It is ludicrous to suggest any form of collaboration of the two movements with the apartheid state, particularly your suggestions of them “covertly (and sometimes openly) helping out apartheid death squads”. As a matter of fact, AZAPO – UDF feud started after Kennedy visits, which AZAPO strongly opposed as a break to boycott and sanctions campaign that was in effect. What then happened is that all other ideological and political differences, that had existed and had been the cause of latent tensions as far back as the 70s, exploded in a mixture of claims and actual instances of violence and counter violence. During the 80s, the exiled ANC had apparently taken a decision to “liquidate” BCM inside the country, with its activists – including the like of Steve Biko – branded CIA agents.

AZAPO members and their homes were attacked and burnt by UDF activists, and the apartheid state security agents took advantage of this situation to infiltrate both sides and escalate the tensions. As a matter of fact, the maiming and burning of black people alive – the political curse in the black nation during the 80s and 90s – was the synonymous with ANC’s UDF and has recently reared it ugly face in the attacks on African non-nationals in the so-called new South Africa. The congress movement, both under the auspices of then UDF and now ANC and its alliance, has been through violent confrontation with almost every black political party in this country – including the IFP and UDM that can be correctly characterised as its break-away factions – which saw more black oppressed killed by their own in the name of the struggle than white oppressors killed.

The ANC culture of political violence and intolerance found root and justification in branding people with different outlook “sell-outs” and unleashing untold suffering on victims and dehumanising violence – including “neck-lacing” (burning someone alive using car tyres). As we knew then and the world has come to witness, this violence is in part the means through which ANC established it political hegemony. Interestingly, they now also deal with each other in somewhat similar fashion.

Peddling lies and propaganda for violence as you do, has caused our people to suffer untold misery at the hands of those claim to be their liberators and brought shame to the legacy of our struggle to emancipate the black majority oppressed in our country and the rest of the continent. We may have closed this 80s/90s chapter of violence, but we still live with the scars and a damaged psyche of a nation whose soul was devoured by self-hatred and violence.

Also your suggestion that the BCM “…hardly played any role in the greater struggles of the 80s…” betrays your ignorance and perhaps bias in the reflecting on Black politics in South Africa (my AZANIA). If you cared to know, BCM had been at the forefront of establishing many organs of civil society across the board, including some that subsequently joined UDF like NUM, PEBCO and AZASO and etc. BCM engineered campaigns like anti tri-cameral parliament, cultural boycotts and sanctions, and so on. In fact, it engaged the apartheid state through armed struggle and unarmed civilian action like protests and demonstrations.

The 80s political scene has both BCM and Congress alliance at the forefront of the country’s political struggles. What sets the two apart is the strategies they employed and the fact that BCM would oppose any action that would cause more harm to the oppressed than the real enemy, the white settler minority and it regime. It was this principled basis of struggle that also saw AZAPO, whilst opposed to the negotiated settlement also dubbed a sell-out settlement because of its terms, participating in the reconstruction of the country post 1994 instead of taking up arms against the new government. In the interest of our people and the quest for true humanity, AZAPO decided to use the democratic order (and its structures, however inadequate they may be) – it helped to establish through a revolutionary struggle – to pursue to goals total liberation.

Unlike reactionary forces like IFP and right-wing elements that had to be begged and negotiated with for a peaceful transition, BCM as lead by AZAPO voluntarily ended its armed insurrection programme and supported the transition whilst recognising it fundamental limitation. Today, rather than triumphantly point to the many fold crisis unravelling in the political dispensation ushered in by 1994; AZAPO is putting it shoulder to the wheel in helping find solution. The patriotic spirit that saw BCM pledging solidarity with all progressive force to end settler colonial rule, means AZAPO will remain critical of any programme that do not translate in material changes in the fortunes for the majority black; yet she will not merely point fingers and criticise, she will dirty hands and work with all patriotic force to better our collective lot.

Is that a reactionary movement that you had sought to project BCM and AZAPO as? If you think so, I must believe that a miracle happened in between the 80s and now. However, miracles are not for me! The must be a logical explanation to every situation and occurrence, you story just does not add up.

Meanwhile, Pilger makes the mistake of listening to Patrick Bond, who claims that “between 1995 and 2000 . . . unemployment almost doubled”, ascribing this to black economic empowerment, as if allowing a handful of black people to get rich plunges the nation into poverty. (This very conveniently covers up for the behaviour of the white people who actually control the economy.) Actually, in this period the massive unemployment in the “independent homelands” began to be counted, whereas under apartheid, it was pretended that this unemployment had nothing to do with South Africa. Bond uses apartheid’s faked statistics to falsely smear the post-apartheid government, and Pilger uses this avoid admitting that his own predictions were false. This is quite odious behaviour.

Later Pilger similarly cites Bond’s false claim about ten million electricity and water cut-offs (as was exposed in 2003, he took figures from the small town of Stutterheim and pretended that they applied to the whole country). Pilger claims that black household income has fallen by 19% (because of the confusing shifts in the value of the rand in US dollar terms, figures can probably be found to justify this).