133 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
133 lines
4.1 KiB
Plaintext
The information in this file was recently published in FREEDOM -
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the fortnightly anarchist journal published by FREEDOM PRESS:
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FREEDOM PRESS (IN ANGEL ALLEY) 84B WHITECHAPEL HIGH STREET,
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LONDON E1 7QX GREAT BRITAIN
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Do write for a sample copy or for a copy of our booklist of
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publications. We will be putting more of this information out so
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watch this spot...
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LETTER FROM SOUTH AFRICAN ANARCHISTS
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FROM APARTHEID TO THE ANC
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We greet you from South Africa. We have recently taken steps
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which (we hope) will lead to the formation of revolutionary
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anarchist movement which, as far as we know, will be the first of
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its kind in South Africa to operate openly.
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Given our lack of experience, we are putting together an appeal
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for help. We have need of advice, written information and, if
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possible financial aid. We hope that you can help us or contact
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us. What follows are some of our reflexions on the current
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situation.
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________________________________________________________________________
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Contact the group by writing to: Renato and Elli, PO Box 51465,
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Raedenem 2124, Johannesburg. South Africa.
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________________________________________________________________________
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It is certain that the biggest advance to have been made is the
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raising of the ban on political parties including groups as
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infamous as the ANC.
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In essence the concept of freedom of expression is relatively
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new here. The last 40 years were controlled by the National
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Party. Everything, from its christian education policy to its
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secret police, was used to suppress and oppress. It is only
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recently that its armour has begun to crack. With any franchise
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it still has three or four years of power in front of it before
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it disappears, in the same way, though perhaps less mysteriously,
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as so many of its numerous enemies have done.
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As anarchists, the threat represented by the National Party for
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us is less great than the coming dictatorship (and we must think
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of the future) that the ANC will construct.
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Since its beginnings, the ANC has clearly shown that it will
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just as happily sell out its ideas as its followers to obtain
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power. When the ANC made its first political reappearance in the
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political arena, it allied itself openly with the SA communist
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party. But threatened with being marginalised by big business it
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has quickly embrassed capitalist ideas.
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Today, whilst Mandela relaxes in his 250 000 dollar house and
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thinks of his daughter's 10 000 dollar marriage, his 'brothers'
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sleep in shanties of corrugated iron. And whilst the latter take
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the bus or walk forty kilometers to work Mandela gets into one of
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his two Mercedes Benz. But this is the stuff of politics. And for
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such people, meglomaniacs in search of riches, the ANC is the
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ideal organisation. But only for them.
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Here's the question: who, apart from the ANC, represents the SA
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people in this farce which some have proclaimed a 'democracy'?
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Certainly not the ineffective and stodgily liberal Democratic
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Party, which represents the ideology of the wealthy in the free
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market.
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On the other hand we hope not to have to suffer the extreme of
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the White Right of the Afrikaner Weestand Beweeging (AWB) or its
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black equivalent such as the Azanian Popular Liberation Army (Pan
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African Congress).
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If there is a place where the need for an anarchist solution can
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be felt it is here in South Africa. Whatever the future our
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movement will come up against serious problems. How can we
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approach the coloured population which distrusts us? The National
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Party has made sure that it will be impossible to put our message
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across on the streets without running the risk of prison terms
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under the ridiculous pretext of 'treason'. In addition there is
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our lack of finance and experience. Fortunately in the midst of
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all this we have the hope of eventual triumph. Otherwise South
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Africa is destined to continue to be the puppet of the countries
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in the North whilst living conditions continue to deteriorate.
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LML 13/4/94.
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