Via The NY Transfer News Service * All the News that Doesn't Fit from the Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) MIM Notes, Issue 69: October, 1992 ANC and SACP peacefully lead the masses to slaughter by MC31 On Sept. 7 South African president F.W. de Klerk's puppet troops killed 28 Communist and ANC protesters who were peacefully marching against the apartheid lackey Brigadier Oupa Gqozo in the Black "homeland" of Ciskei.(1) De Klerk's response to the massacre was to dispatch more national troops to "keep the peace," protect industrial sites, and prevent looting after dark.(2) Most of the rest of the world and the Azanians themselves do not recognize Ciskei as autonomous as is proclaimed by the government, and regard it as an apartheid creation designed to quarter off Blacks and import them into South Afrika only as needed for labor. The ANC has targeted Gqozo as one of the more brutal homeland leaders.(3) Jointly sponsored by the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP), the march to Ciskei was planned in the face of promises from the homeland's military rulers to use military might against the protesters, if they disobeyed their conditions for the march. The stipulations included a court-order that the marchers stop before reaching the capital city Bisho, remain for less than five hours, and carry no arms. The ANC rejected these conditions and voted to go ahead with the march as they planned, despite open threats of violent retaliation in plain view of the international press which covered the event.(2) But "international outcry" has proven in the past to be little match for a decaying fascist state in a desperate stage of decline. And as promised, hundreds, possibly thousands, of troops stood ready to open fire as the protesters neared the end of their 90- minute march. The ANC and SACP accuse Gqozo of persecuting anti-apartheid activists and "imposing a reign of terror" on activists.(1) Much of the Western world condemned the killings as an outrageous example of the evils of apartheid. Governments of other imperialist nations believe that because the contradictions under apartheid are so stark that the world will perhaps ignore the atrocities that are committed by all imperialist governments which exploit and attempt to destroy the power of the people. The Australian foreign minister was appalled because this was a "deliberate and calculated" massacre,(4) as if the reign of imperialism was not a deliberate and calculated method of super-exploitation and oppression. The ANC has been mounting stronger mass actions and campaigns against the reactionary apartheid system since rejecting constitutional talks in June. The ANC had originally intended to negotiate with the government, but after the mid-June Boipatong massacre of ANC members that left 46 people dead, talks with the apartheid regime were halted. While the Azanian masses call for guns,(5) Mandela and the ANC leadership are still reluctant to condemn de Klerk completely and the sham negotiations that leave the Black masses worse off than before. But Mandela did angrily charge that while de Klerk claimed the government was willing to consider real change through negotiation, he was in fact preparing for war against the people. "We are dealing with criminals . They want to drown this country in blood. You are entitled to defend yourselves, but we appeal to you to conduct your struggle within peaceful structures."(6) Mandela's appeal for peace, in the face of government brutality, is also criminal. MIM believes the both Communist Party and the ANC should accept the fact that in is not in white interests to "negotiate" their dominion away to the masses who will strip them of their power and privilege. Both the ANC and the SACP should also face the responsibility for their mistakes and misleadership, including peaceful, non-violent marches onto the battlefield which puts the masses in dangerous positions of powerlessness. It is counter-revolutionary to believe in and work toward negotiations with white imperialist pigs who will never voluntarily give up. The Azanian people know that their lives will not improve until not only white minority rule, but also all imperialist terror, is overthrown. If the recognized leadership of the ANC continues to entertain notions of negotiations with a government that will never do more than throw out a few crumbs of concessions to the Black masses, then the people must make the choice to organize for revolution and take control of their resources and their lives. Notes: 1. The Washington Post 9/8/92, p. A1. 2. Proprietary to United Press International 9/8/92. 3. The Toronto Star 9/8/92, p. A1. 4. Agence France Presse 9/8/92. 5. The Economist 6/27/92, p. 44. 6. The Washington Post 9/9/92, p. A23. Subscribe to MIM Notes: Individual: Institutional: 1 year domestic $12 1 year domestic $48 2 years domestic $20 2 years domestic $90 1 year overseas $36 1 year overseas $60 Make checks payable to "ABS" or send cash. MIM, PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-3576 --- email: mim%nyxfer@igc.apc.org NY Transfer News Service * All the News that Doesn't Fit Modem: 718-448-2358 * Internet: nytransfer@igc.apc.org