Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Do some still doubt that possibility? Let them recall the bleak
events which in just three
decades have brought so much misery
to this sub-continent. Of Zambia, once a thriving
and prosperous
colony which attracted many of our most enterprising young men
seeking
their fortune in farming and on the Copperbelt. Of Rhodesia,
the country to which so
many people of conscience fled in protest
against the perceived injustices of apartheid.
Of Mozambique and
Angola, cursed with a backward colonial power, but blessed with
a
creed of non-racialism.
Can there be any sorrier fate than that which befell Lesotho and
Tanzania, unless it be
that of Uganda ( "The Pearl of Africa",
no less!) of Rwanda and Burundi, or the deep heart
of darkest
Africa, Zaire? Or shall we point, in mindless optimism, to the
one or two states
which, because of their tiny populations and
insignificance, appear to have escaped the
scourge of Black totalitarianism?
1/32
Hardly. Every day brings more evidence of the fateful stench of
decay, Africa-style, in our
country, decay which starts with ignorance,
feeds on the brutality of the fast multiplying
hordes, where dog
eats dog, rejects all moral restraints and ends in self-aggrandizement,
in lust for wealth and power, in intolerance and corruption, crime
and chaos.
LEGAL TERRORISM
For years, until with the aid of family and friends, we set up
our own Legal Defence Fund,
APN was the subject of unremitting
legal terrorism from the radical ANC/SACP -
supporting left. Again
and again we were hit by politically motivated suits which had
not
the faintest chance of success in the courts, but cost us
dear in time wasted, mental
stress and hefty legal expenses. These
falsely founded civil suits very nearly forced us
into bankruptcy,
saw us smeared and vilified in the courts and the media. Repeatedly,
Supreme Court judges wrote in their opinions that the complainants
had failed to produce
any facts, that the relevant case was frivolous
and without merit. Yet still the notices of
action rolled in.
SURVEILLANCE
Often we felt at one with Sir Andrew Browne Cunningham who, when
heavily outgunned
by the Italian fleet at Taranto, in November
1940, signalled: "We are so outnumbered that
there is only
one thing left to do. We must attack." So he did. And so
did we. One
consolation: Never any shortage of targets.
Often and often, especially in the past seven years, we have wished
it were possible to
be more upbeat. But, for better or worse,
we have a dogged commitment to what we
perceive to be the truth.
You may not agree with everything or anything we write, but we
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find, that the typical APN subscriber as a realist, who wants
the unvarnished truth rather
than the pabulum, softsoap and white-wash
which these days passes for "news" in the
electronic
and print media.
P.W. BOTHA
The world we knew in 1983 was a frenzied one. That year marked
the greatest political
transformation in South Africa's history
up to that point: P.W. Botha's public admittance
that Whites could
no longer rule South Africa alone. To our great relief many the
White
electorate gave a resounding "Yes" to the referendum
question "Should Indians and
Coloureds be included in the
Parliamentary system?"
3/32
Nothing that Botha could do was enough for his critics. As he
thought to stem the
avalanche of criticism, at home and abroad,
by offering one desperate concession after
another, the country
descended precipitously into disorder and instability. Most of
the
chaos occurred in the black townships. And, as in 1976, it
involved the schools. The new
uncertainty provided the left at
home with a climate highly conducive to violence,
intimidation
and coercion.
INSURRECTIONISTS
UNSPEAKABLE
This did not mean we believed all political opposition was inspired
or fed by the
communists. Far from it. We knew all about the machinations
of the US, the NWO, the
Scandinavians, France, Australia, New
Zealand, Canada. Each had their own particular
4/32
reasons for desiring
our demise. And well we know, too, the radical infiltration that
had
overtaken our own churches, academia and the media.
RESERVATIONS
MOCK LEADER
We just did not trust de Klerk. We wrote that he was a mock leader
who had stolen the
DP's policies; that as president he had botched
everything he touched; that we had been
lied to throughout his
brief; that this untrustworthy man was now asking for a blank,
signed cheque enabling him to continue his secret, back-room deals
with the ANC/SACP.
Of the referendum, we wrote: "De Klerk
says he wants an honest answer. We say give it
to him - DON'T
be bluffed or propagandised, blackmailed or bamboozled".
5/32
SICK SOCIETY
Again, the conventional wisdom is that this was all due to White
capitalism and the super-
exploitation of Blacks. Perhaps some
of it was. Yet the fact remains that while the rest of
Africa
was degenerating into pseudo-socialist chaos, out of the guts
and sweat of our
people, Black and White, arose great industries,
shipyards, steel works, oil refineries,
power stations, hospitals
with leading world techniques, great road and rail networks,
advanced
telecommunications, great dams and huge water works.
That is the truth, and apartheid's historians will one day tell
it. It was sub-Saharan Africa's
first and only Wirtschaftswunder,
success against great adversity.
VIRTUE STANDARD
EGALITARIANISM
The greatest threat we face now is the erosion of the best and
brightest to foreign
emigration. We pray that those who leave
these shores will retain, at least for a few years,
enough love
for their country to consider returning if we, by some miracle,
mend our
ways.
6/32
So ... no, we are not more hopeful than we were in 1983. But even
in 1983, APN could
see the writing on the wall. The difference
today, perhaps, is that the writing has
vanished.
==============================================================
Our readers might like to know how we, who have been so sceptical
of the benefits of
"liberation" and have failed to fall
for pop "democracy", would actually define freedom.
I
think Christian Bay expressed it well when he wrote: "A
person is free to the extent that
he has the capacity, the opportunity
and the incentive to give expression to what is in him
and to
develop his potentialities".
==============================================================
CONGRATULATIONS !
WITH very rare exceptions APN does not generally publish personal
comment -
especially flattering comment - on our work. You will
forgive us, however, if on this special
occasion, we publish messages
of encouragement and goodwill received from around the
world on
the occasion of our 200th issue. Due to APN's admittedly controversial
stance,
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specific identification of certain vulnerable individuals
must be withheld. Others who might
well have chosen to keep their
identities confidential have authorised publication of their
names.
So, if you did not favour the so-called 'armed struggle,' sanctions
and disinvestment, you
gained only negative coverage from most
of SA's media.
That trend has worsened since the emergence of the 'New South
Africa. Should anyone
doubt this, visit any newspaper library
and read how certain senior Black journalists have
been subjected
to a bashing by the ruling party.
A man who has done much to help APN along its rocky road is Theodore
Shackley, a
Deputy Director of the CIA under George Bush. One
of America's legendary intelligence
officers, especially during
the Vietnam War, he now heads up Research Associates
8/32
International
in Washington. Typically, his message was short and sweet: "APN's
incisive
reporting on history-making developments in South Africa
for 200 issues has earned our
respect and admiration."
***
***
Dan Nimrod."
***
***
9/32
FROM Professor Eric Brodin, President, Foundation for International
Studies, North
Carolina, USA: "Warmest congratulations on
achieving the 200th issue of your excellent
newsletter. I think
back on the 23 years I have been privileged to know you, with
gratitude
for the many things about Southern Africa I have learnt
from you. Over the years I have
found APN so useful in my understanding
of SA, another ingredient in what I have learnt
during my seven
visits over the years since 1973. While I have not always agreed
with
everything, I have found much to learn from APN. As you have
succeeded with the 200th
issue under often trying circumstances
over the years, may you be enabled and succeed
in producing another
200 issued in the years to come."
***
***
***
***
10/32
DR RICHARD Martin, of Lucerne, Switzerland, with whom we have
worked for many
years and who long ago foresaw the dangers of
a communist takeover of SA, with all this
would mean to the West:
"Cordial congratulations on the occasion of the 200th issue
of
APN. We admire your courage and perseverance. APN provides
essential information for
South Africans, to understand the dangers
of communism and hopefully one day to help
lead to a real democracy
in your beautiful country.:
***
***
***
***
***
FROM two ladies who play a very big role in the production of
APN. Estelle Lombard,
writing on behalf of the Executive Committee,
Action Save South Africa: "Congratulations
on the 200th issue
of APN. Thank you for all your assistance and encouragement. May
you be around for another 200 issues."
11/32
And from Ann Forbes of Mega-SA: "In an era when political
expediency outweighs
accuracy and compromise denies truth, APN
stands as a beacon, highlighting the
realities confronting this
nation and indeed the world today. Written with integrity and
foresight, it retains its position in the forefront of SA journalism.
Viva, Aida."
***
***
***
12/32
Don't EVER give up. All good wishes on this special occasion in
your career." ATP.
And thank you, friends known and unknown, for making all of this
possible.
TWO LATECOMERS
TWO very late faxes arrived right on printing time, both from
very special friends. The one
from a man to whom I have long been
a dedicated disciple: Brian Crozier, the great
British strategist.
For his influence on my career, I owe him a tremendous debt of
gratitude. I was, I believe, one of the first journalists to enter
Angola when it was invaded
by Holden Roberto's terrorist gangs
in the early Sixties.
HISTORIAN
Brian's message to APN: "I greet the 200th issue of the APN.
Nowhere else can I read
the unadorned truth about South Africa.
Long may it and Aida Parker flourish. Brian
Crozier from London."
13/32
Prisoners is a book that deserved to be carefully studied
when it was first published: and
even more so now. Above all,
it goes far to put into perspective much of the testimony
now
being presented by SA security force officers, prostrating themselves
before
Desmond Tutu's highly questionable Truth & Reconciliation
Commission, crying mea
culpa, mea culpa.
SANCTIONS BILL
One of the most striking chapters in the book dealt with the campaign
against SA in the
US: how popular anger against this country was
skilfully manipulated by various fronts,
many of them using the
UN an their transmission belt. Even today few South Africans
understand
that every provision of the vicious Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid
Act, the US
sanctions bill which hit SA with everything short
of outright war and was passed over
Reagan's veto, followed the
ANC programme to the letter. The ANC and its SACP
masters could
well accept that it was indeed winning the "armed struggle"
- not in SA, but
in Washington.
NAIVE ILLUSIONS
Yet the West always knew where the ANC stood: that their great
hero, Mandela, had
himself in the early Sixties made the ANC the
creature of the SACP. Sol Dubla, writing
The South African
Communist, noted that "today the ANC and the SACP are
embraced in
the common front of liberation." Nor has Mandela
- of whose real political affiliations little
is known even now
- ever hesitated publicly to declare his loyalty and affiliation
with the
SACP.
WORSE EVILS
14/32
There were, and are, worse evils than discrimination. South Africans
today are finding
that out. All around us we can see the results
of the total abandonment of common
sense, here and abroad.
One day the real history of this tragic, hideously betrayed country
will be written. Leo's
book will then come into its own - a book
written by a brave American intellectual who
dard swim against
the tide of unreason. You will understand that I have an immense
affection for Leo. His message to APN reads:
"You are at your 200th issue and APN's 13th birthday, both
too old and too young, like
this time that feeds on illusion but
dares not hope. But unlike it you will not remain stuck:
maturity
is a word I can say in your presence. At APN's birth, the
'top sergeant' mentality
was strong enough in me to make me embarrassed
reading you. Who was this person
who dared think with her own
head? And a South African!
SOVIET STOOGE
15/32
Conspiratorial theories about his murder abound. The only thing
that can be reported for
certain is that the Swedish authorities,
police and government alike, have gone to
desperate lengths over
the last decade to ensure that the truth does not surface. This
SA
diversion must please them greatly.
Let's first look at Palme's various arms deals, notably that concluded
with his friend, Rajiv
Gandhi, who was himself later assassinated:
an event many believed to be associated
with the crooked Swedish
arms trade. In January 1986 Palme visited New Delhi,
specifically
to pressure Gandhi into buying US$ 1,3 billion worth of Swedish
weaponry:
400 155 mm howitzers from AB Bofors, an ailing Swedish
armaments manufacturer.
One official who might have shed light on the mystery is also
dead. Carl-Fredrik Algernon,
chief of Sweden's Arms Exports Inspectorate,
had emerged as a key figure in various
investigations into Bofors.
In January 1988, one day before he was due to testify in the
Bofors
investigation, Algernon fell or, more likely, was pushed to his
death before an
oncoming subway train at Stockholm's Central Station.
His death was listed as
"accidental ... possibly suicide."
Few believe it.
ARMS SALES
REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS
16/32
It bought US$1,4 billion worth of arms, almost 11% of all Swedish
arms exports in that
period. Missiles were only part of the story.
In 1983, with Palme in office, Sweden's
shipbuilding firm of Boghammer
Marin diverted some 40 speedboats to the Iranian Coast
guard,
an order reportedly worth some US$9,5 million. The boats, capable
of speeds up
to 50 knots, were used by the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards to harass and attack oil
tankers and other shipping in
the Gulf, including Swedish-owned supertankers.
But the big kicker to this story is that Palme, "the peacemaker,"
all this time had been
assigned by the UN to mediate in the protracted
Iranian/Iraqi war. Some peacemaker.
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
And don't think plenty of people in Europe didn't know what was
going on. In 1984 the
Danish seamen's union asserted that arms
were being carried from Sweden to Iran in
Danish ships - and claimed
they had the documentation top prove it. Other evidence was
surfacing.
SCANDAL
Two years ago, 25.2.94, The italian daily Corriera della Sera,
published an article
"Weapons and Bribes: The Palme Mystery",
dealing with the release of "hundreds of
banking documents
on the sale of the Bofors cannon to India." The fact that
the Swiss
17/32
banks had decided to release their banking documents
had, it said, "triggered an
international scandal, which
the Swedish authorities, at all levels, have tried to avoid for
years".
ROTHSCHILD
Reports at the time claimed that Palme was having an affair with
British/American
millionairess Emma Rothschild and that it could
have been through this that his
movements were monitored. One
police theory was that the assassin and his back-up
could have
gained knowledge about Palme's movements by tapping her phone.
ANGOLAN DIAMONDS
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that named members
of SAPO, the Swedish secret police, had taped a conversation of
a
Swedish-based Soviet diplomat, suspected of being a KGB agent,
the night before Palme
was assassinated.
ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE
One of the few public comments on the matter came from Zdzizlaw
Rurarz, former Polish
Ambassador to Japan, who said it was widely
suspected in diplomatic circles that the
USSR had had a hand in
Palme's murder. Why? Because the Russians feared he had
switched
his loyalties to the CIA.
And if you think that is the end of the Palme scandals, think
again. Palme was born in
1927, into a aristocratic family. Ironically,
it seems that he became radicalised while
studying at Kenyon College
in Ohio. He returned home from the US a dedicated socialist,
an
ideologue of epic proportions, bitterly opposed to capitalism,
which he claimed created
a society of "egoism and sharp elbows."
SUBVERSION CENTRE
19/32
Also enjoying Swedish hospitality were members of Germany's Baader-Meinhoff
gang
and the Red Army Faction; Italy's Red Brigade; Abu Nidal's
terrorist organisation; The
ANC and Swapo; the Turkish PKK group;
Sikh and Basque separatists; the radical
Kurdish Workers Party,
pressing for a Kurdish homeland, and many more. To Britain's
intense
irritation, Palme also allowed the IRA to use Sweden as a base
for its operations
in the UK and Ulster.
So there you have it. The CIA, MI6, the KGB, the Germans, the
Iraqis, the Argentineans,
General Pinochet, De Beers - and now
P W Botha and the old SA Security Police - all in
their time have
been suspects in the Palme killing and its complex cover-up. Nor
should it
be overlooked that Sweden's own SDP was also on this
list, with suggestions that the
then-ruling party would have been
only too happy to rid itself of an increasingly
embarrassing political
liability.
RESERVATIONS
So who do you think was the guilty party? Who knows ...
except that P W Botha trails
very, very far along at the bottom
of the line. Knowing P W I have the greatest
reservations about
his involvement in this or any other murder. So: no suspect, no
motive,
no murder weapon. This despite the whopping award the
Swedish authorities offered for
information leading to an arrest:
50 000 Kronor, or $9 million in 1986 US dollars. Was the
reward
put at that figure, the Swedes well knowing there was little if
any chance of it ever
being claimed?
================================================================
UNDERCOVER EXCELLENCE
20/32
But why does the notorious Craig Williamson, and he alone, qualify
for this distinction?
APN's guess is that Williamson's single-handed
penetration of the conspiracy within the
Geneva-based International
University Exchange Fund, an organisation which, as Deputy
Director,
he effectively ran for several years, is what earned him this
the rare accolade. In
its time the IUEF, largely Swedish supported,
acted as an important communist front - and
a major funder to
the ANC/SACP.
One hardly dares mention it, of course, but could it be that the
Communists look back in
awe at the efficiency which he brought
to the IUEF while he was in charge?
==============================================================
MUGGED BY MBEKI
ORCHESTRA OF SWINDLERS
It always works for a while. Then the truth begins to ooze out.
The villainous crew untune
their instruments and project a discordant
cacophony at those daring to expose the fraud.
COULD FOOL US
21/32
What a pity, then, that the most likely result of his efforts
will be a still further diminution of
press reports on crime and
government corruption and incompetence. And what a
pleasure it
will be for Mr Thabo Mbeki, the gentleman who "fears"
that any suggestion of
anarchy "could deter foreign investment".
Most stunning of all was the comment from Mbeki's spokesman, one
Thami Ntenteni. He
said that the Mazery campaign "makes it
look like there isn't an effective government in
South Africa."
Season's bleatings
The Church of England says it's time we all had a very Unmerry
Christmas
OH, dear. I note that the Christian faith in which I, like millions
of others, was raised - the
church of England - is at it again.
Desperately trendy as is their wont, the Lambeth
Fathers, woolly
dogooders all, have decided in their ecclesiastical wisdom to
abolish the
idea of Happy
MEAN TO SHOCK
22/32
"It means in effect that the Church - which this summer abandoned
Hell by a vote of the
General Synod - has now turned its back
on the traditional culture of its most popular
festival. Advertising
'creatives' behind the campaign believe 'bad hair day' is such
contemporary slang it will appeal to youngsters who find the traditional
message too
staid. One of the team, John Griffiths, said: 'Church
advertising has been safe and a bit
preachy. We wanted to change
the tone.'
FATUOUS
23/32
More recently we have seen the widespread introduction of the
"no outcasts" policy, with
the liturgical solemnisation
of homosexual "marriages." Latest example of church
PA
(politically absurd): in some dioceses, it is being recommended
that the words "husband"
and "wife" fall into
disuse, because these might offend the delicate sensibility of
married
homosexuals.
Isn't that progress? Who could want a better church? Please pray
for the Anglican
Church.
ATTENTION DR ZUMA
"It is notable that every time the truth about the nature
of abortion breaks the
surface - as it did in the case involving
the killing of a twin - more and more people,
including doctors,
themselves, ask questions about the morality of the whole evil
business." - Paul Johnson, The London Spectator, 17.8.96.
24/32
pocket book issues.
The old Southern adage, "the catfish are jumping and the
living is easy" is in full flower in Bill Clinton's Democratic
Party campaign
headquarters.
25/32
converted to his vision of less
government, less taxes, reduction of the federal
deficit, a more
aggressive war on drugs and a foreign policy focused on natural
interests rather than social engineering.
"He had a purple fit and told them to stick it. Then for
good measure he sent a
message to Ken Starr (Watergate special
prosecutor), the clear implication of
which was: 'If you indict
Hillary or me, you'll end up like Vince Foster or Ron
Brown.'
26/32
Wheeler says that the chairman of the previous Congressional
investigative
committee, Richard Clinger, "did not have the
stomach to find and expose the truth
about Vince Foster. But Burton
will. Not only about Foster, but Cattlegate, Filegate,
Waco, Ruby
Ridge, Louis Freeh's conversion of the FBI into a criminal
organisation,
Paula Jones, Karen Ferguson and especially Larry Parks. Count
on it.
"It has been almost 100 years since Emile Zola wrote his
famous letter, J'accuse.
Zola accused French President
Faur of corruption and anti-Semitism regarding the
Dreyfus affair.
I accuse President Clinton of murder, specifically of ordering
his
personal goon squad of Arkansas State troopers and ex-troopers
to kill Larry
Parks.
"A few days after Foster was murdered, July 20, 1993,
Parks' file of photos, tapes
and notes on Clinton was burgled
from his home. Two months later, September 28,
Clinton's hit men
pumped nine bullets into Parks' chest in broad daylight on a Little
Rock street corner. Two eye witnesses saw an Arkansas State Trooper
leaving the
scene of the crime.
***
27/32
"Worst of all, it could make Al Gore (the ultra-liberal
former Senator from
Tennessee) President. I have long believed
that the best way to deter assassination
attempts against Clinton
would be to publicise Vice President Gore's political
record.
A man who twice beat out Ted Kennedy for the title of the biggest
spender
in the Senate is bad enough. A man whose hysterical book
about the environment
was found heavily marked up in the Unabomber
suspect's cabin (alleged terrorist
Ted Kaczybski) is worse. Al
Gore hardly represents 'the end of the era of big
government'
that Clinton talks about.
OTHER analysts, too, agree that if America does ever say hello
to President Gore, it
could trigger the greatest financial collapse
in 20 years. Wrote one analyst in The
Wall Street Journal:
"It would shock the markets. When Nixon finally resigned
the
Dow plunged 45% from its peak in 1973. Incredible fortunes
will be lost (and
gained)."
***
28/32
***
***
29/32
"Taught also to believe that the liberal capitalist culture
of the US was morally corrupt,
conceivably worse than that of
Soviet communism, that principled opposition to
communism was
merely
***
JUDGE Robert Bork, one of the better known victims of the US "democratic"
system,
recently recalled that he taught Bill and Hillary Clinton
when they were at Yale - "Let me
rephrase that. Bill and
Hillary were in the room when I was teaching at Yale." Asked
why
so many Americans hate Clinton, Bork replied: "Because
he deserves it."
***
Political Leadership.
30/32
PUBLISHER'S LETTER
However, our schedule went adrift when letters and faxes of congratulations
on the 200th
issue of APN began rolling in. Studying these, we
decided that if friends were thoughtful
enough, kind enough, to
congratulate us on this special occasion, it was up to us to return
the courtesy by publishing their messages of goodwill. After all,
a centenary issue is only
marked every 6 ½ years.
***
31/32
I am afraid we must once more ask subscribers to help us, by providing
the names and
addresses of persons who might be interested in
subscribing to APN. For reasons you
will readily understand, most
APN subscribers are in the A?B income category: and it is
exactly
these people who are now departing SA in such numbers. In the
last six to eight
months we have lost between 180 and 200 subscribers
who have joined the rush to safer
climes. Significantly - and
an indication that many of the departees wish to cut all ties
with
their former homeland - only three will continue to get APN.
***
If any among you care to help us in this effort and, believe me,
we know this is not a good
time to ask South Africans for handouts
- we would be deeply grateful. If cheques are
involved, please
do NOT endorse them to APN. Mark them Mission Rescue, Volkskas
Bank, Northcliff, account number 0738175166. We have taken on
far more than we ever
envisaged in this rescue effort. We really
do need your help. Thank you.
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