Sweden and National Liberation in Southern Africa

Sweden and National Liberation in Southern Africa

Sweden and National Liberation in Southern Africa

Volume II:

Solidarity and Assistance 1970–1994

Tor Sellström

Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala 2002

Indexing terms Churches Foreign relations

National liberation movements Solidarity organizations Trade unions

Youth organizations ANC

FRELIMO Inkatha MPLA PAC PAIGC SWAPO UDF ZANU ZAPU Angola Guinea-Bissau Mozambique Namibia South Africa Sweden Zimbabwe

Language checking: Elaine Almén Cover: Adriaan Honcoop

© The author and Nordiska Afrikainstitutet 2002 ISBN 91-7106-448-6

Printed in Sweden by Elanders Gotab, Stockholm, 2002

Contents

Acronyms 11

Maps 17

Chronological overview 1950–1994 19

Acknowledgements 21

Prologue 23

Background 23

International Standpoints 26

Scope and Layout 34

Postscript 36

PAIGC of Guinea-Bissau: Breaking the Ground 41

Focus on the Portuguese Colonies 41

The Liberation Struggle in Guinea-Bissau 44

Early Contacts 46

Towards Official Support to PAIGC 50

A Decisive Breakthrough 54

Civilian Needs and Swedish Responses 56

Defining Humanitarian Assistance 59

Amílcar Cabral and the Swedish Assistance 62

Independence and beyond 69

FRELIMO of Mozambique: Clearing a Way 73

The Mondlanes, Sweden and the Struggle in Mozambique 73 FRELIMO Crisis and Portuguese Counter-Offensive 76

Youth and Student Solidarity 79

Resumption of the Swedish Support 84

Commodity or Cash Support? 87

Armed Struggle and Humanitarian Assistance 89

De Facto Recognition and Expanded Support 93

Concentration on the Liberated Areas 98

Independent Mozambique: The Relations Continue 102

MPLA of Angola: A Rockier Road 107

Limited Assistance 107

Active NGO Solidarity 110

Emphasis on Transport 117

Crisis and Standstill 121

Agreement and Postponements 124

Towards Independence and Understanding 125

Independence, Neto and Palme 131

Diplomatic Relations and Mediation 136

Non-Socialist Continuity and UNITA 139

The Swedish Right Wing Enters the Scene 143

Threats, Hostages and Murder 147

Exit UNITA 151

ZANU and ZAPU of Zimbabwe: On Separate Trails 153

Early Attention 153

Sweden, Britain and Zimbabwe 156

Exceptional Relations 159

Prisoners and War 164

A Significant Visit 167

ZAPU: Sluggish Beginnings and Persistent Doubts 172

With ZANU towards Détente 175

Détente and the Chitepo Assassination 179

Sweden and the ZANU Detainees 182

Patriotic Front: ZANU and ZAPU towards Independence 186

End of Détente 186

Pro-Active Initiatives with Limitations 188

The Fälldin Government and the Patriotic Front 192

The Africa Groups and Zimbabwe 196

Practical Solidarity: Emmaus and Bread and Fishes 200 A Novel Dimension: Church of Sweden Mission and ZANU 204

Manama: CSM and ZAPU ‘Going to Geneva’ 209

Official Aid to ZANU and ZAPU 214

Differences, Disputes and Extraordinary Support to ZAPU 219 Elections: Sweden, Britain and the Patriotic Front 225

Independence and New Relations 231

SWAPO of Namibia: Tentative Steps towards Firm Relations 233

A Land in Anger 233

Namibia in Sweden 236

From Uneasy Beginnings to Privileged Attention 238

Questions and Doubts 245

UNITA and Liberated Areas 247

Parliament and ‘Off-Stream’ 253

‘Mainstream’ 258

Transport, Home Front, Churches and Trade Unions 262 Beginnings of Regular Support: The ‘Old Farm’ 262 Transport: Dominance, Doubts and New Directions 266

Repression and Diplomatic Intervention 272

Turnhalle and the Home Front 278

Social Projects and Financial Problems 283

Church Support 286

LO/TCO and the National Union of Namibian Workers 289

’Palle’ Carlsson in Namibia 293

From Namibia to the Refugee Camps... 300

... and back to Namibia 304

The Shipanga Affair and Beyond: Humanitarian Assistance

and Human Rights 308

Crisis and Detentions 308

Sweden and the Shipanga Affair 314

Nyerere, Wästberg and the Release of the Shipanga Group 319

Founding of SWAPO-Democrats 325

’Struggle and Assistance with the Same Objectives’ 328

Sweden and the Spy Drama 331

Cold War, Total Strategy and Expanded Assistance 338

Talks, Frustrations and Hopes 338

Swedish Preparations and South African Reactions 340

Total Strategy and Constructive Engagement 346

From Kassinga to Kwanza Sul 350

Constructions in Kwanza Sul 357

Health Care to SWAPO 363

With SWAPO to Victory 367

Partnership and Capacity-Building 367

Financial Overview and Education Support 373

Planning for Independence 379

Nordic Coordination, UNTAG and Impartiality 384

Independence at Last 389

ANC of South Africa: No Easy Walk 394

Early Solidarity... 394

... but Complex Beginnings 397

The Role of the Liberal Party and Encounters with Chris Hani 403

Marginalization and Limited Assistance 407

A Strategic Review 410

Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma in Swaziland 414

Towards a Special Relationship 419

Isolation versus Involvement: Companies, Churches and Labour

in the 1970s 422

A New Sanctions Debate 422

Sweden’s ‘Two Faces’ 425

Ecumenical Action and Swedish Companies 429

Mbeki and Isolation 435

A Controversial Mission 439

LO and TCO: Multilateral Involvement 443

SACTU, Unions and Sanctions 447

Criticism and Contradictions 447

SACTU in Exile 451

Official Support to SACTU 455

AGIS, SACTU and LO-TCO 458

LO/TCO Assistance via ICFTU and to COSATU 465

Wider LO Solidarity 473

Metall ’s Dissonant Voice 477

Towards Unilateral Sanctions 481

A Limited Breakthrough 486

’Looking for Alternatives’: Pan Africanist Congress 494

Pending Clarifications 494

The Pan Africanist Congress and Sweden in the 1960s 496

Pre-Soweto Contacts, Requests and Rejections 501

PAC’s Scandinavian Offensive 504

At Arm’s Length 507

Formal Arguments and Underlying Considerations 510

From Unbanning towards Elections 512

Gatsha Buthelezi and Inkatha 517

A Long History 517

Church of Sweden Mission, Tambo and Buthelezi 519

Assisting a Bantustan? 523

ANC, Inkatha and The Nation 526

A Complementary Force 531

Controversial Requests 534

Consent and Break-up 538

An Exceptional Parenthesis 541

Black Consciousness, IUEF and ‘Operation Daisy’ 544

Sweden and the Black Consciousness Movement 544

Black Consciousness before Soweto 547

Looking for ANC Contacts 551

Biko, Tambo and Palme: An Aborted Encounter 552

Sweden and the International University Exchange Fund 556

A Vehicle for Refugee Education 558

Craig Williamson and ‘Operation Daisy’ 563

Early Cautions 570

IUEF, Sweden and ANC 572

Aftermath 577

From Beds in Exile to Organizers at Home 580

Building a Special Relationship 580

Points of Departure 581

Breakthrough with Conditions 585

Land Restrictions and Aid Consolidation 589

Assisting ANC in Angola 592

Mozambique and Onward Flights 595

Information and Publicity 600

Attention to the Internal Struggle 604

The Home Front Component 608

Questions and Scope 614

Attacks and Assistance in the Forward Areas: Swaziland

and Mozambique 620

Daily Necessities on the Frontline 620

Range and Numbers 624

South Africa in Southern Africa 627

Apartheid’s Second Front 634

Swaziland 636

Humanitarian Support Underground 642

Mozambique 647

Adjusting to Nkomati 652

Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe and a Note on Security 660

Lesotho 660

Special Flights 664

Problems and Suspension 669

Botswana 675

Zimbabwe 679

Insistence and Reluctance 684

Final Clearance 688

Security 692

Closer and Broader Cooperation: Projects in Exile, Mineworkers,

UDF and Civics in South Africa 698

Country Programming and Projects 698

Objectives and Structure 704

Non-Transparency in Angola 707

Farms and Agricultural Training 710

Education and Asylum Seekers in Sweden 715

NUM, LO/TCO and the E-Plan 722

Miners’ Solidarity 727

The United Democratic Front 731

A Swift Response: AIC, UDF and the Civics 737

The Role of the Swedish Legation 744

The Boesak Case 748

US and South African Views on ANC and Sweden 751

Culture and Popular Initiatives: From Frontline Rock

to the People’s Parliament 756

Popular Explosion 756

Culture and Music 758

Gala for ANC 763

Rock and Cooperation on the Frontline 767

Official Support to ANC’s Cultural Department 772

The People’s Parliament against Apartheid 774

Olof Palme’s Last Appearance 777

Banning of Trade and Planning for Post-Apartheid 781

Increasing Commodity Exchange 781

Social Democratic Wavering 784

Pressures, Turnabout and Final Embargo 789

The PASA Initiative 794

Capacity-Building and Research Support 797

Joint Preparations and ANC Criticism 800

Formalization and Structures 806

Free at Last 811

The Last Mile 811

Setbacks and Breakthroughs 813

From Harare via Stockholm to Mandela’s Release 817

The Struggle and Assistance Continue 824

Sweden and ANC in South Africa 828

New Swedish Signals 834

Phasing out the External Projects 837

Liberation Movement or Political Party? 843

Dominance and Reactions 845

Administrative Weaknesses and Support 851

Voter Education and Election Training 853

Final Contribution and Freedom at Long Last 858

Epilogue 864

A Disproportionate International Impact... 864

... but Conspicuous Domestic Silence 869

Tables and Graphs

SWAPO: SIDA budget 1987/88 374

The ‘home front component’ in Sweden’s assistance to ANC 610

‘Daily necessities’ in Sweden’s assistance to ANC 626

ANC: SIDA budget 1987/88 705

Distribution of Swedish assistance to South Africa 1985/86–1992/93 736 Sweden’s commodity trade with South Africa 1950–1990 783 SIDA budget allocations to ANC in South Africa 1991/92–1993/94 846 Bibliography

Published sources 871

Primary sources 884

Appendices

I Conversion table SEK/USD 1950–1995 889

II Parliamentary elections in Sweden – Distribution of votes (%) 889

III Governments in Sweden 1951–1994 890

IV Swedish exports to Southern Africa and Portugal 1950–1990 890 V Swedish imports from Southern Africa and Portugal 1950–1970 890 VI Swedish commodity trade with South Africa 1950–1990 891 VII Swedish sanctions against Rhodesia, Namibia and South Africa 892

VIII PAIGC – Disbursements through SIDA 893

IX FRELIMO – Disbursements through SIDA 894

X MPLA – Disbursements through SIDA 895

XI ZANU – Disbursements through SIDA 896

XII ZAPU – Disbursements through SIDA 897

XIII SWAPO – Disbursements through SIDA 898

XIV ANC – Disbursements through SIDA 899

XV Total disbursements through SIDA to the Southern African

liberation movements and PAIGC 1969–1995 900

XVI South African organizations and publications supported by Sweden:

A selected list 902

Name Index 904

Acronyms

AALC African-American Labor Center (United States) AAPSO Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organization

ABF Workers Educational Association/Arbetarnas Bildningsförbund (Sweden)

ADRA Action for Rural Development and the Environment/Acção para o Desenvolvimento Rural e Ambiente (Angola)

AET Africa Educational Trust (Great Britain)

AGIS Africa Groups in Sweden/Afrikagrupperna i Sverige AI Amnesty International

AIC International Centre of the Swedish Labour Movement/Arbetarrörelsens Inter- nationella Centrum

AIS International Support Committee of the Labour Movement/Arbeiderbevegelsens Internasjonale Støttekomité (Norway)

AME African Methodist Episcopal Church

AMS Swedish Labour Market Board/Arbetsmarknadsstyrelsen ANC African National Congress (South Africa)

ANC-Z African National Council-Zimbabwe

APLA Azanian People’s Liberation Army (South Africa)

ARO Recruitment Organization of the Africa Groups/Afrikagruppernas Rekryterings- organisation (Sweden)

AWEPAA Association of West European Parliamentarians for Action against Apartheid AZACTU Azanian Confederation of Trade Unions (South Africa)

AZAPO Azanian People’s Organization (South Africa) BAWU Black Allied Workers Union (South Africa)

BCMA Black Consciousness Movement of Azania (South Africa) BCP Black Community Programmes (South Africa)

BF Bread and Fishes/Brödet och Fiskarna (Sweden) BOSS Bureau of State Security (South Africa) BPC Black People’s Convention (South Africa) CANU Caprivi African National Union (Namibia) CAYCO Cape Youth Congress (South Africa)

CCHA Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance/Beredningen för humanitärt bistånd (Sweden)

CCM Christian Council of Mozambique CCM Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Tanzania) CCN Council of Churches in Namibia

CDS Centre for Development Studies (South Africa) CFTC Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation CI Christian Institute (South Africa)

CIA Central Intelligence Agency (United States)

CIIR Catholic Institute for International Relations (Great Britain) CIO Central Intelligence Organization (Rhodesia)

COD Congress of Democrats (South Africa) CODESA Convention for a Democratic South Africa

CONCP Conference of Nationalist Organizations in the Portuguese Colonies/Confêrencia das Organizações Nacionalistas das Colónias Portuguêsas

COREMO Revolutionary Committee of Mozambique/Comité Revolucionário de Moçambique COSAS Congress of South African Students

COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions COSAW Congress of South African Writers

COTRALESA Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa

CPC Coloured People’s Congress (South Africa)

CPSA Communist Party of South Africa

CSA Church of Sweden Aid/Lutherhjälpen

CSLA Supreme Council for the Liberation of Angola/Conselho Supremo da Libertação de Angola

CSM Church of Sweden Mission

CUF Centre Party Youth League/Centerpartiets Ungdomsförbund (Sweden) CUSA Council of Unions of South Africa

DAC Department of Arts and Culture of ANC

DHAC Durban Housing Areas Action Committee (South Africa) DHF Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation (Sweden)

DIP Department of Information and Publicity of ANC DONS Department of National Security (South Africa) DRC Dutch Reformed Church (South Africa) DTA Democratic Turnhalle Alliance (Namibia)

EAWU Engineering and Allied Workers Union (South Africa) ECC End Conscription Campaign (South Africa)

ELC Evangelical Lutheran Church (South Africa) ELCIN Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia ELCZ Evangelical Lutheran Church of Zimbabwe

ELOK Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church (Namibia) ERIP Education Resource and Information Project (South Africa) FCWU Food and Canning Workers Union (South Africa)

FLING Front for the Liberation and Independence of Guinea/Frente para a Libertação e Independência da Guiné (Guinea-Bissau)

FNLA National Front for the Liberation of Angola/Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola

FOSATU Federation of South African Trade Unions FPJ Foundation for Peace and Justice (South Africa)

FPU Liberal Party Youth League/Folkpartiets Ungdomsförbund (Sweden) FRELIMO Mozambique Liberation Front/Frente de Libertação de Moçambique FRG Federal Republic of Germany

FROLIZI Front for the Liberation of Zimbabwe

FUF Swedish Development Forum/Föreningen för Utvecklingsfrågor GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

GAWU General and Allied Workers Union (South Africa) GDR German Democratic Republic

GWU General Workers Union (South Africa)

HUF Moderate Party Youth League/Högerns Ungdomsförbund (Sweden) IAS Industrial Aid Society (South Africa)

ICAAS International Campaign Against Apartheid Sport ICEIDA Icelandic International Development Agency ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions ICJ International Court of Justice

ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross

ICSA International Committee against Apartheid, Racism and Colonialism in Southern Africa

IDAF International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa IDASA Institute for a Democratic Alternative in South Africa IFP Inkatha Freedom Party (South Africa)

ILO International Labour Organization

IDEA International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (Sweden) ISAK Isolate South Africa Committee/Isolera Sydafrika-Kommittén (Sweden) ISC International Student Conference

IUEF International University Exchange Fund IUSY International Union of Socialist Youth JMC Joint Military Command (Zimbabwe)

JODAC Johannesburg Democratic Action Committee (South Africa)

KF Co-operative Union and Wholesale Society/Kooperativa Förbundet (Sweden)

KRISS Christian Student Movement in Sweden/Kristna Studentrörelsen i Sverige

LLA Lesotho Liberation Army

LO Swedish Trade Union Confederation/Landsorganisationen i Sverige LPC Left Party Communists (Sweden)

LWF Lutheran World Federation

MANWU Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union MAWU Metal and Allied Workers Union (South Africa)

MFA Movement of the Armed Forces/Movimento das Forças Armadas (Portugal) MIF Miners International Federation

MK Umkhonto we Sizwe/The Spear of the Nation (South Africa) MMD Movement for Multiparty Democracy (Zambia)

MONAP Mozambique-Nordic Agricultural Programme

MPLA Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola/Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola

MUF Moderate Party Youth Leage/Moderata Ungdomsförbundet (Sweden) MUN Mineworkers Union of Namibia

MWASA Media Workers Union of South Africa

NAAWU National Automobile and Allied Workers Union (South Africa) NACTU National Council of Trade Unions (South Africa)

NADEL National Association of Democratic Lawyers (South Africa) NAFAU Namibian Food and Allied Union

NANSO Namibian National Students Organization NAPSA Namibia Private School Association NAPWU Namibia Public Workers Union NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NAWU Namibian Workers Union

NAYCO Natal Youth Congress (South Africa) NDP National Democratic Party (Zimbabwe) NEC National Executive Committee of ANC NEU Namibian Extension Unit

NEUM Non-European Unity Movement (South Africa) NIC Natal Indian Congress (South Africa)

NIEO New International Economic Order NIP Namibia Independence Party

NIR International Council of Swedish Industry/Näringslivets Internationella Råd NIS National Intelligence Service (South Africa)

NNF Namibia National Front

NOK Norwegian Kroner

NORAD Norwegian Agency for International Development NP National Party (South Africa)

NPF National Patriotic Front of Namibia NRC National Reception Committee (South Africa) NTUC Nordic Trade Union Council

NUM National Union of Mineworkers (South Africa) NUMSA National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa NUNW National Union of Namibian Workers

NUSAS National Union of South African Students NWC National Working Committee of ANC OAU Organization of African Unity

OMA Angolan Women’s Organization/Organização das Mulheres de Angola OPIC Olof Palme International Center (Sweden)

PAC Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (South Africa)

PAI African Independence Party/Partido Africano de Indepêndencia (Guinea-Bissau) PAICV African Independence Party of Cape Verde/Partido Africano para a Indepêndencia

do Cabo Verde

PAIGC African Independence Party of Guinea and Cape Verde/Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde

PASA Post-Apartheid South Africa

PCR Programme to Combat Racism

PDA Democratic Party of Angola/Partido Democrático Angolano PEYCO Port Elizabeth Youth Congress (South Africa)

PF Patriotic Front (Zimbabwe)

PFP Progressive Federal Party (South Africa)

PIDE International and State Defence Police/Policía Internacional e de Defesa do Estado (Portugal)

PLAN People’s Liberation Army of Namibia

PSP Socialist Party of Portugal/Partido Socialista de Portugal RB Save the Children/Rädda Barnen (Sweden)

RENAMO Mozambique National Resistance/Resistência Nacional Moçambicana RF Swedish Sports Confederation/Sveriges Riksidrottsförbund

RMC Release Mandela Campaign (South Africa) RRV Swedish National Audit Bureau/Riksrevisionsverket SAAU South African Artists United

SAAWU South African Allied Workers Union SABA South African Black Alliance

SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation SACC South African Council of Churches SACHED South African Council of Higher Education SACL South African Confederation of Labour SACP South African Communist Party

SACPO South African Coloured People’s Organization SACTU South African Congress of Trade Unions SADC Southern African Development Community

SADCC Southern Africa Development Coordination Conference SADF South African Defence Force

SAF Swedish Employers Confederation/Svenska Arbetsgivareföreningen SAIC South African Indian Congress

SAIRR South African Institute of Race Relations

SAK Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions/Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskus- järjestö

SAR South African Rands

SARDC Southern African Research and Documentation Centre

SAREC Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation with Developing Countries SASCO South African Students Congress

SASM South African Students Movement SASO South African Students Organization SASPRO South African Studies Project SAUF South Africa United Front SAYCO South African Youth Congress SCC South African State Security Council

SCC Swedish Co-operative Centre/Kooperation Utan Gränser SDF Students Development Fund (Sweden)

SDP Social Democratic Party (Sweden)

SECO Swedish Union of Secondary School Students/Sveriges Elevers Centralorganisation

SEK Swedish Kronor

SEN Swedish Ecumenical Council/Svenska Ekumeniska Nämnden SFN United Nations Association of Sweden/Svenska FN-förbundet SFS Swedish National Union of Students/Sveriges Förenade Studentkårer

SI Socialist International

SIDA Swedish International Development Authority

SIF Federation of Swedish Industries/Sveriges Industriförbund

SIF Union of Industrial Employees/Svenska Industritjänstemannaförbundet (Sweden) SILC Swedish International Liberal Center/Liberalt Utvecklingscentrum

SIPU Swedish National Institute for Civil Service Training and Development/Statens

Institut för Personalutveckling

SIV Swedish Immigration Board/Statens Invandrarverk SKP Communist Party of Sweden/Sveriges Kommunistiska Parti

SKTF Union of Municipal Employees/Sveriges Kommunaltjänstemannaförbund (Sweden) SL Swedish Teachers Association/Sveriges Lärarförbund

SLU Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences/Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet SOMAFCO Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (ANC/Tanzania)

SOYCO Soweto Youth Congress (South Africa) SRB Shipping Research Bureau (Holland)

SSAK Swedish South Africa Committee/Svenska Sydafrikakommittén

SSF Support Group for the People of South Africa/Stödgruppen för Sydafrikas Folk (Sweden)

SSRC Soweto Students Representative Council (South Africa)

SSU Social Democratic Youth League/Sveriges Socialdemokratiska Ungdomsförbund (Sweden)

SUL National Council of Swedish Youth/Sveriges Ungdomsorganisationers Landsråd SWANLIF South West African National Liberation Front

SWANU South West Africa National Union SWANUF South West Africa National United Front SWAPO South West Africa People’s Organization SWAPO-D SWAPO-Democrats

SWATUL South West Africa Trade Union League SWEDTEL Swedish Telecommunication Consulting AB SYL SWAPO Youth League

TCO Central Organization of Salaried Employees/Tjänstemännens Centralorganisation (Sweden)

TEC Transitional Executive Council (South Africa) TGNU Transitional Government of National Unity (Namibia) TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)

TUACC Trade Union Advisory and Coordinating Council (South Africa) TUC Trades Union Congress (Great Britain)

TUCSA Trade Union Council of South Africa UANC United African National Council (Zimbabwe) UAW United Automobile Workers (South Africa) UDF United Democratic Front (South Africa)

UDI Unilateral Declaration of Independence (Rhodesia)

UFF Development Aid from People to People in Sweden/U-landshjälp från Folk till Folk i Sverige

UMSA Unity Movement of South Africa UNCN United Nations Council for Namibia

UNETPSA United Nations Educational and Training Programme for Southern Africa UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNIN United Nations Institute for Namibia

UNITA National Union for the Total Independence of Angola/União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola

UNOMSA United Nations Observer Mission in South Africa

UNTA National Union of Angolan Workers/União Nacional dos Trabalhadores de Angola UNTAG United Nations Transitional Assistance Group (Namibia)

UNZA University of Zambia

UPA Union of the Peoples of Angola/União das Populações de Angola USD United States Dollar

UWC University of the Western Cape (South Africa) UWUSA United Workers Union of South Africa VAT Victims Against Terrorism (South Africa)

VEETU Voter Education and Elections Training Unit (South Africa)

VUF Left Party Youth League/Vänsterpartiets Ungdomsförbund (Sweden)

WACL World Anti-Communist League

WAY World Assembly of Youth WCC World Council of Churches WCG Western Contact Group WCL World Confederation of Labour WFTU World Federation of Trade Unions WHO World Health Organization WPC World Peace Council WUS World University Service

ZANLA Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army ZANU Zimbabwe African National Union

ZAPU Zimbabwe African People’s Union ZCRS Zambian Christian Refugee Service ZIPA Zimbabwe People’s Army

ZIPRA Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army ZIRIC Zimbabwe Research and Information Centre ZLC Zimbabwe Liberation Council

ZUM Zimbabwe Unity Movement

ZWT Zimbabwe Welfare Trust

•

•

Kramfors

•

•

FINLAND

SWEDEN NORWAY

DENMARK

•

Helsinki

•

•

•

Västerås

•

•

•

•

Copenhagen

•

s

SOUTH AFRICA Cape Town

•

ZIMBABWE

MOZAMBIQUE TANZANIA

ZAMBIA

NAMIBIA ANGOLA

BOTSWANA REPUBLIC OF GUINÉE

Cabinda

•

•

•

•

Lubango

•

•

Jamba

•

Gaborone

•

CONGO-

•

Maseru

•

•

•

•

•

• •

•

•

Soweto ville

Mbabane

•

Tunduru

•

Arusha

•

•

•

Dakawa/Mazimbu

•

Lusaka

•

•

•

•

•

Lim popo

Rovuma SENEGAL

ZAIRE

(CONGO KINSHASA)

•

LESOTHO Conakry•

SWAZILAND Sharpe-

•

GUINEA-BISSAU Bissau•

Chronological overview 1950–1994

1954 Publication of Herbert Tingsten’s book

(the fol- lowing year published in Great Britain as

).

1959 (September) Launch of the Swedish Fund for the Victims of Racial Oppression in South Africa.

1959 (December) Windhoek ‘Old Location’ shootings, Namibia.

1960 (March) Sharpeville massacre, South Africa.

1960 (April) ANC and PAC banned.

1960 (April) First consumer boycott of South African goods declared by the Swedish Trade Union Confederation and the Cooperative Union and Wholesale Society.

1961 (Feb–March) Armed uprisings by MPLA and UPA (FNLA) in Angola mark the begin- nings of the Thirty Years’ War in Southern Africa.

1961 (March) Swedish South Africa Committee established.

1961 (December) Nobel Peace Prize to Albert Luthuli. Launch of Umkhonto we Sizwe in South Africa.

1962 Swedish Agency for International Assistance (NIB).

1962 (May) Address by Oliver Tambo to the Labour Day demonstrations in Goth- enburg, Sweden.

1962 (August) Afro-Scandinavian Youth Congress in Oslo, Norway.

1963 (March) Consumer boycott campaign against South Africa launched by the National Council of Swedish Youth.

1964 (May) ‘Refugee million’ adopted by the Swedish parliament.

1964 (August) Consultative Committee on Education Support to African Refugee Youth—later Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance—

appointed.

1964 (September) Eduardo and Janet Mondlane’s first visit to Sweden.

1964 (September) FRELIMO launches armed struggle in Mozambique.

1965 (January) First parliamentary motions on economic sanctions against South Africa.

1965 (May) First Swedish grant to the Mozambique Institute, Tanzania.

1965 (July) Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA).

1965 (November) Ian Smith’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence, Rhodesia.

1966 (March) First international conference on Namibia in Oxford, England.

1966 (April) ZANU begins military operations in Zimbabwe.

1966 (August) SWAPO launches armed struggle for the liberation of Namibia.

1967 First FRELIMO representative based in Sweden.

1968 (May) Demonstrations in Båstad against a Davis Cup match between Sweden and Rhodesia.

1969 World Council of Churches launches its Programme to Combat Rac- ism.

1969 (May) Endorsement by the Swedish parliament of official humanitarian sup- port to African liberation movements.

1969 (July) Swedish legislation against economic transactions with Rhodesia.

1969/70 First Swedish allocation to PAIGC of Guinea-Bissau.

1969/70 First Swedish allocation to ZANU/Zimbabwe Welfare Trust.

1970/71 First Swedish allocation to SWAPO of Namibia.

1970 (September) First MPLA representative to the Nordic countries (Stockholm).

1971 First SWAPO representative to the Scandinavian countries, West Ger- many and Austria (Stockholm).

1971 (June) International Court of Justice rules that South Africa’s occupation of Namibia is illegal.

1971/72 First Swedish allocation to MPLA of Angola.

1971/72 Direct cooperation programme with FRELIMO of Mozambique.

1972/73 (Feb. 1973) First Swedish allocation to ANC of South Africa.

1972/73 (Feb. 1973) First Swedish allocation to ZAPU of Zimbabwe.

1973 (April) UN/OAU Conference on Southern Africa in Oslo, Norway.

1973 (June) ILO International Conference of Trade Unions against Apartheid in Geneva, Switzerland.

1974 First ANC Chief Representative to the Scandinavian countries (Stock- holm).

1974 (April) Military coup in Portugal.

1974 (September) Independence of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.

1975 (June) Independence of the People’s Republic of Mozambique.

1975 (November) Independence of the People’s Republic of Angola.

1976 (June) Soweto uprising, South Africa.

1976 (October) Patriotic Front between ZAPU and ZANU.

1977 (September) Steve Biko killed in detention in South Africa.

1978 (March) Nordic Programme of Action against Apartheid/Oslo Plan.

1978 (May) South African massacre of SWAPO refugees at Kassinga, Angola.

1978 (September) UN Security Council adopts Resolution 435 on Namibia.

1978 (September) ‘Total strategy’ adopted as official South African state policy.

1979 (July) Sweden bans new investments in South Africa and Namibia.

1979 (Sept–Dec) Lancaster House Conference on Zimbabwe, London.

1980 (January) South African infiltration of IUEF revealed.

1980 (April) Independence of the Republic of Zimbabwe.

1983 (August) UDF of South Africa launched.

1984 (March) Nkomati Accord between South Africa and Mozambique.

1984 (December) Nobel Peace Prize to Desmond Tutu.

1986 (February) Swedish People’s Parliament against Apartheid in Stockholm.

1986 (February) Olof Palme assassinated.

1987 (July) Swedish trade embargo on South Africa and Namibia.

1988 (December) New York accords between Angola, Cuba and South Africa lead to independence process in Namibia.

1990 (February) ANC, PAC, SACP, UDF and other organizations unbanned. Nelson Mandela released.

1990 (March) Independence of the Republic of Namibia.

1993 (December) Nobel Peace Prize to Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk.

1994 (April–May) Elections in South Africa. ANC-led Government of National Unity.

Nelson Mandela President.

Acknowledgements

During the course of this study, I have incurred debts to so many individuals, insti- tutions and organizations—both in Sweden and Southern Africa—that it is impossi- ble to mention them all. Those to whom I am most indebted for assistance, contributions and comments during the first phase have been acknowledged in the introductions to the volumes Formation of a Popular Opinion (1950–1970) and the accompanying Regional and Swedish Voices . Many of them have also been extremely helpful during the second phase, making possible the following text on Solidarity and Assistance (1970–1994) .

Extending over seven years, a project like the one which is now being brought to a close could not have been sustained without generous financial and moral sup- port. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency not only pro- vided the initial funds, but the responsible officials—Sten Rylander and, later, Lars Ekengren—on several occasions showed patience and confidence by granting addi- tional resources. At the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Jan Cedergren’s support will always be remembered. In 1992, the entire project on National Liberation in Southern Africa: The Role of the Nordic Countries —of which the Swedish study forms part—originated in conversations with him and Ibbo Mandaza of the South- ern Africa Regional Institute for Policy Studies in Harare. Once the project was launched, Cedergren spurred me on, extending the necessary advice and encourage- ment to make me persevere.

As coordinator of the Nordic project, I was based at the Nordic Africa Institute from August 1994 to June 2001. Here, the support, understanding and friendship accorded by its Director, Lennart Wohlgemuth, was remarkable. I am also grateful to many former colleagues, among them Karl Eric Ericson and the staff at the pub- lications department; Jan Pettersson at the library; Karin Andersson-Schiebe, who compiled the name index; and—associated with the institute in a freelance capac- ity—Elaine Almén, who kept a watchful eye on my English.

If there is one person without whose efforts and inputs this study would not have seen the light of day, it is Charlotta Dohlvik, who worked as my research assistant from mid-1996. Willingly assuming a number of tedious administrative tasks—often working outside normal schedules—her dedication to detail, incisive comments, good spirits and, in general, ability to communicate with all those involved and consulted have in a crucial way pulled the project out of the dark tun- nel where it at times seemed to be stuck.

At the institute, Charlotta Dohlvik and I worked closely with research teams in the other Nordic countries. In this context, the study on Sweden benefited greatly from the contacts and exchange with Christopher Munthe Morgenstierne in Den- mark; Pekka Peltola and Iina Soiri in Finland; and Tore Linné Eriksen and Eva Helene Østbye in Norway. Special thanks go to Eva Østbye for her constructive comments.

The text that follows is far from comprehensive and will be criticized both for

what is included and for what is omitted. It is not an ‘official’ account of Sweden’s

relations with the Southern African liberation movements, nor an ‘authorized’

22 T o r S e l l s t r ö m

interpretation of the role of the state or the non-state actors. The author is solely responsible for the views and conclusions expressed. This said, I have—in addition to the recorded interviews—tried to accommodate viewpoints from a number of centrally placed actors in Sweden, as well as in Southern Africa.

In February 1999, the first volume and drafts of the present text covering the former Portuguese colonies and Zimbabwe were presented at a conference on Rob- ben Island, South Africa, where a great number of the participants had either played prominent parts in the regional liberation struggles or as Swedish govern- ment officials or NGO activists had supported them.

Throughout the ensuing drafting process—covering the sections on SWAPO and ANC—the following, in particular, made valuable comments, contributions or corrections to one or more chapters: Roland Axelsson, Gunilla von Bahr, Birgitta Berggren, Axel-Ivar Berg- lund, Tore Bergman, Bodil Dreifaldt, Mark Gevisser, Sven Hamrell, Bertil Högberg, Anders Johansson, Lena Johansson, Anton Johnston, Ola Jämtin, Folke Löfgren, Birgitta Karlström Dorph, Uazuvara Katjivena, Tomas Ledin, Henning Melber, Anders Möllander, Sten Rylander, Anders Stendalen, Raymond Suttner, Bengt Säve- Söderbergh, Roy Unge, Mikael Wiehe and Ann Wilkens. Their inputs and views are greatly appreciated and acknowledged.

In addition, private photos were kindly provided by Gittan Arwén, Tore Berg- man, Paul Carlsson, Ingalill Colbro, Georg Dreifaldt, Eva Ehlin, Christer Johans- son, Josef Jonsson, Folke Löfgren, Stig Lövgren, Carin Norberg, Bengt Norden- brand, Bertil Odén, Mai Palmberg, Kaj Persson, Pierre Schori and Bertil Sörberg.

Research and writing are hard on family and friends. Whenever possible, I took my files and withdrew to the soothing environment of Väddö, where the sky meets the sea. During four summer periods, my sister Ebba, Olle, Tomas and Anna did everything possible to make me feel at ease. In memory of those summers and the times spent together in Southern Africa, I dedicate this book to them.

Uppsala, August 2001 Tor Sellström

1. Nordic Solidarity with the Liberation Struggles in Southern Africa and Challenges for Democratic Partner- ships into the 21st Century. The texts submitted on Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimba- bwe were respectively discussed by Maria da Conceição Neto and Alberto Ribeiro-Kabulo; Sérgio Vieira; Ben Amathila; Lindiwe Mabuza and Raymond Suttner; and Addmore Kambudzi. The members of the Swedish delegation were: Anna Brodin, Jan Cedergren, Anders Johansson, Mats Karlsson, Sören Lindh, Annika Lysén, Anders Möllander, Carin Norberg, Thomas Ohlson, Margareta Ringström and Per Wästberg. Among others, Roland Axelsson and Bo Heinebäck were also present. Together with South Africa’s Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, Foreign Minister Anna Lindh addressed the opening of the conference.

Prologue

Background

This book is the second in a two-volume study on Sweden and the struggles for human dignity, majority rule and national independence in Southern Africa. Vol- ume I

was mainly concerned with the formation of the broad and active political opinion which in May 1969 was behind the Swedish parliament’s decision to endorse a policy of direct, official humanitarian assistance to the Southern African liberation movements.

The present text will discuss how the support was expressed from around 1970 until the democratic elections in South Africa in 1994.

Chiefly based on unresearched primary sources, it attempts an intelligible presenta- tion of empirical data, events and plots to the general reader interested in Sweden’s relations with the liberation movements in the region.

Although official Swedish humanitarian support had been granted to Southern Africa since the mid-1960s, the year 1969 was a turning point.

That it came about at the close of the decade was in an international context not specific to Sweden.

On the contrary, the intransigence of the white minority regimes and the mounting pressure for change by the nationalist movements were towards the end of the 1960s increasingly seen as threats to world peace, forcing the main regional and global actors to define their positions vis-à-vis the situation in Southern Africa. To place the Swedish position in the contemporary international context, a brief pres- entation of some of these standpoints at the time of the parliamentary decision should thus be made.

1960 was proclaimed ‘Africa Year’ by the United Nations. The same year, the UN General Assembly adopted the Decolonization Declaration, affirming that “the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation constitutes a denial of fundamental human rights, [which] is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and an impediment to the promotion of world peace and coopera- tion”.

Many former European colonies in Africa were in quick succession granted national independence at the beginning of the 1960s. In 1960 alone, seventeen Afri- can states were admitted to the United Nations. In Southern Africa, however, the quest for democracy and independence was firmly opposed by Portugal, the white settlers in Rhodesia and the South African apartheid regime.

1. Tor Sellström: Sweden and National Liberation in Southern Africa: Formation of a Popular Opinion (1950- 1970), Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala, 1999. The first part of the study is referenced below as ‘Sellström Volume I’.

2. And to PAIGC of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.

3. In October 1969, Olof Palme was elected to lead the ruling Social Democratic Party, becoming Prime Minister of Sweden. For many years deeply concerned with the issues of national liberation and the right of small nations to self-determination, Palme—at the time the youngest Premier in Europe, representing a new political generation—would be closely identified with Sweden’s policy towards Southern Africa. His appointment did not go unnoticed in the region. In an article headlined “Sweden’s new premier is protest leader [and] anti- SA”, the liberal South African newspaper Rand Daily Mail presented Palme as the “bane of [Sweden’s] cosy middle classes”, adding that he “on racial matters [...] spearheads the general Scandinavian condemnation of discrimination in South Africa and Rhodesia” (Rand Daily Mail, 14 October 1969).

4. ‘Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples’ in Yearbook of the United Nations: 1960, Office of Public Information, United Nations, New York, 1961, p. 49.

24 T o r S e l l s t r ö m

Determined to keep Southern Africa under white rule, the minority regimes not only rejected popular democratic demands, but intensified the oppression of the black populations. At the beginning of 1959, emergency legislation was introduced throughout the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, followed by massive arrests and the banning of the leading nationalist organizations in Malawi (Nyasaland), Zambia (Northern Rhodesia) and Zimbabwe (Southern Rhodesia). In December 1959, thirteen people opposing forced eviction were killed by the South African police in Windhoek, Namibia (South West Africa). The Windhoek shootings were followed four months later—in March 1960—by the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, where close to seventy people peacefully demonstrating against the apart- heid pass laws were shot dead and two hundred wounded. After the shootings, the Pretoria regime proclaimed a state of emergency and banned ANC and PAC.

Simi- larly, in Angola a series of arrests and clampdowns on the nationalist movement from March 1959 culminated in June 1960 in the Catete massacre, where over thirty demonstrators were killed and another two hundred maimed by Portuguese soldiers. Finally, in June 1960 a staggering five hundred unarmed demonstrators were mown down by the Portuguese at Mueda in northern Mozambique.

Excluded from universally recognized democratic rights, oppressed in their own lands and having exhausted the limited peaceful avenues at their disposal, the peo- ples of Southern Africa eventually found no other solution than to embark on vio- lent struggles for liberation. What has aptly been called the ‘Thirty Years’ War’ in the region

started in Angola in February-March 1961, when MPLA attacked the prisons in Luanda in an attempt to free its jailed leaders and FNLA inspired popu- lar insurrections in the northern parts of the country. Towards the end of the year, ANC of South Africa also abandoned the principle of non-violence, formed Umkhonto we Sizwe with its main allies and launched a campaign of armed sabo- tage and propaganda. FRELIMO initiated the armed struggle in Mozambique in September 1964, and in 1965-66—after Ian Smith’s Unilateral Declaration of Inde- pendence in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)—ZANU and ZAPU similarly decided to take up arms.

In Namibia, SWAPO’s first military encounter with the South African occu- pation forces took place in August 1966.

From the mid-1960s, Southern Africa

became the scene of armed struggles between intransigent white minority regimes and national liberation movements pushed to use organized violence to achieve legitimate demands for democracy and national self-determination. The struggles were not confined to Southern Africa proper, but extended into Africa and, eventually, to the world at large. Forced by

1. For the full names behind the acronyms, see the list above. In the text, the liberation movements are men- tioned by their acronyms only, i.e. without the definite article.

2. John S. Saul: Recolonization and Resistance: Southern Africa in the 1990s, Africa World Press, Trenton, 1993, p. ix.

3. ‘The Battle of Sinoia’ (now Chinhoyi) on 28 April 1966—when freedom fighters from ZANU clashed with Ian Smith’s security forces—is in Zimbabwe officially considered as the beginning of the liberation war. How- ever, ZAPU’s former head of military intelligence, Dumiso Dabengwa, has stressed that “[c]ontrary to claims that ZANU started the armed struggle in 1966 in Chinhoyi, the fact is that ZAPU’s armed struggle started in 1965 when [...] small units were sent into the country” (Dumiso Dabengwa: ‘ZIPRA in the Zimbabwe War of National Liberation’ in Ngwabi Bhebe and Terence Ranger (eds): Soldiers in Zimbabwe’s Liberation War, Volume I, University of Zimbabwe Publications, Harare, 1995, p. 27).

4. Although Bechuanaland (Botswana), Basutoland (Lesotho) and Swaziland stayed outside the direct conflict between the Southern African white minority regimes and the nationalist forces, they were from the beginning drawn into the regional struggles. Under British sovereignty and economically dependent on South Africa, they offered only limited room for political manoeuvre to the liberation movements. Nevertheless, the so called BLS territories—Bechuanaland in particular—were both important as escape routes for persecuted nationalists from South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe and as host countries for refugee students from these countries.

P r o l o g u e 25

bannings and political repression in their home countries, the liberation movements had from the early 1960s set up exile bases in independent Africa. Throughout the decade, increasing flows of refugees joined them there, with growing humanitarian concerns as a result. Tanzania, Zambia and—in the case of Angola—the two Con- gos became important political rearguard areas and host nations, both for the Southern African nationalist organizations and the refugee populations. The fact that the minority regimes enjoyed support from the major Western powers and that the liberation movements in their search for military training and arms supplies received assistance from the Soviet Union, China and other East bloc countries also introduced a divisive ideological Cold War dimension into the nationalist struggles.

Despite progress on the ground—particularly in Angola and Mozambique—the nationalist organizations were at the end of the 1960s confronted with major polit- ical and military challenges. In South Africa, the apartheid regime had effectively crushed the internal opposition

, and ANC’s efforts to penetrate the country via Zimbabwe through military cooperation with ZAPU in the 1967 Wankie campaign had ended in defeat. With regard to Namibia, the South African parliament passed the South West Africa Affairs Bill in March 1969 with the objective to reduce the country to the status of a South African province.

In Zimbabwe, repeated talks between the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Ian Smith appeared to be just talks, without any acceptable solution to the white settler rebellion in sight.

Finally, in the Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique—as well as in Guinea-Bissau in West Africa—the Lisbon regime steadily increased its military presence. At the end of the decade, the Portuguese troops in the three colonies exceeded 120,000.

That Portugal’s resolve to keep the ‘overseas provinces’ went beyond the self-proclaimed ‘national borders’ was illustrated in February 1969, when the FRELIMO President Eduardo Mondlane was assassinated in the Tanza- nian capital Dar es Salaam, provoking a serious crisis in the Mozambican liberation movement and dramatically indicating to all Southern African nationalists that exile was far from a safe haven.

Encouraged by the military offensives, in April 1969 the Portuguese Prime Min- ister Marcelo Caetano embarked on a tour of Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozam- bique. The African tour—the first ever by a Portuguese Premier—was warmly welcomed by his South African counterpart John Vorster, who declared that Cae- tano’s assurances that Portugal would continue its established policy in Africa

“helped to strengthen morale” in other countries too, that is, mainly in South

1. In 1999, ANC’s Raymond Suttner commented: “We may sometimes forget how difficult the periods were before we had rebuilt our structures [...]. I was a student in the 1960s, and by 1969 there appeared to be no presence whatsoever of the ANC within the country” (Raymond Suttner: ‘Response, South Africa’ in Robben Island Museum, Mayibuye Centre and Nordic Africa Institute: Conference Report: Nordic Solidarity with the Liberation Struggles in SouthernAfrica, and Challenges for Democratic Partnerships into the 21st Century, Robben Island, 11-14 February 1999, p. 87.

2. The move was immediately countered by the United Nations. Also in March 1969, the UN Security Council terminated South Africa’s mandate over Namibia, declaring its continued presence in the country illegal (UN Security Council Resolution No. 264 of 20 March 1969).

3. Letter from Gunnar Dryselius, Swedish ambassador to Portugal, to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Lisbon, 6 March 1969 (MFA). Portugal mobilized no less than 1 per cent of its total population to the three military theatres in Africa, but “simply could not sustain this domestic manpower drain” (John P. Cann: Counterin- surgency in Africa: The Portuguese Way of War, 1961-1974, Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut and London, 1997, p. 106). By 1974, a total of 150,000 Portuguese soldiers were waging a losing war against an estimated number of 6,000 guerrillas for PAIGC, 10,000 for FRELIMO and 4,500 for MPLA. At the same time, FNLA and UNITA combined had a military force of about 1,500 (ibid., pp. 91 and 107).

4. See, for example, the interview with Ben Amathila, p. 64. Unless otherwise stated, the interviews referred to appear in Tor Sellström (ed.): Liberation in Southern Africa-Regional and Swedish Voices: Interviews from Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, the Frontline and Sweden, Nordiska Afrikainsti- tutet, Uppsala, 1999.

26 T o r S e l l s t r ö m

Africa and Ian Smith’s Rhodesia.

Shortly thereafter, the secret services in the three countries started to coordinate their counter-insurgency policies.

Such was, in broad outline, the situation when the main international actors in the ensuing Southern African drama at the close of the 1960s defined their posi- tions vis-à-vis the regional liberation struggles.

International Standpoints

After the March 1960 Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, the UN Security Coun- cil had in April for the first time discussed apartheid as an international issue, and in December the General Assembly adopted the Decolonization Declaration. Under increasing influence from the Afro-Asian group of member states, the United Nations would from the mid-1960s also address the issue of humanitarian support to the peoples under apartheid, foreign occupation and colonialism. Resolutions passed by the General Assembly regularly urged the member states to render moral and material assistance to the peoples of Southern Africa in their struggles for free- dom and independence.

The decision taken by the Swedish parliament in May 1969 referred directly to the assembly resolutions, stating that

with regard to liberation movements in Africa, humanitarian assistance [...] should not be in conflict with [international law] in cases where the United Nations unequivocally has taken a stand against oppression of peoples striving for national freedom. This [is] deemed to be the case [with regard to] South West Africa, Rhodesia and the African territories under Portuguese suzerainty. Concerning assistance to the victims of the policy of apartheid, such support can

be motivated by the explicit condemnation by the United Nations of South Africa’s policy.

In the 1960s, several influential international organizations went through a process similar to that of the UN General Assembly. The World Council of Churches (WCC), for example, became increasingly concerned with the issue of racism in general and the situation in Southern Africa in particular. After convening the his- toric Cottesloe meeting in South Africa in December 1960—which rejected all forms of racial discrimination and provoked a break with the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa—the WCC assembly in New Dehli, India, declared in 1961 that “racism [...] often causes oppressed people to resort to violence when they have no other option” and that “[t]he churches should identify themselves with the oppressed race”.

Establishing close relations with several of the Southern African liberation movements—in particular ANC of South Africa and FRELIMO of Mozambique

—

1. Cited in Colin Legum and John Drysdale: Africa Contemporary Record: Annual Survey and Documents 1969-1970, Africa Research Limited, Exeter, 1970, p. C 26.

2. In July 1969, senior representatives from Portugal’s PIDE, Rhodesia’s Security Police and South Africa’s BOSS met in the Portuguese capital Lisbon. Such tripartite meetings were regularly held until the fall of the Caetano regime in April 1974.

3. Towards the end of the 1960s, the appeals for support by the UN General Assembly were often issued in favour of the national liberation movements in the respective countries. Usually, the member states were asked to coordinate the requested assistance with the Organization of African Unity.

4. Swedish Parliament 1969: Statement No. 82/1969 by the Appropriations Committee, pp. 23-24.

5. Cited in Baldwin Sjollema: ‘The Initial Challenge’ in Pauline Webb (ed.): A Long Struggle: The Involvement of the World Council of Churches in South Africa, WCC Publications, Geneva, 1994, p. 5.

6. Several prominent Southern African nationalist leaders were closely involved with the World Council of Churches. This was, notably, the case with Z.K. Matthews, former member of the ANC National Executive Committee, who in 1962 joined the WCC staff as secretary of its Division of Inter-Church Aid, Refugee and World Service. Also the FRELIMO President Eduardo Mondlane had early links to WCC. As early as in 1954, Mondlane was a youth representative to the WCC assembly and would until his death in 1969 often participate in various WCC meetings.

P r o l o g u e 27

the ecumenical world body went further. At its fourth assembly in Uppsala, Swe- den, it was in 1968 decided that WCC should “undertake a crash programme to guide the council and member churches in the urgent matter of racism”.

The deci- sion led the following year to the establishment of WCC’s Ecumenical Programme to Combat Racism—commonly referred to as the Programme to Combat Racism (PCR)—through which the member churches from 1970 would channel direct humanitarian support to the Southern African liberation movements.

The stand provoked vehement reactions from advocates of apartheid and colonialism in Southern Africa, ironically portraying themselves as defenders of a

1. Sjollema in Webb (ed.) op. cit., p. 10.

2. The first grants—in total amounting to 120,000 USD—were given in favour of education and health projects and channelled to the following nine African liberation movements: FNLA, MPLA and UNITA of Angola, PAIGC of Guinea-Bissau, FRELIMO of Mozambique, SWAPO of Namibia, ANC of South Africa and ZANU and ZAPU of Zimbabwe (Marianne Rappe: ‘10 Frågor till Ärkebiskopen’/‘10 Questions to the Archbishop’ in Rapport från SIDA, No. 3, 1971, p. 10). At first, the Nordic churches experienced quite widespread internal opposition to PCR and the support to the liberation movements. In the case of Sweden, Tore Bergman, former Africa secretary of the official Church of Sweden Mission (CSM), stated in 1997 that CSM “received very heavy criticism from certain quarters in Sweden” because of its contributions to PCR. The criticism “resulted in a loss of contributions towards the general work of the Church of Sweden, and the Church of Sweden Mis- sion was branded by some people as pro-Communist and as a movement propagating armed violence” (Inter- view with Tore Bergman, p. 264). The South African church leader and activist Beyers Naudé described in 1995 the initial attitude of the Nordic churches as “over-cautious”, which he attributed to “the fact that in the Nordic churches the pietistic, evangelistic movement has always played [...] a very strong role. The danger of pietism is always to be non-political, non-controversial and to withdraw from any political debate and dis- cussion” (Interview with Beyers Naudé, p. 183). Eventually, however, the Norwegian and Swedish churches extended considerable support to PCR (Interview with Barney Pityana, p. 189). In the case of Sweden, the bulk of the funds was from 1970/71 allocated by SIDA through the Swedish Ecumenical Council.

Dancing outside the cathedral: Archbishops Desmond Tutu and Bertil Werkström from the Church of Sweden in Uppsala, June 1989 (Photo: Jim Elfström/IKON, Svenska kyrkans bildbyrå)

28 T o r S e l l s t r ö m

‘Christian civilization’. The South African Prime Minister John Vorster accused WCC of being infiltrated by Communists and providing “terrorist organizations with funds for buying arms”.

Similar views were expressed during the following years by many leading Western politicians and military strategists.

They were strongly rejected by prominent representatives of the South African churches. While stating his position that “there is no way in which a Christian can be a member of the Communist Party”, the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, Angli- can Archbishop and General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches, emphasized that

[i]t was not Communists who oppressed us, it was not Communists who thought up apartheid [and] it was not Communists who killed our people in Sharpeville [...]. It was Christians who killed us [and] it was Christians who [created] apartheid.

Closer to the conflict areas in Southern Africa, thirteen independent states in East and Central Africa

defined their position during a summit meeting held in the Zambian capital Lusaka in April 1969. Chaired by the Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda and attended by his Tanzanian colleague Julius Nyerere, the summit adopted the so called Lusaka Manifesto on Southern Africa. In this important doc- ument—drafted by the Zambian and Tanzanian leaders

—the assembled African heads of state and government stated that

we do not accept that any one group within a society has the right to rule any society without the continuing consent of all the citizens. [...] [T]he principle of human equality, and all that flows from it, is either universal or it does not exist. [...] Our objectives in Southern Africa stem from our commitment to [the] principle of human equality. [...] [W]e can neither surrender, nor compromise. We have always preferred, and we still prefer, to achieve [liberation in the region]

without physical violence. We would prefer to negotiate rather than destroy, to talk rather than kill. We do not advocate violence. We advocate an end to the violence against human dignity which is now being perpetrated by the oppressors of Africa. [...]

If peaceful progress to emancipation were possible, or if changed circumstances were to make it possible in the future, we would urge our brothers in the resistance movements to use peace- ful methods of struggle even at the cost of some compromise on the timing of change. But while peaceful progress is being blocked by actions of those at present in power in the states of Southern Africa, we have no choice but to give to the peoples of those territories all the sup- port of which we are capable in their struggle against their oppressors.

1. Baldwin Sjollema: ‘Eloquent Action’ in Webb (ed.) op. cit., p. 15.

2. For example, by the British General Walter Walker, former NATO Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces, Northern Europe, in his The Bear at the Back Door: The Soviet Threat to the West’s Lifeline in Africa, For- eign Affairs Publishing Co., Surrey, 1978.

3. Desmond Tutu: The Essential Desmond Tutu, compiled by John Allen, David Philip Publishers and Mayibuye Books, Cape Town, 1997, pp. 55-56.

4. Malawi participated in the summit, but did not sign the manifesto. As the only independent state in Southern Africa, Malawi had in 1967 established diplomatic relations with South Africa.

5. Thomas G. Karis and Gail M. Gerhart: From Protest to Challenge: A Documentary History of African Poli- tics in South Africa, 1882-1990; Volume 5: Nadir and Resurgence, 1964-1979, Indiana University Press, Bloomington & Indianapolis, 1997, p. 34.

6. ‘The Lusaka Manifesto on Southern Africa’ in J. Ayo Langley: Ideologies of Liberation in Black Africa, 1856- 1970: Documents on Modern African Political Thought from Colonial Times to the Present, Rex Collings, London, 1979, pp. 782-84.