an open letter to nelson mandela from ex anc detainees

8/7/2019 An Open Letter to Nelson Mandela From Ex ANC Detainees

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AN OPEN LETTER TO NELSON MANDELA FROM EX-ANC

DETAINEES

YMCA Shauri Moyo

P.O.Box 17073

Nairobi.

14.04.90

Dear Cde Mandela

Revolutionary Greetings!

The news through the press about our horrific experiences at the hands ofthe ANC security organs must have left you in a state of bewilderment. Fullyaware of that, we realise the need to write you this letter giving an account ofour vicissitudes in combating the enemies of democracy within the A N C andputting across also our incessant efforts to have these problems resolveddemocratically with the full participation of the entire m embership. By thiswe hope to dispel any misunderstandings regarding our decision to exposethis disgraceful and shameful page in the history of our organisation, whichwe hold at high esteem, even at this hour.

First, it is a fact, undisputable indeed, that the 1984 mutiny was a spontaneousreaction of the overwhelming majority of the cadres of MK to crimes andmisdeeds, incompatible with the noble and humane ideals of our politicalobjectives, carried out by certain elements in the leadership of the ANC.These included, among other things, acts of torture and murder through

beatings, committed by the ANC Security personnel under the leadership ofMzwandilePiliso; brutal suppression of democracy denying the membershipof the ANC any opportunity, for a period exceeding thirteen years, to decidethrough democratic elections who should lead them; and misleading ourpeople's army by locking it into diversional batdes from which our struggledid not benefit, thereby weakening and destroying its fighting capacity.

Second, it remains our firm belief that, had the ANC leadership actedhonestly at the very early stages of mutiny, and most of all, had President

Tambo responded responsibly to our appeal for his immediate and directintervention, many lives could have been saved. Regrettably, in a manneridentical to our political enemy, the South African regime, the ANC leadership fished out the "ringleaders" and their most plainspoken opponents andunleashed virulent brutalities against them.

Tliird, having gone through close to five years without trial in the mostnotorious prison within the ANC, and having endured the humiliating,dehumanising and hazardous conditions in which some of us perished, we

remained committed to the ANC. This was in recognition of the justness ofour cause, in honour of men like you and the multitudes in our beleaguered



Open Letter to Nelson Mandela 67

homeland who languished in racist dungeons and got m urde red in this noblecause, and lest we forget our com rades whose lives were cut short by those

who deceptively mad e noise and declarations about democracy on behalf ofour people.

Fourth, em barrassed at the way the AN C community in Dakawa absolvedus by electing us into th e political structures in the Tanzanian A N C region,Chris H an i and Stanley Mabizela, acting on behalf of the Nationa l ExecutiveCom mittee, then muzzled us by banning us from participating freely in AN Cpolitical life and dissolving democratically elected structu res. Our efforts tochallenge such an undem ocra tic action and to explain the causes of the 1984

mutiny for which we w ere being unjustifiably trea ted were answ eredby shoutsfrom Hani himself, taking us down [from] the platform and even calling forarmed Tanzanian Task Force Unit to surround the hall.

It's the realization of the last-nam ed factor that sealed and shattered ourlong-standing comm itments and hopes to reform the AN C from within, andwe resigned inDecem ber last year. But let it b e stressed still, that even at thattime, we still limited our activities to consulting the in terna l leadership of ourmovem ent[,] avoiding embarrassing the o rganisation we so dearly loved.W e

contacted through letters and attem pted to send our docum ent (cap tured atthe Dar-es-Salaam Airport by ANC and Tanzanian security) to such stalwarts of our anti-apartheid struggle as Frank Chikane, General Sec retary ofSAC C, leadership from prison and Archbishop Desm ond T u ta

Knowing you as a personality who distinguished himself by unflinchinglyfighting and standing for hum an rights and ideals of highest democracy, wereceive with bitterness your praises showered at these corrupt and atrociouselements, whilst a shroud of secrecy wraps around the noblest sons and

daughters of South Africa who perished in pursuit of the same ideals asyours[,] at the hands of these fake custodians of our people's politicalaspirations. It is this that pricks our conscience to remove this shroud.Nothing can be more treacherous than to allow such crimes to go unchallenged and unknown. Nothing can be more hypocritical when some of useven at this hou r a re languishing in those concentration camps. Even muchmore disturbing is that these enemies of democracy are to be part of thatnoble delegation of the ANC to negotiate the centuries-long denieddem ocratic freedoms of our people. What a mockery! W hat a scorn to ourpeo ple 's sacrifices for freedom! W e back your tireless efforts and of all thosepeace-loving South Africans w ho see the need for a peaceful settlement ofour prob lems, but we also believe that our peop le's yearnings for justice canonly be competently secured by a morally clean leadersh ip.

W e know how difficult it is to accep t these b itter but objective truths, andhow mammoth the task is of taking appropriate actions against these individuals. But we know also how [undermined ?] they are even within theAN C m embership, and we are certain also tha t, if only they could talk, muchm ore horrific stories will com e out of those who tasted the bitterness of theANC security's treatment. Hence, our sincere call to you and the fighting



68 Searchlight South Africa, Vol.2, No,l, July 1990

masses in South Africa and within the ANC to back our demand for acomm ission to inquire into these atrocities. This, contrary to short—sighted

ideas, will not weaken the AN C , but will dem onstrate to our people and theworld the A N C s uncompromising comm itment to justice and democracy.N o better guarantee can be m ade to our people that when our organisationascends to power, their rights and freedoms will thrive in competent andresponsible hands.

AmandlaU NGAWETHUI!

POW ER TO THE PEOPLE!!

Yours in the Struggle,Ex-ANC Detainees

(Copy from fax-message)

an open letter to nelson mandela from ex anc detainees

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