American Committee on Africa Introduction

Africa i s today a continent in transition . It is the l and in which a great social revolution i s taking place . You can hear the deep rumbling of this from the Sahara Desert t o the Cape of Good Hope. Africans are united in their deep yearning for freedom and human dignity. They a r e de termined to end the exp l oitation of their lives and to have a full shar e in their own future and des tiny. The story of t his s truggl e for freedom and inde ­ pendence i s a familiar one. It has been told by every ma jor American periodical and dramatized on practically every t e l evis i on c hanne l. It i s the theme of numerous speeches and the subject of many fireside discussi ons.

Despite this unusua l coverage of African affairs , there are still areas in this vast and complex continent whose problems and conditions are little known to Americans. One such area is South West Africa. About the only thing most of us Americans know about South West Africa is its geographical l ocation in t he emerging continent; north~~e st of apartheid.

This tragic l and for many years ~~as a German co l ony. After World War I it was a League of Nations ma ndate under the Union of South Africa. After World War II and the demise of t he League, South Africa tried to annex South West Africa . The League ' s legal successor--the United Nations-­ so far has prevented this action . The U.N. has not, however, yet been able to prevent South Africa from treating the Africans in this territory with the same regime of oppression and segregation as it gives the non-whites in its own territory.

While Christianity has been timid in too much of Africa, I am gl ad that Michael Scott--a clergyman--for more than a decade has represented the Herero people of South West Africa when South Africa refused to allow the ir representatives to appear before the U.N. Nm~ two or three residents have managed to tell the U. N. their mm story. It is no t a pleasant story. At places, it has a nightmarish effect and points up some of the mos t tragic expressions of man's inhumanity to man. It is the story of more than 450,000 people constantly being trampled over by the iron feet of injustice .

This is the story the American people should kno~~- - one which their delegates at the U.N. should act upon. If for no other reason, we should know this story and act upon it because injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere .

--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.A. THE SOUTH WEST AFRICAN STORY

This is the story of the lone ly struggle of a g roup of for gotte n Afric an p e oples for d ecent liv ing and w o rking conditions and for the r e turn of the ir ancestral lands. The y live in a part of Afric a of whic h f ew Ame ric ans have h eard--South Wes t Africa, a n " inte rnational" territ or-y unde r the jurisdic tion of the Union of South Af rica. The lot of the inhabitants has b een bitter and harassed for many years and the United Nations has b een unable to exe rt the influe n ce which the Inte rnational Court of Justice at the Hagu e says it should have . This is the story of an e loquent and d eeply r e ligious c hieftain of the H e r e ro p e ople, Hosea Kutako, now in his e i ghty-ninth y e a r . He gave up his y e arning to b e come a Christian cle r gyman many y e ars ago in orde r to k eep his p e ople togethe r afte r a tragi c c olonial war in whic h great numbe rs of them p e ris h e d. This is the story of a white m an- -the R eve r e nd Michae l S c ott of the C hur c h of England. H e v isited the s e p e ople, was appalled at the ir situation, and for 13 y ears has d e dic ated himse lf to the ir c ause, urging the British and all w e ste rn gove rnme nts to take the ir side , ple ading p e rsonally at the U. N. for action year afte r y ear. This is the story of two young H e r e ros who manag ed against gre at odds to get out of South We st Africa a nd c ome to the U.N. in Ne w York to plead for all the tribes of the ir country. This is the story of two young Am eri c ans who hav e rec ently b e en able to inve sti ­ gate the lot of the Afric ans in S outh West Afri c a at first hand. Finally, this is the sto ry of the Union of South Afric a's d e fiance of the U, N. b ecause the Union would like to annex the economic ally profitable are a for h e r ow n b e n efit and that of the white minority. South Afric a is also afraid that to lose South We st Africa would be to l e ave her flank s ev e n more exposed to the pre ssure s of African nationalism. The Background

South We st Afric a was lost by G e rmany i n th e First World War and b ecame a Mandate of the L e ague of Nations - -that is , an in te rnati o nal territory- -and was allotte d t o the c are of its neighbor , the Union of South Afri c a. Under the terms of the Mandate , South Africa was supposed "to promote t o the utmost th e materi a l and moral w ell-being and the social progre ss of t h e inhabitants ofthe T erritor y." With the death of the L e ague

- 1 - SOUTH WEST AFRICA, which was a German colony until the end of the first World War, became a Mandate of the League of Nations, an international territory, under the supervision of the Union of South Africa. Under the Mandate terms, South Africa was to "pr9mote to the utmost the material and moral well-being and the social progress of the inhabitants of the Territory." With the demise of the League of Nations, the mandate system was taken over by the United Nations. Today South We st Africa is a mandated territory with its exact status in doubt. But there can be no doubt about the poverty of the people, or the violation of the pledge to promote to the utmost their ma­ terial and moral well-being and their social progress. I

- 2 - of Nations, the mandate system was take n ove r by the U. N., but South Afric a appe ars to b e trying to absorb South We st Afric a without inte rnational approval. South West Afric a is still a mandate d t e rritory. The plight of the Africans in South Afric a is g ene rally unde rstood. To know that South We st Africa is r e garde d within South Afric a as a sort of "fifth province " of the c ountry is to know a little of what the Afr i c ans of this "inte rnational" t e rritory have to e ndure . For 13 years the U. N. has had the item, "Que stion of South We st Afric a," on its agenda. For 13 years conditions have b e come worse, not better, for the non-white 88o/o of the population. The white 12% have bec ome wealthie r in a "buoyant and expanding" e conomy, acc ording to the 1958 U. N. report on the te,rritory.

Let The Sleeping Dog Lie?

Africans in many parts of the c ontinent are learRing today what independence means. Most of them admire white civilization and its democratic traditions. The y look, howe v e r, at the are as of the c ontine nt where Afric ans under white control are still little bette r than serfs, and they wonder .. . , Why does the weste rn world, why does the U, N., allow the exploitation of Africans by white maste rs to continue? If d e mocracy is as d e sirable as the West claims, why doe s it not prac tice what it preaches? Will the West, the U, S , , or the U, N. give the p e oples of S outh We st Afric a the d ecent answe r - -supporte d by forthright action- -before it is too l ate? What follows is base d on offic ial U. N . documents and on the words of the Africans themselve s. Conditions as desc ribed by the Africans are supporte d from many sourc es,

Where South West Africa Is

The map of Africa shows to the northwest of the Union of South Africa, on the

Atlantic Coast, the Mandate d T e rritory of South We st Africa. It is bound on the north by Portuguese Angola and Northern Rhode sia and on the e ast by the British Protectorate of B echuanaland. To the west lies the Atlantic Ocean and to the south the Cape Province of South Africa. In are a 317,725 square miles, South We st Afric a is nearly as large as T exas and Oklahoma combined, or about the size of France . Its capital, Windhoek, is a growing mode rn city with a population of 17,000 white s and 15,000 Africans. Who Lives There The mid- 1958 official populatio n was e stimate d as 539,000 inhabitants. Thes e in- clude d 452,000 "Native s" or pure-bloode d Afric ans, 66,000 "Europe ans" or white s, and 21,000 "Col ored" p e rsons or tho s e of mixed blood. About 88 % of the population is n on-

- 3 - I FOR THIRTEEN YEARS the United Nations has had the que stion of South We st Afric a b e for e it. P e rsonal ple as were made on b e half of

the p e ople of the forgotte n trust by the R eve r e nd Mic hae l S c ott, an

Anglic an missionary, and Mburumba K e rina, a native son of South

W e st Africa who was the n atte nding Linc oln Unive rsity in the Unite d

State s. The R e v e r e nd S c ott spoke b e cause, h e said, "those who have

aske d me to c ontinue r e pre s e nting the ir vie ws have not bee n allowe d

to l e a ve South We st Africa. "

- 4 - white. The principal tribes are the Ovambos, Hereros, Namas (or Hottentots), and Bush- men. People of German origin make up a quarter of the European population. The ma­ jority of the Europeans are from South Africa, being attracted to the territory by the large stock-farming areas made available to them. Where They Live: Apartheid

"Apartheid" or segregation laws are applied rigidly to dwelling places for whites and non-whites.

The territory is divided into two main areas by an administrative boundary. The area south of the boundary is known as the "Police Zone" and is the area of white settle­ ment. Two-thirds of the African population live north of the Police Zone in rural areas called reserves, which they must have permission to leave. Ovambol and in the north is one well-known reserve. Eighteen other reserves, widely scattered, lie within the Police Zone. In or near towns are the "locations"--miserable shantytowns, usually, for the Africans working nearby. Europeans must have special permission to go into locations or reserves, or north of the Police Zone, but otherwise may move freely. Africans must have special per­ mission in the form of "passes" to go anywhere outside the reserves or locations where they normally live.

While Man's Wealth, Black Man's Burden

The 1958 report by the special U. N. Committee on South West Africa describes the generally profitable economy run by the Europeans. In 1954, the last year for which statistics separate from those of South Africa itself were published, the export trade was almost $90 million a year, with diamonds, lead ores, fish products, and caracul (Persian lamb) pelts the most important products. Dairy-farming, the raising of sheep and beef, and mining have proved best adapted to a dry country, much of it desert, but with rich mineral resources. Foreign companies, some American, operate many of the mines. The President of the Windhoek Chamber of Commerce described the economy in 1958 as "very sound." According to aU. N. report, taxation for EUropeans is "relatively light."

The U. N. report comments, however, that such comfortable progress is for the

- 5 - Windhoek hotel for whites

Windhoek high school for whites

BLACK AND WHITE: Per capita

incomes for the 66,000 whites of

South West Africa rank with the most advanced countries of the world. For the 452,000 African inhabitants the statistics tell another story. Pov­ erty in the rural areas is below the survival level. As for the towns,

John Gunther called the location in

Windhoek" one of the most gruesome and nauseating slums I have ever seen."

Windhoek "location" for African inhabitants

- 6 - whites only and "depends to a critical extent on a large and relatively cheap labor force drawn from the •Non-European' population"--whic h is limited~ law almost entirely to unskilled labor.

A Tragic History

A tribe with which we shall be mostly c oncerned here is that of the Her eros, a proud and intelligent p e ople who once were "cattle-ric h" and roame d the country freely and without fear.

German missionaries arrived in South West Africa in the mid-nineteenth century,

and the country was successfully claimed by Germany in 1884. German o ccupation made

headway only against the despe rate opposition of the African populations, c ulminating in

the Herero War of 1904-07. The brutal "exte rmination order " of General von Trotha

cost about 65,000 H e r e ro lives. An estimated 15,000 H e reros survived, b ereft of th, ir

cattle wealth, reduced to landle ss pove rty, and s eg r egated on r e serves . Some staye d in

South West Africa unde r Chief Hosea Kutako who is still alive today. Others fle d t o

Bec huanaland where they have lived in exile ever since.

During the First World War, Hereros provided soldiers and aid to the Allies and

were promised a return of their lands for this help. They r eceived•instead the Mandate

status under South Afric a's unsympathetic r ule.

The assignment of the Mandate was justified on the ground of geographical position,

State pape rs on the peace conference published subseque ntly show the Mandate as a mis­

guided concession to South Africa 's d esire for the outright a nnexation of South West

Africa. South Africa was required to submit annual reports on the progres s of South We st Africa and to b e subject to the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League

of Nations. South Africa had, however, the privilege of applying its own laws to the territory. Administrative powers were delegated b y the Governor-General to an Ad- ministrator who a c ted in his b e half. Under the constitution adopted in 1925, the European inhabitants were g iven the right to e l ec t members of a Legislative Assembly. The same privilege was d eni e d to Africans, whose affairs were dealt with not b y the Assembly, but

by the Administrator in Advisory Council. Only one membe r of this Council was selected

on the ground of his "thoroug h acqua intan c~ with the r easonable wants and wishes to the non-Europe an race s in the t erritory."

Between the two World Wars the Here ros continued t o b e moved from place to place , finally reaching the reserves w h ere they are today.

- 7 - QUOTATIONS FROM SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT SOURCES

From "South West Africa--Land of Promise," by the Editor, in Lantern for October, 1957, published under the patronage of the South African Government:

Of the Ovambos: "They are a happy and contented people."

Of "the Whites": "The country's economy depends upon their enterprise, and with­ out their guardianship the Natives would hardly be able to make a living, let alone have their feet on the rungs of the ladder of civilization.

"The Whites .are constantly being reinforced by immigrants from the Union and abroad, for opportunity in commerce, in­ dustry, and the professions seems unlimited."

"Non-Europeans are not a part of the electorate for the Union Parliament or the Legislative Assembly, but enjoy a large measure of autonomy in managing in­ ternal affairs in their areas according to their own customs.

"It must be borne in mind that the majority of the Natives, from the point of view of civilization, are centuries behind the Whites . ... Before the advent of the white man the territory was the scene of much bloodshed ... and it took a long time to place a curb on savagery, costing not only many White lives but millions of pounds."

" Naturally, many non-Europeans make a temporary or permanent living out­ side the reserves, chiefly as unskilled or semi-skilled l abourers ... For that end there is a special recruiting organization called SWANLA, but wherever they may be, the.welfare of non-Europeans is a matter of official concern.

"In Windhoek, for example, there is a government hospital solely for their use ... "

rom South West Africa and the Union of South Africa: The history of a mandate, pub. c. 1946 by the South African Government:

"The idea of trusteeship by various nations is understood by the Natives ... ~ertain tribei} said they understood that urnder trusteeship administration King George of England would have to share his Council seat with the Chiefs of other Nations--an idea which they strongly reject."

" ... One explanation of their low birthrate ventured by medical opLnLon is the moral degeneracy of the Herero tribes and the high incidence of disease among them--and it may be added that indolence and degeneracy are greatly retarding the advance of some of the other non-white communities in the Territory."

"In Native hospitalisation and education, too, the Union takes a lead and the progress made with the general social welfare of the Natives is unequalled in Africa. This small white nation ... has reason to feel that its trusteeship of the Native peoples has brought them great and lasting benefits."

- 8 - A Friendly White Man--The Reverend Michael Scott After the Second World War, South Africa was the only mandatory power to refuse to make its Mandate a Trust Territory and thus it refused to groom South West Africa for independence under the supervision of the Trusteeship Council and General Assembly of the United Nations. Togoland, the Cameroons, the Somalia are today about to become independent under such guidance. South Africa, in fact, used the occasion to renew its efforts to annex South West Africa. Field Marshal Jan Smuts carne to the U.N. to ask for that privilege in 1946.

Meanwhile, the Rev. Michael Scott, an English clergyman of the Church of England who had made a remarkable reputation as a defender of Africans and Indians within South Africa, was staying with an African chief in Bechuanaland, bordering South West Africa. This chief introduced him to Chief Frederick Maherero of the Herero remnant which had fled to Bechuanaland many years before. ·· Chief Frederick appeal-ed to Father

Scott to help Chief Hosea's people in South West Africa. The Hereros--knowing of Smuts' move at the U. N. (a move based on a dubious "referendum" conducted among the tribes)--sent this urgent message to Chief Frederick: "The heritage of your father's orphans is about to be taken from them and because we cannot speak with one voice as we are scattered all over their country, our heritage may therefore fall to that side for which we have no liking ..•. Corne quickly to us." Frederick, knowing that he would have no freedom of movement, sent Scott to South West Africa to visit Hosea instead of himself. Scott told the old chief and his elders that they were entitled to petition the U. N. against annexation and he agreed to carry such a petition for them. Surmounting in­ credible difficulties, Scott journeyed to London and thence to the U. N. in New York. Annexation was denied to Smuts, but South Africa refused to recognize U. N. jurisdic­ tion over the territory. The International Court of Justice in 19 50 ruled that South Africa, while not bound to make South West Africa a Trust Territory, was legally required to submit annual reports and transmit petitions to the U. N. and to observe the terms of the Mandate.

The u. N.--words But Not Deeds

Scottachievedrnuc.hingaining U. N. attention to the cruel conditions in South West

Africa. Even his unflagging efforts, however, and even the sympathy he won for this cause among a majority of U. N. members, have never resulted in any action which

- 9 - Hosea's Prayer

"You are the Gre at God of all the Earth a nd the Heave n s .. We are so

insignificant. In us the r e are many d e f ects. But the powe r is yours to

make and do what we c annot do. You know all about us. For c oming

down to earth you w e r e d e spise d, and mocke d, and brutally tre ate d

bec aus e of thos e same d e f e cts in the m e n of thos e days. And for thos e

men you prayed because they did not unde rstand what the y w e r e doing,

and that you c ame only f or what is right. Give us the courage to struggle

in that way for what is right. 0 Lord, h e lp us who roam about. H e lp I us who have b een placed in Africa and have no dwe lling place of our

own. Give us back a dwelling place . 0 God, all powe r is yours in

Heave n and Earth. Ame n."

PRAYER OF CHIEF HOSEA KUTAKOOF THEHEREROTRIBE ON THE OCCASION OF THE REVEREND MICHAEL SCOTT'S DEPARTURE FOR THE UNITED NATIONS WITH THE FIRST PETITION FROM AFRICAN TRIBES OF SOUTH WEST AFRICA, 1946.

- 10 - compelled South Africa to change its ways. Meanwhile South Africa continues to integrate the territory. into her own, giving it white representation in the South African Parliament, bringing its Africans under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Native Affairs, and in general doing what she pleases.

The Good Offices Committee

In 1957 a Good Offices Committee was established by the U. N. After a long un­ willingness to talk and a boycotting of U. N. sessions, South Africa agreed to "negotiate" with this Committee. The U, S., Britain, and Brazil were members of this Committee and discussions were held in South Africa itself. When the talks were concluded, the

British and Brazilian members allowe d themselves to be flown on a hasty and unpub­ licized tour of South West Africa under government guidance, apparently seeing only what suited the South African government and interviewing no African leaders. This visit, which aroused deep misgivings among Chief Hosea and his friends, was the only occasion when representatives of the U. N. even as individuals have been invited to visit South West Africa. In Septe mber, 1958, when the Good Offices Committee reported to the U. N. Trustee­ ship Committee, the only positive result of the discussions which it could present was a tentative suggestion that South Africa might be willing to consider annexation of the southern (profitable and white-settled) area of South West Africa and to administer the northern part (where the majority of Africans live) as aU. N. Trust Territory. Eric Louw, foreign minister of South Africa, was present in New York to discuss the partition suggestion. After a majority of U. N. members voted to allow Michael Scott and Mburumba Kerina, a young Herero, to comment on partition from the begin­ ning of the debate, Mr. Louw consulted his government and announced that South Africa would have to boycott the remainder of the South West Africa discussions. Thus South Africa walked out. Scott and Kerina, reflecting the opinion of Africans, completely re­ jected partition--as did the U, N. majority. To many partition smacked of apartheid under U, N, auspices. The Trusteeship Committee asked the Good Offices Committee to try once again and report to the 14th General Assembly in 1959 on its results.

A Herero Speaks at the u. N.

For many years Michael Scott was the only petitioner at the U. N. on behalf of the South West African tribes, (In the meantime he was forbidden by South Africa to enter South West Africa or South Africa). In 1956, however, Scott was joined by a young - 11 - I A HERERO HERO makes a personal appeal to the United Nations

Committee on South West Africa in May 1959 after penetrating the

sealed borders of South West Africa. Here Fanuel Konzonguisi of

the Herero tribe of South West Africa appeals to the United Nations

against the South African tyranny at the United Nations in New York.

United Nations Photo

- 12 - Herero, Mbururnba K erina (some time s known as Cetzen, a name h e no longe r us e s). As a South West African, Kerina was unable to get p e rmission to leave South Africa for higher education, but r egistering as a South African h e managed to r eceive a pas sport to study in the U. S. H e received a degree from Lincoln University in P e nnsylvania and is continuing to study in New York City. He was authorize d by his p eople in South Wes t Africa to speak for · them. He has added furthe r confirmation to S c ott ' s carefully­ docume nted t estimony and to the U.N.'s r e ports. The Harero Who Escaped

On many occasions the U . N. has requested that certain South We st Afric ans b e I allowed to come and testify before it. Passpor~s have always bee n r efus e d by South Africa. In 1957 one was denied a Herero, Fanuel Jariretundu Kozonguizi. As far as is known, he is the only African other than Kerina fr om South West Africa to have a college d egr ee. In the spring of 1959 Kozonguizi, with admirable resourcefulness and courage, managed to l eave S outh West Africa inc onspic uously and to make his way to the U. N. where h e t estifie d befor e the Committee on South West Africa on May first. The lively and moving p e titions at the end of the U. N. Committee r e ports on South West Africa indicate that South We st Africans retain the pride, intelligence , and spirit whic h young Kozonguizi has shown- -in spite of what the y have b een through. Those who c ommunicat e with the U. N. ofte n suffer penalties at horne , but n e arly all of the m sign the ir own name s to the se petitions.

Hovv South West Africans Live

The European ec onomy of South West Africa is prosperous in part because it is bas e d on cheap Afric an labor. The cynic-- a nd one n eed hardly be a cynic to b e lie ve I this- -might suppose that the Her eros and others are deliberately kept on poor lands, 1 delibe rately allowed to learn no skills, deliberately prevente d by law from forming labor or political organizations, so that they will b e forced to work for the white man on the white man's own terms. Chief Hosea and a group of Here ros wrote to the U. N. in 1958: "At the last meet­ ing when we raised the question of low wages w e w e r e told that the Government has nothing to do with the question of wage increases. That must be left as a matter

between the labourer and his master." Most of the labor r e quir e d for mining and farming c omes from the northern r e -

- 13 - I JUSTICE IN SOUTH WEST AFRICA, YES OR NO? The United

Nations Trusteeship Committee debates the question of whether or

not it should allow petitioners from South West Africa to be heard.

From left to right, V. G, Martirosyan of the USSR, E. H. Louw of the

Union of South Africa, L. Dmiterko of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet

Republic, and Talat Benler of Turkey.

United Nations Photo

- 14 - serves, of which Ovamboland is one, and is r ecruited by the South West African Native Labor Association (SWANLA). Laborers are employed under contract for periods of as much as two years at a time. Kerina says: "The labore rs c ome from the reserves, some forced, others of their own free will, to e arn wages. They are not free to choose their masters on arrival at the place of work, or to bargain with their e mployers or to l e a ve them when expos e d to harsh treatme nt . The y are h e rded in the trains and cattle trucks with tallies or labe ls around their n ecks and are not well-fed or a ccommodate d." Wages a few years ago ranged from $1.26 ~ month plus minimum clothing and rations, according to Scott. H e has also seen the s e labore rs sleeping outdoors on c oncrete with one blanket in sub­ freezing weather. An Ovambo writing the U. N. in 1957 says :

The apartheid is a ceaseless t e rror--now hundreds of Ovambo workers in the police zone have b een arrested. Nobody knows what is the ir crime. It is only that they happen to pay a visit, or were sleeping somewhere where the y have no p e rmission to sleep. They have e ithe r to s e rve six weeks imprisonme nt or b e fine d three pounds [ $8. 40]. The daily wages of an contract Ovambo are 7/6 [$1. 05] p e r wee k . •.. Fines! Fine s! C onditions of life for Ovambo Native labour in South West Africa are a scandal. There is a grave system of forced labour. The Majority of Ovambo recruits for S. W,A.N.L.A. are forced to go somewhere they do not want. Eventually, the y sne ak away. By sneaking away .• . they have hundreds of miles to walk. Many were thus eaten up by lions ; many starve d in the way; many were shot down by Boe r farme rs; many were c apture d by S. A. police; b efor e the y reac h Court, they were savagely kicke d and b eaten by S. A. Boer Policemen. At the Court they are always fine d . ten pounds [ $28. 00] or s e rve six months' imprisonment with h e avy labour • F ew farme rs accused of murder were fined fifteen pounds [ $42. 00] only by the Court. This above -mentione d amount is ofte n part of an Ovambo victim's se>cked monies (savings).

We might question the shootings as an exaggeration, but Michael Scott's own in­ vestigations reveal similar conditions, as have newspaper stories from South Africa itself. The d e ath of an African at the hands of a white man is· not an infreque nt occurrence, with the kind of penalty as r e ported by the Ovambo p e titioner. Fleein g laborers are , of course, fugitives from justice. Certain public expenditures, a ccording to the U. N, re ­ ports, have b een d e s cribed in offic ial reports as the c ost of efforts "to trace Ov ambo des e rters who, if found, w e re subject to imprisonment with hard labour a nd to the com­ ple tion of their full c ontrac t period with the same e mployer whom they had l e ft." D esertion is "one of the more serious offences."

- 15 - Break-up of the African Family

Since lands are poor on many of the reserves and money is need to pay taxe s, the m e n are for ce d to. take upth e l ongcontract periods offered by SWANLA. When an African i n the Police Zone i s slow in finding e mploym'ent, he may--by law--be assigned an em- ploy e r or be arrested for vagrancy. Women and c hildren are left behind--few women ar e eve r given p e rmission to l e ave the northern res e rv e s. The men at the mines sleep in crude barrac ks-style c ompounds. At Tsumeb copper mine s, owned by two American c oncerns--the Newmont Mining Corp. and American Metal Climax, Inc . --African work­ e rs l ive 12 to a room. A ccommodations at the white farms are far more primitive.

What effe c t the s e l ong p e riods of separation have on the morality--not to say the moral e --of husband and wife and on the welfare of young c hildren is not hard to imagine .

This is one of the mor e brutal aspects of a system in which Africans are r egarded not as human b e ings but as so many units of work.

African Wages

The Tsumeb mme m 1956, a ccording to The New York Times, paid Africans from

2 5¢ t o $ 1.54 for an 8-hour day, whil e the first-class European worker was paid a bas e wage of $6.00 a day and a c ost-of-liv i ng bonus of $75 a month. His family was provided a h ou se at a r e asonabl e r e n tal. C onditions for Africans at Tsumeb are, it should b e noted , among the best in the t erritory.

C hie f Hosea has w ritte n: (po unds are her e changed to dollars): 1 Wag e s for our p e opl e in the towns a re very low. For men they are from $16.80 to $28 .00 p e r month in Windhoek whe r e pay is highest. A f e w men receive $33,60 p er month. Wome n r ecei ve $4.20 to $8.40 p er month. In other towns wage s are lowe r than this, e .g ., Ok a handja, where men receive $4.20 to $8.40 per month. At Otatu the wage i s $2.80 to $5.60 p e r month without rations . .. .

A U. N. report d escribe s wage s in the 1950's for mine and farm labore rs as b e ­ ginning from $2.80 to $9.10 a month, plus food, some c lothing, and housing.

Price s are , however , geared to the white man who may e arn 10 times as muc h as an African. Chief Hosea des c ribes the price of clothing worn by himself and his friends:

$19.60 for a pair of trous e rs, $4.90 for a shirt, $27.65 for a c oat, $8.40 for a pair of shoe s, $14. 00 for a s ec ond-hand suit . Food c osts range as follows: a loaf of bre ad, from

14¢ to 21¢; 3 pounds of mealie (corn) m e a l, 14¢; a pound of g oat m e at or beef, low g rade ,

28¢; a pound of butte r, 45¢; a c ow's h ead, 77¢; h e art and lungs , the lot, 70¢; f eet, 56¢; and stomac h, 42¢ . - 16 - With $33.60 a month b e ing a high salary for an Afri c an, it is any wonder that d e ­ ficie n c y dis e ases, shown in sores and di s t e nde d stomac hs, plague the c hildre n ? On many occasions c orn m e al may b e the only article of die t.

Taxation

Taxation for Europe ans has b ee n d e s c ribe d as "re lative ly lig ht." This holds true for c orporate as w e ll as for individual taxe s. Thus South We st Africa offe rs attrac tiv e prospects for. outside investors. South Afric a c omplains that the whole cos t of g o ve rn­ ment in South We st Afric a is borne by white s, failing to m e ntion that this tax mone y might be conside r e d as rig htly owe d to thos e who make the high inc ome s for white s possible.

Mic hael Scott points out that the t e rritory now c ontribute s a flat sum of 50,000 pounds

($140,000) a y e ar for the development of the res e rves, "but any furthe r exp e nditur e ... has to come from the Trust funds--that is, from the annual rate s or h e ad taxe s, g raz ing fees, and the many other taxe s impose d on the Afric ans, most of whom are far too poor to pay any kind of tax." The Pass System

Suppose that eve ry time you wante d to go anywhe r e beyond a few bloc ks from your home you had to g e t a pass from the polic e or from your e mploye r. Suppose you wanted to be out afte r ten o'clock at night and had to have polic e p e rmission. Suppos e you had to have writte n police p e rmission not only to be away from home, but to g e t into a fri e nd's n e ighborhood not far away. Suppose you also n e eded a pass to prove that you had paid your income tax. If youwerecaughtwithout the right pass or pass e s, if you staye d mor e than 72 hours at a friend's hous e or in a c ity to s eek work, you would go to jail-­ and no one in your family would know where you were. It sounds like a nig htmare . Yet this is what the pass system m e ans in South West Afric a , an "inte rnational" territory.

Kerina describe s 9 kinds of passes, one or more of which an Afric an must produce on d e mand: the poll tax rec e ipt, the ide ntification and traveling pass, the 6 days' spe cial pass to s eek work, the night spe cial pass, the lodge pass, the day labor pass (to prove

employme nt), the loc ation visitor 's pass, the trek pass (for migrant laborers), and the exe mption pass--to say one needn't carry any othe r passes! Africans hate the pass syste m as muc h as any other single indignity.

"The Land is Ours"

Hosea Kutako has b een saying, "The land is ours," for most of his 88 years. In

- 17- reality, however, the European is steadily whittling away from the reserves as fast as the Africans pay for developing them. Africans cannot afford the same kind of develop­

ment as the European, of course, and receive only a small fraction of the public funds

made available to white farmers. From theit cattle they make a meager living selling

cream, butter, meat, and hides.

Chief Hosea has written: There is a great scarcity of water in the Reserves. In the ._ Epikuro and Otjituo Reserves animals must often be driven twenty or thirty miles to water. It is very difficult to breed animals in good condition and the people get little benefit from rearing these animals. There are very few people living in the Reserves who have enough cattle to provide them with a proper livelihood. They are not allowed to have permits to go and seek work in the towns, though sometimes the young men can obtain contracts to work in the towns ... and white recruiting officers come ..• when young men are needed in the towns. But the young women and people generally are not allowed to go to the towns to look for work. For these reasons the stand­ ard of living of the people in the Reserves remains very low. In the towns there is, in general, no labor shortage, as there has been of recent

years in farming and mining. A man unemployed for 14 days may lose his house in the

new Windhoek location and be forced to leave the town. When the Africans sell their

cattle, they find prices very low. Two recent cases illustrate the European attitude toward African land. The Case of Hosea Kutako and the Arninuis Reserve

.Aminuis reserve, where Chief Hosea lives, is an oblong area about 40 by 60 miles, next /to a strip or corridor about 60 by 10 miles along the Bechuanaland border. In 1933 the South West African Administrator, Dr. Conradie, visited the Hereros and told them that the corridor would be added to the Aminuis reserve, as already promised by the

Government. He added: "This, however, has not been actually proclaimed as it was not considered necessary to do so until water has been opened up and the ground was actually used by the people."

Twenty-four years after, in 1957, the Secretary for Native Affairs offered Hosea

one farm area in the corridor in exchange for a much better part of the reserve which the Hereros were then occupying. The corridor was wanted, of course, for white settle­ ment. Chief Hosea refused the offer, pointing out that the corridor had been theirs for many years. The "exchange," if he were to accept it, was far from fair in any case. The

Secretary replied that Hosea would regret having lost such a fine opportunity, since in

- 18 - the prese nt c irc umstances the H ereros could have nofurthe r claim to the corridor what- soeve r!

Sugges tions for moving nearly all the Hereros from the Police Zone for r e s e ttle ­ ment in the north have b ee n seriousl y advanced in the South Afri can Parliame nt in 1958,

This would b e rather like moving 40,000 New Yorke rs to Georgia--and w ithout their p ermission.

The Case of the Rev. Markus Kooper

A numbe r of recent l e tte rs and p e titions to the U. N, have con cerned the Hoachanas

Rese r ve, where 400 of the r emainde r of the "Red Nation"--one of the Nama tribes--have lived for many years. The y were allowed to build the ir own African Methodist Episcopal

C hurch, but the Government decided that it neede d the area for whites , The Rev, Markus

Kooper , b e lov e d by his p e ople, has b een the ir r.eligious l ead e r, He and others have complaine d to the U. N. that the Government has recently p ersecut e d the ir c hurch and has wrongfully accus e d certain of its m e mbe rs of buying stole n caracul pelts in order to justify the impending removal of the Red Nation from its l ands . These had b een granted i n perpe tuity by the Germans, although three -quarte rs of the original area--the in­ habitants insist- -has since b een taken from them. In January, 1959, the Rev. Kooperandhisfamily of six were forcibly r e moved- - and some of his p e ople were injured when they prote ste d--to a r emot e spot, 150 mile s away in the Itsawisis Desert, where h is p eople a r e t o follow him. Sadly, Koope r has written that h e was taken there as so much "use l e ss waste matter."

In a p e tition to the U. N. a month l ater, Koope r c oncludes : "Sirs, while I do not know the pre s e nt situation of my p e ople at Hoachanas whom have been serving and from whom I was d e p e nding for my meals and salary I, toge the r with my wife and children are in a miserable situation of hunge r, We live and I fe d my c hildren on gum since we have been threw away in these lifeless stones by the administration of SWA, so I a m closing the pe tition sofar for today bec ause I am going to f e t c h gum our onliest diet to quie t my children crying for food. Oh, Heavenly Father , hast Thou c r e ate m e to live on the face of this earth, to roam about and to f e d mys e lf and my family which Thou has entruste d m e on gum as if we are really baboons for whom Thou has no purpose to s e rve in the world of humanbe ings and in this country Thou gavest to our dear pare nts and their pare nts. Forgive us our transgre ssions as we are sinners and deliver South West Africa from South African Government. A m en !"

Respectfully yours for Rooinasie [ Red Nati on] and oppressed. --Rev. Markus Koope r He b egs the U. N. to take action. Indeed, the U. N. Committee on South West Africa

- 19 - did pass a laudable resolution on the Rev. Mr. Kooper for action by the General As- sembly. Yet what U. N. resolution has the South African government eve r h eed e d? Health--More Hospitals Wanted

John Gunther in Inside Africa wrote of the Windhoek location as "one of the most gruesome and nauseating-- slums I have ever s een." In suc h loc ations, refuse flowing from the lavatories sometimes contaminates drinking water- -with as many as 150 famili e s sharing a water faucet. Tuberculosis and malaria, among other diseases, have b ee n rife in the territory, as well as an epidemic of diphtheria in Ovamboland in 1956-57. Though there are a number of state hospitals for Africans in the Police Zone, and more are being built, they are still inadequate to the n eed. There are three Administration medic al officials and one small governme nt hospital outside the Police Zone, where missionaries provide the only other medical help--for 238,487 Africans, or nearly two-thirds of thos e in the whole of South West Afric a .

Housing

Afric an housing both in the locations and on the r e serve s is of the flimsiest. John Gunther describes those at Windhoek as being "made of old automobile fenders, c ard­ board, mashed-out petrol tins, and bits of old cloth and basketware." Ne w houses for Windhoek Africans are now b e ing built, but with the usual e nforc e d removal of loc ation residents to a site far distant from the city. This removal of Afric ans from white a r eas involves highe r rents and bus fares, still under apartheid.

Chief Hosea in 1958 observed that Africans were refusing to be mov e d and would prefer that existing locations be improved. Policemen, he said, searched Africans going in and out of locations. He d e scribe s the new locations as follows: These locations will be built in separate sections for the Here ros, Namas, Damaras, Ovamboes. Whe n a p e rson wishes to go from the Ovambo to the Here ro sec tion h e must apply for a permit and state the purpose of his visit. The houses that are to be built by the Administration must be paid for b efore the seventh of each month. [ T h e rent for e a c h hous e will b e the equivalent of $5.40 as oppose d to 50~ or l es s p e r p erson under the old scheme ]. Those who fail to pay will b e arrest ed. The house is abouttwe ntyfeetsquaredi vid ed into four e qual-sized rooms. It has only one door and has ' one window at the 1ront and one at the back .... The re is no kitche n, but p e rmits may b e g iven to build a kitc hen alongside the hous e or to us e an open fire ..•• The superinte ndent says that communal bathrooms will b e built for e a c h s ection. Those who are to b e allowed to stay in the s e houses are a man and his wife and minor c hildre n .•.• There will b e separate compounds

- 20 - for male and f e male [ over 18 year s of a g e ] in e a c h s e ction, ... Provision is b e ing made for thos e wishing to build the ir own houses in the same location. The hous e will b elong to the p e r son wh o h a s built it for thirty years only. Much of this is confirme d in the 19 6 r egulations propose d for the new Windhoek loc ation. Some hous e s will hav e only two or thre e rooms at lowe r rentals, Advance J( e rmission will b e r e quir e d for large gathe rings ; strict control will be e xercised over those who enter the loc ation.

Education

The Europe an in South We st Africa lives muc h as an American would in America, e xcept that he rarely lifts a finge r at manual labor, He has servants--several servants.

He may be some what ric h e r than w e are , seldom poorer--so far as comforts are con-

ce rned. He is r e quire dbyla wto e ducate his children. For 1954-55 in South West Af ica, the total government e xpe nditure on e duc ation was approximately as follows: 79o/o for

educating the Europeans, So/o for the Colore d, 9.5o/o for the Africans in the Police Zone, and 3.5o/o for the Afric ans outside the Polic e Zone . The latter comprise the vast majority of Afric ans. Most education for Africans in the north is in the hands of missionaries. Their best schools, and the y are few, normally end at the fifth grade, Govern~ent and "recognized" mission schools within the Police Zone reach the eighth grade, The re is only one non­ white high school (with classes through the twelfth grade) in the whole territory. This is for Colored pupils only. There is no institution for higher learning. "In distant parts there is no school for the children to atte nd," writes Chief Hosea,

"and thus it is that many of our children get no education." There can be, therefore, no compulsory education for Africans. Only about one in three Africans ever sees the inside of a schoolhouse or sits in a class.

Tvvo Americans Visit South West Africa

As this is being written, two young Americans, Allard Lowenstein and Emory F,

Bundy, have issued a statement after close personal investigation of conditions in South West Africa. From their talks with Africans they conclude:

We bring a renewed testimon~al to Michael Scott of the unequalled esteem, affection, and trust place d in him by the people whom he has ·so effectively and faithfully r e presented for so many hard years. England can be proud •.• that she has produced such a son. And Christianity is indeed fortunate to have in the ranks of her clergy a man whose selfless concern for others has done much to redeem

- 21 - the m e aning of the C hristian r e ligi o n f or millions of oppre ss e d a n d f o r g otte n p e ople who might othe rwis e have b een l ed t o t hink of the C hristian C hur c h as an e l a bor ­ ate rationalization of the doctrine that no blac k m a n, how e v er g ood, should b e the equal--on this e arth--of any white man, howeve r m e an.

In the "police state " a tmosphe r e of South We st Afric a, Lowenste in and Bundy ob- s e r ve : "It g rows increasingl y diffic ult . .. even for Europe ans to v oice publicly fund- ame ntal disag r eem e nts with p re s e nt rac ial policie s. It will b e said that few Europe ans disag r e e . . . with pre sent rac ial polic i es ; w e would obse rve m e rely that w e e ncounte r e d suc h Europe ans, and that the ir hesitancy to spe ak out and the ir f e ar of b e ing quote d b e tray an unhappy e rosion of t r aditional fr eedoms even within the limite d Europe an c ommunity."

Lowenste in and Bundy r e port:

The n oose of the pass law s g r ow s eve r tighte r; intimidation of p e rsons op­ posing gov ernme nt polic i e s inc r e a se in inc ide n ce and in intensity; and the c om- munic ations among the v arious Afr i c an tribe s and b e tween the m and othe r g roups is dis c ouraged and grows inc r e asingly difficult .... Our affection for many of the gen e rous and c harming Europe ans who have made the ir home s in South W e st Af ric a cannot b e allowe d to blind us to the c onditions in w hic h the vast majority of the p eople of the t e rritory are obliged to live by the pr e s e nt Mandatory P o we r . The first r ecomme ndation made by thes e two Ame rican obs e rve rs is that the w e ste rn d e moc r acies must take action on the "plight" of the s e Afric ans and, in so doing , carr y out the ir inte rnational r esponsibilitie s. Othe r r ecomme ndations are as follows:

The G o v e rnme nt of South A fri c a is unfit t o c ontinue as the Trus t ee fo r the c onscie n ce of the wor ld a nd should b e strippe d of its rights a s a Mandatory Powe r. The T e rritory should b e placed unde r the jurisdictio n of the Trusteeship C ouncil and the inhabitants c onsulte d as to whic h nation the y w ould like to have as the Trust powe r . Ste ps should b e take n to carry the proble m of the status of South We st Africa to the Inte rnational C ourt of Justice for its c om puls ory jurisdic tion. In the e v e nt of continue d ' d efiance of its inte rnational obligations by the Union G ove rnme nt, w e would u rge the inc r e a sed us e of economic pr e ssure s by an arous e d c onsc i e n ce of mankind.

Despair Stalks South West Africa

Milton Brac k e r, a r e porte r for The Ne w York Time s, d e s c ribe d in the July 12, 19 59 issue of The Ne w York Times Magazine an afte rnoon he spe nt i n a loc ation hove l w i th the H e r e ro l e ade rs. (Mr. Brac k e r was late r arre ste d, l e n g thily inte rrogate d, f ine d, and subject e d to a s e arc h of his b e longing s and a study of his note s and papers for having b een in this loc ation without a p e rmit) . We may embroider a little upon his story and pic ture Chief H o s e a l e aning upon a table , his anc i e n t h e ad grizzle d and hi s face line d

- 22 - with the y e ars of his sorrow and the waiting, waiting - -for the broke n promise s to b e fulfill e d, for the U. N. to ac t, for some thing to happe n to give his p e ople a glimme r of hope . H e is thinking p e rhaps of Mic hae l S cott's 13 -ye ar d e dic ation; of the two young H e reros abroad; and p e rhaps of the iron rule of South Afr i c a, sapping the joy from e ach Afric an c hild as h e l e arns how little joy the r e is to b e in life for him, asking Afric an

labor at a pittance , and dooming the Afric an to virtual slavery, dis e as e , i g noranc e, hunger , s e paration from loved o n es .. . .

Hosea spoke only of the He rero claims to the ir anc i e nt lands. But F e stus Kandjo,

his friend a nd c ompanion of many y e ars, had this to say: "If you wait too long for some ­ thing that b e long s to you it breeds bad thing s. Whe n a p e rson has los t patie n ce , h e

some times c ommits suicide . ..

What did Kandjo m e an ? Yet what hope is the r e for these thousands of h e lple ss

Afri c ans ? Will ther e b e a flar e -up and the n s ile n ce - -the sile n ce of the grave? Is/ this what h e m e ans? In South We st Afric a the r e stalks the shadow of dark despair. What Has the u.s. Done About South West Africa?

The U. S. has partic ipate d in the U , N. Committee on South We st Afric a for a three-year t e r m (1 9 56-58) and h e lpe d to draw up r e ports sev e r e ly c ritical of South

Africa's c arrying out its M a nda t e . T h e U. S. partic ipate d in the Good Offices Com mitte e in 1958 . Its r e pre s e ntative r e fraine d from joining the "tour" of South West Africa w hic h c aus e d suc h r e s e ntme nt among Afric ans.

The U. S. has supported many U. N . resolutions asking South Afri c a to c hange its ways r e garding South We st Africa. The U. S. has, howe v e r, b een c autious about sup­ porting c ertain othe r U. N. r e solutions on the South We st Afric a que stion.

These are the only public a c tions of the U.S. on South We st Afric a. The r e have b een f e w, if any, public s tate m e'nts on South We st Afric a from Ame ric an offic ials outside

the U. N. South W e st Afric a has gotte n lost among the stormie r inte rnatio nal proble ms-­

lost for 39 years , since the beg inning of the Mandate in 1920.

If This Were Tibet or Hungary---

C onditions in South We st Afric a wol,lld p rovoke a n imme dia t e outc ry in the U.S. if

South W e s t Africa were T ibet o r Hungary . H ow can we of t h e d e moc ratic We st c ontinue to i gnor e oppressi o n in this inte rnationa l t e rrito r y? Why doe s n o t the U . S . s p e ak s trongly and exert pre ssure t o c hange a ll thi s ? S outh Afr i ca i s not p opula r i n th e world , a nd i n - 23 - Afric a it is d e spe rately isolated and afraid.

What Next In the U.N. Assembly?

What rec ourse does the inte rnational community hav e when a country defie s th e

U. N. as the Union of South Afric a has done in its relations with South We st Afric a? Since the Good Office s Committe e so far has produced no r e sults of a positive natur e , it is like ly that the n ext step will b e to take legal methods of r e m e dying the s ituation, a possibility whic h has been unde r study at the U. N. for seve ral y e ars.

The Inte rnational Court of Justice rul e d in 1950 that South Afri c a did have obliga­ tions to the U.N. in r e gard to South We st Afric a. The s e w e r e to maintain the territory's international status and abide by t h e t e rms of the Mandate , to transmit r e ports to the

U. N. annually, and to forward p e titio ns to the U . N. from the inhabitants of the t e rritory.

The Court also gave as its opinion on this o c casion that if a c omplaint were c orrectly

brought against South Afric a, it would b e bound--under the L e ague of Nations Cove nant-­

to accept the Court's compulsory jurisdic tion.

Compulsory -Jurisdiction?

Unde r inte rnational law, the inhabitants of a mandate d t e rritory c annot thems e lve s

s eek c ourt r e lie f. The c ompla i nt must b e lodged by an inde p e nde nt state, possibly any

member of the U. N. or, at any rate , any former membe r of the Leag u e of Nations whic h

is now a membe r of the U. N.

The U.N. Committee on S outh We st Africa has indicate d repe atedly several ways-­

including the failure to make annual. r e ports--in whic h it b e lieve s that a cas e might b e

made that South Africa has violate d its Mandate over South W e st Afric a.

The m e thod, depending on l egal c onsiderations y e t to b e d ecided, should b e a­ v ailabl e f or any one nation or g rou"p of nations which the Inte rnational Court p e rmits to

p e tition it to h e ar the complaint on South Africa's failur e to obs e r ve the terms of the

Mandate . (This a c tion could take place at any time of y ear; it n eed not b e depe nde nt on a

m eeting of the Gene ral Ass e mbly). Both South Afric a and the c omplainant would b e bound to a ccept the International C ourt's d e cision. If South Africa were aske d to take c ertain steps and refus e d to c omply, the matte r could the n b e brought before the U. N.

Sec urity Counc il whic h could the ore tic ally impos e economic and even military pre s s u re s

t o force c ompliance . Many have long adv oc ate d ec onomic sanctions. Needed--An Informed World Public Opinion T o a ccomplis h the e nd of justice , the nations of the w o rld mus t b e willing and

- 24 - anxious, in the name of humanity, moral obligation, the U. N. Charter, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights--to which most nations are signatories--to insist on a new d eal for our international wards in South West Africa. Dr. G e bre -Egzy, the delegate from Ethiopia to the 1959 U. N. Committee on South West Africa, suggested that there be world-wide demonstrations and an international observance yearly of "South West Africa Day." The ordinary citizen has to hear of South West Africa and to make his opinion--based on accurate information--known to his government and to other citizens at home and abroad. What You Can Do

1. Write two letters, one to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, The White House, Washington, D. C. I another to Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge U. S. Mission to the United Nations 2 Park Avenue, New York 16, N. Y. Make these three points:

a. That the U. S, take effective measures, including for:thright direct pressure, toward bringing about U , N, Trust Territory status for South We st Africa. As long as South Africa retains power over South West Africa, it should be unceasingly pressed to observe the terms of its Mandate. b. That the U, S, strongly support any effort to ask the International Court of Justice for compulsory jurisdiction on the question of whether South Africa has violated its Mandate over South West Africa. c . That the U, S. make every effort to exert her le;tdership in NATO and in the U, N. toward making constructive action on the South West African question. Point out that the new and about-to-be-free nations of Africa are watching to see if the U.S.'s protestations of friendship to them are matched by its deeds in the U. N.

2. Write to Ambassador Wentzel C. du Plessis --Embassy of the Union of South Africa Washington, D. C.

Urge the Union of South Africa to implement the terms of its Mandate over South West Africa and to report on its progress toward self-determination regularly to the

U.N. 3. Send for the reports of the U.N. Committee on South West Africa, of which there

- 25 - has b een one each year since 1954. Five r e ports, 1954 through 1958, can be obtained postpaid for $2.25 from th e U. N. Bookstore (Unite d Nations, N. Y.). Also read Michael

S c ott's autobiography, .!2_ Tim e ~ Speak (Doubleday, 1958 ). Write to the Ame ric an Com­ mittee on Afric a (801 SecondAve. , New York.l7, N.Y.) for a r e ading list of other printed mate rial.

4. Order and distribute additi onal c opies of this pamphle t directly from the Americ an Committee on Afr i c a. There is a discount for quantity orders. The s e should b e distributed to schools and libraries and e ditors, clergymen, and othe r opinion­ makers in your community. 5. Invite a speaker on African affairs--an Afric an student, visitor , or petitioner to the U. N.--to address your club, school , union, c hurch or synagogue. A f e w spe akers c an talk on South West Africa. Write to the Am e rican Committee on Africa for sug­ gestions for speak e rs. 6 . Ask the c l ergymen of your faith to deliv e r a s e rmon on the proble m of South We st Africa. Many minis t e rs, priests , and rabbis have preac hed suc h sermons and the y have found the c as e for South Wes t Africa to b e a clear moral issue of our tim e . Provide bac kground mate rial for suc h a sermon.

7. Write a l e tter on South West Africa to your loc al n ewspape r or to your favorite p e riodical, explaining what is happening to South We st Africa and asking for justice to its people. 8 . Keep informe d, through n ewspapers, books, and p e riodicals (such as Afr i ca Today) on the problems of the entire Afric an contine nt--problems whic h in a real s e ns e are not divisible .

9. If you are a pupil or a teacher, you can discuss the se U. N. ste p c hildren in South We st Africa. There have b ee n many such classroom projects, including dis- c ussions and the n l etter-writing c ampaigns. 10. Support the African Defense and Aid Fund, whic h is giving legal a nd othe r h e lp to those who stand for fr eedom and e quality in many parts of Africa. More than

$50,000 has gone to the individuals (and their famili e s) indic t ed for treason in South

Africa. Muc h mor e is n eed e d. The Fund stands ready to h e lp in S.outh We st Afric a too. S e nd your contributions to the Africa D efens e and A id Fund, Suite 400, 80 1 S econd Avenue,

New York 17, New York.

- 26 - I Speak For Th e Peop le of South West Africa

The question of South West Afric a has been b e fore the United Nations since 1946. B ut e ven today a fter thirteen years of d e liberations no solution is in sight. This is due , perhaps, to the a bsence of unde rstanding tha t exists between the United Nations on the one hand and the government of the Union of South Afric a on the othe r .

The Unite d Nations whilst recogmz1ng its responsibility for the indi genous people of South West Afri ca has n o t b een abl e t o study on-the- spot conditions unde r which the people live a nd to unde rstand the seriousness with which the y r egard their futur e .

The Union of South Afric a not only has been uncooperati v e in this b ut h as taken a firm stand agains t the Unite d Nations 1 rightful and justified inte rvention in thi s m a tte r. Tha t government does not r·ecognize the opinions of the Intern a tiona l Court of Jus tice on this matter; it does not r ecognize the a ction taken by the Unite d Nations in t erm s of these opinions; n e ither doe s it r ecogni ze t h e r ight of the i ndige nous people of t he Territory to petition the United Nations on it s a dministr a tion of the T erritory.

I h ave come here t o symbolise our confidence i n the Unite d Nations and our hopes for the futur e . I have come h ere with full authority to speak on b e half of the Herero P eopl e of South West Africa and in behalf of all the indigenous people of the Territory. I am h ere furthe r to r e - est a blish p e rsona l contact with our represent a tives her e , M essrs . Michael Scott a nd Mburumba Keri na, who have not b een able to r eport back to the people in South West Africa;

to est a bli sh further cont act with the United Nation s and the w orld a t l arge and if possible clear the confusion a bout our aspira tions;

to inform the United Nations and the world a bout our problems in South W est Afric a and our opinions on the m;

and to convey to the people of South West Africa accurate reports on attitudes h ere tha t concern them.

Jarire tundu Kozonguiz i

The American Committee on Afri ca is inde bte d to Winifred Courtne y for e d i ting this pamphlet. Published by the American Committee on Africa 801 Second Avenue New York 17, N.Y.

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