Focus: Political Repression in Southern Africa

What is Focus

Focus on Political Repression in Southern Africa was a serial publication produced by the International Defense and Aid Fund (IDAF), an organization dedicated to documenting and challenging apartheid-era injustice. Published from the 1960s through the 1980s, Focus provided clear, accessible reporting on political trials, security laws, censorship, prisoner conditions, and everyday experiences of state repression across South Africa and neighboring countries. Written for an international audience, the publication combined investigative reporting, legal analysis, and first-hand testimony to expose abuses that were otherwise hidden from the global public. This digital collection brings together issues of Focus to support research, teaching, and general understanding of how apartheid systems operated—and how people and organizations resisted them.

Highlights