Church Street, Pretoria bombing: Difference between revisions

The '''Church Street bombing''' was a terrorist [[car bomb]] attack on 20 May 1983 in the South African capital [[Pretoria]] by [[uMkhonto we Sizwe]] (MK), the [[paramilitary]] wing of the [[African National Congress]]. The bombing killed 19 people, including the two perpetrators, and wounded 217.<ref name="BBC1983">{{cite news|title=1983: Car bomb in South Africa kills 16|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=14 March 2015|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/20/newsid_4326000/4326975.stm}}</ref><ref name=trc-sapa98>{{cite news|url=http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media/1998/9805/s980506b.htm|title=ANC Mastermind Campaign Justifies Pretoria Church Street Blast|date=6 May 1998|publisher=SAPA|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref>

In submissions to the [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] (TRC) in 1997 and 1998, the ANC revealed that the successful attack that helped end Apartheid was orchestrated by a special operations unit of the ANC's [[Umkhonto we Sizwe]] (MK), commanded by Aboobaker Ismail. At the time of the attack, they reported to [[Joe Slovo]] as chief of staff, and the Church Street attack was authorised by [[Oliver Tambo]].<ref name=trc-sapa97/><ref name=amnesty/>

The ANC's submission said the bombing was in response to a South African cross-[[Lesotho-South Africa border|border]] raid into [[Lesotho]] in December 1982, which killed 42 ANC supporters and civilians, and the assassination of [[Ruth First]], an ANC activist and the wife of Joe Slovo, in [[Maputo]], [[Mozambique]]. It claimed that 11 of the casualties were SAAF personnel and hence a military target. The legal representative of some of the victims argued that as administrative staff including telephonists and typists they could not accept that they were a legitimate military target.<ref name=trc-sapa97>{{cite news|url=http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media%5C1997%5C9705/s970512a.htm|date=12 May 1997|title=Tambo ordered Church Street blast: ANC|publisher=SAPA|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref>