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United Nations United Nations GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOURTEENTH SESSION Official Records FOURTH COMMITTEE, 910th MEETING Thursday, 15 October 1959, at 10.45 a.m. NEW YORK CONTENTS Page Agenda item 38: Question of South West Africa (continued): () Report of the Good Offices Committee on South West Africa; (b) Report of the Committee on South West Africa; (g) Study of legal action to ensure the fulfilment of the obligations assumed by the Union of South Africa in respect of the Territory of South West Africa Heating of petitioners (continued) ......... 137 3. He did not wish any specific country to become the Administering Authority, for there was always a danger of the same situation arising and of the inhabitants being confronted with a Government having an indirect interest in the economy of the Territory. In his view, three or four countries should be selected to form an international council for the administration of South West Africa. Such a council would also act in an advisory capacity to the Legislative Assembly until the inhabitants were ready for independence. It might well be composed of the States which were members of the Committee on South West Africa, since they had an intimate knowledge of conditions in the Territory. Chairman: Mr. L. N. PALAR (Indonesia). AGENDA ITEM 38 Question of South West Africa (continued: (a) Report of the Good Offices Committee on South West Africa (A/4224); (b) Report of the Committee on South West Africa (A/4191, A/C*4/413, A/C.4/422, A/AC.73/L.13); (c) Study of legal action to ensure the fulfilment of the obligations assumed by the Union of South Africa in respect of the Territory of South West Africa (A/3625; A/3906, part II; A/4191, para. 8; A/AC.73/2) HEARING OF PETITIONERS (continued) At the invitation of the Chairman, Mr. Hans Johannes Beukes, Mr. Sherman M. Bull, Mr. Mburumba Kerina, Mr. Jariretundu Kozonguizi, Mr. AllardK. Lowenstein and the Reverend Michael Scott took places at the Committee table. 1. U TIN MAUNG (Burma) paid a tribute to the sense of duty and moral courage of the petitioners and to the moderation which they had shown in their statements. At the 904th meeting Mr. Kerina had implied that no useful purpose would be served by attempting to persuade the Union of South Africa to abide by its international obligations and had said that it was high time that South West Africa was placed under the United Nations Trusteeship System. He asked Mr. Kerina how soon, in his view, the Territory should be placed under trusteeship and which country should be the Administering Authority. 2. Mr. KERINA said that a substantial basis existed for taking the case to the International Court of Justice. The status of the Territory under the Mandate had been violated by the transfer of responsibility for the affairs of the indigenous inhabitants to the South African Government, by the direct administration of the Eastern Caprivi Zipfel by the Union and by the redefinition of boundaries within the Territory. It was a matter of urgency that South West Africa should be placed under the Trusteeship System. 4. U TIN MAUNG (Burma) said that he had been touched by the tone of the tape- recorded message from the chiefs!/ and by their earnest plea to the Committee. Mr. Kerina had referred in his statement to the vicious character of "apartheid" which had infected the consciences of the Prime Minister, Mr. Verwoerd, and the members of his party. He asked Mr. Kerina whether he thought that the architects of "apartheid" were so steeped in that doctrine-which was as bad as, if not worse than, Fascism-that any appeal to them for a change of heart would be rejected as sheer weakness. 5. Mr. KERINA observed that the late Mr. Strijdom, the former Prime Minister, addressing an audience of Afrikaaners, had said that they had nowhere else to go and could only fight for their existence on the soil of South Africa. The legislation of the Union and of South West Africa revealed a people determined to keep the non-White inhabitants in complete servitude, so long as they themselves could maintain their position and their interests. No change of heart where South West Africa was concerned was to be expected of the Nationalists. Not only were the indigenous inhabitants refused any share in the government, but it was made clear through the laws that the indigenous inhabitants were not considered as equals but as servants. 6. U TIN MAUNG (Burma), referring to the petition from the Ovamboland Peoples' Organisation read out by Mr. Kerina at the 904th meeting, asked Mr. Kerina whether it was correct to say that the appeal made in that petition was not only on behalf of the Ovamboland people but also on behalf of all the indigenous inhabitants of the Territory. He also asked what would happen if the action taken by the United Nations did not come up to their expectations. 7. Mr. KERINA said that the Ovamboland Peoples' Organisation spoke for all Africans in the Territory. The feeling of the petitioners that the time had come for action, especially for legal actlon before the International Court of Justice, was sharedby the inhabitants of the Territory, and another postponement would have serious repercussions among them. When they had 1/ For the text of the recorded message, see A/C.4/425. A/C.4/SR.910 114W)v 138, General Assembly - Fourteenth Session - Fourth Committee heard of the establishment of the Good Offices Committee on South West Africa, they had thought that it was another conciliatory move and had been prepared to suffer for a further year provided that good results came of it. If nothing was done, South Africa would be able to tell the people that even, the United Nations was not prepared to fulfil their wishes, and the inhabitants of the Territory would lose confidence and be forced to make final decisions themselves. The petitions concerning the Hoachanas Native Reserve made it evident that the people there were ready to die rather than to endure a further periodof suffering under the South African Government. 8. U TIN MAUNG (Burma) said that Mr. Kozonguizi had stated at the 102nd meeting of the Committee on South West Africa that the Territory was an experimental ground since it was a fertile soil for all the "apartheid" policies (A/4191, annex V, sec. 4). He asked him which adjacent territories were watching that experiment. 9. Mr. KOZONGUIZI recalied that the existing Government in South Africa had come to power in 1948 by advocating "apartheid". "Apartheid" had existed before 1948 and indeed ever since the White man had come to South Africa, but the present Government had introduced segregation to a degree which had not been known before. Restrictions on movement had been intensified and the Group Areas Act had been introduced enabling the Government to move families from one place to another. In South West Africa, however, many such policies had, already been in force before 1948; the situation in the Territory was the ideal at which the Government aimed for South Africa itself and it had been for that reason that he had spoken of it as an experimental ground. All the countries which were neighbours of South West Africa were watching, for they felt that their political future was threatened. They realized that South West Africa had an international status and they would feel happier if they could have seen some indication that a more democratic form of administration was being introduced there. 10. U TIN MAUNG (Burma), referring to the remarks made by Mr. Kozonguizi, at the 909th meeting, with regard to the wages paid in the Territory, asked what was the pay of an African police constable and that of the lowest grade European policeman. 11. Mr. KOZONGUIZI replied that he was unable to give the exact figures of police wages, but he knew that African policemen were no better paid than African teachers, whose salaries he had given earlier. Africans in the political branch of the police were somewhat better paid; he knew of one such man who was receiving £40 per month. 12. U TIN MAUNG (Burma) saidthatwhen Mr. Kozonguizi had been speaking before the Committee on South West Africa he had referred to a Mr. Sryman, who had then been the mayor of Windhoek. He asked whether the petitioner knew what salary that gentleman received. 13. Mr.. KOZONGUIZI said he had no idea what the mayor's salary was. 14. U TIN MAUNG (Burma) thanked the petitioner for his replies. He explained that a number of other questions he had intended to put had already been asked by other delegrations. 15. Mr. KENNEDY (Ireland) referred to the statement made at the 884th meeting by Mr. Louw, the Minister of External Affairs of the Union of South Africa, that Mr. Beukes's intention in leaving Africa had been not to go to Norway to pursue his studies but to travel to New York to give evidence before the United Nations. He asked what boat Mr. Beukes had wished to board at Port Elizabeth, whether that boat had been bound for Oslo and what kind of tickets he had had. 16. Mr. BEUKES explained that he had not been in possession of a ticket when he had been arrested. He had intended to see the Norwegian Consul-General at Port Elizabeth to make arrangements for his journey, after which he would have procured a ticket. The first port of call of the boat he was to have taken would have been Amsterdam.