THE SOVIET UNION/RUSSIAN FEDERATION'S RELATIONS WITH SOUTH AFRICA, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE PERIOD SINCE 1980

Abstract

THE COMING OF THE STORMY 1 980S found the USSR building-up its relations with the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies, following the previous two decades in which the Soviet Union had proved to be a reliable supporter of the liberation movement in South Africa. The establishment (or to be exact, re-establishment) of direct contacts between the USSR on the one hand and the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP) on the other took place in the early 1 960s, when the first representatives of the SACP came to Moscow after an interval of more than twenty years. Their talks with the leaders and officials of the ruling Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) resulted in the support of the liberation struggle on the terms suggested by the South Africans themselves. The crucial discussions took place in October and November 1961, when Moses Kotane, the SACP General Secretary and Yusuf Dadoo used their presence in Moscow as the guests of the CPSU congress to outline the ANC and SACP plans concerning the armed struggle and to seek 'support in training military instructors'. The CPSU Central Committee approved the following reply to them: