since the release of Nelson Mandela, the minority government has been forced to enter into talks with the ANC; these talks about a future South Africa are called the Convention for a Democratic South Africa {CODESA). The report says Chief Buthelezi and his Inkatha Freedom Party, a paramilitary band of warriors, have been working hand-in-hand with the South African government to terrorize the population; Inkatha has received military training by the South African Defense Force in the Caprivi Strip of neighboring Namibia along with RENAMO forces, the South African-supported group destabilizing Mozambique. The report says forty-three people were murdered; residents saw police-armored vehicles dropping off and picking up the attackers, some of whom were white men with blackened faces, and helping to cart away looted furniture. The report says on Sept. 9, in the Ciskei bantustan, Ciskei military fired on 50,000 peaceful demonstrators led by ANC Secretary-General Cyril Ramaphosa. The report says a mass action campaign was launched in June in response to the escalating violence and to force the government to finally give up white-minority rule. The report says on Aug. 3, over four million workers (90% of the black labor force) staged a three-day national strike and stayaway. The report says the campaign is continuing with further strikes, marches and protests until the government agrees to majority rule. The report discusses "black on black violence", IFP, Amnesty International, Boipatong, townships, the Inkatha-controlled kwaMadala hostel, Bisho, Ciskei's military dictator Brigadier Oupa J. Gqozo, rallies, consumer boycotts, occupations of government buildings, KwaZulu, apartheid, "homeland" Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, black groups, negotiations, and the international community.
