Terrorism Act": Grave Concern for Safety of Detainees

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Terrorism Act South Africa's "Terrorism Act": Grave Concern for Safety of Detainees http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.nuun1970_15 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org South Africa's "Terrorism Act": Grave Concern for Safety of Detainees Alternative title Notes and Documents - United Nations Centre Against ApartheidNo. 18/70 Author/Creator United Nations Centre against Apartheid Publisher Department of Political and Security Council Affairs Date 1970-05-00 Resource type Reports Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1970 Source Northwestern University Libraries Description South Africa's "Terrorism Act" Grave Concern For Safety Of Detainees; Mrs. Mandela And Twenty-Three Other Detainees; Student Protests Against Arbitrary Detention; Deaths In Detention; Trials Under The Terrorism Act; The Late Imam Abdullah Haron; Death Of A Priest, A Poem By Alan Paton Format extent 28 page(s) (length/size) http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.nuun1970_15 http://www.aluka.org T ON APARTHEID T ON APARTHEID OF POLITICAL AND SECURITY COUNCIL AFFAIRS No. 18/70 NOTES AND DOCUMENTS* May 1970 SOUTH AFRICA'S "TERRORISM ACT" Grave Concern for Safety of Detainees Page I NTRODUCTION MRS. MANDELA AND TWENTY-THREE OTHE2 DETAINEES STUDENT PROTESTS AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTIONS DEATHS IN DETENTION TRIALS UNDER THE TERRORISM ACT THE LATE IM ABDULLAH HARON DEATH OF A PRIEST, A POEM BY ALAN PATON The Terrorism Act, the most draconian measure in legislation enacted by the South African Government to to the policy of apartheid, has already cost the lives the armoury of suppress opposition of many prisoners. As this is written, at least twenty men and four women, including Mrs. Winnie Mandela (wife of the well-known African leader, Mr. Nelson Mandela) are being held incommunicado under this Act. They were detained in May-June 1969. Twenty-two of them were tried under lesser charges and acquitted in February 1970; two others served terms of imprisonment for refusing to give evidence against their colleagues. The accused were acquitted by the Court but were immediately re-detained, as were the two who refused to testify against them. The United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid and many organizations have expressed grave concern over the fate of these people now at the mercy of the South African Security Police. *All material in these notes and documents may be freely reprinted. Acknowledgement, together with a copy of the publication containing the reprint, would be appreciated. INTRGDUCTICN "South Africa hill rot lore tlh stigra of a police state until the Terrorism Act is repealed." (Rand Maily ail, J.hannesburg, May l,-1970). The Terrorism Act, described by Professor John Dugard of the University of the Witwatersrand Law School as "the most abhorrent Act ever to be passed by the South African Parliament" (Rand Daily hail, Johannesburg, April 16, 1970), has been on the statute books since June 1967. Section 6 of this Act authorizes any commissioned police officer to detain any person who,, he believes, is a "terrorist" or is withholding any information relating to "terrorists" or to offences under the Act. The person may be detained indefinitely, until the Commissioner of Police is satisfied that he has satisfactorily replied to all questions or that "no useful purpose will be served by his further detention". "No court of law shall pronounce upon the validity of any action taken under this Section, or order the release of any detainee. "No person, other than the hinister or an officer in the service of the State acting in the performance of his official duties, shall have access to any detainee, or shall be entitled to any official information relating to or obtained from any detainee. "If circumstances so permit, a detainee shall be visited in private by a magistrate at least once a fortnight." As Professor John Dugard noted on 17 June 1969, the title of the Act is misleading: one did not have to be suspected of engaging in terrorist activities to be detained. "If a student protests against a particular law - such as the law which closed the former open universities -, he is committing an act. "If it is thought that this act might embarass or endanger the State, that student can find himself accused of terrorism." (Rand Daily Mail, Johannesburg, June 18, 1969). Forty-five Namibians and twenty-three South Africans have so far been tried under the provisions of this Act: twenty were sentenced to life imprisonment and twenty-nine to long terms of imprisonment. Two died during trials and eight were acquitted. (Nine were sentenced under other Acts.) Scores of others have been detained for long terms under the provisions of the Terrorism Act as suspects or possible State witnesses. The exact number is not known as the Government refuses to provide the information even in reply to questions asked in Parliament. The detainees are held incommunicado without access to anyone, even courts, relatives or lawyers. Not only are they at the mercy of the Security Police, but there has been overwhelming evidence that they are subjected to brutality during interrogation. It is known that seven persons have died while in detention under the Terrorism Act, including the trade union leader Mr. Caleb Mayekiso, and the religious leader Imam Abdullah Haron. Evidence of torture and ill-treatment of many others has been revealed in courts or at inquests. lirs. Mandela and twenty-one others were detained under the Act for several months and then charged with much lesser offences under another Act. When acquitted even on the lesser charges, they were immediately re-detained under the Act in the same courtroom. Miss Shanti Naidoo and Miss N.B. Nkala, detained at the same time, have never been charged, but only called as witnesses in the case of Mrs. Nandela and others (and refused to give evidence). They have all spent a year in prison, most of the time in solitary confinement. In this issue of "Notes and Documents", the case of these twenty-four detainees, which has given rise to mounting concern, is reviewed and some particulars are given on earlier trials and detentions under the Terrorism Act. The Government has refused to reveal how many others are in detention, but there is evidence to believe that several others are so detained. Despite widespread demands in South Africa and abroad, the South African Government has repeatedly refused to disclose when and if the twenty-four detainees will be brought to trial or released, or even where they are being detained. Families and lawyers have been denied access to them so that there is not even an assurance that they are alive and safe. As noted earlier, two of those detained with these twenty-four last year have died in prison. This has led to fears that the Government is intent on wreaking vengeance against these opponents of apartheid and possibly obtaining "evidence" against them by cruel means. hr. Alfred Nzo, secretary-general of the African National Congress, described the re-detention of these twenty-four men and women as a "systematic and insidious form of genocide". (The Nationalist, Dar es Salaam, February 2C, 197C). The New York Times said in an editorial on February 23, 197c: "In its treatment of twenty-two blacks charged with working for the banned African National Congress, South Africa seems determined to outdo even its own appalling record for 'legal' cruelty and hyprocrisy... "The prosecution's strategy seems clear: It will simply hold the defendants under the Terrorism Act until more 'evidence' can be obtained or concocted by the bestial methods that have become a hallmark of South African 'justice'." The Guardian, London, commented on May 13, 1970: "No case could exemplify more vividly how much of a police state South Africa has become. The assumption behind the Government's action seems to be that if you cannot find people guilty of any offence, you keep them inside all the same while you manufacture other charges -3 against them. All those who argue that by "maintaining a dialogue" with South Africa apartheid will be softened should look at this development. It has happened in spite of the "dialogue"..... "All the suppressed violence of a racially segregated society is likely to emerge when white gaolers have total physical control over black prisoners, detained inconunicado and with no term set for release. To their credit, a number of South Africans have been demonstrating this week on behalf of these detainees. If Mr. Vorster wants to deny that under his Premiership he has created a police state, he should listen to their pleas." NRS. XANDELA AND WENTY-THEE OTHER DETAINEES In May-June 1969 at least forty persons were arrested in South Africa and detained under the "Terrorism Act".
Recommended publications
  • BLACK ISLAM SOUTH AFRICA Religious Territoriality, Conversion
    BLACK ISLAM SOUTH AFRICA Religious Territoriality, Conversion, and the Transgression of Orderly Indigeneity Dissertation zur Erlangung des Grades Dr. phil. im Promotionsfach Geographie am Fachbereich Chemie, Pharmazie, Geographie und Geowissenschaften der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz vorgelegt von Matthias Gebauer geb. in Lichtenfels 2019 i Abstract Social alienation and the struggle to belong in the South African society are not only matters of political discourse but touch the practical sphere of everyday life in the respective places of residence. This thesis therefore approaches the entanglements of religion and space within the processes of re-ordering African indigeneity in post-apartheid South Africa. It asks how conversion to Islam constitutes the longing for a post-colonial and post-racialized African self. This study specifically engages with dynamics surrounding Black and Muslim practices and identity politics in formerly demarcated Black African areas. Here, even after the official end of apartheid, spatial racialization and social inequalities persist. Modes of orderings rooted in colonialism and apartheid still define what orderly belonging and African indigeneity mean. Thus, the inhabitants of those spaces find themselves in situations every day in which their habitat continuously ascribes oppression and racialization. The post-1994 promise for equal citizenship seems to be slowly fading, becoming a broken promise, on whose fulfillment the majority of people who were previously—by official definition and demarcation—only granted the right of being a migratory workforce, sojourners in the White spaces, are still waiting. Against this background, this thesis engages with the attempts to reformulate and recreate African indigeneity on the basis of a counter-hegemonic ideology of being Black and Muslim.
    [Show full text]
  • Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report: Volume 2
    VOLUME TWO Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report The report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was presented to President Nelson Mandela on 29 October 1998. Archbishop Desmond Tutu Ms Hlengiwe Mkhize Chairperson Dr Alex Boraine Mr Dumisa Ntsebeza Vice-Chairperson Ms Mary Burton Dr Wendy Orr Revd Bongani Finca Adv Denzil Potgieter Ms Sisi Khampepe Dr Fazel Randera Mr Richard Lyster Ms Yasmin Sooka Mr Wynand Malan* Ms Glenda Wildschut Dr Khoza Mgojo * Subject to minority position. See volume 5. Chief Executive Officer: Dr Biki Minyuku I CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 6 National Overview .......................................... 1 Special Investigation The Death of President Samora Machel ................................................ 488 Chapter 2 The State outside Special Investigation South Africa (1960-1990).......................... 42 Helderberg Crash ........................................... 497 Special Investigation Chemical and Biological Warfare........ 504 Chapter 3 The State inside South Africa (1960-1990).......................... 165 Special Investigation Appendix: State Security Forces: Directory Secret State Funding................................... 518 of Organisations and Structures........................ 313 Special Investigation Exhumations....................................................... 537 Chapter 4 The Liberation Movements from 1960 to 1990 ..................................................... 325 Special Investigation Appendix: Organisational structures and The Mandela United
    [Show full text]
  • Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd Is Assassinated in the House of Assembly by a Parliamentary Messenger, Dimitri Tsafendas on 6 September
    Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd is assassinated in the House of Assembly by a parliamentary messenger, Dimitri Tsafendas on 6 September. Balthazar J Vorster becomes Prime Minister on 13 September. 1967 The Terrorism Act is passed, in terms of which police are empowered to detain in solitary confinement for indefinite periods with no access to visitors. The public is not entitled to information relating to the identity and number of people detained. The Act is allegedly passed to deal with SWA/Namibian opposition and NP politicians assure Parliament it is not intended for local use. Besides being used to detain Toivo ya Toivo and other members of Ovambo People’s Organisation, the Act is used to detain South Africans. SAP counter-insurgency training begins (followed by similar SADF training in the following year). Compulsory military service for all white male youths is extended and all ex-servicemen become eligible for recall over a twenty-year period. Formation of the PAC armed wing, the Azanian Peoples Liberation Army (APLA). MK guerrillas conduct their first military actions with ZIPRA in north-western Rhodesia in campaigns known as Wankie and Sepolilo. In response, SAP units are deployed in Rhodesia. 1968 The Prohibition of Political Interference Act prohibits the formation and foreign financing of non-racial political parties. The Bureau of State Security (BOSS) is formed. BOSS operates independently of the police and is accountable to the Prime Minister. The PAC military wing attempts to reach South Africa through Botswana and Mozambique in what becomes known as the Villa Peri campaign. 1969 The ANC holds its first Consultative (Morogoro) Conference in Tanzania, and adopts the ‘Strategies and Tactics of the ANC’ programme, which includes its new approach to the ‘armed struggle’ and ‘political mobilisation’.
    [Show full text]
  • Islamic Liberation Theology in South Africa: Farid Esack’S Religio-Political Thought
    ISLAMIC LIBERATION THEOLOGY IN SOUTH AFRICA: FARID ESACK’S RELIGIO-POLITICAL THOUGHT Yusuf Enes Sezgin A thesis submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History. Chapel Hill 2020 Approved by: Cemil Aydin Susan Dabney Pennybacker Juliane Hammer ã2020 Yusuf Enes Sezgin ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Yusuf Enes Sezgin: Islamic Liberation Theology in South Africa: Farid Esack’s Religio-Political Thought (Under the direction of Cemil Aydin) In this thesis, through analyzing the religiopolitical ideas of Farid Esack, I explore the local and global historical factors that made possible the emergence of Islamic liberation theology in South Africa. The study reveals how Esack defined and improved Islamic liberation theology in the South African context, how he converged with and diverged from the mainstream transnational Muslim political thought of the time, and how he engaged with Christian liberation theology. I argue that locating Islamic liberation theology within the debate on transnational Islamism of the 1970s onwards helps to explore the often-overlooked internal diversity of contemporary Muslim political thought. Moreover, it might provide important insights into the possible continuities between the emancipatory Muslim thought of the pre-1980s and Islamic liberation theology. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to many wonderful people who have helped me to move forward on my academic journey and provided generous support along the way. I would like to thank my teachers at Boğaziçi University from whom I learned so much. I was very lucky to take two great courses from Zeynep Kadirbeyoğlu whose classrooms and mentorship profoundly improved my research skills and made possible to discover my interests at an early stage.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fifth Annual Imam Abdullah Haron Memorial Lecture
    The Fifth Annual Imam Abdullah Haron Memorial Lecture “Has tolerance no limits?” Why the education crisis persists Jonathan D Jansen University of the Free State 2 October 2012 Introduction Two events of seismic proportions shook the Western Cape in the closing days of September 1969. The first was the Ceres-Tulbagh earthquake of 29 September which registered 6.3 on the Richter scale with aftershocks that continued as far forward as the 14th of April 1970 and whose effects were felt more than 1000 km away in Durban. The earthquake was said to have caused physical displacement of 26cm of ground over a distance of 20km, and that it was caused by “a shallow tectonic failure along the Saron- Groenhof lineament.”1 The second seismic shock was the murder on the night of 27 September in the Maitland police cells of the 44-year old Imam of the Stegman Street Mosque, the Editor of “Moslem News”, the husband of Galiema, and the father of three young children— Shamila, Mogamet and Fatima. That death—the 12th of a political prisoner to die in police custody between 1963 and 1969—sent forth tremors of grief and protest that registered shockwaves well beyond the borders of South Africa. The killing of the Imam displaced the political grounds in the Cape; indeed it shook complacent communities into political action for this noble martyr was killed by a shallow political and moral failure that was rightly laid at the door of the politicians (apartheid’s NP 1 Paragraph draws on http://www.stormchasing.co.za/articles-and-news/historic-weather-archive/184-tulbagh- ceres-1969-earthquake 1 parliamentarians) and their professional collaborators (lawyers, doctors, police) who tried to prop-up an immoral and racist system.
    [Show full text]
  • This Thesis Has Been Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for a Postgraduate Degree (E.G
    This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Identity Construction in Post-apartheid South Africa: the Case of the Muslim Community Rania Hassan PhD in African Studies The University of Edinburgh 2011 Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................................................I ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................................III DECLARATION..................................................................................................................................V GLOSSARY.......................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report
    VOLUME THREE Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report The report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was presented to President Nelson Mandela on 29 October 1998. Archbishop Desmond Tutu Ms Hlengiwe Mkhize Chairperson Dr Alex Boraine Mr Dumisa Ntsebeza Vice-Chairperson Ms Mary Burton Dr Wendy Orr Revd Bongani Finca Adv Denzil Potgieter Ms Sisi Khampepe Dr Fazel Randera Mr Richard Lyster Ms Yasmin Sooka Mr Wynand Malan* Ms Glenda Wildschut Dr Khoza Mgojo * Subject to minority position. See volume 5. Chief Executive Officer: Dr Biki Minyuku I CONTENTS Chapter 1 Introduction to Regional Profiles ........ 1 Appendix: National Chronology......................... 12 Chapter 2 REGIONAL PROFILE: Eastern Cape ..................................................... 34 Appendix: Statistics on Violations in the Eastern Cape........................................................... 150 Chapter 3 REGIONAL PROFILE: Natal and KwaZulu ........................................ 155 Appendix: Statistics on Violations in Natal, KwaZulu and the Orange Free State... 324 Chapter 4 REGIONAL PROFILE: Orange Free State.......................................... 329 Chapter 5 REGIONAL PROFILE: Western Cape.................................................... 390 Appendix: Statistics on Violations in the Western Cape ......................................................... 523 Chapter 6 REGIONAL PROFILE: Transvaal .............................................................. 528 Appendix: Statistics on Violations in the Transvaal ......................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Special Committee on Apartheid Begins Work for 1972
    Special Committee on Apartheid begins work for 1972 http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.nuun1971_02 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Special Committee on Apartheid begins work for 1972 Alternative title Notes and Documents - United Nations Centre Against ApartheidNo. 1/71 Author/Creator United Nations Centre against Apartheid Contributor Farah, Abdulrahim Abby Publisher Department of Political and Security Council Affairs Date 1971-01-00 Resource type Reports Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1971 Source Northwestern University Libraries Description Text of the statment by the Chairman of the Special Committee, H.E.
    [Show full text]
  • Premier of the Western Cape – Ebrahim Rasool
    Premier of the Western Cape – Ebrahim Rasool List of Honourees receiving Provincial Honours 2004 1. Commander of the Order of the Disa awarded to Nelson R. Mandela As a young man, hearing the elders’ stories of his ancestors’ valour during the wars of resistance in defence of their fatherland, Nelson Mandela dreamed also of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people. He served articles at a law firm in Johannesburg where years of daily exposure to the inhumanities of apartheid, where being black reduced one to the status of a non-person, kindled in him a courage to change the world. On joining the Youth League of the African National Congress, Nelson Mandela became involved in programmes of passive resistance against apartheid’s denial of political, social and economic rights to South Africa’s black majority. In the revolution led by Mandela to transform a model of racial division and oppression into an open democracy, he demonstrated that he did not flinch in the face of adversity. As the world's most famous prisoner, leader, teacher and man, he exemplifies a moral integrity that shines far beyond South Africa. 2. Commander of the Order of the Disa awarded to F.W De Klerk When F.W de Klerk lifted the ban on the ANC and other organisations in 1990, he set in motion a new era of transformation in South Africa. This end to apartheid and South Africa’s racial segregation policy paved the way for negotiations, resulting in the release of Nelson Mandela and culminating in the first ever racially inclusive elections in South Africa in 1994.
    [Show full text]
  • Be Intimidated, and Orders Have Been Given to Maintain Order at All Costs.,"
    "The Government will not be Intimidated, and orders have been given to maintain order at all costs.," Prime Mm;stsr *Inv Vomter House of Assembly . Arn 1$, 1976. With ,, . .i... ;-I ,m —ai% :v-.: i :, at., /f.''.)e .,.,-- t,rt/'Pn. i.:/ij e f ::iir 3. ,:e, ) 4 ; ' E/ ,- ; Pty ) .. )'1_ "-, .5t, '‘%. 1r f 4 .7) ..*1 '/"A , .-.,. t ,7,~% :~" ~^'~i v ,:%'f!. =-fi:, d,::A. ,r?,,, 4 '':;,'' rit'.l 'E:K.7r" i T4-i SaTE RTC.1\1 r'') r,r- w't rte" 7-- 1 n 4-1 4, [AdcfEK; 19 . L., t L., Li 1-1 ,i , u T t L-I j SOWETO STUDENTS REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL October 1976 TO : ALL FATHERS 3c MOTHERS, BROTHERS & SISTERS, FRIENDS & WORKERS, IN ALL CITIES, TOWNS & VILLAGES IN THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA: We appeal to you to align yourselves with the struggle for your own liberation. Be involved and be united with us as it is your own son and daughter that we bury every week-end . Death has become a common thing to us all in the town- ships . There is no peace, there shall be none until we are all free. I . Soweto and all Black townships are now going into a period of MOURNING for the dead . We are to pay respect to all students and adults murdered by the police. 2. We are to pledge our solidarity with those detained in police cells and are suffering torture on our behalf. 3. We should .show our' sympathy and support to all those workers who suffered reduction of wages and loss of jobs because they obeyed our call to stay away from work for three days.
    [Show full text]
  • GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOURTH COMMITTEE, 1878Th
    United Nations FOURTH COMMITTEE, 1878th GENERAL MEETING ASSEMBLY Friday, 9 October 1970, at 3.35 p.m. TWENTY-FIFTH SESSION Official Records NEW YORK Chairman: Mr. Vernon Johnson MWAANGA subjected to forcible removal from one place to another in (Zambia). order to provide room for the expansion of the European area. The means used for that purpose included deprivation of water and sanctions against sanitary arrangements. The In the absence of the Chairman, Mr. Sadry (Iran), new townships into which Africans were being squeezed Vice-Chairman, took the Chair. were tightly surrounded by barbed wire fences, with only one gate facing the city. Whenever they entered or left a township, residents were required to show twelve or more AGENDA ITEM 62 passes to the armed policemen stationed at the gate. The police had master keys which enabled them at any time of Question of Namibia (continued) the day or night to enter any premises in which they (A/8023/Add.2, A/C.4/127/Add.1 and 2) suspected an African of committing the criminal offence of allowing relatives or friends to stay with him for seventy­ HEARING OF PETITIONERS two hours. No African lawfully residing in a town by virtue of a permit issued to him was entitled to have his wife living 1. The CHAIRMAN recalled that at its 1875th and 1876th there with him. According to reliable sources, the death meetings the Committee had decided to grant a number of rate had tripled in the new townships as a result of requests for hearings concerning Namibia.
    [Show full text]
  • An Example of Muslim Marriages in South Africa Waheeda Amien
    Maryland Journal of International Law Volume 29 Issue 1 Symposium: "The International Law and Article 18 Politics of External Intervention in Internal Conflicts" and Special Issue: "Politics of Religious Freedom" Legislating Religious Freedom: An Example of Muslim Marriages in South Africa Waheeda Amien Dhammameghā Annie Leatt Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mjil Recommended Citation Waheeda Amien, & Dhammameghā A. Leatt, Legislating Religious Freedom: An Example of Muslim Marriages in South Africa, 29 Md. J. Int'l L. 505 (2014). Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mjil/vol29/iss1/18 This Special Issue: Articles is brought to you for free and open access by the Academic Journals at DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maryland Journal of International Law by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ARTICLE Legislating Religious Freedom: An Example of Muslim Marriages in South Africa † †† WAHEEDA AMIEN AND ANNIE LEATT (DHAMMAMEGHĀ) INTRODUCTION For the past 27 years, diverse groups of Muslims have lobbied for the legalization of Muslim marriages in South Africa and for the codification of elements of Muslim Personal Law (MPL). MPL is an Islamic-based private law system comprising family law and inheritance. Perhaps surprisingly, certain ulamā bodies (Muslim religious bodies or clergy)1 and gender activists have supported draft legislation for the recognition of Muslim marriages under the enabling provisions of the final Constitution of South Africa 1996, though for quite different reasons. Yet, despite successive proposals, widespread consultation within the Muslim community, and two draft Muslim marriage bills, Muslim marriages are still not recognized in South Africa.
    [Show full text]