1970s

AA News reported that more Zimbabwean freedom fighters had been sentenced to hang by the white minority regime. It exposed British Government approval for a big new investment by the government-owned British Steel Corporation in South Africa. It reported on the recruitment of foreign mercenaries for the white Rhodesian army and on French arms exports to South Africa used in the war in Namibia. Ethel de Keyser reviewed the Labour Government’s failure to implement its 1973 Programme on Southern Africa. Basil Davidson explained the background to the civil war in Angola.

AA News called for the release of all detainees following a new wave of arrests in South Africa and Namibia. It reported on a British TUC resolution asking the Government to take steps to make British companies withdraw investments from South Africa. A centrespread feature warned against collaborating with South Africa to install stooge governments in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Members of CFMAG (Committee for Freedom in Mozambique, Angola and Guine) described their recent visit to Guinea Bissau. Pianist Rosalyn Tureck and writer Brigid Brophy explained why they supported the cultural boycott of South Africa.

This issue advertised the AAM rally on 9 November in support of the people of Zimbabwe. It reported on a bus boycott by African workers in Natal and on the setting up of the Transkei Bantustan. It quoted Winnie Mandela saying she was more than ever opposed to apartheid in an interview recorded after the expiry of her latest banning order. SWAPO women’s leader Putuse Appolus appealed for a change in British policy on Namibia. Chris Morgan reported on the fourth NUS-AAM network conference, the largest ever student meeting on an international issue. AA News revealed how West Germany was sharing nuclear know-how with South Africa.

The December issue led on the South African invasion of Angola. AAM Chair Bob Hughes MP set out campaigning priorities for the coming year. AA News recorded further arrests of SASO (South African Student Organisation) members and the long gaol sentence passed on Ray Suttner under the Terrorism Act. SWAPO leader David Meroro stressed the role of the UN as the only legal authority in Namibia. 

AA News reported on the condemnation of South Africa’s invasion of Angola by British trade unions and student organisations. Abdul Minty analysed the significance of the invasion for the future of Southern Africa. Jock Hall explained why he had refused to work on communications equipment produced by the British electronics firm Marconi for South Africa. AA News again protested against the British Government’s failure to take any action to stop the execution of freedom fighters in Zimbabwe. It described the intensifying guerrilla struggle in Namibia.

The March issue headlined the call by SWAPO leader Moses Garoeb for the cancellation of the British contract for the supply of uranium from Namibia. It featured the first co-ordinating meeting of local AA groups. It welcomed the Labour Government’s condemnation of South Africa’s Bantustan policy. Frank Hooley explained the significance of UN resolution 385 on Namibia, adopted unanimously by the Security Council. Chris de Broglio reported on the failure of South Africa’s cricket authorities to implement a phoney ‘multi-racialism’.

AA News headlined the collapse of negotiations between the Smith regime and Zimbabwe’s African National Council. It reported on the explosion of ANC leaflet bombs in Johannesburg and on a mass meeting there calling for majority rule. It exposed a smear campaign against Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe by the South African security services. It carried an eyewitness account of a massacre by the white Rhodesian army. ANC Secretary General Alfred Nzo analysed the new situation in Southern Africa following the liberation of Portugal’s African colonies. Hilda Bernstein looked forward to the AAM’s first women’s conference.

The May issue revealed plans for South African-Israeli nuclear collaboration after Prime Minister Vorster’s visit to Israel. It recorded the decision of the British entertainment unions ACTT and Equity to impose a more stringent boycott of South Africa. It reported on the funeral in Durban of Joseph Mdluli, murdered by the South African security police after his detention under the Terrorism Act. Abdul Minty exposed the loopholes in the British arms embargo against South Africa. A report by Swedish journalists showed how black South Africans with severe mental health problems were being used as slave labour.