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CODESA III or any other forum — may In the years between well become more difficult. Nor indeed, has the prospect of what we might call the government's other possible strategy, Sharpeville and Bisho aiming for an NP-ANC duumvirate, in any way been enhanced. What we may see instead is a greater many have died determination by the ANC to push for concessions in an area the government is N MONDAY, 7 September 1992, According to journalists who were on least disposed and perhaps least able to O at least 24 ANC demonstrators the scene, the shooting took place after make them: control of the security were shot dead and nearly 200 wounded some protesters stormed through an forces. Indeed, any forthcoming battle when soldiers in Bisho opened fire open rear entrance to the stadium, while over the federal or unitary nature of the on a 40 000 strong crowd protesting another group of demonstrators re­ new constitution may well pale into against the homeland's military rule. moved a section of razor wire adjoining insignificance compared with the The permission had been granted by the stadium. It is reported that the struggle for control of the security forces Ciskei authorities for the march and a Ciskeian troops opened fire on ANC — seen as the final guarantor by the NP rally to be held in the Bisho Stadium. marchers without any warning. Brigadier of white living standards and as the key Gqozo insists that his soldiers had received orders to shoot in self-defence instrument by the ANC for breaking the trusted to hold a free and fair election. back of white minority rule. Few should To put it equally bluntly, what the doubt that the third round of the negotia­ outside world now wants to see is the RONSON DUMISANE tion process looms as much tougher election of an at least ANC-led govern­ KHULUSE, OF THE CENTRE than the second; and there is no guaran­ ment, so that the issue of FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE tee that the match will not last a full ten finally goes away. AT NATAL UNIVERSITY, rounds. RECALLS OTHER LL THIS implies bad news for the MASSACRES AND Against that, there is some specula­ NP's projected Christian Alliance. QUESTIONS THE tion that, in a desperate bid to rescue the A Quite how an election will be conducted METHODS USED BY economy, both the ANC and NP may in this country whilst violence is so rife THE SECURITY FORCES decide to go for broke in an earlier than remains a question which neither the TO CONTROL expected election in recognition of the ANC nor NP have as yet given adequate DEMONSTRATING fact that only a fully legitimated govern­ attention. However, what the idea of the CROWDS ment can conceivably hope to re­ Christian Alliance rests upon is the establish political order and attract ability of its various ethnically-defined after shots were fired and hand grenades much needed foreign investment. And in constituents to deliver their ethnic votes. were flung at them from within the ANC that case, what can be argued is that the And behind this lies the long experience crowd. The ANC says that the shooting Bisho massacre will have had the major of controlled and rigged elections in the was unprovoked and that the Ciskeian consequence of having increased the . soldiers had at no time been in danger. determination of the international com­ But what would happen if in Other ANC supporters were stopped munity to despatch an army of electoral , KwaZulu and Ciskei by Ciskeians shortly before reaching the monitors. there were to be a truly free vote? What border on their way to the march. They would happen if in the secrecy of the were thoroughly searched and the troops swore at them and said they were fooled UCH HAS been said in recent polling booth and the integrity of the by into believing they could times concerning the fact of South vote counting process the ethnic con­ M topple Gqozo. The troops were also Africa's increasing marginalisation. struct fell apart? The answer is self- reported to have said that in Ciskei they With the end of the Cold War, the West evident: the Christian Alliance could did not use teargas and they did not can concede black rule and, if need be, well be blown apart. have bullets to waste by firing warning allow to collapse back into In the final analysis, what the Bisho shots. its declining continent as just another massacre has done has been to reinforce Surely, soldiers are taught the circum­ chaotically run African country. But the international community's determi­ stances justifying the use of different against that, what is really not in the nation to push for a viable settlement in types of equipment, the handling of West's interests is for South Africa to South Africa. It has had enough of its various weapons, and how to assess descend into civil war. It would be far Somalias and its Yugoslavias, and if whether a crowd is aggressive and more convenient if a new South Africa nothing else, it would prefer South threatening, or merely excited. could be ruled by an indisputably, legiti­ Africa to hang together. mated government. However, what the That requires a genuinely democratic Emphasis should always be placed on massacre has done has been to suggest election. That has to be good news for the need for minimum force and its that, for all Mr De Klerk's nice face, the the country as a whole; but it is a far gradual escalation. The first step should government has scarcely changed its more ambiguous message for Mr De be to speak to the crowd. If this did not spots. To put it bluntly, a government so Klerk and the National Party. result in its dispersal, a warning should be given that, following a specified time, crass as to kill protesters in front of the • Professor Southall's article was written television cameras can scarcely be immediately after the Bisho massacre.

Page Seven From Page Seven Political commentator ANTHONY HEARD believes the force would be used. Tearsmoke should root cause of Bisho-type massacres is the be used first depending on wind and system which the Nationalist government "clings to like other conditions. Only after that should a bad habit." rubber bullets be used, or possibly bird- shot. Live rounds of ammunition should not be used in the absence of particular threat to the soldiers or to others. No SUCH TRAGEDIES ARE firearm should be loaded until the com­ manding officer has ordered this. The commanding officer should keep INEVITABLE OUTCOME in constant contact with his men, inform­ ing them how to handle particular situa­ OF VERWOERD'S tions and keeping them as calm and confident as possible. If the crowd failed to disperse, force could be used but the CRAZY VISION force used should not be greater than necessary and should be moderate and T WAS all so obvious. The dream had Bisho drew attention as never before proportionate to the circumstances of I to become a nightmare, the govern­ to "Bantustans" set up under apartheid, the case. ment's creation a Frankenstein. and still thriving, in a perverse sort of Firearms and other lethal weapons Yet it took 33 years for South Africans way, to this day. should be used to disperse a gathering to witness the events that signalled the In various Papa Doc Haitis scattered only where weapons less likely to cause death-throes of the Bantustan policy. around South Africa, brutality and dis­ injury or death had first been used to no And to this day the government shows respect for decent standards have become avail; or where there had been violent unwillingness to ditch the scheme, cling­ the order of the day. In this system, tear behaviour on the part of the crowd. In ing to it like a bad habit. gas, warnings and orthodox crowd addition, firearms should be used with An SADF-trained brigadier from control give way to unheralded volleys all reasonable caution, without reckless­ Ciskei was the agent of the latest terror. of deadly fire. ness or negligence and without causing But if it was not Brigadier Gqozo it Because the Bantustans are its crea­ unnecessary injury. would have been some other tinpot ture, unrecognized by the world, the dictator who would have done it. Bishos government of F.W. de Klerk must carry HERE HAVE been many demon­ were built-in inevitabilities of the system. ultimate responsibility for what Tstrators killed or injured over the To heap all or most blame on Ronnie happened — if not specific blame for years. Kasrils's charge of the light brigade is, pulling the trigger. That is a constant, On 21 March 1960 several thousands literally, to seek a red herring. A caco­ whatever the inquiries find on specifics. of people gathered near the police station phony of criticism has been directed at While argument rages over the rights at Sharpeville to protest against Africans this flamboyant adventurer. Yet were he and wrongs of Ciskei troops gunning having to carry reference books. The a Chinese hot-head in Tiananmen down scores of civilians who had broken demonstration was peaceful and had Square, he would have been hailed to through a line drawn by a magistrate, it been in progress for some hours, when Pretoria's rafters and feted by White is instructive to look back to the ideology an unidentified member of the police South Africa. that started it all, and to consider what force is said to have panicked and fired a The blame for the deaths lies squarely can urgently be done about it. shot without warning and without an on Brigadier Gqozo: the responsibility order to do so. rests with President De Klerk; and the R VERVOERD was Prime Mini­ This was followed by shots from root cause must be sought in the crazy D ster from 1958 to 1966, the years I numerous other members of the force, vision of Bantustans which Dr Hendrik happened to be in the Press Gallery. including the policemen manning Frensch Verwoerd announced to Parlia­ When the Nationalist caucus chose him machine guns. Sixty-seven people were ment in 1959. to succeed Hans Strijdom, a prescient killed and 186 injured. Of these forty In doing so, in the debate on the Nasionale Pers journalist, Schalk were women and eight were children. Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Pienaar, turned to fellow journalists and The police said in justification of the Bill, Verwoerd was laying the legislative muttered to us: "This is bad news. His shootings that they thought that they foundations for what happened to mind is far too tidy." were being attacked. But of the bullet African National Congress protesters in Within a year of his accession, wounds that could be classified, 30 were Bisho, in "independent" Ciskei. Verwoerd informed the country and the inflicted from the front and 156 from world of his new vision. It concerned behind. T IS ideologically important to note setting up "Bantu" states. On 21 March 1985 a police patrol in that they were not South African There was much excitement, and con­ two armoured cars confronted a crowd I government troops who fired indiscrimi­ fusion. There were henceforth to be not marching from Langa to KwaNobuhle nately into a crowd of protesters, killing one but about nine or ten South Africas, to attend a funeral in contravention of a about 28, wounding nearly 200. and very fragmented. There was a helter- magisterial prohibition imposed on the No, they were the troops of a puppet skelter map-race, as journalists sought gathering. The gathering was peaceful. state of Pretoria's whose collapsing flag­ to pinpoint where the boundaries of According to the police a member of the pole at independence summed up its these states would be. A country whose Cont. on Page Eighteen rickety nature. Page Eight From Page Four Danger point

HILE Mr , they are using the resources of the state government with the National Party, W anxious to keep the negotiations to harass you and destabilise your organi­ even for a limited time, have been given on track, is at this point still giving the sation? enough ammunition to hold up the State President the benefit of the doubt, The NP for its part, is just as con­ process. others in the ANC are rather less trusting. cerned about the activities of the ANC's A spectre of mistrust hangs over the Unless the current investigation succeeds so-called self-defence units and wants to whole proceeding with suspicions on in convincing the public that the whole see MK disbanded before it will feel both sides about double agendas and truth has been uncovered and published more at ease. dirty tricks. for all to see, ANC distrust and cynicism At the time of writing, the ANC Just at the point when a negotiating about the negotiating process will grow. national executive committee was meet­ breakthrough is on the cards, President As some in the ANC are asking: How ing in Durban to discuss the leadership's De Klerk's reluctance to submit Military can you negotiate with people — let conciliatory proposals for the next phase Intelligence to independent scrutiny has alone go into an interim government of negotiations and the danger was that placed everything he has achieved in with them — when you are convinced those who are loath to share power in jeopardy. •

From Page Eight Between Sharpeville and Bisho crowd produced a petrol bomb and the wounded, 84 from behind. AWB supporters. One AWB man was police fired at the crowd. The subsequent commission of in­ shot dead, one was killed instantly by a Witnesses denied that any member of quiry, chaired by Mr Justice Goldstone, careering minibus and a third died later the crowd had produced a petrol bomb. found that the shootings were unjusti­ in hospital, also having been knocked They said the gathering was peaceful and fied, as the force used was immoderate down by the minibus. In the ensuing the police were hostile. and disproportionate. street battle 48 people were injured, Although the commanding officer including six policemen and thirteen claimed to have fired a warning shot, the On 24 March 1991, a group of some AWB supporters. 200 ANC supporters gathered in Davey- order to fire came almost immediately The AWB claims that the police acted ton on East Rand. No permission was after it. without warning, and had been ordered obtained for the march. The ANC stated The police did not use alternative less to 'shoot to kill'. The police concede that that the police arrived on the scene, gave violent crowd control methods because this order was given, but that this was the group ten minutes to disperse and they had been deliberately refused equip­ only after three policemen had already then, while the men were still discussing ment such as teargas, rubber bullets, been shot down. In addition, the police the issue, opened fire. The men ran away loudhailer and birdshot. They were claim that — even after this order was but were trapped by a second police equipped solely with lethal weapons. given — mainly teargas and birdshot vehicle, from which shots were also fired. The crowd comprised a significant were deployed; and that 'no ball am­ Twelve ANC supporters were killed and number of children and women. As in munition' was used. It seems, however, 27 injured. One policeman was hacked Sharpeville, the overwhelming pre­ from the reports of journalists present at to death and two injured. ponderance of people were shot in the the scene, that the AWB supporter shot back or the side. Only one out of 20 On Friday 9 August 1991, Mr F.W.de dead by the police was killed either by fatalities was shot directly from the Klerk was scheduled to address a meeting SSG buckshot or by sharp ammunition. front. of the National Party in the Commando According to the police, 10 889 gather­ On 26 March 1990, a crowd of about Hall in Ventersdorp. Right-wingers are ings were held during 1990 and the first 50 000 gathered in Sebokeng and some said to have threatened to disrupt any seven months of 1991. Of these, 1 360 90 policemen confronted them. The meeting held by the State President in were authorised. In 70 instances, per­ mood of the crowd was excited but not the town. Shortly before the NP meeting mission was sought and refused. For menacing or aggressive. The crowd was to begin, some 2 000 AWB suppor­ 851, permission was not sought, although moved to some 40 metres away from the ters — heavily armed with pistols and the gatherings were planned in advance. police line, but there was very little hunting guns — approached the Com­ Spontaneous gatherings, for which no stoning and no immediate threat to the mando Hall, which was guarded by permission was obtained, numbered police. Firing began without an order to approximately 2 000 policemen, and 8 608. shoot. A constable fired a teargas attempted to break through the police The total number of illegal gatherings canister from a stopper and sparked a line. AWB supporters were initially held in the Republic, during 1990 and the chain reaction in the police line. Shooting repulsed, following an exchange of tear- first seven months of 1991, was 9529. Of lasted between 10 and 20 seconds. Some gas from both sides. AWB supporters these, three gave rise to sustained contro­ 60 rounds of ammunition were fired. then attacked two minibuses, firing on versy because of deaths and injuries Five people were killed and 161 one. The police then opened fire on resulting from police actions. •

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