co

Vol. 8 . N~~ 9 , Oct-ober, 1965

,, ; 180-DAY DETENTION UNDER THE 1965 General Evidently the State can Law Amendment Act., the most with i~punity ord~r wi tnes­ recent in the notorious se• . s0s t o withhold evidence • ries, any "l i kely witness " which could be of possible can be hel d incommuni cado for use to the defence (Vor- ' 180 days , without trial or ster ' s edi ct to Ludi on mi­ charges bei ng brought, aft er crophones), while witnesses which .the detai nee can pr e ­ refusing to give evi dence of sumably be re- arrest ed for possible use to the prosecu­ subsequent 180- day inst al­ tion can be jailed for twelve men t s ~ months . The quasi-tot aiit ari an Vor ster cl aimed in 'Parl i a ­ act ions t aken by the Securi­ ment that the purpose of 180- t y Pol ice to evade t he judi­ day detention was to protect ci a l order t o r el ease Mr s t ate witnesses . Such wit­ Heymann set yet another om i ­ nesses "might be consulted" nou s precedent for the fu­ by t he pol ice . Reports al­ t ure . lege t hat Mr Heymann has been Th e deci s i ons of the ju­ "consulted" at some l ength _dici ar y have , of l at e , t en­ ever y day of his d~ t ent ion. '. d~d t o become , so far as t he I f prot ecti on of the wit­ a6cused i s concer ned , i ncr ea~ ness were the only moti ~e in - s i ngl y irre l evant . Acquitte4 180- day det enti on, t her e suspects or rel eased politi­ c ould be no ob ject ion to de­ cal prisoner s ar e aut omati­ tainees being a llowed to ame ­ c ally house- arrest ed or ban­ lior at e the t edious: time of nedr living under condi t i ons 13 oli t ar y c onfineme11 t lis t en­ . - ··----~-... aldn t O t h ose i mposed on -1. ) i ng t o transi stor / ~adios(per­ aliens during~war-time . mitted ev e& t o of dinar y - 2 - prisoners in the U.S.A.), change a witness to an ac- having access to all r ea- t cused, which means that ding llndt • " ri ting materials, i 1the only difference bet­ receiving home -cooked food, -~ ween 90-day and 180-day being visited by anyone '•f detention, so far as the not connected with the ~, ~etainee is concerned, i s case, or sharing a cell : ~ )hat the formality of re- with others. :i lrresting the suspect in One would further ·ex- ;t ihe jail corridor outside pect such witnesses to be ~ bis c~ll door now occurs detained only after the ; lalf as frequently as ~ arrest of suspects, who i ~ lefore. would be charged. l : 180-day detention is On the contrary, Mr -~ ~ upposcd to be needed to Heymann appears to be held ;s ~rotect the witnesses from under conditions even more ,. ~nderground movements. But l harsh than those of the ~ poting that Mr Looksmart 1963-5 "90-day" detainees. j ~gudle and Mr Sipho Ti tya His wife has ev en b een for- f jrnre found hanged in their bidden to bring him food , ~ells, tha t Mr Suliman Sa- or clothes. Mr Heymann ).oojee leapt to his death has b een held in solitary ~uring interrogation, thnt confinement for several ~ive detainees had to be months, yet there is no ~ dmitted to hospital for sign of any one being char- post-detention tre atment, ged as a suspect. Mrs Hey- tha t ther e have b een many mann stated that her hus- affidavits and allegations band looked "pale and of torture, several of drawn" from the strain of which have been proved to solitary confinement. be true in court (for exam- As his attempted sui- ple, Bultfontein and the cide evidences, Mr Heymann ';forced to lick mm blood would appear to be held off police van" cases), under conditions most like- Contact f eels tha t ~h~t de­ ly to facilitate his break- tainoes need above all, is ing down, which is condu- to be protected from pro- cive to obtaining i nforma- tcctive custody and the tion or confessions. It Security Police. is claimed by the press that he is being interro- gated as to Braam Fischer's whereabouts. Obviously the police could decide to 3 LETTER fROM A LJBERAI: Alphews Lushuba; Mackay Ma­ The bannins of Jean Hill sango; Sibusiso Ndi~ande; of Dur ban infJicts a great Sikosidi Pgcobo; Benoni Nxu­ loss on the Defence an~ Aid malo; Mackay Mcs abala l&; Sadi e Forman; Makhinizi Ma­ Fund and the Liberal Party " keleni; Alexander Mlon~i; As a Liberal she exnressed Sefton Vuthela; Dahya G0pal; her views clearly a~d co-­ Er nest Jama; Harold S~ r achan; gently, and lrnr banning moans one l oss intelligent writer BGnjami n Turck . Chamile, cne of the in the correspondence c o­ ir treason trialists 1 worked lumns of t he daily p~ess. As for the Defence and Aid Fund . a secret ar y of Defence and He is n ow under a 12- hour Aid she was c ourageous and house arrest during thi week unse lfishly industrious. and a 24- hour arrest over We place on record our the week- ends. He is for­ severa l thanks for the g~eat 'oidden to communicate with s er v ices she ha s r ender ed t o t he cause of r eason and j us­ any office - bearer of the Defence and Ain Fund . tice. Mr Francis was an editor The following members of of Con tac 1: and an executi ve Defence and Aid Fund have committee member of the Cape b een banned: h·ovincial Division of t he Mr P. Hjul (Chai rman, Li.ber a l Party . Cape Town); Mr A. Sachs (com­ Although s he was at the mittee member, Cipe Town); time of her banning able to Mr B. Zackon (commi ttEe mem ­ conti nue work as the secr e ­ ber, Cape Town); Llr D. Crai g ­ t ary of the Defence and Aid head (Chairman,Johannesburg); Fund i n Johannesburg, Mi ss Mi ss L. Hitchins (Secretary, Hitchins has r e ceived addi ­ Johannesburg) ; Mrs J . Hill tional orders th&t prohibit (Secretary , ). her from doin g so. Mr J . Blunde ll (Chairman, ~r s Forman i s the wife of Cape Town) was deported . Mr Lionel Forman, 11 ,)w dec eased, who was at one time an editor of I N ew Age' • Mrs Forman and MORE RESTRICTION ORDERS Mr Vuthela have been placed under other r estri ctions as The followi ng people wer e ':Jell . served with r estriction or­ At the end o~ June, the ders in J uly: Dabulamanzi Rand Da.i l_,y_lf;\j.l published a Hy amel a; Mak_o_me Chamile; Mi ­ series of articles in which chael Francis; Laura Hitchins; - 4 -

Mr Strachan described his organiser of the Liberal prison experiences . On Party i n , and a t he day the last article member of the national was published , Mr Str ac- e x ecutive of the Party . h an wa~ b anned . He i s Mr Mnguni was a l so an n ow appearing on charges organiser of t he Libe­ under the Prisons Act . r a l Party in Natal . Mr Turok first received The f ol lowi ng a r e some a restriction notice i n of t he people r estricted 1961 unde r section nine in Sept embE::r : Michael of the Suppression of Com­ Nd l ovu; George Peake; Jo­ munism Act. In July ht, seph Nzama; Kuluya Nzama; received a notice under Jea n Hill ; Mar openg Sepe­ section five of the Act . " repere . Mrs Turc k is a lso rest­ Mr Nd l ovu was a Na t al ricted. organiser of t he Libera l The following people Party . All the Natal or­ were served with restric­ ganisers of the Liberal tive orde rs in Augus t: Par ty have now beJn ban­ Isa i ah S t e in ; Rosina Ma­ ned . the bula; Maggie Booysen; After serving a sen­ Mbungwa Dindikazi; Simon tence f or sabot age , Mr Hlongwa; Masha mba Magani; Penke was placed under Ismail Patel; Mildred Le ­ house- a rrest . sie; Mlungu M.'1.guni; Suri­ Mrs Hill was t h e De ­ marayan Venkatrathnam; f ence and Ai d secretary in Christopher Shabala.la; Durba n and was a member of Enoch Mnguni. the Libe r a l Party . The Mr Stein was d e tained tota l number o f b anned Li­ during the 1960 emergency, berals i s thirty- eight . and is now b e ing cha rged Contact e stimates tha t under the Suppression of the numbe r o f r e stricted Commu nism Ac t . people at the t i me of wri­ Although chargeu with t ing was 439 . b e longing to a b anned or ganisation , Mrs Le sie was acquitte d. She was t he s ecr etary of the LATEST POLITICAL TRIALS Brick , Cement and Quarry Worker s ' Union. Following the publica ­ Mr Shabalala was an tion in the Rand Daily - 5 - Mail of a llegations of deplo­ wi ng of the banned Pan- Af ­ r a ble pri son c on ditions in the ricanist Congr e s s . ) Cinder ella Prison, a number Mr Zwe lindaba Amos Mamani of prosecuti ons have t akon was sent enced to nine months place . for perjury in another Poqo Mr Harold Strachan, viho trial. r el ated his experiences in Nine men were sentenced prison t o the newspaper, is i n to a tota l of app~aring on char ges under twenty- seven y ears f or being, the Prisons Ac t and on a member s of PAC or furthering charge of perjury. its aims. Head Warder Theron, who Mr Mashack Mampunye and supported Mr Strachan , has twelve others wer e char­ also been charged under the ged with bel onging to PAC Pri sons Ac t. &.nd with further ing its War der van Schalkwyk, who ~i ms . Five cf them were made similar allegations to acquitted . those of ~arder Theron, was Thirty men were j ailed i n f ound guilty of perjury and f or a t ot al sentenced to t hree years ' of 123 years for taking part i mpri sonment . He ha~ lodged i n a Poqo pl an t o t ake over an appeal . Molten o . Other infor mant s char ged Twenty- five convicts who ar e: Mr Filisbortio Nyabet­ escaped while being trans­ se , who was sentenced to s ix ported t o Gamkaspoort Prison mon ths ' imprisonntnt under ar e being char ged with sa­ the Prisons Act; Mr Isaah botage . It is alleged tha t Setshedi, who is a ppearing they planned t o atta ck La­ on a charge of causing f alse di smith and flee to Basuto­ information to be published; l and . Three have pl eaded and Warder Pri ns ,f wh o is fa­ guilty . cing a charge of# eing in AN C TRIALS possession of dagga . • Mrs Diane Schoon was PAC OR PO Q. O TRIALS senten8ed to t welve mon ths, Ur Bethwell B~oi ,,_ was sen­ t en of which were suspended t enced to twe lve months i n for three years, for pasting the Cape Town Magistrate ' s up l eaflet s in Johannesburg Court for perjury in a Poqo in 1962. trial in which he gave evi ­ Appearing with Mr s Schoon dence. (Pogo is >he militant wer e Constantino Gazides

• - 6 - and 11.nn Nicholson, who the fourteen accused in were santenced to t welve the Fischer case was months, n i ne months t o di smi ssed in Pretori a run concurrently with the r e c ently. All but one sentences they a r e now we r e gi ven l eave to appeal serving , t o t he Appella t e Di vision. Sister Zebia Mpendu was j a iled for t wo and a h a lf years a fte r be ing f ound •J guilty i n tho Port Eliza ­ THEY' RE.ALL RIGHT b e th Regi onal Court of t a king part in ANC a cti­ RECENTLY ONE GLOSSY vitie s. BOOKLET, the "West e r n Cape Miss Sheila We inbe r g Officia l Guide" 9 a blurb was sentenced t o e igh t­ t o white investors, has een months f or ANC a cti­ b een issued by the "Vles ­ vitie s. An appeal has t e r n Cape Publicity Asso­ 11 b een l odged . ciation • Eight men from Kwazak­ The bookl et asserts tha t h e le, Port Elizabeth , p l ea­ "parochia l and l ocal riva l­ ded n ot guilty t o one c ount ries a r e put en one s i de". of sab ot age and three But n ot r aci a l r ivalrie s . counts of belonging t o a we start off with the b anned organisation. favourite South African Messrs Tsehla, Laza , r a cial my th, t aught to white Abel Mac am , Simon Macam, schoolchildr en: "They ( the Ngindani, Ngculu a nd Nk­ Africa ns) had crossed t he h a tsha we r e acquitted of Limpopo a b out the same b e ing memb e rs of the ANC t ime as Van Ri ebecck l an­ a nd of distributing ANC d e d ." leafle t s. While Contact does not Miss Pixie Benjamin know if they had Communist p l eaded guilty_ t o a cha r ge or Libera l ist a f f ilia tions, of b e ing in possession of archaeologists, with in the prohi~ited lite r a ture and l a st e ighteen mon ths, have was sent enced t o s ix mon­ un c ov er ed a Bant u iron­ ths . Sh e h as lodged an smelting furnace, carbon­ appeal. dat ed t o about 1 000 A. D., The appeal of six of n ear the Rand. At othe r, l onger- known sites such as Mapungubwe, int~~ north l ocDt, on P • 9) longview by - 7 - " R H 0 D E S I A

In 1910 Brita in vir­ this y ear,· either by s e i zing tua lly gave independence t o it or being given it? Mr the new Union of South Af­ Wilson thinks t her e woul d b e ricn . Although this inde­ chaos , a n d he might wel l b e pendence was t o become mor e r ight . But the r e is another complete with the passage possi bility, just as unplea­ of time , it was in 1910 tha t sant, and that is that the the cr ucial s t ep was taken . Government of Rhodesi a would By this act the Liber a l Go­ then fol l ow the same cour se v ernment in Britain put the as was f ollowed by Sout h Af­ destiny of the non-white rica ; this course is not people of South Africa i nto new t o the Gov e r nmnit, "be ­ t he hands of an a ll-white cause it has a lready emb ar­ Parliament , and prepared the ked on it. Already it has way f or the d estruction of a d opt ed t he practi ce of de­ the franchi se and for t he po­ t a ining its most militant licie s of separate devel op­ opponents . I t h as i mposed ment. on Mr Garfi e ld Todd (a f or­ How then could it be e x­ me r Prime Mini ster ) what pected that Britain would in amounts t o house-arre st. It 1 965 give independence to Rho has deported some of its desia? She made a tragi c mis c ritics . Many white Rhode­ 1 sians today b e lieve tha t t ake in 1910, and she is de- r· t e r mined n ot t o r epeat it. the Wo rld Coun cil of Chur­ In this she will have the . ches is c ommunist, tha t mis­ support of the Liberals of sionaries a re communist, South Africa . t hat the Liberals a r e com­ Wh a t would happen· if Rho­ munist; or if these groups desia gained independence are not communist, they are - 8 - furthering , wittingly or t o amen d t h e Lan d Appor ­ unwittingly, the a i ms of tionment Ac t, a law which comrnuuism. How f amilia r i s not u nlike our own a ll t his sounds ! Group Ar eas Act. -If the r e is a U. D.I., I n f act, i f Rhodesi a is the pace wi l l be quick­ given time , it will not be ened . I ndividu a l liber ­ v e r y l ong b efor e she i s a ties wjll b e curtai led as sec on d Sou t h Africa , bu t i n wa r, and t his war will wi t h § everal i mportant d i f ­ l ast as l ong as t h i s n a ­ f er enc es . Her ~hi te popu­ k ed white su pr ecw.cy ( f or lat ion i ·s only 5% of the t hat is what it i s ) i s .t otal population , and the able t o endure . Opposi­ t ask of mai n t a ining t he ti o11 t o th0 11 vrill of the es8entj_al s orvices and a t peopl e " will become mo r e the same time of mai n t a i n ­ costly. Tho me t hod s of i ng law and or der i s a ll the South AfricRn s e cu­ the h eavi er. Furthe r mor e rity police will be more she ha s r eceived gr ave c l os~ly c opi ed . Great e r wnr n i ngs fr o □ gr e a t Wes­ nnd e r eat e r inroads wi l l t e r n p owers, somet h i n g b e made int o t he r u l e of which has n ot happened to l aw . US 1.1. A y e t. 1 ~ h e ' libe r a l ' a tti tude Ther e is an other grE.at of white Rhodesia t owar ds differ enc e b e t ween the t wo raci a l probloms will also s ituations , The perc en­ unde r g o ch.:..n ga . 'l'hi s t age of white Rhodesians will b e mor o diff icu lt who woul d accept a lower b e c a u se white Rhodesi a s t and a r d of living i s much h as , offi c i a lly a t l east, smaller t han t he c orresp on­ expr e ssed its r e j e ction d i ng per cen tage of white of Apart heid. But b a dk S9uth Afri c ans . The i ne­ t owa r d s Aparthei d it c e r­ vita b le economic r e c e ssion t a inl y will move . It has will sen d white Rhodesians a lready g iven t he hin t t o s treaming from t he c ountry, the priva t e schools, and and t he t asks of ma i nte nan­ has r eacted stron g ly t o ce will b e come i mpossi bl e . the p r oposal f or a n on-. Mr Smi t h will find in­ r a cia l h ospital . It h a s d epende nce a bitte r fruit. tried t o r e stor e the a u­ thority of t he triba l chiefs, and h a s r e fused I l I . • , I

; l, l I - 9 - I (cont. fr om p. 6)

Transvaal, s i oilar eviden­ 49 weeks of the year h e (the c e of equally old Bantu Coloured peopl e) i s a ll trinket s has been unear ­ right ." thed . Contact is sure that the But back t o our booklet . Coloured Peopl e will be r e ­ "As a stGe l pr oducer lieved .,t o hear tha t they (South Africa) r anks t enth are "all right" . in the world . " While Cont act c oncedes I that the Encyclopaedia Britannica places South 'NH.AT HOPE DEMOCRACY ? j Africa a t twentieth on the l steel statistics, since THE LIBERAL PARTY ' s 1965 this clai m wa s first made Congress pr ecipitat~s t hought s j by the South African Foun­ both of what has b een and dation, Panor ama and the uh~t is still t o come . How SABC duri ng 1963 , few have will fut ur8 historians eva­ n oticed the discreet up­ l uate the role of the Libe­ ( grading. r al P~rty in the liberation l "Non- whites own f our struggle? •. tir:les as many c ars per Reading t hrough the event s capita as the Russians . " of the past eight een year s , The Russians, of course , one i s struck by the compa­ I prefer to r ation consume r ratively pseudo- democr atic I goods t o subsidise a wel­ at mospher e of t he 1950s in I fare sta t e tha t gives them which the Liberal Party was one- tenth the number of formed , as contrast Gd with patients per doctor tha t the decad& that began with South £frica has . Sharpe~ille; especia lly the >I. I But the gem is sti ll t o waves of t ot alitari ani sm dis­ come: cernible in the events of "The prudent indus tria­ 1960 and 1962. lis t, of c 0urse, will close The 1950s were still the his plant bef or e Christmas era of constitutional action and over the New Year, for - methods such as s treet de­ then the Alabama sails monstra tions , poster protests, again and the coons ar e petitions, mass r allies and out, but for the remai ning passive r e sistance . Though the Defiance Campai gn had - 10 - been harshly suppressed, lG: white nati onalism and a belie f still prevai ~ed African- led blick natio­ that angered protests nalism; between the white 1-:-e,uld "bring the Govern­ ruling classes and the Af­ ment to its senses", as rican worki ng classes . The evi denced by the actions Liber al Party, self- restric­ and attitudes of organi­ ted for obvious r easons, and sati ons. quite rightly so, t o consti­ The contesting of tutional neans , could at white e l ection s eats , the most ~ut cheer from the bringing of test cases side-lines . before courts, all betoken Tho r eluct ant r ealisa­ (with the advantage of tion that the Liber al Party hindsight) a nai ve b e ­ could not, as many p~e vious­ lief that democratic jn­ ly held, a i m for power, cau ­ stitutions and suscepti­ sed a certai n aimless confu­ bilit ies would be regar­ sion a s to what legislatively ded; that the turning of ever-shrinking role it could the oth er chuek would play, wh ich in an authorita­ creat e r espect . r~an envir onment could be The 1960 Emergency, the little mor e than a ttempts, , ruthlessly decimated by the and the bannings of the Special Branch , t o dissem:L ­ AWC und Pi1C , the two l ea­ nate non- racialism. d i ng resistance movement s, Tl1'e acti ons of the ARM mark tho beginning of t he reflect this transitional etruggl e entering t he phase of confusion, for phase of predominantly though violent , its actions illegal , indeed violent were still gestures, reflec­ means . This was not so ting a pathetically hopeless much a casu of the oppo­ belief tha t somehow mer ely sition 11 turning to vi o ­ angered gest u r es would yet lence" ; it was due t o the cause t he Government to hoed belief tha t violent oppo­ its shamed Christian cons­ s ition was the : east easy cior.ce and relent. The ARM's for the police to crush. memb ers were largely of that The r eal power strug­ age- gr oup i nfluenced by the g le was fought, n ot be­ 1 950s. While childishl:,• tween a laisser- f aire ?..cting, however under :.::tan­ ninet eenth-centur y libe ­ dably, l argely from frustra­ ralism and n ationalism, tion, their belief preven­ but between Afri kaner- ted them from realising that - 11 - sabotage (whic; Contact con­ radicalisation in both ideo­ I demns! could o 1~ be a suc­ logy and tactics. cess in so f ar a~ it was Though realising petitions part of a guer lla war aimed and mass meetings wer e of the at seizing po~ rfby military past, the Liberal Party has means - the ft a conclusion succeeded in lingering on in which, in spi" f the ac- an attenuated form, while the systematic and ruthless tions they w' · , riven to, they could~~ cept. immobilisation of its office­ bear ers by banning and house­ Should SU~_ ghastly arres't1 in or der of effective ­ tragedy eve~· r ' in our 11 country, not ti would there ness and left"-ness , wa.s '

- 12

whose idealj_stic b e lief nents (gu{lty fre~uently jn liberal denocracy has of nothing but propagating b e,m c a uterir;ec1 to a a poli ti_c a l, economic or Ma chiavellian-Ma rxist cy­ social belief)? A genera­ nic ism by sooing all pro­ tj_on see_ing the sta te-owned teuts r e jected ~ all go­ mass mecl i a'scorn the pleas vernment action b e ing t a ­ of the torture d and the ken not to aoeli~rnto the wards of kwashiorkor? A : c omplain t ~ut to tlnnihi­ gene~ation tha t witnesses ~late tho complainer'? A the aut horita rian admass­ ' generation tha t has never attuned subtle ties of the · h eard tv10 conflicting aparthe id ("Separate Free ­ poin ts of view d eb a ted on dons") regime c arefully a radio? A ecneration plrmned. with a n ey e to _its th~t knows no government oversea public imnge? · but one which r eac t s to Democracy d epends on ·­ all opposj_tional t enden­ ::i.n understanding between cie s by pitil~ssly crush ­ opponents tha t e a ch will ing them and:. which, vd. th ccJ.low itself t o be voted the uGual malignant gr'owt h out of power , in r eturn of authoritarianism once for which it will have its tumor sprouts in the f air opportunity t o rega i n body politic, a tta cks power a t a future d a t e . even the l aw.vGrs defen­ ding :i.to poli.·U Cc1. l c•ppc- (to b e con tinued in our n ext iss u e ) .

Note .. The views expressed in the above art icle are n ot necessarily those of Contact.