EPISCOPAL CHU~UMEN for

, SOUTH lr. AFRLCA 339 Lafayette Street; New York, N.Y. 10012 PHONE: (212) 477-0066 - For A Free Southern A/riCD-

8 March 1985 TO: South Africa/ Activists

FROM: ECSA

We enclose some items of- recent occurrence and of vital interest.

The divestment campaign in the USA - and elsewhere - is impacT1.ng harq, as you will see from several newspaper items: A new American Association for Trade & Investment created by US multinationals in South Africa; a top-rank conference yesterday and today in Britain with South African, United Kingdom and American busin~ss leaders (plus the Rev. Leon Sullivan of Sullivan Prin­ ciples noteL; a special department in the South African Foreign Affairs Min­ istry - all hurriedly put together because of the efforts - and success - of you, the troops in the field. More strength to you all! Take note that business as usual is the order of the day with multinational corporations and banks. More and mare credit - long-term at that - to the Pretoria regime. It's foreign debt now stands at a hefty $20 billion! Also note that. New York's Citibank, having righteously declared it would no longer make loans to the South African government, nevertheless continues to expand in South Afri<;.§. . __.. .-'--__ The latest news from Namibia is the tightening of border controls within the Pretoria-occupied Territory. The effects will be what Pastor Shejavali says. This move has important background: the South African Defence Force's large military exercise in northern Namibia in January, aimed at the Namibian popu­ lation. - and at neighboring Angola; -, indications within Namibia that Pretoria will soon set up some kind of_UDI with its chosen. Multi-Party Conference-men installed as an 'interim governm~nt'; announcement of the 'go-ahead~ for tha­ exploitation of the gigantic Kudu gasfield in the Atlantic in Namibian terri­ torial waters, a find capable of providing up to 65% of South Africa's fuel requirements; the endless bland assurances from Africa Secreiary Chester A. Crocker that negotiations are proceding successfully toward independence for Namibia. -

You can protest the police restrictions in Namibia - to: Secretary of State George Shultz' Department of State Washington, DC 20520

The 1985 revised edition of Elizabeth Schmidt's ONE STEP - IN THE WRONG DIRECTION, the analysis of the Sullivan Principles, will be off the press in two weeks time. You can order it for $1.00 per copy to cover postage and handling from ECSA at the above address. EPISCOPAL CHUR&I-IMEN for SOUTH;/, AFRLCA 339 lafayette Street, New York, N.Y. 10012 PHONE: (212) 477-0066 - For A Free Southern AfricD- TELEX MESSAGE FROM THE NAMIBIA COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE~ LONDON

March 7, 1985 Windhoek SOU'IH AFRICA TO REQUIRE POUCE PERMITS FOR VISITORS TO NORTHERN NAMIBIA. HAl.J' OF NAMIBIA'S POPULATION ISOLATED BY NEW REGULATIONS.

The South African Police commissioner for Namibia announced yesterday that beginning March 11, the entire northemborder region of Namibia has been designated ' a Security Zone' and access to that area will be prohibited without a police permit.

In an announcement made over government-controlled radio in Windhoek, Lieutenant-General DJlf Gouws said that the new security arrarigement'would -be enforced strictly and heavy pen­ alties would be handed down to people traveling in the area without necessary permits' .

The announcement brought immediate reaction from church officials in the Territory, who rep- resent rrore than 80 percent of the population. -

According to Dr-. Abisai Shejavali, General-Secretary of the Council of Churches in Namibia, the new regulations 'will isolate the population of the north from the rest of Namibia and from the world- i.

'We are protesting this action very strongly,' said Dr. Shejavali. 'This will hamper the work of the churches.' 'The north is where rrost of the sillfering is,' said Dr. Shejavali. 'It is where the war imposed upon us by the colonial power is occurring. '

According to ~t. Gen. Gouws, the 'regulations are in the interest of the visitors because the security forces are not able to guarantee their safety ,.

Dr. Shejavali disputed this analysis ,_- 'I think this=has not been- done to protect any visit~ or. fust of the suffering_in the north is from the side of the_ South African-regirrie. These regulations will hide these things that they do from people who can-report it: church visitors, jOurnalists and others. '

The new 'Security Zone' comprises five of the so-called ethnic homelands set up by the South Africans: , , , East and . Over half of Namibia's alrrost one and a half million people live in this area which bor­ ders on Angola, Botswana and Zambia.

The restrictions mean that visitors to the area, both from Namibia itself and from outside the country, will have to apply to the police for a pennit to enter the region. The pennit, if granted, will be for a specific nwnber of days and good only for the one trip. South Africa had similar restrictions in force in the early 70s, and used the permit procedure to deny access to church visitors and others who were not favourably inclined to South Africa's occupation of the country.

South Africa has illegally occupied Namibia since 1966, when the United Nations withdrew a trust mandate over the Territory because of South Africa's gross violations of human rights. ENDS