SHOULD Ar~eRICAN BLACKS TOUR SOUTH TO ENTERTAIN AFRICANS?

South Africa, a country notorious tor its complete oppression. of Africans, has been making a special effort to get Afro-Amat-tean entertainers to visit them. 1) In M:ay, 1970, Percy Sledge, a Black American singer whose \'\ records are big sellers in , broke a twelve-year boycott \ and entertained segregated black and white audiences in , as reported in the Guardian \'Jeeklyfi June 6, 1970. 2) In October, 1971, Eartha Kitt entertained white South Africans in Swaziland. Newsweek reported in its November 22, 1971 issue that "The black sex kitten from the Carolina cotton fields ••• sat on the knee of a white South Africnn and purred her famous number 'C'est Si Bon' in his ear ••• Next April (1972) Eartha will tour South Africa itself for six weeks ••• "

3} On December 21, 1971, the New~ Times reported that black golfer Lee Elder competed in a golf tournament in South Africa. 4) The i:Jashington .M!:2.-dmerican reported on October 23, 1971. th~t singer Sammy Davis Jr., would entertain South Africans in

Swaziland under a ~~210 cover charge. "It is reported that the Sammy Davis Show of at least fourteen artists have been guaranteed a minimum cf ,~·'3 50,000. tt

5) ill on July 29, 1971 stated that ~Ar.titha Franklin was scheduled to entertain Africans in South Africa for a reputed ~45,000 for three weeks.

6) On August 21, 1971, the ~ reported that negotiations were under way for Muhammad Ali to give ten lectures in

South Africa for a reputed ~300,000. Fortunately these last three tours have all been cancelled. But the question all of this activity raises is:

\ \ ''Should American Blacks Tour South Africa to Lecture or En.tertain Africans?~ ' ·

The answ~r is unequivocably NOll

M.J. ACCmi!MODATION ~ !!!..§. PRES8NT HACIST R8GU1iE .Q! ..-SO,;;,.;U;...;;T..;,;H AFRICA is traitorous to the e,OOO militant Africans imprisoned in South African jails. is injurious to the liberation struggles presently being fought in , and -Bi$sau aids the confusion and disunity the white rulers in South Africa are trying to foster.

A brief look at develo,ments inside South Africa today ~eveals why any traffic with this racist regime is detrimental to Africans. POPULATION According to the 1970 census, the population of South Africa is: Percent of Population Whites 3,779,000 17.7 Colored people 1,996,000 9.4 Asians 614,000 2.9 Africans 14,e93,ooo 70.0 The government in South Africa is restricted to the 17 percent white minority. The other g3 percent of the population is excluded from the franchise and have no means of bringing about social or economic change.

SSPARAT~ DEVELOPHENT The South African government is presently engaged in a massive "resettlement" operation, uprooting hundreds of thousands of people and moving them to so-called homelands. The government claims that Africans constitute eight or nine 11 nationsn and that all races are free to develop as separate nations within their own territories.

-z­; 1,rhen resettlement ifl com.P:~etiEf, the whites, 17 percent of the population, will be in possession of 86.3 percent of the country. The white section contains all the industries, commercinl undertakings, towns,cities, seas and airports. It contains all the gold, coAl, diamonds and other rich mineral resources. The 13.7 percent of the country designated as the Bantu homelands for Africans is almost entirely undeveloped land. Ownership of the Bantu homelands is vested in the South African Bantu Trust, an all-white body appointed by the white government. No land has been designated for the coloreds and Asians.

11 Africans are allowed to work in the whi te ii areas only under strict control. The Urban Areas Act prohibits any African from remaining longer than 72 hours in an urban nwhi te il area without special permission. In the past ten years, the government has resettled close to a million Africans, 35,000 coloreds and 22,000 Asians. Several million more Africans will be resettled in the future. The resettlement plan is intended to eliminate all residentinl rights of Africans and trans­ form African labor into migrant labor. New regulations which came into force in 1968 compel every African to register at a tribal labour bureau as a work seeker. The tribal labour bureau supplies labour to employers in the white area for a maximum period of one year. At the end of that period the African must return to his homeland area.

THE BAt-'TUSLANDS The homelands, called Bantuslands, cannot really work. They are economically unsound geographical areas, overloaded with old people, sick people, women and children. Conditions in the homelands are such ·-3·,.. before reaching the age of five yenrs. Two African children die of malnutrition every thirty-five minutes. There is a scarcity of able-bodied men in the homelands and the government intends to maintain this imbalance,. Laws have been passed to regulate every able-bodied ifrican man into the migr<9to:ry labour system,.

~h~ homelands cannot provide employment for most of its inhabitants' They are deprived areas and to survive the people must work elsewhere. According to official estimates, in the Transkei homeland more than a million Africans work on a permnnent basis in the urban ''white ;'areas.

Another 2oo;ooo work as migrants in the ~old mines. The men have to leave their vJives and children in the homelands and return to the urban

11 whi te 'areas to work~ There they live in single barracks provided for migrant workers, At the end of each year their employment automatically ceases and they must return to their poverty-stricken homeland •.

A multiplicity of oppressive laws have been passed to force the

African out of the urban ;'white 11 areas and to control his activities. * No African, lawfully residing in a tbwn by virtue of a permit, is entitled to have his wife and children residing with hi~. * An African boy, aged 16, who has left school and lives at home with his parents but does not work, may be arrested without warrant by a policeman who has reason to believe he is an idle person.

::~ An AfricAn declared to be an idle person may enter into a contract of employment with a white farmer. If he is dismissed before the contract expires, he can be committed to a penal institution for two years .•

:;!-::: l\1o 1rJhite person living in town can accomodate on his premises the son of his African servant if such son has reached the age of ten years.

~:< It is unlawful for African workers to take part in a strike for any reason whatsoever, punishment for doing so is three years -4... ' ..,, imf)r1 sort... men t. -,-.£: ..-~=·'1~ .,..· ... :!!,. * An.African is prohibited from doing skilled work in the building industry in any town in South Africa. * An African factory worker who is absent from work for twenty-four hours without permission is guilty of a criminal offense punish­ able by imprisonment for not longer than three months.

:~,~ An African whose employment is terminated may be required to leave the area where he works within twenty-four hours.

:~,( An African who conducts a class in his home in reading and writing for his friends is guilty of a criminal offense punishable by six months imprisonment.

:~,( No African is entitled to acquire land anywhere in South Africa not even in his own Bantu areas.

"'~ Any Afric,qn found on any premises with a firearm is subject to the nffense of sabotage and liable to the death penalty.

APARTHSID This whole system of oppression in South Africa is called apartheid. The basic purpose of apartheid is to secure an abundant supply of cheap labour for the economy. It entails an elaborate system of rules for regulating the lives of the Africans. Labour legislation, pass laws, labor bureaus, are all part of this system. Under apartheid an african who is unemPloyed and does not return to his reserve risks being arrested and sent to a work colony for up to three years. In most cases an African must accept a job offered to him. He is sent wherever he is needed. He must carry a pass book con­ taining the details of his employment and produce it on demand of the police. Apartheid deprives the Africans of any oPportunity for escaping his condition. On the whole they are denied ~ccess to education and the government has barred them from most skilled jobs.

Under aoartheid the ready will to apply force results in:

:~,c More than 2,000 Africans arrested dailv. ~c The detention of 8,000 political prisoners. * 100 judicial executions each year. * The torture and murder of political prisoners.

S'J:'AND.\RD OF LIVING The standard of living for whites in South Africa is the highest in the i'-rorld. They have achieved fAntAstic wealth through the exploi ta- tion and subjugation of the African majority.

):c The average white income per head is about "133 per month. rhe average African income is about .:;9. 80 per month. t.c The mines and quarries of South 1\frica employed 585,851 Africans and 62,373 whites in June, 1970. 1'he earnings of Africans who constituted 80 percent of the labor force totAled 31 percent of the total wages.

):c The annual cash earnings of miners in 1968 was ~'i5, 275 for white miners and ~265 for AfricAn miners. * Africans, the poorest section of the population, are taxed more heavily than whites. * Haintenance grants paid by the government to mothers vary by race: Whites receive ''60.20; Coloreds '!~26.95 and Africans ''~8.75.

INV8ST~~8~JTS IN SOUTH AFRICA South Africa is the best investment market in the world. American. firms doing business there make an average profit of 25 percent on their investment. This super profit is based on the exploitation of .~frican laber. American investments in South Africa total almost a billion dollars. These investments not only strengthen the power of the white minority but give Americans a vested interest in preserving the status quo and stemming the growing tide of revolutionary stru~gle. The alliance between the white minority and international capital- ism has fostered the rapid industrialization of the country, with the United States contributing heavily in this area. General 11otors, Ford and Chrysler produce half of South Africa's -6- motor vehicles and hAve invested ~300 million there. This massive l injection of American capital and technical expertise plays a major role in South Africa's attempt to capture the export markets of tropical Africa. While traders and financiers have reaped rich rewards, the Africans, Coloreds and Asians have gained no respite from oppressive discrimination.

THS OU~~RD POLICY

1 South Africa is trying to develop a new image, an "outward policy '

~f reasonableness and flexibility, coupled with an emphasis on being a bulwark agAinst communism. This latter tenet provides the major powers of Europe and America with justification for not isolating South Africa. South Africa aspires to extend its economic and political leader- ship in Africa while maintaining its apartheid system internally. In order to do this, South Africa must undermine the independence of the African nations. It is, therefore, extending the hand of "economic friendshipn to the undeveloped countries of Africa (As the United States does in Latin America) and calling for dialogue with the African nations It is under this outward policy thn.t efforts are being made to get Afro-Americans to visit South Africa now. This gives the false impression that the color line and apartheid are breaking down inside South Africa.

ORG ~T\1IZATION OF AFRICAl'r UNITY 'l'he Organization of African Unity (OAU) meeting in in June, 1971, ~greed that:

1 ; 1'he proposal for a dialogue between the independent African States and the racist minority regime of South Africa is a manoeuvre by that regime and its allies to divide African States, confuse world public opinion, relieve South Africa from international ostracism and isolation and obtain an acceptance of the status quo in Southern Africa.n The OAU rejected the idea of any dialogue with South Africa which -7- is not designed solely to obtain for the enslaved people of South Africa their legitimate and inherent rights and the elimination of apartheid. However, in November, 1971, President Felix Houphouet-Boigny of the urged direct talks with ,south Africa.

Volta, and r~lagasy. These are all former French colonies who still maintain close relations with . It should be noted that France is the major supplier of arms to South Africa.

Am~ED RSSIST,\PCS IJIT SOU CH:S~l:N 1-.FHICi~ South Africa has a close alliance with the other two white supremacist governments in Africa -- Portugal and Rhodesia. This alliance involves tremendous economic and military cooperation to con­ solidate v\rhite control of the areas. South 11.frica must maintain the Portuguese presence in Africa, for if colonial rule collapses South Africa will have a difficult border to defend. The Portuguese colonies in Southern Africa are in revolt. In hngola, Guinea- and ~~ozambique, the wars for independence erupted in the early sixties. Liberation forces now pin down an estimated 150,000 Portuguese troops and control from one-fifth to two-thirds of the territory. There is also guerilla action and resistance in Rhodesia. Portugal is finding it increasingly difficult to survive on the three battlefronts in Africa. The liberation movements in /.ngola,

~ozambique and Guinen-Bissau have all won important vistories in the last few years and continue to control new areas and establish self government in the liberated zones. The Portuguese now have to support an army of over 150,000 men in ufrica and are spending close to 50 percent of their annual budget on the wars. In December, 1971, the Nixon /\dministration came to Portugal's rescue. The United States signed an agreement (the Azores Pact) -8- offering Portugal a huge commitment of $435 million in credits and direct aid in return for A five year lease on the ',.zores military base. This aid is clearly an effort to strengthen Portugal and help it reestablish control in /.ngol,q, l'~ozambique and Guinea-Bissau. Because South Africa's security is tied up closely with the Portuguese territories, U. S. support of Portuguese colonialism cannot be separated from U. S. support of South Africa's apartheid regime. It was in disgust over these maneuvers that led Representative

Charles Dig~s to resign as a United Stntes delegate to the United Nations. Rep. Diggs said he interpreted the ilzores agreement as an open alliance between the United States and Portugal and a partnership in the subjuga­ tion of African people. There has been prior United States aid to Portugal but the .zores pact is the most flagrant.

~here are two prevailing policies concerning South Africa. One, which South ~frica itself favors, is thAt apartheid is here to stay and should be accommodated. There are glowing reports in the American press written by /.mericnn writers and lecturers who have visited South Africa. These reoorts admit that apartheid exists but urges greater communica- tion between the United .States c:md South ,·,frica, more foreign investment and tourism on the theory that we might have a civilizing influence on the racist rer':ime. rhey urge a policy of Adjustment and accommodation with the ~~rhite supremacists. The truth is thnt during the last twenty years of growing foreign investment and industrialization in South Africa, apartheid has hardened. It has become more harsh and oppressive.

The other policy, reflected by the Organization of African Unity and the anti-aoartheid movement, recognizes that contradictions are such -9- within South ~fricR that apartheid cannot ~tand ~orever. The white minority c1nnot forever subjugate the black majority and it is an error to accommod~te the racist regime. &ny accommodntion to South Africa will only strengthen it and wenken the resistance movements. This oolicy recognizes that apartheid constitutes a crime against humanity which subjects African people to exploitation and .. genocide.

And it apolauds and su~ports the liberation wnrs in Southern Africa in which African peonles are fighting for their survival. 1'hese two policies are antn,r:onistic. You cannot accommodate white supremacy while also resisting it.. Black "'mericnns must under- stand the noliticnl significance of touring in South A.frica. l'hey will be conferring overt support to the racist regime and to apartheid. They will be pawns to further enslE'lve their "-l.fricnn brothers.

Ry;SIST JTI' YOUH O"l\T BACKYi1.FI.D For resistance fighters there are activities to participate in at home in AmericA which c1.n aid the beleagured \fricans. There Are

A.nti-apartheid orgAnizations in your Oi~m com'11Unity. Join tl'nm. Support their actions in their call to:

Condemn the ~'ixon administration and United States investors in South nfrica for assisting the racist regimes of South Africa and Portugal in its o~pression of African, Colored and Asian peoples. Condemn Fr,<:mce and E11gl:md for continuin?.,; to SU')ply South 1frica with arms in violation of the United Pations resolutions. Reject A.ny dialogue with South Africa which is not concerned with the elimination of apartheid and the rights of the oppressed •.

Assist the liberAtion wnrs in r~ozambique, 11np:ola and Guinea­ Bissau with contributions and publicity. Continue the boycott of South Africa in economic, cultural sPorts and other fields.

-10- DIRECT COtSTRIBUTIONS Contributions of money, medical supplies and books can be sent directly to guerilla headquarters: African National Congress of South Africa P. o. Box 1791 , FRELIMO (Mozambique Liberatinn Front) P. 0. Box 15274 Dar es Salaam,

PAIGC (~frican Party for Independence of Buinea (Bissau) and Islands} Box 298 , Hepublic of Guinea Zapu ( African Peoples Union) P. 0. Box 1657 Lusaka, Zambia

S'WAPO (South ~~~est Africa Pe~ples Organization. P~ 0. Box 2603 Dar es Salaam fanzania

~1PLA (Pooular l'lovement for the Liberation of Angola) ?. o. T-lox 1595 Lusaka, Zambia

AFRO~lJ11ERICAFS STAY HOHE Afro-Americans can do more to assist their African bt8thers by carrying on the fight on the home front than by entertaining, leeturing or touring in South Africa. COHMITTEE OF CONCERNED BLACKS .-' ,·,/ J) /~.-. : ,..-f" ' .. i..:. ' . .·_,,· By ' · ·--' '~ .. · //'' · Z •'' r / li ( / Dr. Jo Henrik Clark• ••

)

O~mmittee of Concerned Blacks Louise r1eriwether 1691 E. 174th Street #7D .... ' Bronx, New York 10472 (In Preparing this Daper we acknowledge the use of materials secured from the United Nations and the Jlmerican Committee on Afriea. ~ - 11 -