The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was becoming a presence in the country  and not only at tertiary institutions, they were visible in the media, at schools, at  community theatres, and in events that broke the pattern of quiescence (calm) that  followed the banning of the ANC and PAC. But the movement also began to suffer  casualties, with Onkgopotse Tiro perhaps the first of these when he was expelled from  the Turfloop University (Limpopo). 
Another setback came with the tragic death of Mthuli Shezi in December 1972, when  he was pushed onto the path of an oncoming train after defending Black women who  were being abused by a railway official. This incident demonstrates the challenges  BC activists faced in trying to achieve normal relations in an abnormal society.  
In March 1973, the state cracked down, banning Drake Koka and Bokwe Mafuna (BC leaders), who were engaged in union projects. Steve Biko and Barney Pityana  were also banned in the same month. In August 1973, Mosibudi Mangena was  sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly recruiting two policemen to join the  armed struggle. Tiro was killed in January 1974 by a parcel bomb after he went into  exile in Botswana. 

[From http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/stephen-bantu-biko.  Accessed on 2 December 2016.]

The South African police force set up roadblocks to arrest political activists. At a roadblock outside Grahamstown the police asked Steve Biko and Peter Jones to step  out and to open the boot. Jones, who was driving, followed their orders but struggled to  open the boot. The car's boot had to be opened in a special way, known only to Rams  Ramokgopa at Zanempilo. 
Whilst Jones tugged at the boot, the police kept accusing him of being a terrorist on his  way to see Steve Biko, while Steve sat quietly in the passenger seat. Jones tried to  make light of his struggle with the boot and invited one of the policemen to have a try.  
After a while the senior officer, Colonel Alf Oosthuizen, ordered the unit to clear the  roadblock and to take Steve and Jones to the nearby police station in Grahamstown. Oosthuizen drove with Steve in Ramokgopa's car while Jones drove with the other  officers. The police searched the car thoroughly at the police station. Jones recalls that  'they even went through the ash in the ash-tray. It was now clear that this was not a  joke'. 
They found Jones's wallet, which, apart from an amount of R43,00, contained his  identity document. And then Oosthuizen bellowed in Afrikaans: 'As jy Peter Cyril Jones  is, dan wie is daai groot man?' (If you are Peter Cyril Jones, then who is that big man?) Steve realised how awkward the situation was for his friend. On principle, Jones would  not reveal Steve's identity, exposing himself to torture and imprisonment. Yet in the end  the police would find out anyway. Steve interjected: 'I am Bantu Steve Biko.' 
And then there was silence. 'Biko?' retorted (responded) Oosthuizen, mispronouncing  the B. 'No, Bantu Steve Biko,' retorted (responded) Biko, pronouncing the Bs in his  name silently. 
The two men were separated. Jones was taken to Algoa Police Station and Steve to  Walmer Police Station, both in Port Elizabeth, about 250 km from King William's Town. 
This was the last time I ever saw my comrade alive or dead. 

[From Biko, A Biography by X Mangcu]

Mr Kruger's announcement said that Mr Biko had been detained on 18 August 1977  under a section of the Terrorism Act that provides for indefinite detention without trial.  The Minister of Justice said that Mr Biko had been arrested on suspicion of fomenting (inciting) unrest among blacks in the Port Elizabeth area, 150 miles to the south of  King William's Town and of drafting documents urging 'violence and arson' by blacks  seeking to overthrow apartheid, the official system of racial subordination.  
The statement said that Mr Biko had been held in prison at Port Elizabeth and  remained there or in the prison hospital until he was transferred to a hospital in  Pretoria, 800 miles to the northeast, on Sunday night. He died 24 hours later.  
The statement said that Mr Biko had consistently refused to consume (eat) the food  and water that was supplied to him after he began his hunger strike one week before  his death. It said that he was examined by police doctors three times in the first four  days of his strike but was found to be suffering from 'no physical problem'. 
The statement added that by the seventh day of Mr Biko's hunger strike, on Sunday, he  'appeared to be unwell' and was transferred immediately to Pretoria, where he was  examined again and given medical treatment, again by a police doctor. 'He died the  same night,' the statement said. 

[From http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0912.html#article.  Accessed on 10 December 2016.]

The main objective of the TRC is to establish as complete a picture as possible about  gross human rights violations between March 1960, the month of the Sharpeville  massacre and subsequent beginning of the armed liberation struggle, and 10 May 1994,  the date of Nelson Mandela's inauguration as first democratically elected State President  of South Africa. 
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is assisted by three subcommittees: the  Human Rights Violation Committee, the Amnesty Committee and the Reparation and  Rehabilitation Committee. 
The 1993 Interim Constitution made specific provision for an amnesty process, but did  not prescribe what this would entail. Although the undertaking to indemnify (protect)  perpetrators was a bitter pill to swallow, especially for those within the anti-apartheid  movement, most commentators agree that the momentum towards transition (change) would have been fundamentally undermined without it. 
Amnesty was to be granted where applicants made full disclosure of all relevant facts  and only for acts 'associated with a political objective committed in the course of the  conflicts of the past'. 

[From Common Past, Divided Truth: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa – Public  Opinion by G Theissen]

The Amnesty Committee was one of the three committees set up by the TRC to deal  with political crimes that were committed between 1960 and 1994. It received  approximately 7 050 amnesty applications. 
Not everyone agreed with this unique model of justice. Naomi Tutu, daughter of  Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said she was initially opposed to amnesty as she thought it  'was an easy way out,' and that 'it seemed like we were giving people a present'. She  voiced the concerns that many South Africans had, that it was 'a feeling that these  people were literally getting away with murder.' Many Afrikaners thought it would be  counterproductive (destructive), keeping hatred alive in the country rather than moving  forward and moving on from the past. In fact, in a 1998 survey, 72% of whites felt that  the TRC made race relations worse. 
According to Antjie Krog, the success of the TRC in South Africa is difficult to answer.  She stated: 'If one regards the TRC as a mere vehicle to grant amnesty, it succeeded  reasonably. … … If the TRC is seen as a body to establish the truth, it also succeeded  fairly well in establishing factual truth, in determining 'what happened.' It was far less  successful in convincing South Africans of the moral truth, in answering the question  'Who was responsible?' If the idea of the TRC process in South Africa was to prevent  violations of human rights from ever happening again, the commission has failed. … The  biggest question, however, is whether or not the TRC process achieved reconciliation.  Few people believe that it has. 

[From Country Of My Skull by A Krog]

CAPE TOWN: 2 December 1997 – SAPA 
TRC STAYS MUM (QUIET) ON CONTROVERSIAL AMNESTY DECISIONS 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Amnesty Committee on Tuesday refused to  explain how it arrived at its controversial decision to grant blanket amnesty to 37 African  National Congress members, including Deputy President Thabo Mbeki. 
The refusal follows repeated attempts by, among others, the South African Press  Association over the past two days to get clarity from committee members on their  decision, which has been widely slated (criticised). 
Many of the ANC applicants, including a number of cabinet ministers, were granted  amnesty on the basis that they had accepted collective responsibility for actions outlined  in the party's submission to the TRC. 
However, observers have questioned how the ANC members were eligible for amnesty  when they had not confessed to any offence or omission for which they could be  criminally prosecuted or held civilly liable (personally responsible). 
Newspaper editorials have called on the committee to explain how they arrived at their  decision to grant amnesty to the ANC members, as well as to TRC chairman Archbishop  Desmond Tutu's son, Trevor. 
However, the Amnesty Committee on Tuesday made it clear it was not prepared to be  drawn into any public debate. 
Committee chairman, Judge Hassen Mall, stood by the committee's decision to grant  amnesty to the ANC members on the basis of collective responsibility, the committee  executive secretary, Martin Coetzee, told SAPA. 

[From http://www.justice.gov.za/trc/media%5C1997%5C9712/s971202c.htm.  Accessed on 23 November 2016.]

In an ever-changing and interconnected world, there is opportunity for global  corporations to operate by manipulating (abuse) and exploiting. They have the power  to do this, and history demonstrates that cutting corners allows companies to maximise  profits. The globalised trading system allows many countries to import goods they  otherwise would not have access to. However, due to the rapidly globalising market,  multinational corporations move their companies overseas to developing countries.  This enables them to take advantage of cheap labour and to sell their products at  a lower market price. By definition, a multinational corporation has its headquarters in  one country, but conducts its businesses in more than one country. Multinational  corporations operate in the following ways: franchising, branches, subsidiaries  (companies), joint ventures … 
One could argue that many of the pillars of Western society also represent the  foundations of multinational corporations. The consumerist (commercial) ideals of  developed nations that produce these multinational corporations, indicate that  economic success is given priority. Western society takes part in the production,  consumption and disposal cycles, all functionaries (representatives) as parts of the  materials economy. Multinational corporations step in to meet the high demand by  selling products at the lowest possible prices.  

[From http://aese.psu.edu/students/research/ced-urj/news/2014/broken-promises-globalization-and-bp oil. Accessed on 12 December 2016.]

McDonald's only interest is money, making profits from whomever and whatever  they can, just like all multinational companies. McDonald's annual reports talk of  'Global Domination' – they aim to open more and more stores across the globe, but  their continual worldwide expansion means more uniformity, less choice and the  undermining of local communities.  
McDonald's promote their food as 'nutritious', but the reality is that it is junk food high in  fat, sugar and salt, and low in fibre and vitamins. A diet of this type is linked to a greater  risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Their food also contains  many chemicals, some of which may cause ill-health and hyperactivity in children.  Do not forget too that meat is the cause of the majority of food poisoning incidents.  In 1991 McDonald's were responsible for an outbreak of food poisoning in the United  Kingdom (UK) in which people suffered serious kidney failure. 
Workers in the fast-food industry are paid low wages. McDonald's do not pay overtime  rates even when employees work very long hours. Pressure to keep profits high and  wage costs low results in understaffing, so staff have to work harder and faster.  As a consequence, accidents (particularly burns) are common. The majority of  employees are people who have few job options and are forced to accept this  exploitation, and they're compelled to 'smile' too! Not surprisingly staff turnover at  McDonald's is high, making it virtually impossible to unionise and fight for a better deal,  which suits McDonald's who have always been opposed to unions.  

[From http://www.mcspotlight.org/campaigns/translations/trans_uk.html.  Accessed on 24 November 2016.]

Criticism of McDonald's has come from a huge number of people and organisations over  a wide range of issues. In the mid-1980's, London Greenpeace drew together many of  those strands of criticism and called for an annual World Day of Action against  McDonald's. This takes place every year on 16 October, with pickets and demonstrations  all over the world. McDonald's, who spend a fortune on advertising every year, are trying  to silence world-wide criticism by threatening legal action against those who speak out.  Many have been forced to back down because they lacked the money to fight a case.  But Helen Steel and Dave Morris, two supporters of London Greenpeace, defended  themselves in a major United Kingdom (UK) High Court libel (offence) trial. No legal aid  is available so they represented themselves. McDonald's engaged in a huge cover up,  refusing to disclose masses of relevant documents. Also, the defendants were denied  their right to a jury. Despite all the cards being stacked against them, Helen and Dave  turned the tables and exposed the truth by putting McDonald's business practices on  trial. Protests against the $30 billion a year fast-food giant continues to grow. It's vital to  stand up to intimidation (threats) and to defend free speech.  
Together we can fight back against the institutions and the people in power who  dominate our lives and our planet, and we can create a better society without  exploitation. Workers can and do organise together to fight for their rights and dignity.  People are increasingly aware of the need to think seriously about the food we and our  children eat. People in poor countries are organising themselves to stand up to  multinationals and banks which dominate the world's economy. Environmental and  animal rights protests and campaigns are growing everywhere. Why not join in the  struggle for a better world? Talk to friends and family, neighbours and workmates about  these issues.  

[From http://www.mcspotlight.org/campaigns/translations/trans_uk.html.  Accessed on 24 November 2016.]