In December 1981, Mr. Roger Santschy, in charge of the Southern Africa sector at ICRC headquarters, Geneva, visited the ICRC delegations in Mozambique, the Republic of South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, with the purpose of taking stock of ICRC activities in those countries.

Mr. Guillaume Bordier, former vice-president and an honorary member of the ICRC, died on 9 July 1982.

Mr. Bordier was born in Geneva in 1901 and did his schooling there. He continued his studies at the Federal Polytechnicum in Zurich where he graduated in engineering. He then went on to study economics in the United States and received his “Master of Business Administration” degree from the University of Harvard in 1929. On his return to Geneva he joined the Banque Bordier et O in an executive capacity and later became a partner in the bank. He was a member of the Swiss Bankers' Association and sat on the Board of Directors of a number of companies.

In February, the head of the ICRC delegation in the Republic of South Africa, Mr. N. de Rougemont, had interviews with the Minister of Police, the Commissioner of Police and senior officials of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. They discussed several points, including the possibility for ICRC delegates to visit categories of detainees not previously visited in the Republic of South Africa and to organize meetings, on the border with Angola, between delegates stationed in Windhoek and others in N'Giva (southern Angola), in order to facilitate the exchange of family messages and the dispatch of parcels to Angolan prisoners of war detained in Namibia/South-West Africa.

At the end of September new security problems arose, compelling the ICRC delegation in Angola temporarily to suspend its activities on the Planalto. In the night of 24 to 25 September the ICRC premises in Katchiungo (Huambo province), where fortunately no one was present at the time, were attacked and ransacked. After this incident the delegate general for Africa, Mr. J. M. Bornet, went to Angola from 29 September to 7 October to reexamine the situation with the delegation and to discuss with the authorities. At the end of October, the danger in the field had not diminished and continued to prevent a resumption of activities.

In June, the delegate general for Africa, Mr. Jean-Marc Bornet, visited Namibia/South West Africa, Sudan and Ethiopia, to discuss current activities with the ICRC delegations in those three countries.