1\N Call
The newsletter of the STATE-WIDE ANTI-APARTHEID NETWORKS of Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado
" ... you are no t dead
because we have assumed
your responsibilities
and they live
1.,n us ...
The blood you shed
1.,S bu t a sma II drop
1.,n the flood we have
already given and still
have to give."
-from a poem by Samora Machel to his wife Josina Machel, after her death in 1971
Number Four
Machel's Death Hits Mozambique [AN] When Mozambican President Samora
Machel and other key members of his government died in an Oct. 19 plane crash over South Africa, Mozambique's troubles had already reached alarming proportions. With his leadershi p lost, the country faces an even more uncertain future.
The crash occurred about three miles from the town of Namaacha, just inside South African territory near the border with both Mozambique and Swaziland. According to a list released last week by the Mozambican government (see box), approximately 35 people were killed and 10 survived. Among the casualties were one Cabinet minister and several key presidential aides.Aninternational inquiry into the cause of the crash has begun.
When he died, Machel was returning from a meeting with other African presidents in Zambia.
It was one of a series of emergency sessions, beginning with a frontline state summit in Angola in August, called in response to the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the region.
Mozambique, hardest hit of all, has been suffering from a number of severe problems: - The South African-supported insurgents, the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO), have crippled most of the country's communications and transport facilities, destroying much of the economic and productive capacity. As a result, a third of the country's popUlation of 12 million is currently at risk from drought and famine and most of the key rail lines are not able to reliabh handle the movement of crucial goods either int~ the interior of the country or to-and-from neighboring states.
The Mozambicans estimate that attacks by the rebels and South Africa have cost the country $4 billion, twice the national debt and far greater than annual government revenues of$500 million a year. -Amid increasing bilateral tensions, South Africa responded to a land mine explosion on the Mozambican border three weeks ago with a crackdown on Mozambican miners employed in South Africa . Pretoria banned recruitment of addi tional miners and announced that currently-employed migrant laborers will be sent home when their
2
contracts expire. The Mozambican news agency AI M reports that 61,500 Mozambicans were employed in 51 South African mines as of July 31. Their remittances of about $90 million annually make up one third of Mozambique's foreign exchange income. - South Africa also retaliated, according to Mozambique's charges, by massing troops along the border. Pretoria dismissed that accusation as "nonsense." - Many of the recent RENAMO attacks have been concentrated in the northwestern region of the country, near the Malawian border. Machel, Kaunda, and Zimbabwe Prime Minister Robert Mugabe travelled last month to Malawi to warn Malawi's aging president, Kamuzu Hastings Banda that he faced severe reprisals from his neighbors if he did not curb the use of his nation's territory by RENAMO. Malawi responded by promising to expel the rebels and by handing back a reported 1500 Mozambican soldiers who had fled into Malawi during heavy fighting.
The meeting Machel attended in Zambia just before his death had a similar purpose. The Mozambican leader, along with his Zambian and Angolan counterparts, Kenneth Kaunda and Jose Eduardo dos Santos, had summoned President Mobutu Sese Seko from Zaire to discuss plans for reducing their nations' dependence on South African transport routes . The key to resisting South Africa's attempts to transfer to them the cost of international anti-apartheid sanctions, the leaders reportedly told Mobutu, is the strengthening of the available transport outlets that provide an alternative to South African ports for landlocked Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Zaire.
However, these outlets running through Angola to the west and Mozambique to the east have been made virtually unusable by South Africansupported insurgents - UNITA and the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO).
Mobutu was reportedly warned to end his government's cooperation with UN ITA, which in recent months has been receiving covert U.S. assistance in addition to continuing South African support. And he was urged to join with the frontline states in seeking to reduce their vulnerabilit\' to South Africa. Ii
Reprinted by permission from "AFRICA NEWS"
MACHEL'S STRUGGLE FOR AN INDEPENDENT MOZAMBIQUE
Samora Moises Mochel was born September 29, 1933, the third son of a peasant farmer in the Chokwe District of Goza Province in occupied Mozambique. His home district was one designated for reserved labor in the South African mines, where his father worked and his older brother was to die. In the 1940s forced cotton cultivation was introduced and necessary food production was reduced, causing widespread hunger; then forced labor to build irrigation systems, in preparation for Portuguese settlers; and finally these schemes led to dispossession of the land, and forced removal of the Africans.
After completing grade four at age 17, young Samora Mochel applied to the official state system and was turned down. He trained instead to be a nurse. F rom the money he earned, he continued his studies but was never able to advance very for within the formal system. He was self-taught in the fire of the national liberation struggle.
The Portuguese colonialists, having silenced the original armed resistance of the Mozambican people in the mid-I 890s, were never able to silence the old battle-scarred veterans. Their stories kept alive the spirit of resistance to foreign occupation. This spirit was to be rekindled when the young boys and girls who heard them grew to be men and women.
The boy Samora Mochel was to grow into the man who would train the guerrilla army of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique for the decade of war which would defeat the Portuguese army in the field.
In 1960 a free and independent Mozambique seemed an impossible dream. However, in many young men and women in Mozambique the storm had already begun to gather, and in ten short years the world would hear their thunder.
These young men and women, first under the leadership of Eduardo Mondlane, then Samora Mochel, were to build an organization -FRELlMO, the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique - and develop a view that allowed them to distinguish between their friend and their enemy.
On Sept. I I, 1974, a ceasefire was called, and independence was affirmed on June 25, 1975. Samora Mochel became the first president of the independent Peoples Republic of Mozambique.
3
CHISSANO ELECTED PRESIDENT
The elections of Joaquim Chissano as the new FRELIMO head came as no surprise. He had long been viewed as the man most likely to succeed President Mochel. Apparently, there was no other candidate, and the selection was by acclamation.
Chissano has been a member of the FRELIMO central committee since 1963. He was secretary to Mondlane until the latter was murdered in 1969. From .1965 he was also reponsible for the FRELllvlO security department, and in 1969 he became a member of what was then the movement's most powerful body, the politico-military committee.
President Mochel appointed Chissano prime minister in the transitional government that ran Mozambique under an agreement with Portugal from September 1974 until full independence in June 1975.
Chissano became foreign minister in the first Mozambican Cabinet in July 1975, and has held that post since. As the country's top diplomat, he has met frequently with Western leaders, leading to speculation in the U.S. that he is "pro-western." To such remarks, the FRELIMO leadership retorts that it is neither "pro-western" nor "pro-soviet," but proMozambican.
WA YS WE CAN GET INVOLVED:
* Write your congressperson -Renamo is a contra group of rebels that do not deserve U.S. support. The U.S. should deal directly with the govenment of tvlozambique.
* Support the material aids campaigns for Mozambique. Currently an appeal is being made for: clothes, fabric, seeds, books, monetary contributions.
* Subscribe to Mozambican Notes c/o Mozambique Resource Center P.O. Box 2006, New York, NY 10159
SHAM DIVESTMENT: A NEW PHASE IN RESISTANCE TO ECONOMIC DISENGAGEMENT
4
On 19 November, we asked Tandi Gcabashe, national coordinator for the Coca-Cola divestment campaign, to address the confusion about the socalled "divestment" of Coca-Cola and other corporations.
SWAAN: Are these companies really "out" of South Africa?
Gcabashe: Absolutely not. True disinvestment means four things: closing (not just selling) plants; ceasing to make the product available--for example, supplying no more syrup to make Coke; selling no franchises; and withdrawing their trademarks from use in South Africa.
Coca-Cola has not satisfied any of these requirements. The other companies look very much the same. Certainly, it's "business as usual" for IBM.
SWAAN: What exactly has the company done?
Gcabashe: Coca-Cola has sold its 30 percent holdings in the South African amalgamated industry. Technically, they have "disinvested"--they no longer have "ownership"--but it's a sham because most likely they are providing the capital for the new owners to buy from them. The goal of the call for sanctions (such as divestment) is ending economic support for apartheid. This has not happened; there has been no economic disengagement.
SWAAN: Is this a set-back for the movement?
Gcabashe: No, it's a definite step forward, for two reasons. First of all, this has made us sharpen our thinking about the true meaning of disinvestment. The companies have found a way to "divest" without economic disengagement, and we have had to become much more specific in our demands. We are developing a new educational campaign that will share what we have learned by this experience.
Second, this marks an important new phase in the history of corporate withdrawal from South Africa.
In the 1960s, faced with the demand for withdrawal, the companies' response was flat denial and refusal. By 1970, the pressure was taking its toll. This was Phase Two, when the companies hired Leon Sullivan [then a GM board member] to invent excuses for their presence in South Africa. When the Sullivan Principles were exposed by the movement as irrelevant excuses, Phase Three began, marked by justifications such as Coca-Cola's $10 million "equal opportunity funds."
Constant pressure from the movement brought each phase to an end.
Phase Four is beginning now: the companies claim to have pulled out, when they have not. This is a step forward: the companies have admitted that withdrawal is the appropriate response to apartheid. We must keep up the pressure and expose their lies, so that the next phase will entail real economic disengagement.
SWAAN: What is your new Coke strategy?
Gcabashe: We must make people understand that it has never been easy. The companies lie, and they always resist. We have to push and push.
We have a two-part strategy. First, a serious educational campaign, to clear up the confusion about what Coca-Cola has done. New literature is being developed.
Second, a fact-finding team will meet with Coca-Cola officials to get more information. There is a shroud of secrecy over the whole matter. What has the company done, and what does it intend to do? If they are divesting, then where are they reinvesting the money? We don't kno~ who this "multi-racial group" buyer is, or why the deal is going to take 6-9 months. This fact-finding team will attempt to get answers. Then we will evaluate this information ~nd develop the next strategy.
SANCTIONS THE TIME FUR ST ATE OIVESTMENT
IS NOW
The time has come for our regional state · legislatures to pass comprehensive mandatory sanctions bills against the entrenched politics of apartheid. For most states this will mean passing divesment bills against investments by the pension boards or investment boards.
Senators and representatives in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Colorado need to reassert themselves in this battle and follow the lead of other states and the Congress.
WHAT WE WANT, WHY WE WANT IT: * Economic disen~agement from companies actively trading with the Republic of South Africa and the occupied country of Namibia.
* The goal of economic disengagement is to increase the price of apartheid, forcing the racist minority government to accede to the universal call for: one person one vote, in a unitary South Africa, with economic, civil, humanitarian and legal rights for all; an end to t~e warfare with the independent boarding nations.
* Is South Africa too strong to be forced to change? SOuth Africa's economy is driven by it's export and import relations with other countries. Foreign investment is a cornerstone of that economy as are sales and purchases involving other nations. The increased termination of bank loans, restrictive sanctions, disengagement of foreign and domestic companies and restrictions on technology flow will increase the pressure on that government. By themselves sanctions will not end apartheid, but when coupled with a strong effort by the South Africans to change their system, the sanctions become a very powerful tool.
Can one nation be effective? Already the example of some countries has encouraged others to join the international cry against apartheid. Recently the announcement of US sanctions encouraged Japan to institute stronger measures. Barclay's Bank plans to leave South Africa brings a very large position to close and may spur other British firms to rethink their South Afrcian holdings.
5
* Won't those we are trying to help be hurt most '1' sanctions and divestment? The fact is that Backs in SOuth Africa have themselves called for economic sanctions as the one peaceful weapon we have left to fight apartheid. This question also ignores the impact to be had upon the affluent white and the impact white discontent will have politically.
* Won't the frontline states be hurt by these sanctions? The independent countries bordering SOuth Africa will be affected by international economic sanctions. These nations have indicated repeatedly that this is a price they are willing to pay. The war with these nations by South Africa has cost up to $10 billion in damages and defense, not to mention the cost of human lives. Further, South Africa imposes its own sanctions on these countries to destabilize independent Southern Africa.
Our action to divest is supported by :
Winnie Mandela, African National Congress Bishop Tutu, Archbishop, Anglican Church Elijah Barayi, Pres. Congo of S.A. Trade Unions Kenneth Kaunda, President, Zambia Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rainbow Coalition National Council of Churches Amer. Fed. of State, Muni., County and Federal Employees
We call on our elected officials in our state capitols to introduce DIVESTMENT BILLS this session. DIVEST NOW
KODAK'S WITHDRAWAL FROM SOUTH AFRICA
At a time when American Friends Service Committee is promoting the concept of total economic disengagement from South Africa, as opposed to partial disinvestment, Kodak has come along and provide a real model.
IBM, for example, In announcing its "withdrawal," restated its commitment to continuing sales inside South Africa. Reporters have implied that IBM and GM may even have sold to local management so that they could once again supply the South Africa regime, free of U.S. sanctions restrictions. Kodak, on the other hand, has announced simply and explicitly that, as of April 30, 1987, no Kodak unit anywhere in the world will be permitted to supply products or services inside South Africa.
Henry Kaska of Kodak has stated that even if a buyer takes over Kodak's photo-finishing plant, the plant will not be supplied with Kodak products, nor will Kodak do any servicing of machines, replacing parts, etc. The April 30th date, he soys, provides a grace period for customers to find alternative sources for the products they needs. For instance, Kodak supplies x-ray film to several hospitals who will now need to locate new suppliers.
Kodak is a positive model for promoting economic disengagement, as it provides concrete proof that this concept can be carried out.
PLEASE WRITE! We Want to Hear From You.
6
S .W.A. A. N. NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!
With this , our fourth i ssue , SWAAN Call offieially erosses the Washington state border into Idaho, Montana, and Colorado to share ideas and exehange information with anti- apartheid aetivists throughout the northwest region. This kind of growth is no aeeident . Dedieated individuals, from organizers and editors to artists and printers, have donated eountless hours to making state wide, and now region wide, networks a reality . SWAAN Call has earned rave reviews from New York to Mozambique while strengthening and supporting our regional movement . Now, we need your support .
Until now, the newsletter has been sent to everyone on our mailing list, but the euurent finaneial situation foree s us to ehange that poliey . If you would like to eontinue to reeeive the Call, let us know by mailing baek your address label or sending a request for subseription. Campus and eommunity organizers ean get bulk quantities for loeal distri bution . (Please speeify the amount . ) While your at it, send us your eontributions. We will eonti nue to send the newsletter free of eharge to all who request it BUT money is short and the future of SWAAN Call i s i n ques tion . We are able to publish very eheaply, but some money is still needed. Your eontribution ean make a differenee .
The demands on aU of our finaneial resourees seem espeeially great at the holidays, but suffering is eonstant all year. At a time when mass media is trying to eonf use us and Congress is trying to eo- opt us, networking is erueial to the unity and eontinued vigor of the movement . Together we ean let our government know t hat Amer ieans will not unde~write t he illegal and immoral aetivities of the Pretor ia r egime.
American Friends Service Committee 814 N.E . Fortieth Street Seattle WA 98105
Updates CAMPUS NEWS
Stude.nts Against A~art~eid at the University of Washington are panning several events in December and January. Regular meetings will end Dec. 10 and resume Jan. 7 in the HUB. SAA will participate in the AZAPO tour Jan. 20, sponsored by the Church Council, call SAA for mor: info. SAA will sponsor an Art Against Apartheid contest and will conduct a joint fundraiser will SUSIES.
Gonzaga University is planning additional sessions highlighting the economic, political and moral issues involved in apartheid. Contact Michelle Johnson, Student Union Offices.
~eattle .university Students Against A'trtheid IS planning forums on southern Africa. ontact Greg Keegan at 322-2098 for info.
Whitman Colle~e organizers in Walla Walla are !ooking !or stu ents and local residents to join In creating a force against apartheid. Contact Ann Pelo at the Student Government Offices.
Sunday anti-apartheid rally at the South African Consulate
7
Bellingham: Call Damani Johnson 734-7922
Butte: The Butte Community Union Peace Education Taskforce has information on antiapartheid effor1s in Butte and the state capitol. Contact them at 782-0670. .
Bozeman: The Women's Resource Center at MSU hosted two anti-apartheid speakers in November. For information on anti-apartheid contacts, call LouAnne at 994-3886.
Coeur- D'Alene: There will be a week long forum on Southern Africa at the North Idaho College, Dec. 1-6. For more info. contact Toni Stewart 769-3300.
Colville: Tandi Gcabashe will be a key speaker at a forum on South Africa, Dec. 5th, sponsored by the Colville Peace and Justice Commission and a number of church groups. Call P JALS for info.
Denver: On Dec. 6, T andi Gcabashe will appear at a Mt. Gilead Church fundraiser. Gospel Festival and candlelight service planned for M.L. King's birthday. A planning grant from Colorado Endowment for the Humanities to develop a traveling forum on South Africa has been awarded to Denver AFSC. Call 832-4508 for more info.
Missoula: A group is being formed on campus to address issues of apartheid and racism. For information on joining contact Bryan Dorsey, Student Center, Black Student Commission. Local SW AAN contact is Butch Turk 549-9679.
SeaHle: Several events are being planned around the 75th anniversary of the ANC on Jan.1 O. For info. contact Cece 328-3184 or Maryamu 722-3725.
Spokane: Call Peace & Justice Action League 838-7870. Activities: Dec 2nd, Spokane Coalition Against Apartheid and Racism will meet, 6:30 p.m., at Europa Pizzeria. Community discussions on racism will be coordinated by John Montgomery, call 838-7870 for details. There will be logo contest for SCAAR and Mothers Against Apartheid in January - first prize $10.00.
Tacoma: Call Constance Muwwakil 272-7804
SWAAN Call is published by the Southern Africa Program of the American Friends Service Committee, Pacific Northwest regional office. AFSC staff: Randolph Carter, Gretchen Smith, Ann Takekawa. Staff and contributors for this issue: Berta Gaulke, Marian Bock, Darian Shaw. Tyree Scott, Robin Lindley.
Pr i nting by Urban Press ( Seattle)
* * * * * * * * * * * SWAAN (State-Wide Anti-Apartheid Networks) is a communication and support network for organi zations and individuals seeking freedom and justice in South Africa and an end to racism everywhere.
Send all correspondence to SWAAN Call, care of American Friends Service Committee, 814 N.E. Fortieth St., Seattle WA 98105, or call 206-632-0500.
* * *" * * * * * * * * Have you joined the Call-To-Conscience
, network yet? If you need a pledge card, contact AFSC.
American Friends Service Commi ttee 814 N.E . Fortieth Street Seattle WA 98105
Regional SWAAN (State-Wide Anti-Apartheid Networks) is a network of organizations and individuals seeking freedom and justice in South Africa and an end to racism everywhere.
(The fo llowing i t ems wer e taken from APARTHEID BAROMETER, A regular featur e appearing i n "Weekly Mai l " )
As of October 31 , 1986, the 142nd day of t he curr ent s tate of emergency :
-According to the Detainees Parents' Support Committee, about 22,000 people have been detained since the Emergency was declared.
-According to the 1985/6 annual report of the Department of Home Affairs, of the 1,278 books and publications submitted for banning, a total of 622 were considered prejudicial to state security. The figure does not include publications by banned organisations, which are automatically banned.
-According to the DPSC, a total of at least 81 people have died while being held in detention or police custody for their political activities. A further eight names of people who had died in detention since the last Emergency had still to be added to their lists. These figures do not include those political prisoners who died while serving their sentences.
~Non-profi t Org. u.s. Postage PAID Seattle, Wash. Permit No . 3438
"In the name of what we
have come to believe
Britain and America stand
for~ I appeal to those two
powerful countries to take
decisive action for full
scale canctions that would
precipitate the end of the
hateful system of apartheid.
I appeal to all governments
throughout the world~ to
people everywhere~ to
organisations and insti
tutions in every land and
at every level~ to act
now to impose such sanctions
on South Africa that will
bring about the vital
necessary change and avert
what can become the greatest African tragedy of
our times. "
Chief Albert Lutuli (1964)
1~11====s=u=n=d=a=Y=====9I1~====M=o=n=d=a=Y=====9lil~~=T=u=e=s==daY~==9IiFI===w=e=d=n=e:=s~d=a=Y==~II~====T=h=U=r=s=d=aY====IIFI=.===F=r=i=d=a=Y====~II~===s=a=t=u=r=d=a=Y====~11 1859: execution of 2 1793: birth of 3 4 5 6 1
1955: Rosa Parks arrested for refusing to move to the back of a municipal bus--thus giving birth to the modern civil rights movement
John Brown Lucretia Mott
5:30 p.m.: UW Students Against Apartheid meet at the HUB on campus
1i====================9~====================~~==================~1 1947: United Nations 10 ~==================;P:==================~iF===================~1 Universal Declaration of 11 12 13 7
1984: first major demonstration at consulate in Seattle (1,500 attended, 53 were arrested)
1 p.m.: anti-apartheid rally at South African consulate (Seattle)
14
1 p.m. : rally at South African consulate
21 1915: 2,800 miners strike at Van Rhyn Deep mines
1 p.m.: rally at South African consulate
200th day of the 28 State of Emergency
1 p.m.: rally at South African consulate
8
15
22
29
9 Human Rights 1961: independence of Tanzania from Britain 1963: independence of
1961: Albert Luthuli Kenya from Britain accBpts Nobel Peace
5:30 p.m.: SAA (UW) 6 p.m.: banquet honoring Seattleites for human
Prize: "There can be ho peace until the forces of oppression are j
overthrown."
rights work (545-7873) II
1961: foun d ing of 16 I!:;; l r==================1=7,Fl1864 : 13th amendmen;8
Umkhonto w~~ Sizwe ratified, abolishing (military branch of slavery in the nation the African National Congress)
5:30 p.m.: SAA (UW)
23 24 1984: divestment bill introduced in Seattle City Council
5:30 p.m.: SAA (UW)
25
Christmas rally at South African consulate
19
26
20
27
30 31 DEe 1986
Fm~u~ r!,a~~la
I ~1====SU=n=d=a=Y====~lI====M=O=n=d=aY====~II====TU=e=S=d=a=y==~II===w=e=d=n=e=sd=a=Y==~IIF===T=h=u=rs=d=a=Y==~I~I ===F=r=i=d=aY====~II~=s=a=t=u=rd=a=Y==~I,
JANUARY 1863: Emancipation 111
Proclamation ,II 1959: revolution in Cuba 1960: independence of
Cameroon
2 1919: founding of 3 Industrial Commercial Union of South Africa
1987 F~UjfHJt ~~UttWt 4
1 p.m.: anti-apartheid rally at South African consulate (Seattle)
1885: birth of
Alice Paul 11
1 p.m.: rally at South African consulate
18 Tunisian Revolution Day
1 p.m.: rally at South African consulate
25
1 p.m.: rally at South African consulate
5 1960: 440 miners die ~~II Coalbrook mining disaster
7 1912: founding of the African National Congress
5:30 p.m.: UW Students fgainst Apartheid meet ~t the HUB on campus
81p===========~~============~1 9 10
12 13 14 1929: birth of 15 16 17
19 National Heroes Day 20 in Guinea-Bissau
26 27 1973: "agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam"
5:30 p.m.: SAA (UW)
5:30 p.m.: SAA (UW)
5:30 p.m.: SAA (UW)
21
Martin Luther King, Jr. "Injustico anywhere is a threat € o justice
- everywhere."
22
28 1948: assassination 29 of Mahatma Gandhi
23 24
30 31
"I have the audacity to
believe that peoples
everywhere can have
three meals a day for
their bodies~ education
and culture for their
minds~ and dignity~
equality~ and freedom
for their spirits.
I believe that what self
centered men have torn
down~ other-centered men
can bui ld up. "
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
