Action Alert Hospital Workers Detained in Venda Bantustan

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Action Alert Hospital Workers Detained in Venda Bantustan

198 Broadway • New York, N.Y. 10038 • (212) 962-1210 Tilden J. LeMelle, Chairman Jennifer Davis, Executive Director ACTION ALERT HOSPITAL WORKERS DETAINED IN VENDA BANTUSTAN April 24, 1991 Nine members of the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU) were detained on April 22 by apartheid authorities in the Venda b~ntustan. The nine a:oc:: e:o_mong l9 hospit~.l workers fired earlier this year after leading a strike at Venda's Siloam hospital against incompetent and racist doctors. According to COSATU officials in Venda, the nine have no legal representation and are unable to post the R2,000 ($800) demanded by the bantustan police. The Venda security forces are notorious even by South African standards for their use of torture against trade union, church and anti-apartheid activists. For that reason there is grave concern for the safety of the detainees, and urgent action is needed to win their release. The arrests are the latest incidents in an escalating campaign of repression and violence directed against NEHAWU by the apartheid government and its allies. Hundreds of Black nurses currently face de-certification and dismissal by the government for joining NEHAWU strikes last year for recognition agreements and higher wages. NEHAWU President Beki Mkhize has been the target of two assassination attempts this year alone. Health workers appear to have been targeted because they often confront the government directly in state-run hospitals and schools. The repression may also be an attempt by the white authorities to break the union before constitutional negotiations begin. NEHAWU would be a major obstacle to any effort to maintain white privilege and control of education and health care in South Africa. De:mand t:he rel.ease of t:he Venda Nine and an end t;o at;t;acks on NEHAWU. Tel.l de Kl.erk: HANDS OFF LABOR IN SOU'1W AFRICA! Send Faxes to: Ambassador Harry Schwarz Ambassador William Swing Gabriel Ramushwana South African Embassy u.s. Embassy Venda Authorities Washington, DC Pretoria, South Africa Sibasa, Venda (202) 265-1607 (011-27-12) 219278 (011-27-15581) 22971 Please send copies of your messages to The Africa Fund. for information contact Mike Fleshman, Labor Desk Coordinator. Established by The American Committee on Africa, 1966 • Contributions are rax-deductible .

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