Playing Poker with Peace

fWITWATERSRAND & PRETORIA I ELSEWHERE IN SA^ THE I1 B1.00 tncL CST) I n i ' 12 <*'cl 0SI) J INTO THE DARK Part II of our scries I of first-hand accounts of life or. 'o e a ^ the mines. This I j g week: Going underground « p a g e 9 THE PAPER FOR A CHANGING SOUTH AFRICA THE GIFT MAGGIE WANTS FROM PW: MANDELA It’s on no agenda, but it’s a key Commonwealth issue this w eet Thatcher visit to SA p a g e Playing From one poker general with peace another South Africa ups the stakes. But is Pik just bluffing? By SHAUN JOHNSON, Johannesburg, and MARK VERBAAN, Windhoek IF the Angolan peace talks were a poker game, Pik Bo­ tha’s opponents would now be holding their cards with sweaty, unsteady hands. They would be facing the ultimate poker player’s I nightmare: the stakes have been wildiy upped, and no- one is sure whether the raiser is engaged in a gigantic bluff. The South African government’s proposal for a rushed settlement, which stunned participants at the Ge­ neva peace talks this week, has been subjected to two contradictory interpretations. Speaking in Pretoria, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pik Botha proposed independence for Namibia by June next year, a virtually immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal ol all South African troops from Angola by September 1988 and, starting from November, from Namibia. In turn, Cuban troops would have to be out of Angola by June 1, 1989, the date set by South Africa for Namibian elec- tions. The first interpretation is thatj Botha’s proposal is proof of Pre- j toria’s bona fides: “There can no5 longer be any doubt about the j sincerity of the South African government’s commitment to the earliest possible independence for South West Africa,” argued the SA^C. “The peace plan must be regarded as a firm and cate­ THERE is no liberty of of constitutional government goric commitment... to a wider peace in southern Africa.” Pik Botha speech, no liberty of ... I will do my best ...' to The second is that it is, in the words of South West Africa National Union (Swanu) the press, and all the prevent the people coming leader Verkuii Rukoro, “a public relations exercise, under slave rule ... as a result probably the most spectacular of the decade”. ordinary liberties of the Swanu, an internal party which has rejected the Na­ public have been taken of the acts of the mibian “transitional government”, believes Pretoria’s negotiators are seeking “to create an artificial situation in away. We have nothing less minister of defence which Angola and Cuba will be deemed to have re­ placed Pretoria as the chief procrastinator and impedi­ than a despotism such as we who would do well to ment to Namibian independence”. listen to the voice of Which version is convincing depends on whether one find nowhere else in the world accepts that; where there is any semblance the people. • South Africa is so eager to cut its losses in south­ ern Angola and the region that it will relinquish Nami­ bia, or General Barry Hertzog, opposing the • Pretoria is taking a huge gamble, perhaps irrevoca­ bly committing itself to a Namibia it cannot control, but conscription of South African believes by seizing the initiative in the peace process its objections can be made later from a position of strength. soldiers to fight in Namibia in 1915 Which one of these one accepts influences the inter­ pretation of yesterday’s South West Africa Territorial Th« ECC and Ganaral Malan: PACE 2 • T o PAGE 2

The contents of this newspaper have been restricted in terms of the Emergency regulations Up to 30 000 metal A GROUP OF YOUNG MEN, MANY FROM PROMINENT AFRIKAANS FAMILIES, "THERE is no liberty o f speech for the public, no liberty o f the press, workers out ... and and alt the ordinary liberties of the public have been taken away. We have nothing less tluin a despotism such as we fin d nowhere else in the A bitter row the strike rolls on world where there is any semblance of constitutional government... / the SADF and as the minister of de­ tative of the full spectrum of South IJP to 30 000 Transvaal metalwork­ fence was considering proposals By EDDIE KOCH will do my best ...to prevent the African society. Its members have di­ ers have downed tools in the biggest from the End Conscription Campaign industrial action to erupt this year__ people from coming under slave vergent political, ethical, moral and At a press conference yesterday af­ (ECC) for a system of “alternative and unions involved say the strike rule, ami especially slavery as a re­ religious convictions but they stand ternoon the IMF said more than 90 service” for conscripts. could roll into factories not yet hit by sult o f the acts o f the minister o f de­ •, r , shoulder to anuuiucnnshoulderin solidsoua camarad- the stoppage. companies had indicated they would fence. The minister would do well to be prepared to talk about upping Seif- listen to the voice o f the people. r i ,h‘ °f s“lh Afri“” I he International Metalworkers sa’s offer. Federation (IMF) said about 25 000 The four unions have also decided THESE words were used by a former S Sl"T te % C C ,?re ^™ U ™ J O t t * ESTSSTn-'7‘“ '> members from four of its unions to concentrate the stoppage in facto­ started striking this week after drawn- ries and regions where their member­ out negotiations failed to resolve a ship is best organised. wage dispute in the industry. S S S v S S s a S The tactic appears to be an attempt The Steel F.ngineering and Indus- tries I:cdcration”(Seifsa)°has~howev- S i. £ ? f'™ ?, the strike er, released figures indicating onlv nl l e i i ,.nt0 less orga™ed S S s S 12 000 workers in 80 nhm! hnl P la n ,s rather than launch a mass na- downed tools P'an‘S ^ I ' ^ l strike which could crumble at S S p s S S 3 3 foul of regulations which outlaw ■ The IMF says more than 4 000 ' t T J P ° ln,s‘ B 3 = campaigning against the system of 3 oeneral JBM Hertzog, speaking in ing the present dispensations and its military conscription. , parliament on March 1 , 1915. renewal The ECC itself issued a statement ^ros

(Nactu)zzzszifSrGSssi Unions mum“ wage 4 for7 iabo.Jrers “ to R 3 Q2 an many he ofd,e? those B- who“ - >■ have * —come *to mourn for a young soldier, and for This year was the first time the four i T / v P p ^ r m° St reCem demand those whom he has left behind,” he unions were able to patch up their ' wrote. differences in a bid to boost their col- h rePor1s a worker was killed “Did he die for the maintenance of lective muscle. yesterday after allegedly being our way of life? I mean, for the White At the same time the IMF is trying pu, *id “ nder the wheels of a bus way of life, for it is the White people to drive a wedge between the em- 2 Sl, , i premises of the strike-hit of South Africa who say what the ployers by saying it will exempt from 7 r and Cab'es fa,CI° ' way of life must be. the strike firms that agree to negotiate 7 ' Boksbi";g. Police said they had “Did he die for the continuance of a wage increase higher than the last 'nfo™ a,|on the woman was the Group Areas Act? Did he die for offer made by Seifsa pushed. It could not be established if — ------the incident was strike related. detention without charge or access? “Or did he go to fight because his friends were going to fight? Or be­ Child dies in truck shooting cause he felt no call to be a conscien­ tious objector? Or because he loved MUNICIPAL police escorting a Coca his country, and didn’t want to leave Cola delivery truck in Soweto this By THAMI MKHWANAZI it? week allegedly shot at Soweto pupils, confirmed the pupil’s version Aw.r “One is not supposed to ask these questions. The asking of them is sup­ posed, in some queer way, to show that one does not love one’s country. This week, the grieving brother a conscript bids farewell to his girlfriend this week asked these same questions and, an­ £f ssfctss^S S S ™ ® 8?= Plctur»: ANNA ZIEMINSKI, Alraptx than 900 students at Zone 5 Mea- . dowlands. The pupils said the shooting oc- swering them, said he could not con­ tinue in the SADF. The injured are Quintin Nyathela crh!^,i * ,-,en ^.ey ,werc rcturn*ng to I Pietermaritzburg pjel doctor, Mark Pa- The full list of the 143 names 15, a Std 7 pupil who was shot in the M ^ ^ l a n d s ^ o m ^ o f f ^ " C 10’ trick-ick, was one of the 18 Natal con­ A FULL list of the 143 conscripts who have announced they will not serve in the South Anton Eberhard, Rolte Eberhard, Glen Goo- neck, and Marlin Illayise, 16 whose 7 ' P 1 I scripts Stu' ' who issued a joint statement Alrica Defence Force follows. sen. Richard Gosnell, Stephen Granger, Da­ hand was grazed by a bullet ,Wh? WaS explaining killed that they were not pre­ The 'Johannesburg 66’: David Bruce, Saul vid Green, Jonathan Handler, Chris Herman- sen. Peter Hope, Nathan Honey, Timothy A member of the school's SRC r ^ ,’/ 8Cd‘y £ paredthugs‘ to serve in the army. Bauolm, Eckard Schlotfeldt, David Kimber John Beadle, John Draper, Clifford Elk’ Honev, Philip Ivey, Jaco Malan, Andrew Mar- “I have now chosen the side, in Steve Silver, Steve Kromberg, Simon Con­ quard, John Melunsky, Andrew Herrifield South Africa that is struggling to re- nell, Neil Mitchell, Nick Dimitriou, Douqlas Peter Moll, Gordon Morion, Nico Muller Neil Torr, Noel Stott, Wilhelm Liebenberg My burg, Laurie Nathan, Bobby Nel, Crispian Cola delivery truck had stopped, critical condition according to the place aPartheid with the principles °f Etienne Marais, Brendan Bar,7 , Paul yerryn.’ Olver, Justin Pearce, Herman Reuter Mi­ when I saw this man ainung his gun parents of the deceased and Hie SRC non’raciallsmnon-racialism and democracy.dem ocrat ThicThis AS Roskam, Nicholes Connell, Peter Rule’ chael Rautenbach, Ben Schoemsn, David means that I can never again partici­ Ian Michelow, Anthony Philbrick, Anton Schmidt, David Shandler, Jonathan Shapiro “He had aMphieH fmm ih h- v memb^r- Hlayise was discharged af- Richard Smith, Julian Snitcher, Peter Stei- pate in the SADF,” he said. Schoon, Mark Devenny, Aldo Less, Gavin Q alighted from the truck, ter beinp treafpH at th#» Donnoliy, Eli Silber. Kendell Geers, Gavin neger Paul Sturrock, Neels Theron, Justin standing on the passenger side of the Clinic Phomolong His brother Timothy joined the Andrew Bannister, Gregory Jacobs Tweeddale, Alex Twiggs, Pieter van der Riet vehicle, when he fired three shots ” rv. \n j j SADF in January 1979 and became a Clifford Panter, Gary Rathbone, Lawrence Davida Waddilove, Harald Winkler, Darrel Wratten and Andre Zaaiman. A police unrest report said security sembteUrT‘ ^ . al? ut 9 7 0 PuPjl as' commissioned officer. Hoff, Allen Goddard. Edwin Ritchken, Frank Muller, Derek Spitz, Clive Glaser, Colin Cole­ force members used shotgun fire to uie Th»- S um.e pay The Grahamstown 10 are: Mark Thomp- 1 , WIJ1 He also volunteered to serve in man, Andries Nel. Michael Avidan, Paul son, Andrew Roos, Patrick Tandy, Daryl disperse , group which s ln e d a d .” s S e l ^ S k o l o " , " ^ northern Namibia and “died 300km Broomberg, Chris de Villiers, Neil Suderland McLean, Glenn Bownes, Peter Hathorn An- livery vehicle in Soweto, and two were d u S S ? k where they inside Angola”. Mark Nel, Anthony Kinahorn, Paul Boulle' drd Oosthuizen, Paul Wessels. Paul Teeion Steve Lowry, Andrew Wajs, Mike Urban' and Ray Hartley. peop!^ were injured. members X ^ “He was painted black and was Robin Draper, Saul Johnston, Roddy Payne' wearing a Unita uniform,” Paton Steve Louw, Richard Maguire, Patrick Bren­ The -Durban 18* are: Mark Patrick. Ste­ nan, Paul Sadie, David Sadie, Anton Medak phen Garratt, Patrick Vorster, Shaun Sou^h African PolicTJJesYfi’aistn di- F m ^ Z ^ S S T o f n f1 ? artWeIl nor wrote. Briggs. Mark Symonds, Tim Mosdell, Dallas Andrew Ball, Dougan Fraser, Seamus Bren­ vision, confirmed the report " ° f ‘hc Sowcto dlv‘- “He died painlessly and fast (one nan, Richard Spoor and Dave Newby. Harris. Steven Collins, Jonathan Gunthorp bullet), the family was told. Timothy The 'Cape Town 48' are: Peter Anderson Marlm Birtshistle, Angus Stewart, Stuart Resident living near the intersection comment aVaJ'abIe ^ McNally. Donn Edwards, John Clark, Lind­ Nicholas Borain, Dawie Bosch. Michaei was given a pro patria medal.” say Falkov. Richard Steele, Joe Power and Briggs, Cameron Dugmore, Jean du Plessis Dave Johnson. CHALLENGE f H * MILITARY .. Pretoria’s commission as an SADF officer and refused to serve the SADF “in any great Angolan way” until apartheid was gone and the SADF acted in the interests of all peace gamble rages over peace... the country’s people. Today, in 1988, there was a clear •From PAGE 1 At simultaneous meetings acting as individuals and not under second day of the mid-year military parallel with Hertzog’s position, he the auspices of the ECC. Force (SWATF) announcement that it around the country, 143 call up, when thousands of youths re­ said: “It is clear the government, was “bombarded from Angolan soil” The youngest is 18, the oldest 36 men announce that they ported for national service. They through apartheid and control over on Monday. The incident could, if years old. They include Afrikaans- as would not say how many of them the media, is deliberately striving to Pretoria wished, be cited as another will not serve In the well as English-speakers. One is the were expected to report for military keep any knowledge of the objective example of Angolan/Cuban insinceri­ army. The challenge has its grandson of a former cabinet mini­ service this week. realities of South Africa away from ty — and could bedevil the talks. effect ... Minister of ster, another a Rhodes scholar, an­ All the objectors — stressing they the population.” The Machiavellian view of South Defence Magnus Malan hits other a nuclear physicist. took the decision of their own free Zaaiman said he had graduated from Africa's actions is held by a range of Some are students, others are doc­ will and at times addressing the press the University of the Orange Free back fiercely within hours. actors and observers. Their scepti­ tors, laywers, journalists, engineers, in Afrikaans — said they would be By GAYE DAVIS and State in Bloemfontein with Bachelor cism was summed up by a Windhoek architects, academics, clergy and reluctant to leave the country. of Arts and BA Honours degrees — THANDEKA GQUBULE teachers. There are social workers, a resident who said: “Pretoria hasn’t The group included universal relig­ both cum laude. In 1979 he complet­ even made a positive remark about dentist, an energy researcher, com­ ious pacifists and those who objected ed his national service at Oudt- on threatening the security of the state Namibian independence for 10 years, puter consultants, a film-maker, a li­ to serving in the SADF on moral and or acting as a vanguard on behalf of shoorn’s infantry school, emerging then out of the blue it wants to imple­ brarian, a botanist, artists and musi­ political grounds. as an SADF officer. any other body. It is a grouping that cians among them. ment Resolution 435 in three months. Their military ranks ranged from ri­ He was allotted to Free State Uni­ arose out of, has drawn support from ‘They’ve got something up their “As loyal South Africans, we wish fleman to lieutenant. Some who had versity’s military unit for his obliga­ and articulates the very real moral di­ sleeve again.” to contribute to the building of a served in the army cited their experi­ tory camps, and was made a captain. lemmas faced by those conscripted in peaceful and just society. The SADF The Namibian National Students the SADF,” the ECC national secre­ ences in the townships and in Angola He has seen combat on the Namibian violently maintains and propagates a Organisation (Nanso) is convinced tary, Alastair Teeling-Smith, said in a and Namibia. (See separate sto­ border and in Angola. fundamentally unjust and oppressive ry.) that the South African initiative was statement “ 1 am not, in principle, opposed to part of a subtle strategy to shift pres­ system. We cannot make a contribu­ Andre Zaaiman, 28, the former The 143, who made their state­ the SADF. From a soldier’s perspec­ sure from Pretoria. tion to justice and peace and at the SADF captain who quoted Hertzog, tive, it is a fine and well-trained force ments simultaneously in three separ­ If South Africa is looking for a same time be part or the SADF,” they faced a battery of television cameras with a proud history in both world ate groups in Johannesburg, Cape said in a joint statement. way out, what better way to do it and journalists in Cape Town as he wars. But it has become an instru­ Town and Durban, said they were than to come up with a set of dead­ The 143 made their stand on the explained why he had renounced his ment of deliberate and large-scale rep­ lines which are impossible to meet, ression, serving narrow political ends and then accuse the other parties of in the name of democracy and free­ acting in bad faith?” asked Nanso. dom. “I, and many other young South The co-ordinator of the Ai-Gams Africans, are not prepared to sacrifice fe.ou^iiig (an umbrella movement our lives in the defence of tyranny.” comprising Namibian supporters of Resolution 435), said he “rejected Zaaiman, now a teaching assistant with contempt the way in which the in the Department of Political Studies South African regime is toying with at the University of Cape Town, said our future and independence.” he served initially because of the There arc at least two voices in world-view his Afrikaner back­ Windhoek which regarded this ground gave him. week’s developments as positive, Intellectual debate and growth over however. Replying to accusations the years — “exposure to the realities that the timetable was too hasty, Ad­ of South Africa” — brought him to ministrator-General Louis Pienaar question the basic assumptions of Af­ said: “We have always been pressur­ rikaner nationalism and finally reject ised to implement 435, and now we them — a process both difficult and are accused of doing it too fast” traumatic. The chairman of the Chamber of He was not prepared to fight or die Commerce in Namibia, Dick Hat- for apartheid or the National Party. tingh, believed the South African pro­ “I am a religious objector,” said AJ posals “were genuine. The war is Goddard, “currently rendering com­ costing South Africa a pretty penny munity service for my refusal to enter and they want to get rid of it. South the SADF. Therefore 1 am prohibited Africa has shown they are serious.” by law to make any public statement But doublers point to other factors on political issues. as evidence of South African “game- “Speaking out for peace is now playing”. They are concerned that seen as a threat to our rulers. It is a Pretoria has quietly but firmly tragedy that in order to publicise “inserted” the issue of the closure of peaceful possibilities, and the Gospel African National Congress camps in of Peace for South Africa,... laws of Angola as a condition for a sub­ our country have been transgressed. ..1C11 HCISUIlill testimony on why they won’t serve in the SADF- continental agreement. Most of the 143 objected to military To suggest an immediate implemen­ Stephen Louw, Etienne Marais and Wilhelm Liebenberg P,c,ur.: anna z.eminski, Airapix service for political and moral rather tation of the proposal before this is­ than religious reasons. sue has been dealt with indicates the "I am not a pacifist and would be speciousness of the South Africans’ Eyewitness tales of abuses in Angola willing to take up arms and serve in “grand gesture”, they say. an army which I believed protected TORTURING young girls and Ujing permanent force. Jt is not going to be an easy point to the corpse of an enemy guerrilla as a By THANDEKA GQUBULE the interests of South Africa’s popu­ “My experience in the townships,” overcome. While the South African pillow were among South African lation as a whole,” said Roddy SADF member “use the corpse of a he continued, “shattered any such il­ government insists the removal of the Defence Force atrocities cited by twor Payne, an urban geographer. owapo guerrilla as a pillow ”. lusions, and 1 am truly convinced that ANC is a fundamental tenet of the al­ former conscripts this week. “I have two lasting impressions of Marais urged fellow conscripts to the events I witnessed cannot in any ready-agreed “statement of (14) prin­ Etienne Marais, 26, former student the SADF,” Lawrence Roff said in a “break the silence” and disclose sim­ way be justified.” ciples”, Cuban negotiators say it representative council president at the statement “The first was a funeral I ilar experiences with the SADF. Louw said he had been stationed in would render Angola a "gendarme of University of the Witwatersrand, and attended in Alexandra township was involved in several cross- the townships around Port Elizabeth the aspirations of apartheid”. Stephen Louw, 23, a political science “ 1 where 17 youths were buried. The border raids such as Operation Protea and Uitenhage as well as at Tembisa African National Congress presi­ student at Wits, detailed their SADF youths had been killed in^confiicts in 1981,” Marais said. “The sight of on the East Rand . dent Oliver Tambo believes Pretoria experiences at a press conference with the army. The sentiment I hundreds of refugees plodding north He was concerned about the “total is erecting new impediments to a called by 143 young men to say that picked up made it obvious that the from the wrecked town of Angiva (in disrespect with which the SADF peaceful settlement by creating a sec­ they would not serve in the army. people of Alexandra considered the Angola) and the fact that all the fight­ treated people in the townships.” ond “linkage” Marais served as a rifleman in the SADF an army of occupation.” ing I was aware of involved attacks Louw said as a Buffel driver he Sceptics also reject the South Afri­ SADF in Namibia and Angola from He said the second impression was on Angolan soldiers made it far more had been instructed to drive the vehi­ can explanation for why it broke with 1980 to 1982. Louw was a Buffel of being teargassed in a bus by the than a ‘hot-pursuit’ operation. cle “into a crowd of people to pro­ the protocol of negotiations by going driver in the townships of the Eastern SADF on May 1, 1986 in Soweto. “In Angiva I heard the SABC deny­ voke them to offer resistance”. public with its proposal. Pretoria says Cape from 1984 to early 1986. :“The boundaries between countries ing we were there, and later the same it was forced to reveal the plan be­ “My experience as part of the SADF He said the SADF regularly sjam- are artificial creations,” said a univer­ day heard the BBC confirming it.” cause it had become aware of “leaks in Namibia from 1981 to 1982 led me bokked small boys in the township sal pacifist. “We share a common hu ‘‘What I am angry about,” Marais in Geneva” which would have placed to believe the SADF’s presence is a and commonly ordered soldiers to manity.” He said he did not believe in added, “is that I was (part of) a war it in the public domain anyway. This brutal and unpopular one,” Marais “drop people at the other side of the taking life for any reason. against people I have no quarrel with. is an attempt to disguise a carefully- said. township and deal with them” . I am angry that I was made into a “There need not be a brain-drain,” planned intervention, say critics. Incidences of “initimidation and •T h e public relations directorate of symbol that struck terror into small said nuclear physicist, Dr Simon For its part, the South African gov­ degradation” included, he said, sol­ boys in Ovambo villages. the SADF said the statement issued Connell, who called for acceptable ernment believes the cool reception diers stealing beer, exposing them­ by Minister of Defence General Mag­ “I am angry about waging a war the forms of alternative service for all given to its proposal puts the serious­ selves to Ovambo women, tearing government was lying to me about nus Malan was the only response that conscientious objectors. ness of the Angolans and Cubans in down village fences and shooting ri­ and lying to the world about.” would be issued to the 143’ s stand. Connell called for the SADF to ac­ doubt. fle grenades into villages without cept service in non-govemment com­ Objectors were ;i I so concerned In his statement Malan said the End Late yesterday, it was announced checking to see if people had been munity bodies, where the skills of the about SADF activities in the town­ Conscription Campaign was threaten­ that the Geneva talks would be ex­ evacuated. objector could best be utilised. ships, described by many as a civil ing the security of the state and was tended for a further day. Meanwhile, Marais said he also witnessed the Librarian Noel Stott, who has war. Most found service in town­ “on the vanguard of those forces that members of the Transitional Govern­ “shooting of a 13-year-old (Nami­ worked for military intelligence, said: ment in Windhoek met President PW ships even more objectionable than are intent on wrecking the present bian) girl in cold blood” and the "Much of the information of which I Botha in Pretoria. serving in the border conflicts. dispensation and its renewal. eight-hour torture of a 16-year-old am aware cannot be published and the Brinkmanship notwithstanding, the “When I initially served my two “Any person or organisation dis­ Angolan girl. Defence Act prevents me from speak­ talks continue — and this alone sug­ years in the army, I was, as I am to­ rupting and undermining the respon­ He described other gruesome inci­ ing of it. However my experience of gests that all the parties perceive they day, quite prepared to serve in an sibility entrusted to the SADF is act­ dents. “Collecting ears and fingers as military intelligence has shown me have important gains to make from army which upholds principles I saw ing in conflict with the constitution. souvenirs happens quite often on the that the SADF has taken sides against staying in the game. All have had as sacred and inviolable,” said Louw, No self-respecting state can tolerate border,” he said. He had also seen an the majority of South Africans and pretexts for pulling out. None are yet who had contemplated a career in the such subversive action,” he said. the peoples of the-Frontline states,” ready to reveal their full hand. . .. W e support all those, who, conscientious objectors are for reasons of conscience, recognised and can do choose not to serve civilian, non-governmental, in the South African forms of alternative Defence Force. service. Such We request the service should not South African be longer than government to military service. agree to the We respect and proposals of the End honour the stand Conscription taken by David Campaign and the Bruce and by those Objector Support Groups for 143 objectors who released the conscription law to be their statement on August changed so that all 3rd, 1988. WAR RESISTERS’ INTERNATIONAL(WRI) ______. ■ % ».*

Movimiento de Objecion de Conciencia | Austria ------Finland India (MOC) j Arbeitsgemeinschaft fur Zivildienst, Soz- Aseistakieltaytyjaliitto India War Resisters International, New Sri Lanka iale Verteidigung und Gewaltlosigkeit Union of Conscientious Objectors, Hel­ Delhi (IWRI) sinki Nonviolent Direct Action Group Australia Sitoutumatou vasemmisto (Independent Israel (NVDAG) Left) Helsinki War Resisters League (WRL, Canberra) International Movement of Conscientious Sweden France War Resisters Tel Aviv Belgium Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation Union Pacifiste

Issued by War Resisters’ International 55 Dawes Street, London SE17 IEL, England. warn ‘ n i l 7, drama began last Friday with a !i’\v brief words from the commis­ I le argued that taken together, these sioner of police: Why your Weekly undermined the system of conscrip­ "Under the powers invested in me tion. b\ Regulation 9(I) ol the Media J Swart SC, appearing for the com­ l.mergency Regulations, 1988, I, missioner, said the issue "boiled Hendrik Gideon de Witt, Commis­ Mail disappeared down to the fact that the newspaper is sioner of the SAP, hereby order the tellings its readers, with obvious ap­ seizure of the publication, ‘The proval, that 143 loyal and responsible Weekly M ail’, Vol 4, No 30 (Friday people have decided to take a public August 5 to Thursday August 11, from the shelves =*» stand, not merely advocating change, 1988)." but saying they will not serve in the Police seized copies of last week's Weekly Mail. I x l j It ended three days later with an SADF or do compulsory military equally terse statement from Mr Jus­ Thirty hours passed before reasons were given training. tice 11CJ Flemming. “The application “They not only present argument as to why not, but rely on a number of is dismissed with costs, including the fell within the definition of “security tary service. costs of two counsel,” he said. Weekly Mail Reporter gruesome details in terms of which force action to quell unrest”, ruled Media regulations make it illegal to The messages may have been brief, the SADF is the aggressor, the mur­ later stage. The reasons he advances out of bounds by Emergency regula­ “undermine or discredit the system of but they were laden with significance derer and the criminal, apart from be­ in that document arc likely to define tions. compulsory military service”. The for the South African press. ing used as a political instrument of the parameters of what can be written Weekly Mail contended that be­ commissioner of police gave as one The judge had upheld the right of the ruling party,” he said. in two important areas: cause police had dealt with the matter reason for the seizure the combined the commissioner to order the seizure I le objected to the advertisement on • Security force action. One of the in their daily “unrest report”, it was effect of a cartoon and quote on page of last week’s edition of Weekly M ail the grounds that it gave broad ap­ reasons given for the seizure of the not restricted information. News and one of the newspaper, coverage (on and dismissed an urgent application proval to the 143. newspaper was a page two report of a comment on the incident was permis­ page two and three) of the decision by the paper for the action to be de­ Dennis Kuny SC, appearing for shooting incident in Soweto in which sible because police had acknowl­ by 143 men to object to military scr- clared unlawful. Weekly M ail, argued there was noth­ a student was killed. edged it, the paper’s lawyers argued. jviee, and an advert placed by War ing illegal about criticising conscrip­ He will write a full judgement at a Police contended that the incident + The system of compulsory mili­ ■Resisters International (on page 22). tion or calling for alternatives to it; this did not consitutc an undermining of the system. This had been esta­ blished over time by organisations operating legitimately and legally, such as the End Conscription Cam­ paign (ECC). He said the Weekly M a il was care­ fully scrutinised by lawyers before it went to press and they believed the paper had not transgressed the Emer­ gency regulations. Kuny also argued that the commis­ sioner was obliged to supply full rea­ sons when issuing his original sei­ zure order. It was not good enough for the commissioner to act on Friday and then take his time going through the newspaper with a fine-toothed comb to list his reasons. It had taken Weekly M a il almost 48 hours to obtain the commissioner’s reasons for the seizure. Attorneys acting for the newspaper had telexed police headquarters early on Saturday 0 ask lor these reasons; when they lad not been received by the evening, hey went to the supreme court on Saturday night. Counsel for the commissioner had iot yet taken instructions and the mat- :r was postponed to Monday morn- ig. Justice Flemming declined to give n interim order — stopping the sci- ures pending the outcome of the ap- lication — on Saturday. The reasons were finally given to ic newspaper’s attorneys alter 6pm 1 Sunday — and their validity was gucd (unsuccessfully) on Monday oming in the Rand Supreme Court, cnis Kuny SC, assisted by Frans uutcnbach, and instructed by Bell, cwar and Hall, appeared for Weekly ail. I Swart SC appeared for the com- issioncr. Weekly M ail's legal representatives id afterwards they would decide icther to lodge an appeal after the X written judgement was delivered.

Collection Number: AG1977

END CONSCRIPTION CAMPAIGN (ECC)

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