Our ‘international airport’ had an in-depth interview with the British media in 1985. It was at the height of the apartheid state brutality and repression. He led a massive international campaign for comprehensive sanctions against the apartheid regime.
The year 1985 marked a pivotal escalation in South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, characterised by widespread mass protests, labor strikes, and intensified township resistance.
By June, the UN Security Council urged member states to impose sanctions against the apartheid regime, precipitating a deepening political crisis.
In response, PW Botha proclaimed a state of emergency to avert systemic collapse. The European Community and Commonwealth nations duly responded with economic sanctions.
Until this moment, the US had extended unconditional political and economic backing to apartheid South Africa. It was only in 1986 under international pressure that the US imposed stricter economic measures against the apartheid regime.
Winnie Mandela had been banished to Brandfort in the Free State. She defied the banning order and returned to Soweto to spearhead grassroots resistance against the regime.
From 1985 onward, apartheid began to unravel. The state despite its attempts repression, it increasingly could not sustain its legitimacy and political stability.
The real turning point came when FW de Klerk replaced PW Botha in 1989 and moved to open negotiations. In 1990, the ANC and other liberation organisations were unbanned, and Mandela was released from prison.
Subsequent negotiations culminated in a transitional settlement wherein the enfeebled apartheid criminals ceded political power to the ANC while retaining de facto dominance over the economy.
This negotiated criminal structure still persists today. Economic power remains concentrated among historical beneficiaries of the apartheid regime.
Our economic liberation was sold at the negotiations table.
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela did say that she felt betrayed.
Chris Hani too opposed the negotiations and was murdered.
“The most dangerous African today is the mentally colonised African. And when you put them in leadership positions or as interpreters of the law, they are worse than your oppressors.” - Lindiwe Sisulu