E EPISCOPAL CHUR.CHPEOPLE for a ~REE SOUTHERN AFRICA C 339 Lafayette Street, New York, N.Y. 10012·2725 S (212) 4n -e066 FAX: (212) 979 -1013 A #101 1 August 1990 SOUTH AFRICA - EMERGENCE AND REPRESSION
SOUTHSA Bulletin of Southern AfricanCANAffairs f-.&l Vol. 5 No. 28 ~. 20 July 1990 -----cYJ------.:.-- Strtkes and squatter protests spread throughout countIy CAPE TOWNI As the The UDF vice. Uri. week thousands The bulldozer dro~e government and the ofclothing workers took .traicht at them and president in the We.t tben eraehed into ANC gear up for the ern Cape, Dullah part in a demonstration 10 .upport of union.' their houaee. next round of talks Omar, said that the aimedatpreparingfor demanil for workera' Pa-inc pollee can UDF was concerned rights to be guaranteed were lItoned before negotiations, ma.s that the land was not MCUrity foreee rU'ed based organi.ations being ul8d and saw no in a new constitution. tearp.into the are taking militant More than 60,000 ancr:r crowd. reason why people workersjoined hands to action, wrUu a corre desperate for homes Ancry youth then spondent here. should not OCICupy the form a human chain moved into the A spate of strikes area. along main road. in adJolninc euburb of and squatter prote.ts Cape Town on newho~and has rocked South Af District Six haal Wedneaday. Similar attempted to torch imense emotional si - demon.trations took the hom..of Dobeon rica this month and niCicance for blac\ ville councUlorw. more seem likely to Capetonians as a sym- part in other major After their ..ttlement follow. This week the centre.. [Squattera at· of 80 hoUM. w.. United Democratic tacJJed P.211J demollabed, the Front announced a hoI ofhowapartheidbaa equaU.... pthered campaign to hiJrhlhrht ravaged the city. At A wave of local adm.let the nIbble and the thouaana. r.n presentmoooCthe area rebelliollll w.. thJ. bepn rebulldlnc the homelea. or living in IS empty except for a week ....plq ehaekL Lut w.ek white technical college throuch the ind~ councll olnelal.. from overcrowded squatter trial areu of the Reef the white town of settlements. and a few recently con· after the covernment Benoni, ...of The government .tructed hou... with eoupt to demollah Johann..hurt'. waa_~ck to hitout at price tags that place ~tter..ttlementll. arreeted 30 people the UDF'. plan. to oc them well outofreach rI A croup ofIlqU8tten from a loeal ehAnty cuPY vacant public moo South African•. in Thokou took up town ..they reelilted ana private land, Meanwhil.. the uum S"!UI; p4!~1 bombi attemptll to emaeh terming this -an invi· ber ofworker. on strike and match..to down their hom... top~ prevent police and In the central bu.1 tation to con· countrywide baa loeal councll oMclal.. n_ d1etrict ofthe frontation". In the the 40,000 mark· an all from demoU.hlnc city, hundrecla of Transvaal this week, tim. hilh which is ca.t their .Juaeblut homel_ people government officials iog industry billions. w..IL erected tentll on the demolished hundreds The trade union Two people were .ot pavement. and of shacks belonging to movement has threat dead in the claell.. demanded heeic "illegal squatters". enedftanbtraction with that ellllUeci and 2IS accommodation. The UDF re- mon·u.n 99,000cater· people - includlq t Ie ..timated that an~ ~tail ~brs five policemen ·were ..ven million people sponded defiantlysay illf lnjuiecL live ..equatten on ing that the squatter poised to tb dOll in A tanker filled with vacant rural and occupation would con· IUp~ of union mem- : calUtic eoda w.. urban land· 20% of tinue and that the hera locked out ofcom- hijacked and ..t the countrY. popula UDF intends to oc ~t.CI1~;~~, al1cht on tha main tion. reporte the cupy vacant flats in hiehway into Johan aeency IPS. I white areas. The uniOQ haw mo n_burl'. targeted ~~. On another edce of In Cape Town, Dis the city. in the trict Six - which has tions which they say Soweto ~burb of remained largel~ un practiceconfrontational Dobeonrill.. a p-oup developed since Its in labour relations. The i of women lI&ripiMd habitants were moved South African Brewer- i naked and .tOOG in out in terms of the iescorporation and Bar- . the path ofa bull· Group Areas Act -is to low Rand have both I dozer ..nt to demol been targeted. i lab the 8hanty town be the focal point of they Uve iA. p~~st action. ·VEEKEND MAIL. July 20 to July 26 1990
RGANISF,IJ occupation of vacant land, of len in defiancc of the Group Areas Act, has heen occurring since early this year. And far The paper for from hell hreaking loose. orderly commu a changing nities with a viahle fulure have hecn creatcd. This living challenge 10 predictions that South Africa "lIng()\'Crnahility" is Ihe inevitable outcomc Friday to Sunday "I' LUll! ill\ a~i"II" i~ I" he r"lInd maillly in Ihr Orange I'n::e Stall:. ~ July 20, 1990 Volume e, Number 27 Mangaung's rreedom Square which consists of 2 .'iOI) shacks --just 10 minutes out of Bloemfontein is an rxamplc, 1\1:lI1gaung Civic i\ssociation(MCA) secretary Sck. hppi l\'lalcoo slales unambiguously: "When we put up Ihesl' infpnllal areas we do it consciollsly as part of IhL' lL'possession oflhe land." /lilt this hasn'l prevented the Orange Frec State pro vincial aUlhorily f!'Om liaising with Ihe MeA to im /(s lIo/hillg IIC\\'Ior fhc homeless fo prpve the physical plan of rreedom Square and 'in mdc, mcant land. But the state's gr:lllr Ihe roads, Nor has it deterred the province f,pm faeililating a Iranskr of Ihe lalld lolhe local au !'I's/)Ol/SC \'(fries, In fhe Free State land is Ihorill' so Ihc settleml'nt can hecome pcnn:ment. sef asidc alld watcr laid rJ!1 -;'1 fhe " his pal tern is heing repeated Ihroughout the Or :lIlge Frec Stale \\hcre official cslimales of thc num 7'mmmo! shocks are torn dOH-'n to hl'l of Sh:lds rllll to 27 I)()() units spread over 20 eradicafc the 'evil' ofsquatting. IpIVns, II has 11(11 eliminaled the contest over land hut By JG-ANNE COLLINGE iI has helped manage it. eTo PAGE 3
eFromPAGE1 land. \Iike Makwa. .;n31ll11an ot ,he f'ree, There could be no sharper contraSI
Reports from the HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION of Joharmesburg:
On Sunday 15 July 1990, residents of Galeshewe township near Kimberley marched to the mayor's house to protest against the cutting off of electricity as a result of the ongoing rent boy cott. The municipal policemen guarding the mayor's house shot and wounded four residents dur ing the incident. The victims are currently in hospital. On 16 July, members of the local cormnunity marched to the town council offices in a bid to meet with the town clerk and present a memorandum focusing on the local township grievances. Apparently the town council did not arrive which led to the burning of the councillors offices. On 17 July, local schools met at one school to discuss the issue of electricity as it affects them directly as students. According to witnesses, police surrounded the school and fired birdshot, teargas and baton charged the students within the school yard. At the time of the release of this report, the situation was reported to be tense with the number of casualties increasing. According to a local anti-repression cormnittee, the figure for casualties is estimated at 122 and is expected to rise. A meeting between the local civic organisation and the police was fruitless with police refusing to leave the township.
In a separate incident, in the morning of l'bnday, 16 July 1990, the offices of Education Aid Programme (EAP), National Anti-Repression Committee (NAREn and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) were raided and valuable equipment was taken including telephones. At the EAP, a com puter, fax rrachine and telephones were taken. At the NUM offices, photocopier, typewriter and some minor office equipment were taken. At the NAREF offices, documents were reported missing and all the drawers were opened and papers thrc:wn around the office.
On Friday, 13 July 1990, in Khutsong near Carletonville, a 15-year-old activist, Eugene Thokozane Mbulawa, died in hospital after allegedly being assaulted while in police custody. On 10 July, two Kombis containing rrostly Khutsong Youth Congress members on their way to a meeting with the ANC in Joharmesburg, were intercepted by police. According to witnesses, all the youths were arrested and taken to Khutsong police station where police started as saulting them.
According to sorre of the youths who were arrested together with Eugene, he lost consciousness during the interrogation. He had not regained consciousness two days later when police took him to Leratong hospital. On Thursday evening, 12 July, several youths went to Eugene's home and reported his condition to his rrother. When she phoned the hospital on Friday morning, the nurse on duty told her that police said Eugene was suffering from epilepsy. According to his rrother, Eugene did not have a history of epilepsy.
Later on Friday she went to the hospital where the doctor on duty informed her that Eugene was suffering from multiple head injuries and severe internal bleeding in the head. According to Eugene's rrother, his rrouth, face and nose were very swollen. His teeth were loose and his legs and arms were bruised. He died later. We are awaiting post rrortem reports from his lawyer **** * * * * ** * * The INDEPENDENT BOARD of INQUIRY into INFORMAL REPRESSION in SOU'IH AFRICA, the year-old independent body set up to investigate 'extra legal attacks' on people and organisations reports from the Harms Cormnission hearings on the activities of the Civil Co-operation Bureau (CCB) , a secret South African Defense Force killer unit:
Counsel for the IBIIR handed in a list of 265 incidents of acts of violence directed against political organisations and activists to the Harms Corrmission. Members of IBIIR have express ed concern, should vital witnesses such as Defence Minister General Magnus Malan not be called to give evidence before the Commission concerning these incidents ....
CCB manager Joe Verster admitted in his evidence to the Cormnission that an 'emergency action plan' was activated to get rid of vital files relevant to the Cormnission. He told the Cormnis sion that internal project files were roved to a safe place as there were fears for the safety of CCB operatives and their families. The files have since disappeared-. Although the infonna tion contained in these files could be vital to the Cormnission for finding the truth about the CCB, the files could not be found and have not been submitted as evidence .
• Some Resolutions of the South African Council of Churches Conference 1990
Statement on the Prucess of Change
- That the government be called upon to reJIDve the remaining obstacles to negotiations; - That a Constituent Assembly of the people of South Africa, freely elected by universal suffrage, is the JIDst effective means of negotiating a future non-racial deJIDcratic South Africa, and should be established with all possible speed; - That we maintain our current position on sanctions and other pressures until irrever sible change has been achieved; - That the follc:wing definition of irreversibility of change be adopted and popularised nationally and internationally: - The dismantling of apartheid will be irreversible only when: - a Constituent Assembly is constituted; - sovereign power is reJIDved from the existing apartheid legislative structures and invested either in the Constituent Assembly or ano iher agreed interim structure; - the white minority cannot legally reverse or veto the process through the present unrepresentative legiSlative structures.
EWCATION CRISIS
The National Conference of the SACC believes that the root cause of the present crisis in education is the absence of a single departJnent of education and that the crisis is likely to escalate until this problem is addressed.
Conference therefore resolves that a delegation of church leaders should request an ur gent joint meeting with the Ministers of all the relevant Departments of Education, af ter consultation with other interested organisations and that the issues addressed should include the follc:wing: - the failure to provide enough text books to African schools which has caused anger and frustration and made it impossible for students to study; - the overcrowding in Black schools and the under-utilisation of facilities in white schools; - the grievances of teachers with regard to the payment of salaries and working conditions; - the demand of the people of South Africa for the immediate establishment of a non-racial education system.
RESTORATION OF lAND
The National Conference of the SACC recognises the anger and distress of a number of commun i ties in Natal, Namaqualand, the Transvaal and elsewhere which have been evicted from land on which they have lived for many years and where many of their families are buried.
Conference accordingly: - Calls upon the State President, in the interests of justice, to ensure that all communi ties which wish to return to these areas should be enabled to do so speedily and with state assistance; Calls upon Church leaders and congregations in those areas to support such communities in every possible way; Requests the General Secretary to arrange for a staff group to prepare a factual meJID randum on this issue; Request the General Secretary and Church leaders to convey this urgent request for justice and sensitivity to the State President. REQUESTS TO THE SOlJ'IH AFRICAN GOVERNMENr
The National Conference of the SACC resolves to call upon the South African Government to: - Widen the terms of reference of the Harms Commission to include activities beyond the boundaries of South Africa and immediately to dismantle the Civil Co-operation Bureau( CCB) ; - Abolish capital punishment in South Africa; _ Immediately repeal the Disclosure of Foreign Funding Act as a sign of good faith on the part of the State President in the wake of the unjustified action against the Wilgespruit Fellc:wship Centre; - Forthwith accept the COSATU/NAcru/SACCOLA accord and enact the urgent amendments to the . Labour Relations Amendment Act which are embraced in the accord. • OBSERVER SUNDAY 22 JULY 1990 -. . WORLD NEWS South Africa urban nightmare looms by year 2000 with cities doubJjng in size as blacks flood into sprawl of squalor-
'The effect of these two pro Johannesburg cesses will be to create a city fundamentally different from Allister Sp.rks anything South Africans have Apartheid WHILE South Africa prepares yet experienced,' says Ann for a political transformation, it Bernstein, the foundation's faces an equally tough social executive director. adjustment as the rapid influx of For whites brought up in an millions of black people over apartheid society, the transfor titneboDlb the next few years threatens to mation is going to be an enor overwhelm its cities. mous culture shock - greater A series of new demographic even, perhaps, than the adjust studies shows that the combina ment to black majority rule. tion of a black population Indeed, the blackening of the cities may already be feeding to explode explosion and distortions caused by decades of social the growth of white extremism engineering under apartheid has that is threatening to derail the primed the country for one of political transition initiated by the world's fastest urbanisation President F. W. de Klerk. While the burgeoning right in rates. By the end of this decade the cities all South Africa's major cities wing is primarily a reaction to will double in population. De Klerk's political reforms, The complex of Cilles Frederik van Zyl Slabbert, for bounded by Pretoria in the mer opposition leader and now North, the Witwatersrand with a politics professor, believes it is Johannesburg at its hub, and also 'a resistance to the inevita Vereeniging in the South ble de-Europeanisation of commonly called the PWV urban life in South Africa', the United States, the white will become a single, over which is likely to intensify as the population is falling by almost lands'. At the same time, farm Noting that poor people do whelmingly black megalopolis cities grow blacker. I per cent a year. mechanisation made millions of better in cities than in the coun bigger than London or Los 'This decade will see the end Whites used to be outnum black labourers redundant and tryside, the foundation argues Angeles. of the colonial lifestyle in our bered four-to-one by blacks; they, too, moved to the 'home that, if properly managed, Ten years later it will have a country, and it will not happen now they are outnumbered lands' because the law pre urbanisation will uplift the pop population of 16.5 million, the without some trauma. ' five-to-one. By the end of the vented them from going to the ulation's economic develop size ofSao Paulo today. The worst fear of demogra Nineties it will be nearly eight cities or other rural areas. ment which in turn will reduce Meanwhile, both Durban and phers such as Bernstein is that to-one, and in 2010 more than This caused massive over its birth-rate. the government's slowness to Cape Town will have popula nine-to-one. At that stage, the crowding and ecological devas The foundation believes that tions of seven million by the plan for a process that is already Afrikaners will number only 5.8 tation in the 'homelands', under way could result in the city governments must stop try year 2000. per cent ofthe population. further reducing what little ing to sweep back the tide by The demographers also warn cities being overwhelmed and The distortions caused by subsistence agriculture was pos that there is no way this huge turned into 'chaotic night sible there. . demolishing squatter camps and apartheid are accelerating the try to manage their growth influx of people can be accom mares'. urbanisation rate and making it Properly managed, they say, It meant that as the 'home instead. It recommends the modated in conventional hous harder for the cities to cope. land' populations expanded, the ing: most will live in sprawling the rapid urbanisation could be During the early years of demarcation of 'site and service' squaner camps. turned to South Africa's advan white settlement, blacks were swelling numbers in them' areas where city governmenls The process has started tage, helping to uplift the black dispossessed of most of their became remote dependents on would provide water, electricity already. Fly over any South population economically and land and the basis of their tradi the cities they could not live in, and toilet facilities, then leave African city and you will see this thereby ending its explosive tional subsistence economy was subsisting on money remitted the squatters to build their own encroaching encirclement of growth. all but destroyed. by relatives working there. shacks which could be upgraded densely-packed informal hous The studies point out that Strict legal controls prohib overtime. even without apartheid, South When the government recog ing, where hundreds of thou ited this landless peasantry from 'The squatters are in fact sands of people have turned to Africa would be facing an moving to the cities, regulating nised that its separatist goal was urbanisation crisis. Apartheid unattainable and lifted influx South Africa's new city-build cardboard, corrugated iron and the number to meet the labour ers,' says Bernstein. But she plastic sheeting for rudimentary has simply made it worse by needs of white industrialists. control regulations in 1986, this warns that this concept 'CUIS shelter. distorting population distribu Large numbers lived in small dammed-up rural poverty tion and 'damming up' people flooded out to the cities right across traditional govern Cape Town's famous Cross tribai reserves or worked as ment thinking on our cities'. roads, which the government in rural areas who will now low-paid labourers on white where there was no housing to tried for years to demolish only flood to the cities. owned farms. accommodate it. Which is why the bulldozers to have it spring up again, has The main factor is the popu With the advent of apartheid The Urban Foundation esti still thunder out and flatten Ihe become an irremovable feature lation explosion. With Africa's in 1948, these controls were mates that between the ending shacks. of every town throughout the most developed economy and intensified in an attempt not country. health services, the death rate of simply to limit the flow to the of influx control and the year Even within the cities, the South Africa's black population cities but to reverse it. The aim 2010, the population of the shanties spring up overnight on has fallen faster than its birth was to contain most blacks in metropolitan areas will increase any vacant space: in backyards, rate. the tribal reserves, now called 270 per cent. on golf courses, in parks and This phenomenon is common 'homelands', so that the main This confronts the country's along river banks, even in to all societies that have reached part of South Africa could be rulers with a stark choice, says graveyards. South Africa's stage of devlop regarded as a 'white' country. Bernstein: 'Are our cities going The Urban Foundation, ment, and it will continue until Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, chief to be overwhelmed, or are we which has done the most an improved black living stan architect of the scheme and going to harness the inevitable detailed of the demographic dard causes the birth rate to Prime Minister in the I96Os, taper off. process ofgrowth ai}d urbanisa studies, estimates that there are decreed that blacks were 'tem tion so as to manage it produc seven million people living in That means South Africa's porary sojourners' in the cities, tively?' The foundation this kind of 'informal housing'. population growth is going accommodated in segregated advocates welcoming urbanisa That figure, it warns, will dou through the steep rise of an townships that would wither elongated S-curve which tion as 'the vehicle of moder ble in the next five years. away as blacks were drawn back nity'. Increasing numbers of blacks demographers say will not flat to their 'homelands'. will move into white suburbia as ten out until 2020, by which This had two consequences. apartheid breaks down, leading time the black population will First, the provision of housing to the 'greying' of the cities. number more than 70 million. in the black townships was This, too, is happening already, The number of white people, slowed down and in some cases especially in Johannesburg meanwhile, will decline. Like stopped. Second, millions of where 60 per cent of people liv the economically developed blacks were 'endorsed out' of ing in the inner city are black. societies ofWestern Europe and the cities back to the 'home- S.African planes flew 'substantial charter operations' in Angola JOHANNESBURG/ Three private South Mri. SOUTHSCCAN can airlines have been operating clandes A Bulletin of Southern African Affairs tinely into Angola on a significant scale Vol. 5 No. 27 according to the managing directors of 13 July 1990 South African Freight Airlines, Safair and . ~ the National Airlines Corporation. , , They disclosed "substantial charter op- I I'" erations in Angola," according to South' Pretoria erects new national African reports last week. New security The Safairdirector said overhalfhis fleet security system on model of old system of Lockheed Hercules aircraft was cur rently deployed in Angola and that his JOHANNIl:SBUBGI A rep conflict in South Africa. hers, hut is accountable Cont1nued company operated many of the flights of The phraaes recall to the State President lica ofthe abolished na It also places the the Angolan national airline. tional security system is the PVV Botha govern- not to the cabinet and Safair and the National Airways Corpo now being planned by ment's adherence to parliament. welfare aspects firmly the South African concepts of "total on- The title ofthe hand under the cabinet, ration had been operating to "clandestine" C while the securityele African destinations for 20 years, accord government, reporta Q slaught by revolution- hook - the 'National ments are at least corretlpondent here. ary forces countered Coordinating Mecha ing to the report. partially cabinet-ac Safair currently operates 12 Hercules L The revelation - de with the"total strategy" niam' - refers to a far countable. spite ~vemment deni of an embattled minor- wider and somewhat 100s, the civilian e~uivalentofthe military ·ity. separate hierarchy of Under the old Na als - IS leading to an tional Security Man C-130, ofwhich the South African Air Force anxious queationing in In dealing with the structures designed to runs just seven, writes a correspondent opposition circles ofthe setting up of regional coordinate the wOrki.np agement System, the sIncerity of Pretoria as and sub-regional secu--."of various govemmmt cabinet was by here. it goes into the next ritycommittees-known service departments passed and the State Eight ofSafair's Hercules fleet are based round of talks with the as "Veikomsc, an Afri- and to institute a proc Security Council was at Johannesburg's Jan Smuts airport, African National Con kaans acronym - the ess ofcommunity devel the structure of ulti while the remainder are, accordin~ to an gre88. government sets out its opment. mate account. airfreight source, "on lease". SaflUr thus perceptions ofthe pres- But instead of dis- Under the new The shape ofsecurity scheme, welfare is appears to have six Hercules operating in structures under De ent security situation. guising the coherent less blatantly a mat Angola - the four on lease plus, presuma Klerk was revealed this "Because the the frame of security struc bly, two ofthe Smuts-based aircraft on week when opposition application of the full tures, the welfare and ter of patronage. It Jan politiciansandthepre88 capacity of the state service bodies now ap takes some account of less regular charters. . laid their hands on a remains a valid prin-· pear associated. community initia During the early 19805, Safair ran 16 government handbook ciple for theeurtailment Just two days af\;er tives and of commu Hercules - the biggest independent L-100 nity development fleet in the world. This has since been cut on the 'National Co-or of the revolutionary thefirstpressreportson dogma - such as re dinating Mechanism'. onsalught, it is lleCeS- the booklet De Klerk sponsiveness to the back to its current 12 - with at least one of According to the lIllI)'thattheSouthAfri- i88ued a lengthy state "felt needsc of the the remainder "reported lost" over Angola hooklet, it had proved canPoIiceandtheSouth ment protesting that peo~le. at about the same time as AirAfrique lost impossible to simply do African Defence Force the new system was not away with the web c:L continue to work to- a resuac:itation of Na Butcertainlythere one ofits planes to Vnita's newly-delivered secret structures of the gether in the field of tionalSecurityManage is mingling at the Stinger missiles. National Security Man security: the handbook ment System. base of the two struc Local sources, however, believe Safair's tures. Regional and Hercules was shot down by Fapla forces. agement System devel asserts. "Emphasis has' sub-regional security oped during the rule of It makes it clear that shifted to welfare and committees must se National Airways' "substantial charter former president PVV the major purpose of coordination,C De Klerk cure representation operations" in Angola are likely, say local, Botha. these jomt structures is insisted. -rhe old sys on regional and local . sources to be limited mainly to commuter The removal ofthese coordinated action be- tem waa by contrast structures created a tween the police, the strongly security-ori coordinating struc flights :.vith the company's Kingair, 14- . vacuum andinlate 1989 army and the security ented and certain func. tureL It is the job of seater prop-jet craft - the biggest the com "the State President police. It stresses that tions were managed these latter bocDes to pany operates. c set -pivata'" ar -com granted permiBBion for theSouthAfrican Police from within it. mumty based'" devel the institution of an (and not the army) "is in In support of his opment projects in inquiry into mecha respect of the safe- claims ofa new orienta action. nisms to fill this gapc. guarding of internal tion, he stated that the The same coordi The outcome, deter security the main actor heads of 10 out of 11 nating structures are min.ed by the executive on the security stage_c_ regional .coordinating . 'to bit lbe l:hann~ fot heads of departments The Defence Force's structures were civil intelligence-gather- involved in security internal role, it says, ians. Structures at the 'n by the security matters, is a pyramid of remain confined to "the tlquivalent level in the .ce (who in the last ;.".:.:.:.:<.:.;,.--.,:,. .', security committees prevention or suppres- BOtha era - the Joint ~Ive years have de :.;.. extending right down sion of terrorism and Man~ement Centres tained tens of thou "" ...... into local communities internal rioting'". were Invariably headed sands of peoP,le) and and up into the cabinet. The line ofcommand by the military or the the selective di...mi To SouthScan Subscription Dept, At its heart lies a of security structures police. nation ofpolice war 12~ Lavender Ave, Mitcham, Surrey Joint Security Staff, from the bottom up is: The new scheme as mation. CR4 3HP, England which has among its sub-regional security revealed in the hooklet The disbandiJ1l of functions, the manage committees to regional partially separates the the NSMS left an in ment of "Administra committees; on to the security and welfare formation gap, too, As a representlltiue of an organisation tion Total VVaT' inaccor Joint Security Staffand structures, the coercive the handbOok: says. I mc10se £95/$170 annWll Sl.Wscription dance with the 'State then totheinter-depart- and the cooptive ele -vvhen there is a need (Ptzymntt by personal cIreque is f1O/$70) VVarBook'. mental Security Com- ments of the ~tate's for information of a It is these phrases, mittee, which isanswer- counter-revolutIonary national-stratel(ic more than any others, able both to the Cabinet thrust. Undertheruleof nature, the Sec:urlty NAME: that have caused oppo Committee on Security Botha and his '~ Branch will make ar sition politicians to call and the State Security crats' they were inextri- rangements to pro ADDRE5S _ into question thesincer· Council. cably intertwined. vide itin consultation ity ofPretoria in negoti The latter body in- I with its head office.c atinga settlementto the eludes Cabinet mem- Cont1nued on back ORGANISATION _
DATE:: WEEKEND MAIL, July 6 to July 12 1990 9 SA's sweetwaters are now rivers ofpoison' are traces of industrial toxins in the city's drinking water. An investiga The twin Impact ot tion last month found levels of mercu industrialisation and ry more than twice the standard recco inadequate state protection mended by the World Health Organisation in spot samples of the is resulting in the country's city's tap water. rivers becoming among the The investigation also discovered high levels of nitrites, potential caus the most contaminated in es of cancer, that derive from water Africa. that runs off farmlands where large By EDDEKOCH amounts of artificial fenilisers are used. Water engineers Paul Polasek and Claude Mangeot believe such toxins THE respect once accorded to South are present because local health au Africa's rivers by indigenous people thonties use outdated water cleansing as well settlers is reflected in the methods - which control bacteria many picturesque names of its towns but cannot cope with [h~ increasing and cities: Bloemfontein means the tide of industrial pollutants that flow Fountain of the Flowers, Amanzim into South Africa's rivers. toti is the Zulu word for sweet waters And the Witwatersrand is not the and the Witwatersrand took its name only area where rivers have been ad from a range of hills known as the versely affec1ed by toxic run-off from "ridge of white waters". the old mine dumps. Now there is increasing concern Rivers in the Eastern Transvaal amongst environment organisations Barbenon range - the oldest moun that the twin impact of indusDialisa tains in the world - have been espe tion and inadequate stare protection is cially damaged by indusDial and min causing this country's rivers to be ing pollution. come amongst the most contaminated Late last year. a large dump left in in Africa. the mountains by a team of prospec Earlier this year a team of research tor.; from the Anglo American Corpo ers from Greenpeace USA, working ration, leached so much arsenic and in conjuction with local green acti cadmium into a pristine mountain vists from Eanhlife Africa, discov dam that every form of acquatic life ered that a multinational company was killed. was importing toxic waste from fac Another dam in the heavily mined tories in the United States and Europe mountains has fish that ha':e been and leaking large quantities of deadly blinded by heavy doses of arsenic ef mercury into the Umgcweni River in fluent. the Natal Midlands. In 1985 a farmer lost at least five The research team found the river, head of cat1le after they drank from a which flows into the heavily populat river that had been polluted with a ed Valley of a Thousand Hills, con heavy dose of arsenic from another tained more· mercury in its waters mine in the area. than that recorded in any other pan of In November last year effluent from the world as a result of leakage from a the Sappi paper and pulp mill spilled toxic waste recycling plant owned by into the Ngodwana River and killed at the British company, Thor Chemi least 100 tons of fish and othe.r ac cals. quatic life. The management was "The level was nearly 9 000 times subsequently fined R600. 1he amount required in the US for Earthlife Africa press officer Hen!< waste to be described as a hazard and Coetsee told The Weekly Mail that in that country the whole river would the incident highlighted the lack of ef have to be treated for contamination," fective legislation to protect South said Eanhlife representative Chris Africa's rivers from industrial pollu- Albem'TI. tion. . "This is a classic case of a multina "Basically this country's environ tional coming into a Third World situ ment law is shaped by a history of in ation and dumping the industrial dusDialisation in which profits came world's problems on local people. before a concern for people's health The only reason why Thor was able and social responsibility," said Co to get away with this is because the etsee. people living on the banks of the river "For example, the minister of the are black and voteless." SappI's paper and pulp mill in the Eastern Transvaal spilled etneunt into the Ngoctwana River environment has powers to refuse a The central role played by the gold and killed acquatic life PIcture: AVlGAIL UZI mining operation in a sensitive eco mining industry in South Africa's logical area - but to do so has to first economy has also had a serious im get the approval of the minister of large amounts of mercury from the arsenic into the water. And to top it all the "ugliest" they have to contend pact on the country's rivers and mines and energy affairs, who IS the water had a pH value of with. ground waters. dumps. 2,58 more likely to be influenced by the akin to the acidity levels of vinegar. Abandoned dumps of mine waste, Laboratory analysis of a sample of The levels of pollution found in the dictates of industry than ecology." many of them left by now defunct water taken from a stream that flows The results of the test confirm Joharmesburg river are thousands of The activist group is now cam gold mines, contain high levels of ec through a set of old dumps and then claims by water engineers that rain times higher than international stan paigning for the Johannesburg city ologically hostile chemicals. Most of into Soweto last week found that the run-off and water that leaches from dards for wholesome water. council to prOVide Its residents with the old mines lIsed production pro river contained a potent cocktail of Johannesburg's old dumps have According to the World Health Or accurate and up to date information cesses which failed to remove all the some of the worst river pollutants transformed the Ridge of White Wa ganisation~which deliberately sets about the quality of the water they ters into a major source of ground and substaroces, including cyanide and known to man. low levels that can be managed by drink. mercury used in the extr.aetion ofgold A detailed breakdown of the labora river water contamination for Johan Third World counDies. the maximum Earthlife is also demanding that the from deep-level ore. tory tests showed that the dumps nesburg. one of the most densely levels for drinking water should be: government adopt a "polluter pays" And there is so much uranium in the were leaching a staggering eight mil populated cities in Africa. 400 micrograms per litre for sulphate; approach to industry so that much abandoned dumps that large-scale re lion micrograms of sulphate per litre, A senior official in the Johannes 100 micrograms for cyanide; 50 for heavier penalties can be imposed on processing plants have been set up on burg city council confirmed that the I 900 micrograms of uranium. 520 lead and 50 for arsenic. those responsible for the degradation the East and West Rands to re-mine micrograms of cyanide, 510 micro streamS which flow from the old mm of the country's once pure waters. the sand. These plants also extract grams of lead and 60 micrograms of ing areas through Sowelo are some of It is not surprising, then, that there WEEKLY MAIL, June 22 1990 "
By GAVE DAVIS: Cape Town farm Hagelkraal, near Pearly Beach, had IN ONE of life's grim ironies. the site been earmarked came a~ lillie shock to chosen by Eskom for its second nuclear Ian and Avanol Bell, however. power station 011 the Cape coa~llies on a With "sinking stomaehs and beating privale nature reserve owned by two de hearts" they first learned that Eskom dicall!d conservationists who use wind would be surveying the area to identify and sQlar-powcrcd energy in their histor potential nuclear reactor sites three years ic hortlCStcad. ago. The teeent announcement that their One of the geologists who came to as sess the area became a friend; Ian Bell lei Is how they watched, over the months, Reactions seem as JlO5sible sites dOlled on an aerial map dwindled to jusl three. One was their to have fall-out farm, the others lay 011 either side of it. "We realised then that if it wasn't going By GAVE DAVIS: CAPE TOWN to be us, it would be so elose as to make CONTRADICTORY statements re· no difference," Ian Said. gardl'1Q plans lor buNdlng more nuclear "We had a total invasion of experts reeciors In South Africa came from Es checking out the foc two years," said korri..lhls week. area In Cape Town, Eskom PRO Carin de Avanol. "We had no option but to a~sist Vlllleu, told The Dally Mall any decision - by refusing we'd just be making our to build a new nuclear reactor would selves miserable. depend on a .ubstanllallmprovement "We lcamcd a lot of good lessons from In the country'. economic growth rate ancl,would come only after Ihe ?lnomy that experience: it gave us a taste of what had been monitored lor some tIme. it's like 10 be invaded, to be powerless. BUI In Johannesburg. Eskom's chlel When the Rells acquired Hagelkraal 10 executive Ian McRae revealed a deci years ago, it was from the deceased c~t:lle sion lIad atready been taken - even of Cape architect Rrian Mansergh. He though the country's growth rate stipulated in his will that it be sold only to :~'j;,~ little .Igns 01 recovering Irom its people who shared his love of Ihe land "'e~ee said South Africa should starl and his commitment to conserving it. bulkflng 8t least one nuclear reactor And so the Bells cornrniued them~lves eV"'l',two to live years, possibly slart and Ing as early as 1995 bul "nollaler" to guarding preserving Hagelkraal's than 1998. I )00 hectares, stretching from lime 06'V1l11ers totd The Dally Mall Eskom stone hills behind thatched-roofed stone ge...... atad "mile. too much power" al farm buildings buill as long as 160 years preaent. ago to a 1,5km sweep of untouched Peak usage during 1989 was 20 589 coa~tline. fighting alone ._ The Ben family outside their hlstor1c homestead on their fann Hagelkraal which has been earmarked for a nuclear reactor megawalls; the country'. coal stalions Picture: RASHID LOMBARD Bod Kpeberg nuclear reactor provide B It is a coastline rapidly disappearing un lot""ol31 465 megawatts. der developers' bulldozers; that Hagel lares, living on an income generated by dormant for years. But the heat also has by stating thai worlc on a nCw nuclear reo' having a reactor so nearby and she said: AlloWing lor maintenance and power kraal's beach and dunes are still pristine harvesting and drying the nowcrs of their tens the appearance of alien seedlings. actor should start as soon as 1995. 'Oh, il'lI be far awal'. Nobody cares." • taUons being otherwise out of com is due to the Bell's barring access, even to veld. Controlled bums over small areas mean The geological survey was slill under BUI Hermanus residents might wish mission, the surplus stood at about 3 earth cracked of 0Or}at the momenl", De Villiers said ding the land ofalien vegetation threaten fomlality. ing to run out ofcontrol. their hopes. area, for whom housing and other facili "11 ~he economy hot. up we might 111en, in February lasl year, a combina "We thought the good Lord had saved .tarl building this century, II not then ing the fynbos species unique to the None of the private and public sector ties will have to be builL onlY, 10 the next decade." Cape, which alone comprise one of the tion of summer's blazing hcat and sear bodies Ian approached to help raise the us. But the geologist dismissed the Super-load transporters carrying com E'c!dnomlc growth rales would have world's six noral kingdoms. Ing winds sparked a devastating wildfire R50000 he reekoned it would cost to quake: he said it would simply mean an ponents weighing up to 400 tonnes will 10 ~lIs.essad over a period 01 some It's an expensive, thankless task be which ripped across their land - almost deal with the problem agreed to: it's un extra R18 or R20-million to make the have to make their way from Cape Town length. cause there are no subisidies: the Dcpan engulfing their homestead, devouring likely they would now. foundations deeper," said Ian. through Hermanus's quaint narrow Koeberg Alert spokesperson Mike Like their battlc against the alien vegeta Ka"teK accused Eskom 01 "double ment of Agriculture doesn't consider their orchard and destroying all their Eskom blanketed its announcemenl in streets. Roads and bridges will have to be .pellk. fynhos an agricultural resource despite prime harvest veld. assurances lhat it was only identifying a tion, the Bells are fighting this one almost strengthened if new oocs aren't cut and K/lntey said when Eskom announced its providing between 75 and 80% of the A deva~lating blow. it came on the b~k possible site: it stressed in a press release alone. They have seen Eskom's public power lines will stretch across the land II hll" earmarked a national Heritage country's expon wildnower crop. ofan earlier setback when a tar road wa~ that no new nuclear statiOl1 would come relations team in action and rate it as one scape. Sit".. the larm Hagelkraal In the south· "The locals thought we were loonies," cut through the farm in 1982, separating on-stream during this century. of the slickest. There have been few Once construction starts, the Bells will ern Cape. 'or the country's second r~ Bclor It clearly stated no new slalion Avanol recallcd. BUllhey found selling the homestead and limestone cliffs from BUllhe press rel= omitted to mention signs of any broad-based opposition 10 a take leave of Hagelkraal- but for now, would start operating belore the end firewood from the rooikrantz trees in· tile lan<1 sweeping down to tile coast. that nuclear reactors take at lcast 10 years reactor in the area. they arc enjoying what they have, and 01 lhe century. fesl ing their land covered thcir costs and, The occa~i()naJ fire can be good for fyo to build - and this week, Eskom's chief "I was shopping in Hermanus and I hoping against hope that the nightmare over the year" cleared about 100 hec- bas, drawing up species which have lain executive confirmed the couple's fears asked someone what she thought about will again become a dream. ,."
NAMI ()J~rJ 1/ JUf'/E. 'to
•'Tbe wbole tbin& hal bec:OfM an CIlI\ wo contemplate e:ontaminlltina emotioaal illue. It...e jUIt do it fi&hl ourpeople: withauwhich.every time and I1Ie tbe technic" ex.pettiae thoy breatho in, they breatbt in can Toxic waste: ••1li1ab1e.. .i1 will be ab.oIUIely .ale... cer." BUI WildliE. Society ,poke.per Namibia'. poverty mud be solved To dump or san Dr Chri' Brown ...amed that by a redirnibulioQ of wealth and not N.mibia would be c:onunittins itaelf throush impartial"poison". Abra· not to dump 10 Itorina • u.ooa othor lbi.D.S' barm added. nuclear "'utl which ...ou1d remain AC1'lle.der Jan de Wet - recenrly IV/UYlI radioactivo for200000yo.1I. "Ho... liobd with !be p~ollie wute lobby (3tprJ DAVID LUSH 00earth can "'. take that rc"poo.rib. - lut Dipt made tho dillmerion be· IS JUN E 19'10 lity 7" be ubd. tweeQ c:bemic:al &Ad nuclear ....~, SHORT.TERM eMt btollftU frOIl1 ADd there "'u ao way of teUini Wbi1e 'luostiooitts the aafery of Toxic waste Itorine Imported tODe wute would wbctber CUtrenl liable goqIogi.l:a1 aDd c:bemical wute, be _d ruc:lear walto be reduced to nut to GothlDl by c1hnalic: c:ooditioos. wbid1 ~y couJd be Itorocl without humi.na life dumping not Ihe "a'lTonomie-I" cOlt of ~n· make parte of Namibia mltable for or tbe onvironment. A. a prodDc:er of Inc lip the wa,te In ,.an to co... the atoMa of IOItic ...utl in Na uranium (a majorraw materialin the t"amlblao tele"Woft .Iewen wer. mibia. would I.st duriaa auchahule productiort of lNClnr power). Na. on· Angula told lut nJaht. lime 'I*L mibt. could ootlar iDlo a favour.ble TIM two .Ides In tht louc waste Tumiq to tbI much di~HCd .!ieal by apeeqlo take Melt lbo by THE MlNUTRY 01 MIa. and 211«11 was DOt ...a" 0( Iny dispute calDt race to faCt III all at f5Daacial beacfit. of 1I0rin, 10xlc produc:tL ~ talb the lOurnmant hael ~n. times heated debate broadcast by w ..... Dr Brown aai4 the experience A.lced -bether ... _u a danaer ductecl wtth lonipen aboilt tha tb. NBC. Noticeable b, Itlabceace of tIM Uaited SlaW. (US) Ihowed - with 1Uc:h !arlO 111m, of Jt\OQe-y !haM lam. would be "R1iaima1" in involved - of top lovel ConuptiOl1 in dUIII,la.olto",c wute, D.puly from tbe debate w.. tbe Pyero Mlnlst.r of MIn.. and FAerC the lq NIl. WUtle nora•• dtala. De Wet MCmod meat which bu alreMY held db. Helmut Anauhl lold r.llallleot. I By toci.y·' pricet. it cOlt the US to have complete faith in tbe into,. cllulons wltb S_lg expert lit, and "T1M poUey b rity ofNamibia'. rulen. '."_111.01', pottattalllDportu of, touc w-.te R20-2S billiOt1 10 clear up jwt QQIl cOQme_ wtth th.t 01 9wIlpo. "re!lItiv.ly small" toxic: ..,.u. ""Tho inl:omo (from a toxic: wuto to Nemlbla, Hont SWeck.... (~Idl Is) not to aUo., our bUll' damp. deal) mUll c:ome to the 80vemmlnl Durinr the halr·bo.... debate, tiM IIId btt"'N ClNIDtI'ylO be If the .ov.mment givCl the, It1d the lovemmenr must.pend it for Dodeau p..,ed down the extent '0 llU'ftfd lato • dUlllp!nc 1t0UJl4 abNd 10 B~cc:lcer'l propo.al, Na the booo61 of tho peoplo, " be aaid. tor folic .....whkh which dlscussloM With the l'O.ern. mibi. will impon SO millio~ tonnel The Ie'" the govenuneolc:ould do -ybav"...-readsinc and IU~ m.at had readied. "I hav. intro of toxic: waite over 20 yean, Brown wal to Ippoint a scientific c:onunis· .~tlal teoMqlleoc:e. lor oar duced the scheID, to severalm••• Micl. lq. ~.I. t~\!> ~ .,~ t~ ' •••t.i.8..t. QijJ"..k...'. pr. ,~t'" tutllre pNnIt-." (~t ~YItC"lDtrDl) 0-' bU"f lb. JUse to ~"'1'4._"t~ 1"'-.1" "'\U4Jco! 0. Wet. I the o.,.cy MImat..~. It&* "..,14 .,.,...c c1fSClIlI Ih. ttduUcal posslbWtlu and 6SO aquaI'C kilometres of land Ho ver. Dr BroW1l. remaioed Sw.,.. 1M laid, ... Inttrv aod ceolocical condition. Dec... (aa arca mort than lix til1Ml the ad.manl lbat tbote wbo prociuced • ..... dM ,...,..uoo and .iz. I, ..",... fit tIN Orpafutl" of sar,," h, U1ld. ofWiadbook and iu adjoinins 10...-n· IO~C "'Iste .boold be the ones re "That Is ., tar ., It went. The AtrIe.a UDItJ r-.luCloa dedar· ahip.),1lDC to mentioo aro...ot aside IpOo-ible for di.po.inc of it , 1111 thai "tb. doaplGc of nu. Idea has not r.j*Ctt4 and btto bat l«tbD potentially hazardou.uaload· "'The ,ovom.menl ofNamibi. ha. c1.aran4ltlodultr1ll/ walt.In IJ. not IMf!n tAkt4 on." ina aDd t.taDIponaLiOQ of wute to the made it known in lhe put that it ric. u • crt.. apInd Atrlca Bodtcker U1ld there was ...n· Ilonae lite. ...atlI. no part in walle dumpinS," ond tJM Mrt_,"Pi.... able the ''tecbnJcaI know.bow" for CONecvatioo activist and NNP 'aid [K Brown. Ntavta .nd Swapo were the 1M "sat••t""laC" ot lodt "ute. secretary-senera! Ottilie Abnlwn. "Tbi, il aiao th!l view of many oa. who look the cue to Ih. laid it ...a. unthinkable £Or Nanubi· iolem.aticm1 organilllillDl. tbD Uai1ed Unit'" Natl_GenuaJ A&Um. bly. aQI. baving just ""0Il lbe for N.tionl, tho OAU mE .yironment"'uoup EartbJiCe COUD<:iI b.. jQiMd leyeral ctpeeially vulDcrablo aDd open tothe . other or,llIlisatioils in condemning Ihe possible dwapina or toxic lImpati He also asked what the government's policy was in this regard and whether the Minister was prepared to deny rumours lhat government IS favourably considering grantins such a concession. .. THEnotice 01a question10 tbe Na Minilter of Mine. Illd Energy An Toxic waste dumping in Africa is banned wider several Orgarusahon of tional Assembly about toxic waste climba Toivo ya Toivo. Africlll Unity conventiollll and the Lome Convention. .. dumptna by Dirk Muclle yester The DTA chairpenon "'anted to Huge sums ofmooey are, however. involved and several African counmes day, renewed furl that Namibia Is are believed to be turning a blind eye to violations of the conventlOllll.. . IndMd lllIIIIIWIriaI bec:omin& a toDc In the case ofNamibia the most recently mentioned figure is US$50 bl1hon wlUte dulDfUl and politicians both within the ACN and Swape are believed to favour the arounct· know wbether Illy penon or Orglll concept. .. iaation bad approached the govem Suspicions remain, even though both .the Minister of W,ldltfe, Natu~ 'I'IW follo",s ",eekl ofapeeulation menl in CODDCCtion wilh the dump Conservation and Tourism and the MUlIster of Trade and Industry hav, after claiml !bat the Prime Minilter ins of toxic ",alte in Namibia. categorically denied the government is considering allowtng [OXIC waste allepdIy -"on received a DOtOriOU' dumping. .. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 One reason for this are the cleverly constructed loopholes in the conshtuhon which leave the way wide open for toxic waste merchants. .. toxic wa.te merchant in hi. office The constitutional anomalies are found in Chapter II which deals With the recently. Principles of State Policy and specifically Article 95 (I) and Article 101.. Mudge'. que.tion "''' directed to Article 95 (I) states lhat " ...in particular. the government shall prOVIde measures agaimt the dumping or recycling of foreign nuclear and toXIC waste on Namibian territory". But then in a neat little twist, Article 101 states: "The principles of state policy contained in this Chapter shall not of Illd by themselves be legally enforceable by any Court."" / JUNE 90 ..., ~ .spc:ci.1isl. in tbe: inter· t "'I o[ lhe counlf)'." Chris Codue the Frend. newsp'per Le insis,"" ,h.1 !he lu .gree· Professor Sl.nley Whe.. a ruearebn allh NBC wned 10 taJand 100 dup illlo the i5sue ul Soir "oke the .lory in De Wlcnls 'Were icntical. claimed th.t Zimbab...e hat.l -down 10 the lut:entence a dumpinl agreement with toxic dun.ptD& in Namibia, lI1iniUff~ orders "'ere iuued to slop Ibe "cmber l'lllli. The issue,.' Ih~l lime, WIS • hot 1101"" in h.d Engli.h." he only inooslriali."" cuunlJies, • iDquirti immedi:Jkly, or fire the il alleJ:ed tJuH resean:hrr. But "'as the laken up by ,hc OAII. An diffcr..:m.:t: *&5 ',",C 1h(' c1.im~d Ji>pu''''' by ,h.1 ~ ordus did not come in lime to slop 1111 intffview wilh a rtpresentalive ofa ~l)la lhus j",lillna.lllly tic· \Ilo';lSIC nuw w;a: tt> be c"""u-y . Swi5scoDsorlium "'noclllimed h>ha\·tsecurtdacuanel"'ilb lbeNamibian darc..l Ih.t 1.1, •• il w,.. II.... dUII't",d uver 50 00 sC)UIITC A G,eenr"'.« New.lcl .goverllment Cur the dumping orIoUe wasa.The coolr.let allqedly ran inlo pn:pate 7IM~S Or fJl9fYJr8/~ /3 J"urV~ 1'17() Prime Minister orders off toxic waste io ttisOrJ'lCt, wllo,il is aI ...ybody and lIlal tbe Namibia. Suc~ ilDplicatiollS arr \'IUM[ MINISlER Iq~ preM report is ractWllly alliO-.~ "devoid .r .., tratla", "eld diSClIS'iioas lIage Geinlob slruw4 Mr GnDgob aile PrilDe Minister willi Mr GeiDpb 011 tile iD8Ceurllte. in a SUlrlllent yrsltr Died illlploboas .ade dompUlg or lollie WlUle d:n lbat it "as the in sorae or the dailies said. Mr Geiagob also dt iD Namibia. "II is reKrettabte that S';lIPO {;oYfl'1llllenl'S that tJw Gover.ment nied .. aUt~at.ioo ia tJle nr:aciay ohbinlory policy Dol to gin ap·· bad secntl)· IiIrred to The Namibian lbaa be "I want 10 slaae eale was aot cb«kt4 wilh pro¥al to any rtquesb tbe dumpiDJ of 10Ue "rreeind a Dotorious KOI'icaUy lilac I bad 80 111' offICe," lbe Prime fur Ibr d"mpingof IOllie waste on N.mibiaa tn' toue waste merehaDI" soch discussiou wiab Millisler said. ",,,steon Ihe trrrilory or ritory.