'Don't be too hard on Selebi'

People shouldn’t be too hard on Jackie Selebi. He is actually just a metaphor of what has become of the ANC.

Just as tragic as it is that a man with such a proud history in the struggle for freedom and democracy became a cheap braggart, a charlatan and a crook, so is it heart-breaking that the movement of Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and Nelson Mandela has become a party dominated by greed, a lust for personal power, corruption and petty factionalism. Cynics, Afro-pessimists and right wingers say this was to be expected: most of the other liberation movements on our continent went the same way, Zanu-PF and the MPLA of Angola being prime examples.

I did not expect it. I am shocked every day at new manifestations of the rot in our ruling party. Yes, there were always elements in the ANC during the exile years whom one wouldn’t exactly call democrats and human rights activists. They fought for power, not democracy. But the decent men and women, people who really cared about human dignity and freedom, always dominated the ANC. Most of the best sons and daughters of our country during the last half century were products of the ANC.

This was why I thought our liberation movement would be different. I was wrong. Those decent people, those progressive leaders with whom I associated myself politically for many years, have disappeared into the quicksands of power and greed. The party is now dominated by cheap, lying populists who enrich themselves at the expense of the poor; by opportunists pushing their own interests; by Stalinists and reactionaries. The harder these types try to drive our country towards a bankrupt dictatorship, the more credibility some of the conspiracy theories are getting. Such as: the reason why the ANC is manipulating the judiciary and the National Prosecuting Authority and why it is now pushing two draconian measures to severely limit press freedom, is to make it possible for them to steal more from the people and to hide their own scandals.

Even the theory that the ANC is deliberately sabotaging land reform and redistribution is gaining credibility: they want to pull a Robert Mugabe when it’s popularity among the masses is waning; blame the whites as the common enemy and use land as an emotive issue to unite blacks behind them. I have no doubt in my mind that those ANC leaders who are pushing the proposals for a statutory media tribunal do not believe for one moment that it would improve our newspapers one iota. They know, as we should all know, that it’s only result will be an end to the free flow of information to the voters.

I have been waiting in vain for my comrades of yesteryear to stand up and stop this assault on our democracy. Evil happens when good men remain silent. The vast majority of South Africans have proved that they deserve better than the present leadership of the ANC. But when will this majority start realising that it is their democratic right to show this dangerous clique the red card?

Source: News 24: Max du Preez

Walter Sisulu dies

African National Congress veteran Walter Sisulu, born in 1912, the year the ANC was founded, has died, ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlante said on Monday. He would have turned 91 this month. Sisulu joined the ANC in 1940 and was among the group of radicals who formed the Youth League in 1943/44.

The ANC's leadership had, in the late 1920s, split over whether to co-operate with the Communist Party, and the ensuing victory of the conservatives within the ANC left the party small and disorganised through the 1930s. In the 1940s the ANC revived under younger leaders who pressed for a more militant stance against colour bars in South Africa. The ANC Youth League attracted Sisulu, Oliver Tambo, and Nelson Mandela, who in turn displaced the party's moderate leadership in 1949 at what many view as the party's watershed conference. Under Sisulu, Tambo and Mandela's leadership the ANC began sponsoring non-violent protests, strikes, boycotts, and marches, in the process becoming a target of police harassment and arrest. By the end of World War II the ANC had begun strong agitation against the pass laws, and when the largely white electorate voted in the National Party in 1948, the ANC's membership grew rapidly, rising to 100 000 in 1952.

In 1944, he married Nontsikelelo Albertina, with whom he was to have five children. Mrs Sisulu was a much-loved and internationally respected activist in her own right. Her work earned her the title Mama Africa.

Sisulu was elected ANC secretary general in 1949, a post he held until 1954 when banning orders forced him to resign the position. He served on the joint planning council for the Defiance Campaign, and led one of the first batches of passive resisters when the campaign began in 1952. Campaigners refused to carry the notorious "pass book" all native South Africans had to carry by law and hundreds were arrested. Sisulu was one of the accused in the Treason Trial, which began in 1956.

Source: News 24

Sisulu Robben Island reunion

African National Congress patriarch Walter Sisulu on Saturday said he was in "tiptop" shape when he visited his Robben Island cell, number 17, which was his home for 18 years. He was an inmate of Pollsmoor Prison for an additional eight years.

The former struggle veteran who turned 89 this year along with his entire family of 36 visited the island for a historic family gathering, the first time they had held such a reunion on the island. The youngest visitor to the island was just nine months old, the granddaughter of Sisulu, and daughter of Ntsiki Sisulu-Singapi. Sisulu-Singapi said that apart from the family getting together for birthdays this was the first time they had all gathered on the island. Sisulu, looking frail, was wheeled to his cell where he said it was great to be reunited with the family on the island. "Such a change has taken place over the years," Sisulu said. "It certainly brings back some bad memories. The very fact that I entered this cell brings back memories. "It is the first time the family has had a reunion of this nature." Asked about his health, he said he was fine and in "tiptop" shape, before the media was ushered out of the cell.

Sisulu's elder son, Zwelakhe, a former journalist and chief executive officer of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, joined his father and other family members in the cell. He raised a laugh when the cell door was shut as he stuck an arm through the bars and shouted "Amandla". Zwelakhe said Saturday's event was "obviously a very profound occasion for all of us. Coming here today, one goes away with very deep emotions."

Sisulu's wife Albertina said: "Today's visit is great. Looking back in that my grandchildren know exactly what happened to the old man."

Source: News 24

De Klerk and Mandela Discuss Future

President F. W. de Klerk discussed South Africa's future with Nelson R. Mandela today, raising the expectation that the imprisoned anti-apartheid leader may be released early next year. Mr. de Klerk received Mr. Mandela, South Africa's most prominent political prisoner, at Tuynhuys, the President's office in Cape Town. Mr. Mandela, who has been in jail since 1963, is being held at a prison farm near Paarl, outside Cape Town.

Justice Minister Hendrick J. Coetsee, who attended the meeting, said that it was requested by Mr. Mandela and welcomed by Mr. de Klerk, who says he wants to create a climate for negotiations that would give the country's disenfranchised black majority a limited degree of political power. Taking Measure of Each Other In a cautiously worded statement, Mr. Coetsee said the meeting with Mr. Mandela ''fitted in with Mr. de Klerk's program to consult with the full spectrum of political opinion concerning the mutual future of all South Africans.'' The discussions between Mr. de Klerk and Mr. Mandela, he said, included ''ways and means to address current obstacles in the way of meaningful dialogue.'' Mr. Coetsee declined to give more details, saying further statements ''would serve no positive purpose.'' But Mr. Mandela's release has been a consistent precondition of black leaders across the political spectrum for talks with the white minority Government.

The state-run South African Broadcasting Corporation, in reporting news of the meeting on the television evening news, showed an old photograph of Mr. Mandela, indicating a departure from the official position that his photograph not be shown or published because South African law treats him as a banned person. Today's meeting created the opportunity for the most prominent white and black South Africans to take personal measure of each other. Mr. Coetsee did not say how long the meeting lasted. The Justice Minister said follow-up talks between Mr. de Klerk and Mr. Mandela were envisioned in the new year, a statement that indicated Mr. Mandela would not be freed this month. Criticism From the Right

During a visit to the Ivory Coast on Dec. 2, President de Klerk told reporters that the question was not whether Mr. Mandela would be released but when and under what circumstances. Today's meeting was criticized by Andries Treurnicht, the leader of the right-wing Conservative Party, who said that it amounted to an unbanning of the outlawed African National Congress, to which Mr. Mandela has belonged for 45 years. But the liberal Democratic Party welcomed the meeting. In a statement, its co-leader, Denis Worrall, said Mr. Mandela's request to see President de Klerk ''suggests Mr. Mandela understands what an important role he has to play and how deeply his initial approach will influence in particular white South African attitudes.''

There have been reports that Mr. Mandela was remaining in prison by his own choice in order to get more jailed comrades released and to work out details for negotiations with the Government. But Dullah Omar, a Cape Town attorney, discounted such suggestions after lunching yesterday with Walter and Albertina Sisulu. Mr. Sisulu, a comrade of Mr. Mandela in both the outlawed African National Congress and in prison, visited Mr. Mandela for three hours yesterday.

Mr. de Klerk freed Mr. Sisulu and seven other long-term political prisoners, six of whom belonged to the Congress, on Oct. 15 in a gesture seen as a rehearsal for Mr. Mandela's release. Mr. Omar said Mr. Sisulu told him that of the issues he and Mr. Mandela discussed, ''the most relevant one was Mr. Mandela's continued imprisonment. Mr. Mandela emphatically denies that he has chosen not to be released now.'' ''He says he does not know why he has not been released with the others,'' Mr. Omar continued, according to a report by the South African Press Association. ''He has the right to be released but is not prepared to beg for his release.''

New York Times

Bram Fischer 1908 - 1975

Abraham “Bram” Fischer was born on 23 April 1908 in the Orange Free State. He was born into a prominent Afrikaans family, son of Percy Ulrich Fischer, at the time a member of the Bloemfontein Bar. Percy later became a much-respected Free State judge.

The Fischers were a sixth-generation South African family. Percy's father was Abraham Fischer, a highly regarded politician of conservative outlook. He was the prime minister of the Orange River Colony from 1907 to 1910. Abraham had married a Scotswoman and Percy had married Ella Fichardt, of a family of cosmopolitan descent, who was entirely English speaking. Bram, who was brought up in an Afrikaans- and English-speaking home, regarded himself as an Afrikaner - a proud one.

Bram initially was a vocal Nationalist. His schooling was at Grey College, Bloemfontein; from there he went to Grey University College in his hometown. Bram excelled at tennis and rugby. In 1928 he represented the Free State as scrum half against the All Blacks under Maurice Brownlee.

Bram Fischer proceeded to study law (BA LLB degree) at Grey, then part of the University of South Africa. After completing his studies in South Africa he spent 3 years (1931-1934) at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

Some years earlier Bram had met and begun to court Molly Krige. Distantly related to the wife of Jan Smuts, she had the same sharp intellect as Bram and had strong leadership qualities. Both became attracted to communism. While he was at Oxford, in the long vacation of 1932, Bram visited the Soviet Union, and, like many others, did not dig below the surface, and became a convert to the Stalinist doctrine. His earlier nationalism converted to anathema; he now considered fascism and Nazism "cancerous nationalism".

Bram's results in the Bachelor of Arts honours degree at Oxford were most disappointing, for he attained a pass only in the third class. Bram was shattered, but the third was quite unrepresentative of his ability and knowledge.

On his return to South Africa, Bram was called to the Johannesburg Bar on 10 January 1935. Initially briefs were slow to arrive. When work came, he devoted himself to it. His briefs he knew intimately. Gradually his practice expanded, and, ironically, particularly in the specialised area of mining law for the great mining houses. It was widely believed that Bram was at the beginning of a career that would culminate in great things, very likely the position of chief justice.

In 1937 Bram and Molly were married, and by 1942 Bram and Molly had become members of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA). They never deviated from their outward devotion to Stalinist communism. This didn’t seem to harm his career as a corporate lawyer and he was widely admired as a brilliant man with the potential to possibly lead the country as Prime Minister, provided his political opinions became less unorthodox.

In 1943 he helped A. B. Xuma revise the African National Congress’ (ANC) constitution and was charged with incitement during the mineworkers’ strike in 1946.

The return of the National Party to power at the general election of May 1948 meant the ultimate banning of communistic views and the CPSA in terms of the Suppression of Communism Act. Communism was condemned as a godless belief aiming at racial suicide and the dictatorship of the proletariat. Later, the CPSA resurrected itself surreptitiously as the South African Communist Party (SACP). As was to be expected, Bram was "named" under the Suppression of Communism Act in 1950. Nevertheless, on 2 November the next year he was appointed a king's counsel (KC).

He was also a member of the Congress of Democrats and in 1952 Bram defended Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and eighteen other ANC leaders for participating in the Defiance Campaign. The year 1953 saw Bram banned under the Suppression of Communism Act from most gatherings and from the Congress of Democrats. For years thereafter there were police raids on his advocate's chambers and his house. None of these happenings affected the flow of briefs coming to Bram, outstanding lawyer and counsel. In court he was the epitome of the ideal English barrister: quiet, unassuming, exquisitely polite and thus often disarming to a hostile witness: and, when necessary, devastating in cross-examination. Except for three years, Bram was elected a member of the Johannesburg Bar Council from 1943 to 1963, being chairman in 1961.

In 1960 the ANC and Pan-Africanist Congress were banned. The Sabotage Act of 1962 allowed for detention without trial. Bram and Molly were subjected to further restrictions by the government under that statute. The creation of the Republic of South Africa in 1961 did not end the withholding of participation in the government of the country from blacks. So Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation) was formed, a product of the ANC and the SACP, committed to a violent struggle.

On 11 July 1963 at Lilies leaf farm in Rivonia the police arrested many of the leaders of the liberation movement. At the subsequent trial for sabotage and other charges, one of the accused was Nelson Mandela. Bram, who by a fortunate chance was not on the farm when the police raid took place, led the defence team. In agreeing to appear for the Rivonia accused, Bram courageously took an enormous risk, for he could easily have been correctly pointed out by some of the witnesses for the prosecution as having attended many meetings at Lilies leaf. In the end, eight accused, including Mandela, were found guilty. That they were sentenced not to death but to life imprisonment was partly a result of the dedicated efforts of the defence team.

On 13 June 1964 Molly was killed in a tragic accident in a motorcar driven by Bram, who was overwhelmed by grief.

It was inevitable that his defence of and involvement with anti-Apartheid activists would implicate him in illegal activities and in 23 September 1964 Fischer was arrested for contravening the Suppression of Communism Act. At the start of the trial he was granted bail to argue a case in England, undertaking to return, which he did. The trial commenced on 16 November 1964. On 23 January 1965, however, Bram went underground. In a letter he stated that no one should submit to the barbaric laws and monstrous policy of apartheid.

He was only recaptured in December, disguised as "Douglas Black". Now his trial was on far more serious charges, including sabotage. In a sworn statement from the dock, he said that there was a higher duty to break immoral laws passed by a small minority to deprive the majority, on account of their colour, of their most elementary rights. "At least one Afrikaner should make this protest."

In 1966 he was found guilty of violating the Suppression of Communism Act and conspiring to commit sabotage leading to a conviction of life imprisonment. In 1967 he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize.

In 1974 it became known that Fischer was seriously ill with cancer and liberal newspapers and political leaders mounted an intensive campaign for his release. They were successful and he was moved to his brother’s home in Bloemfontein a few weeks before his death.

Source: South African History Online