SASPU national, Vol. 4, No. 4

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Page 1 of 51 Alternative title SASPU National Author/Creator SASPU (South African Students Press Union) (Johannesburg) Publisher SASPU (South African Students Press Union) (Johannesburg) Date 1983-10 Resource type Journals (Periodicals) Language Afrikaans, English Subject Coverage (spatial) South Africa Coverage (temporal) 1983 Source Digital Imaging South Africa (DISA) Rights By kind permission of the SASPU National Executive Committee. Format extent 28 page(s) (length/size)

Page 2 of 51 Another pageturns in theSA studentscrapbooks# See page 26Mass actionand civil warreign supremein the Ciskei# See centerspreadSASPUNUMBER 4OCTOBER,.1983 PRICE: 20Members of the southAAlbod Workers unlfon cow that eemn of am of dm* ftnew works. Mow durin0 the bus boycotts in tllw.nueni,it I. estimated that over a hundred poop" have died sinew the boycott bpan.Ja Nee : . . but thePeople Shall GovernON NOVEMBER 2, white South Africansvoted in the referendum on the new con-stitutional proposals. Black South Africansdidn't. That's the problem. By excluding themajority of South Africans from the processof political decision making, the powers thatbe are adding to the conflict, not to its resolu-tion.The fact that black South Africans couldnot vote was no oversight or accident. It wasa very conscious and deliberate step taken bythe Nats and the electorate. The privilegedminorities in South Africa can never rule byconsensus. The inequalities of power andwealth are so fundamental that they can onlyrule by control.To maintain this control they mustmonopolise power. They cannot afford toshare it. The wealthy and the powerfulhave constructed a whole network ofrepressive measures In order to dominatethe oppressed and the exploited. Ourbasic demands for human rights andfreedoms are being rejected, usually by force.Not only are we being denied any meaningfulsay in political decision making, but what lit-tle bit of parliamentary democracy there wasin South Africa is being jettisoned. Our onlyhope lies in organisation. Organisationthrough which democrats can express theirpolitical demands and aspirations.Two slogans come to mind. The one is therallying call of the most broadly basedalliance to emerge in South Africa's history:UDF unites, Apartheid divides. The other isdrawn from the most representative state-ment of the peoples' aspirations that we have,the Freedom Charter, which states: The peo-ple shall govern...# Gweta appears# Yusuf Dadoo:A Tribute9 Campaign to freeMandela p7p5p12THE DEMOCRATIC movement is facing aheavy attack from the state.Meetings have continually been banned, theSouth African Allied Workers Union banned inthe Ciskei, bus boycotters in Mdantsane shot,detained and harassed, and an official of theUnited Democratic Front threatened with arestriction order.Many organisations havehad their meetings banned.The UDF has been parti-cularly hard hit, its launch inthe Border region beingtwice banned, a national in-ter-secretariat meeting ban-ned, as well as meetings tooppose the constitutionalproposals and the KoornhofBills.In the run-up to the re-ferendum on the constitu-tion UDF meetings werebanned. Each time theauthorities have alleged thatSias Njikelana - releasedfrom detention in Ciskeia public meeting would en-danger the public peace interms of the Internal Security Act. Themeetings were prevented from being heldanywhere in the magisterial district for theentireweekend.UDF officials applied for an urgent courtinterdict against the banning of a rally inRondebosch, Cape Town. The interdict wasgranted, confirming the UDFs belief that itsmeetings do not pose a threat to law and order,and that the bans were groundless.Apart from the UDF other groups affectedby the bans are the Free Mandela Committee,the hrans\aal Indian Congress. Aiapo and theCongress of South African Students. Com-memora~on sersices for Yusuf Dadoo, thec.silcd past president of the South AfricanIndian Congress, and Stc\e Biko ha\calso beensilenced.1 he Free Mandela Committee called afaces iron fistof ApartheidFifteen thousand celebrated theUDF's People's WeekendPatrick Lekota - threatenedwith a banning ordermeeting to launch a campaign to free NelsonMandela, jailed leader of the African NationalCongress. Thousands of people from all partsof the country were expected to attend, but themeeting was banned.U DF President Archie 6umede said the banswere an attempt 'to inhibit the expression ofpopular opposition to the new constitution andthe Koornhof Bills.' . 'Mr C urtis Nkondo of the Free MandelaCommittee said 'the continued incarceration ofleaders like Mandela %vas inspired b\ .t sells. offear and guilt. -1 he ban %sawn act of co"ardirc.'I he ban of Saimu has come under hens\attack world-wide. I hoiatnile Gywcta, pre -sident of Saa%cu said. 'tile ban h\ Sche justcompleted what theSouth At rican(iu\crnmcntstarted. W. hold the South African (ioscrn-mcnl responsible fur the ban.'Spirit of defianceat people's weekendA SPIRI l of defiance and resistance sweptaccross South Africa last week as the UnitedDemocratic Front celebrated its 'People'sWeekend'.I housands of supporters from all corners ofSouth Africa joined together in days which,very clearly, belonged to the UDF.There w4,5 no stopping their belief in theirpewee to put a stop to the government's con-stitutional proposals and Koornhof Bills.Speakers and participants time and againswore to light them to the end.I he weekend was the climax of the UDF'sprogramme of action against the con-stitutional proposals and the Koornhof- Bills,and was timed to coincide with the white-only referendum.I he 'People's Weekend' brought togetherthousands of- people opposed to the proposednets dispensation in mass rallies, culturalevents, demonstrations, motor car cavalcadesand s,gils.w *To page 3

Page 3 of 51 REPORTS.SASPU_NATIONAL-2Cateringworkersremembera comradeONE OF the men who formed theCommercial, Catering and AlliedWorkers' Union, Morris Kagan, diedin September at the age of 74.Morris Kagan was born in Latvia,and from a young age was active inthe underground youth movementagainst the right wing dictatorship inthe country. In the 1930's, he arrivedt-' r VCO refusesto serve in`aggressive'SA armyDURBAN CONSCIENTIOUS ob-jector Paul Dobson has beensentenced by court martial to oneyears civilian imprisonment and adishonourable discharge from thearmy.Several prominent church leaders,including Dr Allan Boesak, presidentof the World Alliance of ReformedChurches, have condemned thesentence.Morris Kaganin South Africa, where he worked asa bus driver in Cape Town. He wasdismissed for organising fellowworkers.In his next job, as a clerk in a shop,he started his lifelong work organis-ing shop workers. During the 1959sand early 1960's, he was active in as-sisting Sactu and the unions as-sociated with it - particularly theNational Union of DistributiveWorkers. The NUDW delayed adecision on whether to affiliate toSactu or Tucsa due to the influenceof Kagan and others like him. It wasonly in 1961 that it joined Tucsa.Though most of his official posi-tions were in the establishedregistered unions, Kagan was in-strumental in forming CcawusaKagan's funeral was attended by ajlarge Ccawusa delegation, represen-tatives of Fosatu and Cusa, as well asemployers and members of other un-ions.Namibiandefendergoes downcampaigningONE OF the fast major internationalcampaigners against apartheid -Rev Michael Scott - died inLondon recently. He is also regardedas one of the earliest critics of SouthAfrica's role in Namibia.He spent large parts of his life cam-paigning against apartheid in SouthAfrica, and as a result was bannedfrom this country in 1950.In 1946 ne was jailed for threemonths after taking part in a passiveresistance campaign protestingagainst business restrictions on In-dian traders.In the same year he took up thecause of the lierero people inNamibia, making repeated appeals tothe UN to pressurise South Africa.He later took the case to the Inter.national Court of Justice.After leaving South Africa, RevScott founded the African Bureau inLondon, which wrote extensively onAfrican issues.lie travelled to many parts of theworld, informing people of changestaking place in decolonisingcountries.For his efforts he was deportedfrom Nyasaland in 1953 and expelledfrom India in 1966 for attempting tofind a solution to a 10-year tribal warin Assam. iIn his later years he also wo,irespect as a campaigner for nucleardisarmament.sChurch, student and communityorganisations have signed a petitionbrought out by the ConscientiousObjector Support Group (COSG) insupport of Dobson.Among them are the CatholicJustice and Peace Commission, theBoard of Social Responsibility, theSRC's of the University of CapeTown and the University of theWestern Cape, and several studentChristian groups. Archbishop PhillipRussel of the Church of the Provinceof South Africa and Dr Boesak areamong the signatories.Dobson became a conscientiousobjector (C.O.) after being in thearmy for 14 months, as he said 'he4,Worker leaders slamdeaths at HlobaneON MONDAY morning, September12, a methane gas explosion at theHlobane colliery killed 67mineworkers and injured ten others;The accident has sparked off anational outcry not only over this in-cident but at the ongoing rate ofmine deaths.At least two people die every dayon South African mines - despitewhat the Chamber of Mines claimsare among the strictest safety regula-tions in the world.In response to the tragedy, theNational Union of Mineworkers(NUM) called on the country's 470000 mineworkers to observe a workstoppage between 9am and 9.30amon Monday September 26. The stop-Berrange (with stick) arrives at the Treason Trial courtA member of the National Union of Mineworkers at a vigil for the Hlobane deaADVOCATE VERNON Berrange,known during the 1950's a: the'defender of the people', died i i exilein Swaziland last week.During the 1956 Treason Trial herepresented the 150 leaders of theCongress Movement charged withhigh treason.As a result of his thorough andpiercing cross examination ofhundreds of police officers and otherstate witnesses, many of the allega-tions against the accused fell away.Eventually all were acquitted.Amongst the police officers whomhe interrogated was the pre simtCommissioner of Police, GeaeralJohan Coetzee, who was then ayoung policeman responsible forproducing short-hand not.:: ofCongress Movement meetingspage was to mourn the victims whodied at Hlobane.30 000 workers responded to thecall despite attempts by the Chamberof Mines to prevent them from doingso The Chamber issued a strongwt.rning to NUM that the stoppagewould constitute and illegal action,and refused to put up notices callingon workers to observe the stoppage.NUM also held a memorial servicefor the victims at Khotso House inJohannesburg.Rev Buti Tlhagale of ReginaMundi, speaking at the service, ac-cused mine bosses of being more in-terested in profits than in the lives oftheir %workers.Another service was held in'Defender of thepeople' dies exiledTogether with Bram Fisher,Berrange defended Nelson Mandela,Walter Sisulu, Dennis Goldberg andothers in the Rivonia trial.L ter Bram Fisher was to - Oecharged and jailed.At roughly the same time, legisla-tion was introduced prohibiting peo-ple listed under the Supression ofCommunism Act from practisinglaw.And Berrange was one of the firstvictims. tie was listed as a com-mun st and his legal activities wereends i by the government.lie arranged for his name to beremoved from the South AfricanRoll of Advocates and left thecountry. Ile settled in Swaziland andwas only allowed to return to SouthAfrica to receive medical treatment.Lesotho for the 21 Basotho mineworkers who were among thosekilled.A visit by NUM officials to sur-vivors in hospital has led them toclaim that certain irregularities andacts of negligence may have beenresponsible for the explosion.According to NUM generalsecretary, Cyrd Ramaphosa, state-ments obtained from injuredmineworkers reveal that on themorning of the accident, methanegas levels were not tested. In addi-tion, the NUM has also claimed thatinadequate ventilation and unsafemachinery could have caused the ex-plosion.'The flame safety lamps which areused to detect methane gas are alsoconsidered to be inaccurate, since'they do not reveal the precisemethane level'.As early as April this year, theNUM applied to join the officialMine Safety Committee whichoversees safety in the mines.This application was refused by theGovernment Mining Engineer on thegrounds that the union was un-registered and 'unrepresentative'.The fact that NUM is an un-registered trade union does not pre-vent the Department of Manpowerfrom allowing it access to official dis-putes machinery. In addition, theChamber of Mines recognises theNUM as representative on eightmines. NUM has a membership of 40000.The NUM says it will

Page 4 of 51 push for aminer's safety bill of rights and isplanning to take the GovernmentMining Engineer to court for hisrefusal to allow the union a seat onthe Mine Safety Committee.It has also called on the Minister ofMineral and Energy Affairs to cep.point a commission of enquiry intosafety on the mines'in view of the ceppalling safety conditions in SouthAfrican mines'.The bill of rights proposed by theNUM includes the following:onat miners have the right to theirown safety representatives.#7 hat they have the right to refuse towork under conditions they considerunsafe, unhealthy or illegal.One right to demand special inspec-tions of suspected safety violations.One right to review government in-spectors' 'failure to conduct inspec-tions into safety'.one right to accompany inspectorsduring inspections, without loss ofpay.One right to take part in developingmining procedure plans and to ad-ditional health and safety planning.wPaul Dobson - year's prisoncould no longer justify his position aa member of the SADF.He was tried under the provision ofexisting legislation and no under thenew Defence Amendment Act.The new Act, which has been pas-sed by parliament but has not Yetcome into effect, makes provision foralternative service for religiouspacifists only. Non-religious pacifistsand those who refuse to fight 'unjustwars' will face up to six years in jail.In his statement to the court,Dobson said his objections to par-ticipating in the SADF were:*The SADF is an integral part of anunjust and undemocratic society andits role is to guarantee the position ofa government elected by a minority.#"The SADF,has been used to quellthe legitimate aspirations of the peo-ple.#South Africa's occupation ofNamibia has been declared illegal bythe International Court of Justiceand the United Nations. The SADFenforces this0occupation.#The SADF has persistently pursueda policy of aggression towardsneighbouring states. Its role is to un-dermine and destabilise the govern-ments and economies of thesecountries.Dobson said his initial decision toenter the army was 'based on thedesire not to leave the country'.Ile said although he was serving ina non-combatant position as ateacher, he remained associated withand supportive of an institutionwhich served to protect andreproduce an unjust society. 'Thisposition was untenable,' he said.Dobson is the first political C.O.from within the ranks of the SADFand the sixth C.O. since the 1983 Julyintake.C.O. support groups around thecountry are mobilising support forDobson. The C.O.S.G. NationalConference recently endorsed theBlack Sash call in March this year foran end to all conscription.

Page 5 of 51 REPORTSa.~1cranX Chfkane addresses a rallyA weekendwhen peoplecame frommiles aroundand felt a. . .People at the USpiritFrom page 1In Johannesburg demonstratorscarrying placards in the centre of thecity were questioned. Some weredetained and released shortly after-wards.Riot police and Security Branchkept a low profile at all massmeetings in Port -Elizabeth, Pieter-maritzburg, Johannesburg and CapeTown.At least 15 000 people attendedthe rallies which heard speakersrejem the.-,proposed constitutionoutright and promise to fight theimplementation of the KoornhofBills. All dedicated themselves tobuilding a united, non-racial anddemocratic South Africa.In Port Elizabeth, PublicityU W O believesfire was plannedA FIRE ripped through the offices ofthe United Women's Organisation inCape Town only one day before thelaunch of the United DemcraticFront's 'People's Weekend'.Mrs Dora Zihlangu, President ofthe UWO believes the fire was linkedto the UDF People's Weekend, andwas started by people opposed to herorganisation.According to eye witnesses fourpeople were seen running away fromthe offices at 2:46am, when the firebroke out. Police have been called into investigate possible arson.I he fire caused about RS 000 worthof damage to carpets, furniture andoffice equipment. UWO says moneywas also stolen from the offices.the fire brigade was called in tostop the blaze in the early hours ofSaturday morning.INTERNATIONAL PRESSUREagainst in South Africa is mounting.This is the picture that emergesfrom a recent United DemocraticFront - SA Allied Workers Unionpress conference held in Johan-nesburg.Field under the tneme 'uniteagainst apartheid', the conferencereleased scores of international mes-sages that hit out at detentions,harrassmcnt and the bannings ofmeetings and organisations in SouthAfrica.Many of the messages also givesupport to the UDF and SAAWU.The messages had been gatheredby a member of the Transvaal UDFpublicity secretariat and formerNusas president, Auret van fleerden,recently returned from Europe.In one of the messages, WillyBrandt. chairperson of the SocialDemocratic Party in West Germanyand head of' the Socialist Inter-Secretary Patrick Lekota told acheering crowd of 1200 that theUDF rejected the Constitution Actand Koornhof Bills as a package.'The Nationalists have made laws,and have presented us with a bakedcake from which they offer some ofus a slice. We do not want to beoffered a cake, we want to take partin its baking, he said.'We reject the new measuresbecause they will take our colouredand Indian youth as soldiers, andbecause they will increase the racialand armed conflicts we have in thecountry. Even at this late stage thereis still time to release all politicalprisoners, allow the return of exilessod unban Waders, so that we cannegotiate a solution which could#Popo Molele at UDF pacarddemonstration In Jo'burgUDF gets world-wide supportnational, promises to use his in-fluence to help victims of repressionin the Ciskei banttutan.His party will be closely monitoringthe behaviour of the South Africanauthorities.A message from veteran anti-apartheid campaigner, Archbishopl'revor Huddlestone, says that thereign of terror in the Ciskei is 'thereality of the SA bantustan policy'.lie gives his full support to the UDF.Dr Phillip Potter, general secretaryof the World Council of Churches,also condemns repression in theCiskei, and sees UDF as a sign ofhope for the future.Other messages come from theworld's largest trade union, I GMetall, and from the WorldConfederation of Labour. Holland'st"o largest union federations alsoavoid a bloody disaster, saidLekota.Six meetings were held in CapeTown. At Mitchel's Plain the UDFregional secretary, Ttevor Manuel,said the dreams of seeing a countryof peace and friendship wherepeople live decently would cometrue only if organisations werestrong enough to fight for it.In Langa, near Cape Town, co-president Oscar M petha called for acomplete rejection not only of theproposed President's Council but ofthe new community councils as well.It was, he said, important for peopleto unite.In Lavender Hill the focus was onthe hardships that go along with theproposals: increased rents, fewertrains, an increase in the cost ofliving, conscription and a decline inwages.At Edendale in Natal 6 000cheering, singing and chanting U DFsupporters heard Archie Gumede,Thozamile Ggweta, Mewa Ramgobinand others launch scathing attackson the government's 'proposals.People arrived in Port Elizabethfrom all areas in the Eastern Cape toadd their voice to the wave of protestcurrently sweeping South Africa.Stone Sisanene, who spent fiveyears on Robben Island, focussed onthe activities of the Interim Com-mittee of the UDF in the region. Hesaid the Eastern Cape has been wellregarded for'the contribution it hastraditionally made to the strugglefor democracy. But now we havefallen behind and must intensify ourefforts in building our organisationand particularly UDF.'In Lenasia near Johannesburg3 000 people packed two halts inspirited meetings.made statements.Amnesty International, the Inter-national Commission of Jurists inGeneva, and journalists and lawyersorganisations in Western Europe alsosent messages. Strong statements alsocame from political parties like theGreens in West Germany, Europeananti- apartheid groups, developmentagencies and scores of church groupsin Holland and West Germany.While overseas collecting the mes-sages, van Ileerden met with theBritish Anti-Apartheid Movement,the UN Committee on HumanRights, the Lutheran World Federa-tion, and the International LabourOrganisation.Releasing the messages at the'unite against apartheid' press con-ference, Van Ileerden said that hehad been horrified overseas by theceful times - with Harry Oppenheimer openingthe Mongosutho Technikon5 studentsFIVE STUDENTS at the Universityof Zululand have died of head- in-juries and the campus has beenclosed, following a clash with lnkathasupporters when students protestedagainst the presence of Inkatha boss,Gatsha Buthulezi, at the universityon Saturday. October 29.Fifteen other students are still inhospital - ten with serious head andbody injuries, stab wounds, andbroken arms.Political and student organisationsaround the country have called for anational day of mourning on Thurs-day t.Xtober 3. they have also hit outat Chief Buthetezi for going aheadwith his Inkatha rally on the campusin the face of student opposition.to response, the Zulu king,Goodwill Zwelithini has called on theSouth African government to bansome of the student organisationsfrom the Zululand campus.Butheleci has long been accused bystudents of being a governmentstooge for his role as chief minister inthe government-created Zulu ban-tustan.Students described the scene at thelack of knowledge there about whatwas really happening in South Africa.fie had explained that the ine-quality of wealth and power in SAwas so fundamental, that the govern-ment could not rule by consent, buthad to rely on force.Bus

Page 6 of 51 boycotts, rent protests andviolence spiralling into the assassina-tion of community leaders was thepicture in Natal. In the WesternCape, squatter resistance was the is-sue, while in the Eastern Cape, peo-ple were opposing the Sebe govern-merit-tie had told West Europeans thatthose who had not taken sides on theconflict in SA were more and morebeing identified as being alongsideI hatcher. Keagan and the WestGerman government.murderedcampus as a battlefield with 'bloodawash all over the floors and walls.'They said that Inkatha members -including an academic at the un-ivcrsty - had stormed the dor-mitories.'Many were 'armed to the teeth'and were searching for supporters ofthe United Democratic Front.I'he students said police had simplystood by during the attack, but policehave denied this.In solidarity with the Zululand stu-dents, 3 000 University of the Northstudents yesterday staged a 2d-hourlecture boycott and attended amemorial service.Outrage at the killings and assaultshas also come from:# I error Lekota. UDF publicitysecretary said: 'It is clear that ChiefButhelezi's often repeated stand ofnon-violence functions only when heis talking to whites but when facedwith black opponents he findsviolence expedient.'# I eboho Moloi, president of theStudents' Representative Council(S RC) at the University of the North:Moloi condemned 'in the strongestterms, the Zulu impis' invabon' andcalled on students not to succumb tolnkatha s brutalities.#'The Congress of South African Stu-dents (COSAS). condemned 'thelnkatha leadership - inspiredmurderous show' at Ngoye. Historyhas records of such violent atrocitiesby 1 nkatha against those workbW fardemocracy and freedom. . ,OAbbar Ontar, president ofthe'SWat the University of 1)urbaA- West-.ville, said his campus was hitcAt0 pt.the violence. lnkatha wtly ' itsiq111divisions among oppressiW.SouthAfricans. '*Kate Philips, president sfr theNational Union of South African Iltr-dents. said: ' We deplore theunnecessan_ loss of lives due to theunnnerst% administration's intran-sigence and provocation by lnkatha.'.\ crisis committee has been set upin Natal and la%%vers are taking al-lida\its mnh u \ie%% to charges beinglaidh% the students.

Page 7 of 51 YOUTHSASPU NATIONAL 4Soyco swells as Soweto youth sign up supportLESS THAN two months after itslaunching the Soweto YouthCongress (Soyco) is rapidly gainingsupport among Soweto's youth.A stream of new members sign upat their weekly meetings and moreand more people are becoming ac-tive in newly formed sub- commit-tees.The sub-committees, says Soycopresident Oupa Monareng, were setup 'to accomodate and channel thevaried interests and talents of theyouth.'The culture and sports committeehas already organised table tennis,chess, volleyball and softball facilitiesfor members. The committee willalso cater for those interested inpoetry and dramaSoyco President Monareng.Developing leadership and par-ticipation among young women isseen as a priority. 'The SoycoWomen's committee says it aims to'instill a spirit of equality among allmembers' and to encourage womento be active in discussions and Soycoprogrammes. In this way, they say,feelings of inferiority will be over-come. They will also be looking at'women in the struggle' and theWomen's Charter.The organising committee is busystarting local Soyco branches.Steering committees of activemembers have been set up in some ofSoweto's 26 townships. By next yearSoyco hopes to have covered most ofthese areas.But the organisers stress althoughdecentralisation is necessary becauseSoweto is so big, continued contactbetween members from differrentareas is essential. This will be throughjoint activities and, for example, ingeneral meetings where peopledevelop 'a spirit of belonging andcommitment'. Here members can ex-change ideas and feedback fromother areas and see that they are notworking in isolation.I he publications committee isresponsible for producing media andequipping members with media skills.They distribute progressive publica-tions in their areas to help populariseSoyco and its views.The entertainment committee willorganise regular functions and socialoccasions.The education crisis concernsSoyco members directly and Soycoworks very closely with other studentorganisations on this issue. Theeducation committee will assistmembers in developing an under-standing of the crisis and will alsoorganise workshops and seminars ona broad range of issues.Along with local branches of Cosas,Azaso and YCS. Soyco is lookinginto the drawing up of the EducationCharter, initiated by Cosas andAzaso last year.Soyco very firmly rejects the newconstitution and the Koornhof Billsand is affiliated to the UDF. As partof the Anti- Community Councilcommittee they are actively organis-ing against the Local Authoritieselections in Soweto.They have thrown their full supportbehind the Release Mandela Cam-paign which has recently got off theground in Soweto.Youth energyharnessed bynew congressTHE ALEXANDRA YouthCongress was launched in the En-tokozweni Hall last month.Paul Mashatile, who was electedpresident, told the meeting that sincea resolution to form the organisationwas taken at Cosas' NationalConference, a number of meetingswere held to examine the problemsand needs of Alexandra's youth.Since then a constitution has beenformulated, discussed and accepted.Oupa Monareng, Soyco president,spoke about the role that youthorganisaion could play in educatingtheir members, and initiating ac-tivities.[f e described the youth as beingCosas-linkedgroup startsin ThabongA YOUTH congress is to belaunched this month in Thabong,near Witbank in the Orange FreeState.It will work closely with the Consbranch in the area, but will cater foryouth who are not school pupils, andtherefore do not have a place inCosas.Presently, the Thabong Cosasbranch is the only one in the OFS.Organised in three schools inThabong, Cosas has experiencednumerous problems. It has had dif-ficulty finding venues for meetings,and members have been victimisedand harassed by security policeYouth organisein KwamashuTHE ROLE of youth in society wasthe main focus at the launching ofthe Curnick Ndlovu Youth League inKwaMashu.A youth organisation should uniteyouth in the area, organise activitiesthat youth are interested in, educateyouth about non- racial struggle andparticipate in community affairs, saidone speaker.The president of the D.C.O.Matiwane Youth l."gue of Pieter-maritzburg told the gathering,'Presently we find youth loitering,frustrated, unemployed. The onlyway we can attend to this problemconstructively is to organise theminto a youth organisation.'A youth organisation should beseen as a leadership training structuresince youth are the future leaders ofsociety.'The formation of this youth leagueshould therefore be seen as aprogressive move,' he said.Singing at Ayco launch.among the most energetic, aware andconcerned people in the community.'The youth should support eachother and members of their com-munity,' he said.'A youth organisation providesstructures so that problems and is-sues can be dealt with in an organisedand united way,' Monareng said.Ex-SSRC leader, Dan Montsitsiisolated some of the issues con-fronting the youth which could betaken up. Among these were: un-employment, job reservation, expul-sion of students from educationalcentres, irrelevant educationprogrammes, and age- limits inschools.Other speakers included' FrankChikane, UDF vice-president, and aCosas member.Messages of support from anumber of organisations includingELYO, Mayo, Sayo, Soyco andHare a fortress say studentsSTUDENTS AT Fort HareUniversity claim the campus has beenturned into a 'concentration camp'after police swooped on a protestmarch to commemorate the sixth an-niversary of Steve Biko's deathSinging Langa procession laysslain Cosas member to restA 450 strong procession singingfreedom songs followed the coffin ofa 16 year old Cosas member, LennoxKwedi Zingelwa, through the streetsof Langa.Friends said the Std 9 Langa HighSchool pupil was attacked by a gangand was missing for 13 days beforehis body was identified by his sister atthe local mortuary. He had beentaken to Groote Schuur Hospital buthad later died of head injuries.Cosas members said the high crimerate and numerous gangs in the Capeghettoes was a result of apartheid.The inadequate health services forblacks were understaffed and peopleALEXANDRrouCONGAn Alex youth speaks In favour -0Nusas were read out.Ayco plans to set up sub-committees to deal with cultural,sporting, religious, economic andpolitical issues. One of their prioritiesis to organise workshops andseminars to educate people about thesituation they find themselves in, andhow it relates to government policy.Two thousand students boycottedclasses after 52 students werearrested during the peaceful protestmarch. The students were laterreleased from police custody, but 44of them were charged with publichad allegedly died while waiting for adoctor or ambulance, they said.Zingelwa was an executive memberof the Langa branch of Cosas andwas its representative at the CosasNational Council in June this year.The mourners, including

Page 8 of 51 represen-tatives of Nusas, the Cape YoudiCongress, Azaso and Cosas, followedthe coffin.A church minister marched at theend of the column. Cosas membersdisplayed a banner which read: 'TheFuture is Ours' and posters ofZingelwa with the message: 'MayThe Future Be What He Wished ItTo Be.'The cultural committee wouldorganise drama and cultural events,which could be used as a tool foreducation. The sporting activitiesplanned are, for example, a fun run,where 1'-shirts would be printed, andwhere people may also sign up to theorganisation. Educational films arealso planned as an activity.violence under the Ciskei NationalSecurity Act.Students on the campus said theprotest march had been non- violentuntil the police arrived. Police saidknives and sticks were brandished,but students dismissed these claimsas untrue.Since the incident, students say theuniversity has been like a concentra-tion camp, with a heavy policepresence around the campus, andvery strict curfews imposes.In late August, Fort [fare studentsset tire to a new staff tea room inprotest against increased student feesand against the decision by the un-iversity authorities not to providebuses so that the funerals of fellowstudents could be attended.Fort [fare fees have increaseddrastically over the last few years. In1981, residence fees were R520 andtuition fees R430, while next yearthey rise to R900 and R700 respec-tively.Youth gatherin Kudumaneto unite inN Cape areaIN OCTOBER yet another youthorganisation, Kudumane YouthUnity (Kuyouni) was launched, thistime in the Northern Cape town ofBadharos.Over 200 people attended despite apolice presence and an unavoidablechange of venue.Youth from all over the region at-tended, including those frombranches of Kuyouni in schools andsurrounding villages.Speakers from the Soweto YouthCongress (Soyco), the UDF and theSouth African Council of Churchesand local people addressed themeeting.The theme running throughout was'the future belongs to the youth'.Opening the launch, Mr J B Toto, alocal chief, welcomed the youth and'the youthful at heart'. He said theyouth were still in their formativeyears and in a period of planning andpreparation for the tasks that layahead.'Remember, the future belongs tothe youth. It is in the youth that thehope of the people lies. You may notfrustrate this hope,' he said.Victor Sefora from the NationalSeoposengwe Party, speaking aboutthe 'Future and its youth' said thefuture would be determined 'by apersistent endeavour towards thegoals of the people, who, refusing tobecome creatures of circumstances,formulate their strategies and launcha plan of action calculated totranslate their ideals into reality.'tie pointed to 'suffering caused bydeprivation, mass relocations of com-munities, broken families, unemploy-ment, breakdown of living and healthstandards in the pursuit of indefensi-ble policies.lie called for commitment anddedication to a cause spelled out inthe Freedom Charter and in theUDF Declaration.The meeting ended with the elec-tion of the Kuyouni executive, withEddie Tau as president.At least seven police vehicles werepresent outside the meeting and peo-ple travelling there from other areasare reported to have been turnedback and cars were searched.Members say Kuyouni is becomingincreasingly popular in the area andmany students and young teachershave joined despite attempts bypolice, and Bophuthatswana andschool authorities to undermine it.Kuyouni say their aim is to organisethe youth, as the future belongs tothem and they have an importantrole to play in the creation of theirown future.Kuyouni will also be discussing theUDF and aim to join the NorthernCape region of the UDF.In the future they hope to fink upwith other youth organisations in theNorthern Cape to form an umbrellayouth organisation in the area.

Page 9 of 51 UNITED DEMOCRATIC FRONTSASPU NATIONAL 5Bans couldn'tcrush theBorder UDFlaunching.cTHE BORDER region of the UDFhas been launched in Grahamstowndespite repeated state attempts toprevent it.The meeting was due to be held inKing Williamstown on October 15,but it was banned. At the last minuteorganisers changed plans, and thelaunch was held at Rhodes Univer-sity instead.It was the second time the state hadbanned a meeting to launch the UDFin the region. Two weeks before, thelaunch was due to be held in the EastLondon City Hall, but all meetings inEast London were bannedthroughout the weekend Themeeting had to be called off.Steve Tshwete - now In detentionAt the Grahamstown meeting,seven orga*tons including Cosas,Azaso and Saawu affiliated to theUDF. Other organisations sentobservers.In a resolution about the currentspate of detentions in Ciskei, themeeting resolved to demand the 'im-mediate and unconditional release ofdetainees.In another motion, the regionpledged support for the victims ofremovals in the area. An executivI ofsix people was elected.Steve Tshwete, currently in deten-tion, was elected president,Bangumn Sifingo of Saawu as vice-president, Charles Nqakula ofMwasa and Sabelo Ndzuta ofDescom as secretaries and RevStofile and Hintsa Siwisa astreasurers.The meeting also resolved thatdelegates would go back to theirorganisations for further discussionabout the UDF.Mass work for PtaA CO-ORDINATION Committeehas been formed in Pretoria to putthe programme of action of theUnited Democratic Front into effectin the region.Many progressive organisations inthe area are already affiliated to theCommittee. The South AfricanAllied Workers Union, the MotorAssembly and Component WorkersUnion, and the General WorkersUnion of South Africa have beenconsulted.1'he main task of the Committee, inthe short term, is to oppose the elec-tions which will take place under theBlack Local Authorities Act inNovember. The campaign will be runthrough mass meetings, house-to-house work, the distribution of 'UDFI IIE LAS I edition of SASPUNA I IONAL was hit by the state.Events began when SecurityPolicemen arrived at NATIONAL'sprinters and seized I 1 000 copies ofthe paper, using a CriminalProcedure Act warrant, a vaguepiece of legislation allowing police toseize any object which may con-stitute evidence of an offence.SASPU's lawyers contacted the SPand were told the publication wouldhe submitted to the Directorate ofPublications. A colonel at JohnVorster Square told the lawyers dayslater that the publication was not un-desirable and would be returned tothe pnnters.All 11 000 copies were returnedUDF Publicity Secretary Patrick Lekota releases the letter to the Prime Minister to the press. Also at the press conference were (from 1 to r)Thozamile Gqweta, Sydney Mufamadl and Auret van HeerdenUDF warns Botha off pathof dangerous confrontation1'HE PRIME Minister, P W Botha,is making an error if he refuses toheed the voice of the two millionpeople that make up the UnitedDemocratic Front.This is the message of a letter sentby the UDF to Botha in response tothe repeated banning of its meetings.The letter, was released by UDFpublicity secretary, Patrick Lekota ata recent press conference on repres-sion in SA.The letter condemns 'this un-democratic style of government,' andadds that, 'the escalating racial andviolent conflict in our country and onits borders is a result of the deeds andmisdeeds of successive white govern-ments since the Union Act.' This set of proposals will makeworse rather than better human andrace relsitions in this country.'The authoritarian methods ofdeciding the future of our countrysuch as a whites-only referendum,the banning of public meetings heldfor discussing it and the suppressionof any meaningful opposition to yourapartheid designs can only land ourcountry and its people in disaster.'NEWS' and inviting UDF office-bearers to speak to the communities.Youth organisations - theSaulsville-Atteridgeville YouthOrganisation (Sayo~ the MamelodiYouth Organisation (Mayo) and theCongress of South African Students(Cosas) - are doing most of thedoor-to-door work in the com-munities. This aspect of the cam-paign began before the UDFprogramme of action was for-mulated.l'he youth go to every house inMamelodi. Atteridgeville andSaulsville, talking about the problemsexperienced in the townships, theneed for residents to have their ownorganisations, and the importance ofnot voting for the community coun-cils in November.Saspu National targetof harsh state actionand distributed. However, a fewweeks later, SASPU was informedthat the edition had been banned.This is not the fast time the statehas acted against SASPUNATIONAL. In 1981 its editors weredetained in solitary confinement forfive months, and banned upon theirrelease for two years under the Inter-nal Security Act. A few days laterSASPU NATIONAL itself was ban-ned for all future editions, but wasunhanned on appeal.In Jun.-. this year a Publicationst17Thozamile Gqweta appears in Jo'burgTHOZAMILE GQWETA, Praidenit of 'This is not so. The decision was taken bythe 100 000-stroq South African Allied the community and our members take partWorkers Uden, bas emerged from hYhlg In the boycott as members of the com-to appear at a press conference in Johan- munity.'nesburg. Gqweta said be bad proof that orders badGqweta, who has been detained at least been given to the Ciskei police and army tonine times, said be bolds the South African shoot him 'on sight'.government directly responsible for 'each He told the cot fereace few he narrowlyand every action of the Ciskei government.' missed being detained by the South AfricanHe bit out at the banning of Sanwa in the security polite.Ciskei, and the detention of nest of his ex- Ggwetbe said that South African-ecutive. He also criticised the Ciskei Ciskeian collaboration was proved by theauthorities' belfief that Sanwa was behind fact that detainees bad been handed ever tothe bus boycott in Mdantsaw. Ciskei police.The letter says that Botha shouldnot implement the Constitution AMand the Koornhof Bills, but shouldrather release all political prisoners,lift all bans and recall all those facedinto exile.The chosen leaders of all ourcountry's people can then sittogether in an atmosphere free offear and suspicion to work out a con-stitution based on the will of the peo-ple - a constitution acceptable toUDFIn Atteridgeville, the migrantworkers in the hostel have formedthemselves into a Hostel Anti-Community Council CommitteeDespite some of them being vic-timised and threatened with evictionthey arc pressing ahead with plans toform one community organisationwith the Atteridgeville residents laterthis month.Mass meetings are being plannedfor every weekend until the com-munity council elections. About 500people arc expected to attend themeetings, which are to be addressedby both local speakers and by UDFoffice-bearers.Issues such as high rents, poorhousing, dusty streets and the dump-ing of garbage next to the locationswill be highlighted.Committee restricted the paper un-der Section 9(2) of the

Page 10 of 51 PublicationsAct which meant all copies of thenewspaper must be submitted to theCommittee for approval before beingdistributed - an effective ban.On appeal, the decision was againoverthrown, and NATIONAL hit thecampuses again.NATIONAL has also been bannedfor all future editions in the Ciskei.In East London, the SP seized 1300copies. Days later they were releasedfor distribution. Distributors in theall,' says the letter.'As a first step in this democraticdirection we suggest you refrain frombanning public meetings convenedby the UDF, its afrdiates and otherorganisations opposed to apartheid,it adds."The letter is signed by OscarMpetha and Archie Gumede, two ofthe presidents of the UDF.Lekota told the press conferencethat the letter was a 'stop- gapmeasure.'1'he press conference that releasedthe UDF letter also came out strong-ly against repression in the Ciskeibantustan.SAAWU president, ThozamileGqwetha, told the conference thaton top of being banned in Ciskei, hisunion was also being harrassed in SA.its offices in East London were con-tinually being raided.I he press conference also releasedinternational messages condemningthe Ciskei authorities and the ban-tustan policy, gathered by a memberof the l'ransvaal UDF publicitysecretariat, Auret van Heerden.While stressing repression in his ad-dress to the conference, Vanfleerden also noted that: 'People willrespond to oppression and oppose it- in spite of bannings of meetings,the UDF in the Ciskei-Border regionhas now been launched.'Northern Cape claim the police havethreatened them with detention. InKimberley students were detainedand questioned about where theyreceived NATIONAL, and to whomthey distributed it. They werereleased later.Numerous copies have disappearedin the post.In Queenstown, police confiscatedcopies and threatened the dis-tributors with court action.Recentlv, a United DemocraticFront official had a story he was giv-ing to NATIONAL staff confiscatedby Bophuthatswana police.In Cape Town, police raided twobookshops, looking for copies of thenewspaper.Saswu Pro* GqwetaDemocraticorganisationsget togetherin PE UDFTHE EASTERN Cape UDF interimcommittee has established a firmbasis for opposition to the govern-ment's Koornhof Bills and con-stitutional plans in the area.Over 40 community, youth, tradeunion and church organisations at-tended a conference held in PortElizabeth.A spokesperson for the interimcommittee said initial planning anddiscussions had gone well.Over 1000 people attended the firstUDF mass rally, held in the RenoCinema, New Brighton.Popo Molefe, National Secretary ofthe UDF and several representativesfrom the Port Elizabeth YouthCongress (Peyco) and the PortElizabeth Black Civic Organisation(Peyco) spoke on the structure of theUDF and reasons for rejecting theKoornhof Bills and the constitutionalproposals.An interim committeespokesperson said their current taskswere to popularise the UDF's stand,primarily through their activitiesaround the people's weekend, afterwhich energy will be directedtowards the formal launching.He said, `the specific nature of theEastern Cape makes the organisationand popularisation of the UDF a dif-ficult task and we have a long way togo. But we have broadened our base,gained much support and establisheda strong UDF profile in the EasternCape.'Among the organisations on the in-terim committee are Peyco, Peyco,the Motor Assembly and Compo-nents Workers' Union of SouthAfrica (Macwusa), the General,Workers Union of South Africa(Gwusa), Gelvandale Youth,Malabar Residents Association,Cosmos and some from Uitenhage.

Page 11 of 51 REPORTSSASPU NATIONAL 6UDF, unions meet on Saawu banr.A JOINT action committee of theUnited Democratic Front, trade un-ions and the Detainees SupportCommittee (Descom) was formedrecently in Johannesburg to opposeCiskei atrocities and tally support forthe South African Allied WorkersUnion (Saawu) and the people ofMdantsane.At a solidarity meeting organisedby the committee, the unions and theUDF pledged support for Saawuwhich has been banned by the Ciskeigovernment.The banning of Saawu showed thebattle for black trade union recogni-tion had not yet been won, said aspokesperson for the Council ofUnions of South Africa. PiroshawCamay.'The banning strikes against thecore of the freedom of workers tojoin organisations as they see fit,' hesaid.Allegations of widespread tortureand assault in Ciskei were made byUDF speakers Popo Molefe and RevFrank Chikane.The Commercial, Catering andAllied Workers Union (Ccawusa)read a statement of support whileHerbert Barnabas, Saawu nationalorganiser, called for people to con-sider boycotting companiesoperating in the Ciskei andneighbouring areas.Commerce and industry in the areahad remained silent on the Ciskei is-sue and had to bear joint respon-sbility for it, Barnabas said.The meeting was also addressed byTobile , a fired worker and memberof the East London Saawu branchexecutive.He said Saawu was still operating,but under conditions of intenseharassment and repression.In response to the situation in theWORKERS ORGANISED by theMotor Assembly and ComponentWorkers' Union (Macwusa) won avictory recently when managementat the Port Elizabeth AECI plant mettheir demands and withdrew chargesagainst a fellow worker.T'he worker, Wandile Tom, wasfired and charged with the theft oftwo tins of paint.He was also allegedly assaulted by asecurity guard at the plant, and hand-cuffed to the factory gates untilpolice arrived.At a general meeting later, workerscondemned 'physical victimisationand police involvement'.1'he strike began a few days afterthis when management refused towithdraw charges against Tom.Management was also arguing that itwas entitled to call in police when itwanted to.Workers refused to move from a'sensitive' section of the plant untilthey had a written guarantee frommanagement that they wouldn't callthe police.Once they had the guarantee,workers demanded:#The immediate release of Tomfrom police detention.Representatives of OVGWU, FCWU, Mgwusa, Josda, UDF, Descom,Victory againstvictimisation wonaTobile Mselini, Chair of the Frys Metal Workers' Committee, addresses a Saawu solidarity - meetingborder region the newly formed corn- and at Khotso House. Manager smittee planned to: *Consult with unions about directaction which might influence com-panies established in the Ciskeiborder region.Thelist*Contribute direct material aid such #f participants in the jointas clothing to detainees in the Sisa committee include the UDF, Saawu, on SaawuDukashe stadium. Cusa, Descom, FCWU, General andAllied Workers Union (Gawu), SOUIFI AFRICAN Allied Workers*Publicise and expose the atrocities Ccawusa, Orange Vaal General Union (Saawu) officials claimin the Ciskei through media, public Workers Union, Municipal and management at the Fred Fishermeetings and through union struc. General Workers Union and the Door Factory in Queenstown istures. Three public meetings have Johannesburg Scooter Drivers As- working hand in hand with securityalready been held in Soweto, Kagiso sociation. police to undermine the union.I "he allegations follow the dismissalof 30 Saawu members after a strike of140 workers at the factory.the entire workforce resolved tostrike in support of fellow workers,Mncedesi Mpeme and XolileMahela, who were dismissed after adispute with a foreman. Workersdemanded the unconditional rein-statement of the two.Mat evening management andpolice visited the homes of mainly'coloured' workers to persuade themto return to work and drop their de-mands.Fisher said he would no longer betaking on Saawu members but wouldgo to the Ciskei to recruit moreworkers since Saawu was now ban-ned there.F he dismissed workers were allpaid off. I 'he 30 union members werepaid R6 each, Mpeme 78 cents andMahela 68 cents.Saawu officials, recently releasedfrom detention, claim the securitypolice told them they had organisedworkers not to join Saawu because 'itwas full of bad elements'. Others hadbeen recruited to inform on the ac-tivities of the union.Fred Fisher management wouldhave no dealings with the union andif workers went on strike they wouldbe dismissed immediately. they weretold.After their release, union officialsmet management who confirmedwhat security police had told them indetention.' l his proved to us they were work-ing hand in hand.' said the officials.s to bring international pica- lose doorAttemptsure to bear on the South Africanand Ciskei governments.*That his case be dealt with internal-ly by the union and management.*That AECI explain why theyviolated a signed recognition agree-ment with Macwusa which said dis-ciplinary matters should first be dealtwith internally.Workers also demanded that AECIshould employ its own securityguards, and not those of an outsidecompany. This was because theguard involved the Tom case was anemployee of another firm.After negotiating with the union,management agreed to an indepen-dent disciplinary inquiry with the un-Laboratories test workers' strengthWORKERS AT Van DrimmelLaboratories in Johannesburg aredemanding the reinstatement of oneof their elected representatives, Mr JMazibuko, who was fired afterworkers went on strike demanding aR2 per hour wage increase.Two other workers on the workerscommittee who were fired togetherwith Mazibuko were reinstated butmanagement refused to reinstateMazibuko despite the demands ofthe workers. who are members of theGeneral and Allied Workers Union(Gawu).ion.Macwusa's Dennis NearPolice charges agai-.x i um weredropped, but he was suspended fromwork for th-ce weeks after he said hewas guilty.Workers were also paid for thetime they were on strike.Management refused to givereasons for Mazibuko's dismissal tothe workers' committee or to Gawuofficials.Gawu is now taking the matter tothe Industrial Court, to haveMazibuko reinstated.Workers are still demandingMazibuko's reinstatement and a R2an hour increase in their wages.Some of them are paid as little as11100 per month and workers whohave been working for Van Drimmelfor more than six years are paid onlyRI_'0 per rionth.Saawu and Gawu at apress conferenceOut of jail,but into aprison ofno releaseEX-POLITICAL prisoners banishedto Mdantsane are being faced withdemands for rent arrears they havenever had to pay before.About 200 political prisoners fromthe Eastern Cape were moved toMdantsane after their release fromRobben Island. Since 1981, whenCiskei became 'independent', thishas taken the form of 'deportation'.Ex-prisoners say they were told tokeep out

Page 12 of 51 of politics qad that theywould not have to pay rent. But since1981, Ciskei authorities have starteddemanding that they pay rent, andalso arrears for all the time they havenot been paying rent. In some casesthis includes time spent on RobbenIsland.This came to light recently whentwo women were evicted from theirhouse in Mdantsane after failing topay arrears of R135.The two women, Mrs NosiphoNorongo, 61, and her mother, MrsMita Norawuzana, 81, have sinceasked to be allowed to settle inDuncan Vilage, which is in SouthAfricaThe two women say they paid rentuntil 1974, when Mrs Norongobecame sick and could not continueworking. Mrs Norawuzana had beensickly for some time before that.They told the rent office they wouldnot be able to continue paying rent,and did not do so until 1981, whenthey were suddenly served with anotice to pay arrests.They were evicted recently, andhave now appealed to the Depart-ment of Co-operation and Develop-ment, who have referred themstraight back to Ciskei authorities.Another former political prisoner,Mr Fezile Dangala, has been servedwith a notice demanding R600.S8 inrent arrears. He was taken to Mdant-sane in 1972 after serving 7 years onRobben Island for ANC activities.'Every time there was a rent notice,t would phone the security policewho came and took the notice away.I told them 1 didn't come here forrent, you brought me here,' MrDangala said.Without prior warning, he wasevicted in December of last year andhis furniture taken away. Since then,he has been living with relativesAnother man, who was releasedfrom Robben Island in July this yearafter his second term there, has beenserved with a demand for R664 inarrears.He and his family, who are fromPort Elizabeth, were moved toMdantsane after his first spell on theisland, and the amount apparently in-cludes rent for the time he spentthere, while his family was alone inMdantsane.He said the former politicalprisoners wanted a clear statementfrom South Africa on their position:'Does this mean we have now beenhanded over to the Ciskei? We wentto Robben Island because we don'taccept Bantustans, we can't beforced to accept them now.'y

Page 13 of 51 REPORTSSASPU NATIONAL 7The day thesoldiers wentmarching intotown withguns and all ...under heavypoliceprotectionVIGOROUS PROTESTS greetedthe conferring of the freedom ofSoweto on the 21 Battalion, a-blackunit of the SADF, by the SowetoCouncil recently.]'he battalion paraded in front ofSoldiers of 21 Batallion march through the streets of Soweto after being granted "Freedomthe Soweto Council Chambers underheavy police presence, includingmany plain clothes police.Demonstrators, many of themwearing Free Mandela I'-shirts. sangfreedom songs and chanted slogansin protest against the conferment.Mr Aubrey Mokoena, publicitysecretary of the Release MandelaCommittee, stood outside thechamber with a placard demandingthe release of Mandela and rejectingthe 21 Battalion being given thefreedom of Soweto.tie and several other people in-cluding Mr Jabu Ngwenya, jour-of the City" by Thebehall.nalists and members of the SowetoYouth Congress were taken bysecurity police. Press photographerswere also detained when they tried tophotograph police taking Ngwenyato a car. All were released afterquestioning.The protests also coincided withthe arrival of Piet Koornhof, Ministerof Co-operation and Development,at the ceremony.Mr David lhebahali, chairpersonof the Soweto Council, said the con-ferment was 'in recognition of thebattalion's close association withSoweto'.Clamp on campaignto Free MandelaONCE AGAIN the South AfricanGovernment is faced with a con-certed campaign to release NelsonMandela, the African NationalCongress leader sentenced to life im-prisonment.The campaign was initiated in 19'80and since then over a million people,nationally and internationally, havesigned petitions for his release.This time the Government seemsdetermined to stop the campaignmoving into full swing. It banned theSoweto rally to launch the campaignin September. When the massmeeting was rescheduled for October23 - a similar last minute prohibitionwas imposed.The Release Mandela Committeein the Transvaal is headed by CurtisNkondo, with Aubrcy Mokoena aspublicity secretary. Other executivemembers are Jabu Ngwenya, GretaNkapayi, Phillip Matthews and ZinziMandela.Several committee members havebeen briefly detained since the RMCresumed - Mrs Nkapayi, MrNgwenya, Mr Mokoena.The RMC got around the ban on aTurfloop meeting by waiting an hourafter its expiry and rescheduling themeeting. Well over 1300 people at-tended the gathering and speakersreturned to Johannesburg in the earlyNusas looks beyond the white referendumof ~Kate Phillip - "no is not enough".Zinzi Mandela, on the committee for the release of all political prisoners.hours of a Monday morning, elatedthat their ploy had succeeded.RMC leaders are insistent the cam-paign will be pursued despite thehandicap of constant banning ofmeetings.They claim the support of organisa-tions such as Soyco, Cosas, Azapo,Azaso, the YMCA, taxi associations,spotting bodies and others.Campaign organisers point out thatthe 1980 initiative to secure therelease of Mandela and otherpolitical prisoners fizded out. Theysee it as important to base the new ef-fort on existing organisations to en-sure this does not happen again.'In their own way and in their own'NO 1S not enough' was thecatchword for a campaign launchednationwide in October by Nusas onall its campuses.Central to the campaign was a peti-tion - 14000 signed it in the firstthree weeks - calling on students toreject the constitution because it ex-cludes most South Africans,entrenches apartheid and was drawnup by representatives of the rulingminority.Said Nusas president Kate Philip:'The success of the campaign and thepetition has shown unequivocallywhere students in Nusas stand.'Explaining the slogan 'No is notenough', Philip said: 'because thereferendum is a whites-only affair, wedo not recognise the referendum as alegitimate means of making this bigdecision about South Africa's future.'So, while voting 'no' will serve toreduce PW's mandate to implementtime organisations can raise this cam-paign with their members.'Petitions are being circulated andwill be handed to the United Nationsas they come in. The petition gather-ing will continue as long as there islegislation that puts people in jail forpolitical offences.Although the campaign is centeredon Mandela it is concerned with allpolitical prisoners.Many organisations have called forthe release of political prisoners as apre-requisite for constitutionalchange.There can be no democracywhen the constitution is madewithout the presence of these people.'When we are demanding theirthe new constitution, voting 'no' isclearly not enough.'We need to go further, and showthrough other means, our clear rejec-tion of apartheid and ourpreparedness to join hands with allSouth Africans in drawing up a con-stitution for our common future, shesaid.The campaign involved massmeetings on all Nusas campuses,many of them with UDF speakers,seminars, talks in residences andmedia exposure from campus radiostations and newspapers.A statement outlining Nusas' posi-tion said: 'Can the constitution be astep in the right direction when it ispremised on the bantustan policy? Isit going to prevent shootings anddetentions in the Ciskei? Is it going tostop starvation and mass removals? Isit going to stop the war in Namibia?'it is not enough to vote 'no'. WhatAubrey Mokoena, publicity secretary.release we are not demandingclemency. We know the governmentwill not release them because theyhave already been asked to do so byboth local and international groupsand organisations.'The call to release Mandela hasdrawn wide local and internationalsupport. Presidents Samora Machelof Mozambique, Julius Nyerere ofTanzania, and Canaan Banana ofZimbabwe, have extended their sup-port.This year Mandela marked his 65thbirthday and his 19th year in prison.Recently he has been moved offRobben Island into Polsmoor Prisonon the mainland, along with WalterSisulu, Govan Mbeki and others.right does a whites-only referendumhave to decide on the future of ourcountry?'If we are committed to realdemocracy and not to racially ex-clusive parliamentary politics, wemust lend our support to the UnitedDemocratic Front,' the Nusas state-ment said.A call for active support of theUDF was prominent in the Nusascampaign. UDF speakers, includingpublicity secretary Mosiua Lekotaand secretary Popo Molefe, have ap-peared on Nusas platforms at Witsand UCT, and Nusas has become aUDF affiliate.In a pamphlet entitled 'Nusas says'no' to the constitution'. Nusas states:Our participation in the UDF onlycontributes to the strength of theUDF if we actively build oppositionto the new constitution on our cam-puses.'Turf meetingon Mandelagoes aheaddespite banONLY AN hour after the expiry of aban on meetings at Turffoop campus,2000 students gathered at a meetingto launch the Free Mandela Cam-paign in the Transvaal.The launch was to take place theday before, but that meeting

Page 14 of 51 hadbeen banned.Speakers from the ReleaseMandela Committee (RMC), UDF,Azaso and Soyco argued for the im-portance of the Freedom Charterand for Mandela as a symbol of allpolitical prisoners.Azaso president, Tiego Moseneke,was given a standing ovation when hesaid the government would not beable to maintain the status quowithout the help of people likeGatsha Buthelezi and Davidl hebehaf. tie said people who hadbeen forced into sham independencein Ciskei were being jailed for oppos-ing Pretoria's system of Apartheid.Curtis Nkondo, chairperson of theRMC, condemned the government'sattempt to stop the launching of theFree Mandela campaign at the un-iversity by banning the Saturdaymeeting. lie said it was an act ofcowardice by the government.Oupa Monareng, president ofSoyco, said that the people knowwho their leaders are. It was the dutyof leaders who are not imprisoned,banned or detained to tell peoplewhat these leaders stand for, he said.Slain ex-Islandermourned by manyHUNDREDS of mourners crammedthe Dube YWCA to pay their lastrespects to former Robben Islandprisoner, Brian Mbulolo Mazibuko,who was stabbed to death recently.Speakers, some of them formerIsland inmates, said Mazibuko was adedicated opponent of apartheid.In 1976, when the Soweto studentuprisings broke out, Mazibuko ledhis fellow students out of the clas-srooms.Later that year he and some clas-smates were detained and chargedunder the Sabotage Act.Released from the Island last year,Mazibuko joined the Detainees AidMovement, and was involved in theformation of the Soweto YouthCongress and the Tembisa ResidentsAssociation.His coffin was carried from the hallby mourners representing studentorganisations, trade unions, the FreeMandela Committee and the UnitedDemocratic Front.

Page 15 of 51 COMMUNITIESSASPU NATIONAL 8MBEKWENI TOWNSHIP in Paarlhas been the site of intense opposi-tion to rent increases in recentweeks.Unity among the rsidents of thetownship has been strengtheneddespite many arrests.Tension was already rife in thetownship due to high unemploymentworsened by the large-scale retrench-ments at the Berg River TextilePlant, when the West Cape Ad-ministration Board (WCAB) an-nounced site and service chargeswould go up a quarter.Mbekweni residents went to theWCAB's office to protest against theCheers asVaal Civicis formedTHE VAAL Civic Association wasibrought to life in mid-October by aunanimous decision of over 1200 resi-dents of Vaal townships recently.]'he meeting, organised by the VaalAction Committee. was addressed bya range of speakers, including theSoweto Civic Associationchairperson Dr Nthato Motlana,UDF-1 vi vice-chairperson Mr CurtisNkondo and local people.indication of the nature of the neworganisation by resolving:Wo reject the Koornhof Bills and toboycott the community council elec-tions:*to oppose participation inGovernment-created bodies:*to seek affiliation to the UnitedDemocratic Front:Wo reject the present educationsystemWo tackle high rentals and fight forbetter quality housing;Wo condemn the disparity in blackand white pensions and to call for im-proved administration of pensions:Wo reject the homeland system, thebanning of Saawu and Ciskei repres-sion, and to pledge solidarity withSaawu and people in the area.. Vaal residents condemned thecommunity councils and said therehad been no improvements sincewere introduced in 1977.Dr Motlana warned the audienceagainst believing the claim that thenew councils offered to blacks underthe Black Local Authorities Actwere fully fledged municipalities.fie described the Koornhof Bills asa mechanism to divide urban andrural people.Dr Motlana said 'we are interestedin power, not a platform to airgrievances. We want power to vote,to make the laws of this country.Speaking on the education system,Nkondo said, if education wasdemocratic and relevant, peoplewould all be able to see through theevil attempts of the government.A 16-member interim committee,including office bearers andrepresentatives of all areas waselected.Residents buildtheir own bodyA CIVIC organisation has been setup in Soshanguve near Pretoria after2 000 residents met in August to dis-cuss its formation.A steering committee of 9 peoplewas elected to draft a constitutionand to call the meeting to launch theorganisation.Over 500 people attended thelaunching and elected an executiveof eight people, including RevFllalethwa, a vice-president of theUnited Democratic Front.I he Residents Committee will setup branches in the different sectionsof Soshanguve, and aims to unite andorganise people to face theirproblems together.While there are no communitycouncil elections in Soshanguve, resi-dents suspect this is because theDepartment of Co-operation andDevelopment plan to incorporate itinto Bophuthatswana. Residents saythey will oppose such a move.Rents raise costsmore than moneytariff increases and to tell officialsthey could not afford the increases.Orders to disperse were ignored and120 people were arrested.Eight of the 120 people arrestedwere teachers at the Simon HebeHigh School in Paarl. Three hundredpupils gathered outside the PaarlMagistrate's Court in support of thes-Huca fightsand councilOVER 400 people attended the rallyto launch the Fluhudi Civic Associa-tion (Huca) recently.Huca was formed to oppose the.threat of removals and to take upother issues facing Huhudi residents.T'he crowd was addressed byspeakers from Huhudi, the UnitedDemocratic Front, the Black Sash,the Anti-Community Councils Com-mittee, the South African Council ofChurches (SACC), the Soweto YouthCongress (Soyco), Kudumane YouthUnity and the Huhudi YouthOrganisation.]'he crowd cheered the speakers aseach in turn condemned the com-munity council system which theysaid was imposed upon the Africanpopulation in the townships.The Koornhof Bills were criticisedby all speakers as an attempt todivide the urban and rural populationand because they would force un-wanted people to leave the towns.Huhudi residents are presentlyfighting a battle to remain in the area.Occupants of 900 houses zoned fordemolition by the Department of Co-operation and Development are tobe moved to Pudumong.Mr Galeng, who was electedchairperson of Huca, said Huhudiresidents had been waiting for morethan ten years for permission torenovate their houses, but now theboard had declared them un-inhabitable, demolished them and'voluntarily' resettled the people inPudumong.'People have been bribed andforced to move there,' he said. 'If youaccept their offer to move, you getR1000 to erect a new house. Theyhave also increased the rent, andthrough threats have forced 100families to move.'The community council is helpingKoornhof do this. Today Koornhof istelling the councils he is giving themindependence like Sebe and,Mpephu, and they will be big bosses.''But let us realise who our real op-ponent is,' Galeng said. 'Let us uniteand involve our people in thehomelands and liberate all our peo-ple - black and white.'The Black Sash speaker said overthree million people had been movedfrom their homes - nearly oneiggh spirits at the Huhudi Civicteachers who were charged under theInternal Security Act.The pupils were detained and heldin cells at the court. While beingheld, police used teargas to 'quietentheir singing'.Police later denied using teargasagainst the pupils who were subse-quently released.million of those from townships nextto white cities.'F luhudi is like many places all overSouth Africa. It is government policyto make it difficult for people tocome to the towns, to move as manypeople out of the towns as possible,and to destroy the shacks which peo-ple build because they have no otherplace to stay.'When people are moved, shepointed out, they lose their Section10 rights and are only able to work asmigrants for the rest of their lives.Reverend Brooks from theNorthern Cape branch of the SACCsaid people must unite in the face ofthe new constitution'l he government is afraid, and youare only afraid if you know you haverobbed someone,' he said. 'We'vebeen robbed of our land, the voteand human dignity, and they are stillon the road of dividing people. Butthey will never be able to kill thespirit of togetherness.'1'he Soyco speaker pointed to theyouth in the crowd and said theyshould not forget that when influxcontrol was introduced their parentswere young, and since then hadsacrificed to give their children aneducation.' l he government is again introduc-ing changes, and the youth mustchallenge them to pay the debt theyowe to their parents. We must cometogether and discuss. We must seethat the future is ours.'If people are resettled we will haveourselves to blame. We must formour own organisation to work hand inhand with organisations like HucaNo drought relief for protestersRESIDENT'S OF the Mgwali andWartburg communities near

Page 16 of 51 Stut-terheim who are opposing theirproposed removal to the Ciskei. saythey are being refused drought reliefaid because they are against themove.Only paid up card carryingmembers of the ruling CiskeiNational Independence Party (CNIP)are being allocated drought relief ra-ions, given work on the relief jobschemes and allowed to buy the sub-Association launch.PI'* et KpuppetsThe unpopular community councilhad agreed to the service rate in-crease on condition that the peoplebe consulted on the use of profitsfrom the beer halls.Residents of the community wantthe profits used for townshipdevelopments. To demonstrate theirdissatisfaction, about 3000 peopleboycotted the beer hall which waslater stoned and burned down.The court case of the 120 has beenpostponed to October. Bail has beenset at R50 for illegals and R30 forlegals. Those who could not affordthe bail were jailed in PolsmoorPrison.and intensify campaigns with theU I)[-. I hat is how we will repay ourparents,' he said.UDF's Frank Chikane said theFront developed out of the formationof grassroots organisations.'Since 1979 grassroots organisationsitarted developing in all com-munities. Organisations did not startfrom the top anymore, but frombelow, and civics, labour organisa-tions, student and parent organisa-tions.''Now the organisations are sayingthey must create an organisationalnetwork that will not leave the peo-ple of Fluhudi to fight an isolated bat-tle,' Chikane said.Fie said the government had ban-ned all the UDF meetings. 'But,' hesaid, 'we are the people and we willstand together and will go fromhouse to house, street to street, andthrough that we will win.''The community councils put thestamp on influx control when theytell us to leave the cities, and thesame with removals. F hey are used todivide the urban and rural people, inthe same way the constitution dividesthe African from the Indian and'coloured'.'I want to call on you to reject alldifferentiation that goes with thesystem and stand united. Because ofUDl-, all communities throughoutSouth Africa are with Fluhudibecause we unite to fight apartheid.'I he Anti-Community CouncilsCommittee speaker congratulatedFluca for its stand against removalsand the community councils, and inits struggle for good houses.sidised cattle feed.Members of the anti-removalMgwali Residents Association saypressure was being put on residentsto accept removal. They say the Julyhandout of rations was dumped afterrotting in the Tribal Authority office.Pringle Nobobe, secretary of theM RA, said, 'The drought has hitMgwali hard. Fields cannot beploughed and grazing is almost non-existent.'He said the vast majority ofPlacards after Redebe's death.Residentsremembershot rentsresisterABOUT 2000 people packed theSobantu Village Hall recently tocommemorate Graham Radebe whowas shot dead during the Sobanturent protests last year.]'he meeting was called by theSobantu Youth Organisation, formedat the height of the protests.Archie Gumede, president of theUDF and a former Sobantu resident,paid tribute to the youth of thetownship, saying they were part of along-standing tradition. Many peopleof Sobantu had died in the educationprotest of 1958.'But l know you are not daunted,'he said, 'the opposition to high rentswill continue.'He told Mrs Nancy Radebe her sonhad inspired the community in thestruggle for justice.Graham Radebe died and two ofhis friends Mhlengi Duma andJabulani Nkosi were injured afterpolice fired at them on the first day ofthe rent protests.The shooting strengthened theSobantu community's determinationto unite against the rent increases. Itmarked the beginning of a rentboycott which ended two monthslater when the Drakensberg Ad-ministration Board was forced toscrap the increases.Several speakers at the meetingslammed the government's new con-stitution and the Koornhof Bills andurged people to unite under the ban-ner of UDF.Secretary of the North Coast UDF,Ian Mkhize, criticised the corn-munity council system. 'These bodiesare imposed on us and cannot solveour problems such as the lack ofhouses people can afford.'"The alternative is for all people tocome together around the demandsof the Freedom Charter,' he said.'"The Charter speaks of houses for alland this is still the demand of peopleall over the country.'Mewa Ramgobin told the meetingthat most Indians rejected thegovernment's constitution thrustupon them just like the Bantustanswere forced upon Africans.Security policemen were con-spicuous during the early part of themeeting and several people were toldto leave as they did not have thepermits to be in an African area.Ramgobin was cheered when hetold the meeting he had been askedto leave but refused because the peo-ple of Sobantu had invited him tospeak and he was determined to doSO.Mgwalians were undaunted by theintimidation and refused to eitherjoin the CNIP or apply for Ciskeireference books enabling them towork in other areas.Meanwhile reports have come in ofcommercial farmers making privatedeals with the tribal authorities overthe subsidised bales of cattle feedwhich are sold at RI. Mgwali resi-dents say they have seen the bales be-ing carted away in large quantities onthe backs of farmers' trailors.

Page 17 of 51 REPORTSSASPU NATIONAL 9ONE MONTH after suspending theUniversity of Durban Westville SRC,the rector has been forced torecognise a student action committeeand to meet students about recon-stituting the SRC.This development came after in-tense student pressure and the threatof legal action by students.Legal representatives of both thestudents and the university ad-ministration met near the end ofSeptember to discuss student de-mands that:'The SRC constitution be recognisedas valid.'SRC offices be opened.*Funds owed to students by the un-iversity be released.*Disciplinary action against two stu-dents from the Action Committee bedropped.Westville's rector, JJC Greyling,announced the suspension of theSRC at a press conference at the endof August. The SRC's funds wereparalysed, equipment seized, and itwas locked out of the SRC offices.Reasons given by Greyling for thesuspension were maladministrationof funds and problems with the SRCconstitution.Students rejected the claims andsay Greyling resorted to these tactics.as an excuse to crush our indepen-dent SRC and replace it with anadministration-controlled one'.Abbe Omar vA pamphlet put out by the SRCcalled on all students not to be misledby the rector's tactics.'We have long struggled for ademocratic SRC. Admin must not beallowed to crush us. This is the timefor u_ s all to stand united and fight forthe reinstatement of a democraticSRC; said the pamphlet.This latest attack on the SRC isseen as a continuation of increasedharassment of students by universityauthorities and security policerecently.Two students were handed over tosecurity police for distributing.00M,e-president oUAzaso addresses Westville studentspamphlets, and students say univer-sity authorities have admitted to anopen relationship with the securitypolice.The present SRC constitution wasratified by the university council in1980 after an intensive student cam-paign. 'At the beginning of this year, theuniversity submitted the constitutionto legal counsel for scrutinyA number of points of conflictbetween the constitution and the un-iversity statute were noted. On thispretext the rector presented the SRCwith amendments to the constitution.SRC president, Abba Omar, saidthe-amendments 'would emasculate'the SRC. It would be prohibited frominviting guest speakers, issuing pressstatements or producing publicationswithout the permission of the rector.They would also be s. ripped of theright to sue and to student represen-tation at disciplinary hearings. Theuniversity would be legally responsi-ble for the SRC and would thereforebe able to intervene in and veto SRCactivities.Students strongly rejected the rec-tor's changes to the constitution as anattempt to 'strip the S RC of all powerand to make the gains he has longsince desired.'An Action Committee was electedto fight for the situation of an in-dependent.SRC. All its meeting wereinitially banned but students recentlywon a victory when the rector wasforced to officially recognise thecommittee after a meeting betweenstudents, admin, a university councilmember and their legal represen-tatives.Support for the Westville students'struggle has been widespread, withorganisations like the UDF, the NatalIndian Congress, Azaso, Nusas,Cosas and Durban communityorganisations throwing their weightbehind Westville students' tight for ademocratic SRC.Students say the university is tryingto railroad through harsh changes tothe constitution before the universitybecomes 'autonomous' in 1984.At the moment the university coun-cil can change the university statutesby making recommendations toparliament.Once the university gains'autonomy', changes have to gothrough the procedure of a bill. Thiscan be a lengthy process.Negotiations between students anduniversity authorities are still un-derway, but students say if these fail,they will have to resort to furtherlegal action.Conference ondetention hearsof new movesDELEGATES FROM all over SouthAfrica gathered in East London lastmonth, to hear a catalogue of deten-tions and analyses of state strategy itthe second annual conference ondetention.'The conference was convened inEast London to identify with theEastern Cape and Border areas as ex-periencing the highest levels ofrepression.The conference began with anopening address by Glenn Moss whospoke about the changing nature ofgovernment action. Referring to therecent detentions of Amanda Kwadiand Albertina Sisulu, Moss pointedto a changing strategy which he saidincludes attempts to press chargesagainst detainees and refusing bail,effectively putting them in preven-tative detention.The conference noted that fewerand fewer detentions are beingreported by the media and politicaldetentions are being hidden underthe veil of the Criminal ProcedureAct.Delegates were addressed by NoraChase of the Namibian Council ofChurches and the South WestAfrican National Union (Swanu).Chase said the South Africangovernment went even further inNamibia with regard to security lawsbecause it feels so supreme.Pointing to the list of recordeddeaths in detention chalked up on ablackboard in the hall, she said:'My brothers and sisters in SouthAfrica are more fortunate in beingable to draw up such a list. InNamibia, there is no record of whohas died.'In the afternoon of the conferencethe delegates and about 800 peoplecrammed into the St Johns Churchhall in Duncan Village outside EastLondon for a mass rally on deten-tions. The floor of the hall wascovered with sneezing powder placedthere in the morning.Another speaker said detentions ofan estimated 1000 people in Ciskeihave 'shown us that detention is notthe ogre the police would like to haveus believe. We have learnt that youcan be detained for six months andeven tortured, but it does not followthat you won't come out,' he said."There are dark shadows in deten-tion, but if you are armed with theknowledge and the courage of yourconvictions, you can defeat them.'F'ATN~ #N PF7FNTION~17 ~lfAk. ~~7t #'J5I F tG..~NS t`tc,.,. ,r"~c'1 I~ ?Tv~Rt~t+sasaiaiusasiassiae#r,rA speaker at the Detainees Support Committees conference in East Londonna.a : cTeachers incrucial placein the battleof ideologiesTEACHERS IN South Africa have acrucial role to play in the struggle forthe minds of young people, ac-cording to Joe Phaalha, secretary ofthe Natal UDF and former presidentof Azaso.Speaking at the annual conferenceof the National Education Union ofSouth Africa (Neusa) in Pietermaritz-burg recently, Phaalha said teacherswere at the forefront of a toughideological war being fought betweenundemocratic organisations andprogressive forces. 'Thus interpreta-tion of textbooks, novels, syllabi, etcis of vital importance in the formula-tion of progressive ideas.'Phaalha hit out at teacher trainingcolleges, saying they had the mostdictatorial administrations in thecountry'. fie said this was becausethe government wanted to have atight control on ideas being broughtinto schools. 'However, a progressiveeducation organisation like Neusawas the forum to re-orientate youngteachers,' he said. Neusa could helpto bring these teachers into the orbitof progressive thinking

Page 18 of 51 and alter-native teaching methods.The other speaker at the con-ference, Paddy Kearney, director ofDiakonia, said present teachingmethods would have to change ifeducation was to become relevantand liberating.'Education should be a two wayprocess between learner and teacher.I here should be dialogue.' He saideducation often avoided the real ex-perience of students.The conference decided that Neusashould embark on an EducationCharter campaign and affiliate to theUnited Democratic Front.'Neusa does not sec education inisolation. We see it in its political,social and economic context. That iswhat allows us to link up with theUDF,' said Curtis Nkondo, who waselected president of Neusa.IIe said both the UDF and Chartercampaigns would help to mobiliseeducationists and project an alter-native to the present system ofeducation. Y his presupposed thatNeusa would keep community,worker and student contacts.1 his is what makes us differentfrom most other organisations forteachers.'Nkondo said Neusa was not in op-position to these organisations andwould work with them on issues.Standard tens expelledI HE ENTIRE standard ten class atJabulani High School in Soweto hasbeen expelled following a boycott ofover 1 000 students who demandedthat their school principal resign im-mediately.The boycott started in Septemberand carried on despite repeatedpolice intervention, baton chargesand detentions of students.Students demanded that the prin-cipal resign because, they said hewas 'unapproachable' and kept onrefusing to act on their grievances.I he boycott was, say the students,the result of longstanding tensionsbetween students and schoolauthorities.Complaints were that the staff satin the staff room and turned a dealear to student requests for tuition.After the start of the boycott, stu-dents were further angered when theprincipal did not come to a jointmeeting of students, parents andschool authorities to discuss thegrievances. Students say that he hadagreed to do so at an earlier meetingwith matric students.Students say members of theschools' governing council at themeeting tried to distort theirproblems and to divide students andparents. When the council agreed toreopen the school, the studentsreturned - only to find the doorslocked. A governing councillor theresaid he was going to fetch the key.Soon after he left, police arrived,but principal staysallegedly firing teargas at the waitingstudents and charging them withbatons and dogs.Later some students were allegedlyvisited at their homes by securitypolice. At least four were detainedSome students say they were servedwith documents signed by Depart-ment of Education and Training(DE l) officials telling them to reportto the Protea Police station infRhodes BSM voted into AzasoTHE RHODES Black StudentsMovement (BSM) voted by a largemajority to affiliate to AzasoThere was only one vote for theblack consciousness Azanian Stu-dents Movement (Azasm)BSM Chairperson, Monde Tabata,said 'the decision to affiliate to Azasowas not entirely unexpected. It canbe attributed to the organisationalprowess of the Azaso core group sup-plemented by the expertise of thenational executive.'BSM would adopt an 'open mind'on Azasm,he said. 'We don't seethem as a rival body. 'There are manyissues which transcend the dif-ferences between the organsiations,for example, we would jointly takeup an issue of unfair expulsions or theconsequences of the quota system.'Before the decision to affiliate toAzaso, the BSM organised a debatebetween Azaso and Azasm as part ofa focus week. Saliem Badat, AzasoProjects Officer addressed themeeting but Azasm failed to send aspeaker.Soweto.When the school re-opened morethan a month later, the principal wasthere with police. Standard ten stu-dents were told to leave the schoolimmediately or face charges oftrespassing.I he principal said they had startedthe boycott, but students strongly dis-agreed. They said the standard tenshad merely voiced the grievances ofthe entire student body.Other classes were allowed to re-main at the school and werepromised a 'special tuition program-me'. But students say that things areworse now than before.' I he school is more like a con-centration camp and police are forc-ing students to go to school and thereare SADF soldiers with guns in theclassrooms,' said one student.l hose still going to classes aresticking to their demands for the im-mediate resignation of the principaland for better tuition. They are nowalso calling for the reinstatement ofthe standard tens.

Page 19 of 51 TRIAL SHORTSSASPU NATIONAL 10Family, friends and colleagues of detainees gathered In Khotso House recently to protest against the detentionssystem. 'We say NO to detentions,' said the UDF's Popo Molefe. Of particular focus was the widespread detention ofpeople in Ciskei such as Bonisile Norushe, organiser for African Food and Canning Workers Union in East London.Four mer1, Luyanda Mayekiso, 23,William Duma, 31, Dumisani Manin-jwa, 32. and Bayi Keye, 52, appearedin the Ciskei Supreme Court recentlycharged with engaging in 'terroristactivities', becoming members of theANC, recruiting people to undergomilitary training in Lesotho, and pos-sessing banned literature. Theypleaded not guilty.Mr Justice D S de Wet agreed to arequest by the Ciskei AttorneyGeneral, Mr F W Jurgens, to re-openthe State's case, to call policemen,magistrates and court interpreters togive evidence on the alleged confes-sions made by three of the accused.This unusual procedure resultedfrom allegations of assault by theSecurity Police on Mayekiso.When questioned by the defencecounsel as to what had happenedwhen he saw a magistrate about mak-ing a confession. Mayekiso said hehad noticed the magistrate was notrecording his answers. fie said hehad indicated to the magistrate hewas not willing to continue with hisCISKEITrialist claims he was assaultedRESISTARESISTJOHANNESBURGA WITS student, Carl Niehaus, andhis fiancee, school teacher JohannaLourens, appeared in the Johan-nesburg magistrate's court in connec-tion with allegations of high treasonand alternatively contravening theterrorism act.Niehaus, (23), a BA student, andLourens, (23), a mathematicsschoolteacher, had their case post-poned to November 7 in the supremecourt.The state alleged that they con-spired with the African NationalCongress or its members and sup-porters to further the aims of theorganisation, and that they joined theANC and acted as members or sup-porters of the ANC. It is alleged thatthey formed a group called theAfrikaanse Sosialiste Allansie (ASA)for the purpose of supporting theANC, the Communist Party of SouthAfrica, the South African CongressPRETORIACourt remandsSaawu workersI HE I RIAL of two members of theSouth African Allied Workers Union(Saawu), charged with furthering theaims of the ANC and being in posses-sion of banned literature, was post-poned to November 14 in thePretoria magistrates court. MrGabriel Moroka (27) and Mr GeraldDay (28) of Atteridgeville appearedseparately before Mr E C Wilkens.PIETERMARITZBURG~NC threeconvictedTHERE WERE clenched fist salutessand shouts of 'Amandla''as two ANCmembers were sentenced for high'treason in the PietermaritzburgSupreme Court recently.A third man was sentenced for'terrorism' after he was acquitted forhigh treason on the grounds that hewas a 'Ciskeian' and owed noallegiance to South AfricaLungile Magxwalise of PortElizabeth was jailed for an effective'24 years for high treason.Sipho Dinca, also from P.E., was,convicted of treason. He andMzwakhe Cikozani, a 'Ciskeicitizen', were both sentenced to 20years imprisonment for their role inthe White Umfolozi mission.In passing sentence the judge saidhe had no doubt the men weremotivated by a belief that what theywere doing was just and right. But, hesaid, he 'regretfully' had to jail themto protect society.'I reached the conclusion withsadness because all of you possessqualities which under different cir-cumstances could have rendered youuseful members of society.'ANC pair guilty of treasonPRETORIAI -WO MEMBERS of the banned African National con.gress (ANC) convicted of high treason were sentenced toa total of 33 years imprisonment in the Pretoria SupremeCourt.Both Alpheus Zacharia Molotsi (28) and Jacob Molefe(23), who received military training in Angola, hadshown no change of attitude and still held the views offaithful supporters and members of the military wing ofthe outlawed organisation, Mr Justice H H Moll said.fie sentenced Molotsi to 18 years and Molefe to 15years imprisonment.Both accused, Mr Justice Moll said, had entered thePAARLMbekweni peoplefight Board againOVER TWO hundred residents sangfreedom songs at the Paarlmagistrates court before attendinghearings arising from a protest marchon the administration board offices.One hundred and sixty-seven peo-ple-face charges of attending an il-legal gathering or alternatively of dis-obeying a police officer. The accusedwere divided into two groups andtheir cases were postponed until Oc-tober 4 and 5.ALICEFort Hare studentsout for the momentFORTY-FIVE Fort Hare studentswho. appeared in the magistratescourt in Alice were released on R50bail pending further police enquiries.They were initially charged withpublic violence, but the chiefprosecutor, Mr M Maphuta~ con-firmed that the charges 'may be re-framed after further police investiga-tion.'SOWETOSB tried forMalatji deathA SECURITY policeman is to becharged with the murder of 23-year-old detainee, Paris Malatji of Soweto,who was shot in the head at ProteaPolice Headquarters, Soweto, in Julythis year.The 'Transvaal attorney-general an-nounced that the unnamedpoliceman would face a murdercharge and would appear in themagistrate's court soon.The policeman will have an oppor-tunity toanswer to the allegations. Onthe basis of the court's findings theattorney- general will decide whetherto proceed with the charges.JOHANNESBURGNun charged forbanned materialSISI ER MARY Bernard, 48, of StMary's Convent, Kagiso, Kruger-sdorp, appeared in the Johannesburgregional court on charges of posses-sion of banned literature. Shepleaded not guilty to the offences.country on February 16 this year to do further recon-naisance and to prepare bases from where attacks couldbe launched against South Africa. Their aim, the courtheard, was to sabotage electricity power stations, fueldepots, police stations and sewerage systems.I he judge, however, found there were extenuating cir-cumstances following evidence by Professor B Helm, alecturer in applied Psychology at the University of CapeI own. She had testified that both men were afraid of thepolice and had led 'horrible lives' during the 1976 stu-dents' unrest.An application by the defence council, Mr DavidSoggot, for leave to appeal was postponed.Sister Bernard was allegedly foundin possession of the banned publica-tions 'Total War in South Africa' andSechaba', as well as a photocopy of aspeech by Oliver Tambo, presidentof the ANC. She told the court in awritten statement that she had beensent 'Sechaba' by an unknownperson and had been given a copy of''Total War in South Africa' at a con-ference at which everyone was sup-plied with a copy. She was not awarethat it was banned.The trial was postponed to December 1, and R300 bail for SisterBernard was ex tended.PIETERSBURGTwenty years forKwamashu cadresTWO KWAMASHU men whostashed a cache of arms, ammunitionand explosives in Phoenix nearDurban were sentenced to ten yearsimprisonment in September.Acting

Page 20 of 51 Justice Viljoen told SiphiweWilfred Makhatini and MthokosiziNobelman Shezi, 18, the state mustpunish any attempt to overthrow itsorder no matter how oppressed thecitizen may feel.Ile said his task was not a pleasantone as he wasn't dealing withcriminals in the ordinary sense of theword.Makhatini pleaded guilty to thecharges and Shezi not guilty.A dispute in the trial arose whenMajor Robert Welman, an explosivesexpert with the security police,claimed Shezi had demonstrated tohim while he was in detention how tohandle explosives and assemble land-mines.Shezi s defence challenged this,saying that Welman hadn't taken astatement from Shezi at the time andit was questionable that he only cameup with the allegation at the trial.Earlier in the trial, Makhatini said itwas not part of his plan to involveShezi. Makhatini was trained in Tan-zania in 1977 as a member of theANC.Viljoen ordered that the ten yearsentence for Makhatini run con-currently with an 18 year sentence hewas already serving for 'subversion'.Four years of the ten year sentenceon Shezi were suspended. The judgenoted that Shezi had only been 15 or16 years old at the time of the offenceand that he had been sympathetic tohis brother who is serving a fifteenyear sentence on Robben Island forhis suppport of the African NationalCongress.The iudge told Shezi 'when youchoose to walk down the road ofviolent resistance you are subjectedto the penalties that men must suf-fer.'MANKWENGEleven Turfloopstudents on bailELEVEN UNIVERSITY of theNorth students, charged with publicviolence, had their case postponed toSeptember 30 at the Mankwengmagistrates court near Pietersburg.F he case arises from incidents on thecampus on June 17. The studentswere released on 8100 bail.WTTN.onfession.' The magistrate immediatelyphoned the Security Police, who as-saulted me in his presence.'Posters in the campaign to stop the repression in the Ciskei.Mayekiso denied that when he was munist Party documents or that hearrested on June 8 1981, he was in was a member of South Africanpossession of African National Allied Workers Union.Congress and South African Com- 1'he case continues..Afrikaans activists chargedof Trade Unions (Sac4po otherorganisations. They are alleged tohave distributed ANC publicationsand recruited people to join, as wellas identified targets in the country tobe sabotaged.Niehaus is also alleged to have triedto contact Catherine Hunter on mat-ters relating to the ANCFriends attended the proceedingsand police photographers tookseveral pictures as they entered andleft the court.At a previous hearing, themagistrate ordered the doors of thecourt to be closed after a number ofpeople sang a song. The spectatorswere later told to leave the court oneby one and security policemen at thedoor took their names and addresses.At an earlier hearing, an Anglican;priest, the Reverend ThomasStanton, was sentenced to six months Iimprisonment for refusing to make astatement. to help police investiga-tions into the case. Reverend Stantonsaid this would violate his con-science: "To give evidence for thestate in their case against this youngman would be something I would bedeeply ashamed of for the rest of mylife.'MDANTSANEMass trial inviolent CiskeiTWO HUNDRED and four peopleappeared briefly before Mr JDracatos in the Mdantsane regionalcourt on charges of public violencerecently. No evidence was led andthe group was not asked to plead.The accused were all arrested inMdantsane on August 3, the day thestate of emergency was declared, andwere the first group to be arrestedafter the promulgation of emergencyregulations and a 10.30pm to 4amcurfew. F hey were released on bailand warned to appear again onNovember.

Page 21 of 51 LABOUR SHORTSSASPU NATIONAL 110 CCAWUSAWorkers setup a chainreactionTHREE JOHANNESBURG chainstores have been hit by strikes involv-ing the Commercial Catering andAllied Workers Union (Ccawusa).Seventy workers at Game DiscountCentre went on strike after rejectinga ten percent wage offer by manage-ment.The company refused to negotiatewith Ccawusa because it did notrecognise the union.Sixty workers at a Checkers branchdowned tools in protest against 'con-sistently abusive and insultingbehaviour' by the store's manager.This is the latest in a series ofstrikes at Checkers stores promptedby clashes between workers andstore managers.The strike was resolved aftermanagement conceded that theworkers' grievances were legitimate,and undertook to monitor themanager's behaviour to ensure therewere no further incidents.Fifty workers came out on strike inprotest against the retrenchment of acdleague at African Sales in Johan-nesburg. However, a companyspokesperson denied any knowledge,of the strike.TWTextiles getall in a knotTHE MINISTER of Manpower hasappointed an official conciliationboard to look at the dispute between'the Frame textile group and Fosatu'sNational Union of TextOe Workers' The dispute centres on charges byIthe NUTW that Frame is refusing to'recognise it at its Frametex mill, andis instead favouring Tucsa's TextileWorker's Industrial Union (TWIU),even though NUTW is the majorityunion.The case will test not only whetherit is an unfair labour practice for anemployer to favour a minority union,but whether an employer can refuseto recognise a union because it has amajority in one plant and not in a;group of plants.NISMAWUUnion steeled toiron out wages1'HE NATIONAL Iron, Steel, Metalrid Allied Workers Unionismawu) recently negotiated newe rates for its members at twoWorkers at Nampak - victims of a broken retrenchment agreement.Bosses promise paper-thinNAMPAK IS going back on anagreement it made to give retrenchedworkers from one of its plants firstoption on vacancies in other plants.At the end of September, half ofthe Nampak Conical Containersplant closed down and 90 of the 130workers were retrenched.During negotiations between theirunion, the Paper Wood# and AlliedWorkers Union (PWAWU) andNampak, the company promisedthese workers thrst option on jobGawu members striking at the heart of South African business - Anglohead office.IAWUSAik77Workers not at liberty to strikeMORE THAN 140 Liberty Life in-surance Company workers havebeen dismissed after striking to de-mand recognition of their union.Liberty Life refuses to recognisethe union, the Insurance and As-Richards Bay firms, the union said ina press statement.At Union Liquid nit; an across theboard increase of ZUc was agreed up-on, to remain in force until the end ofJune next year.After tough negotiations atRichards Bay Minerals, managementvacancies in other plants.However, it has rehired otherworkers and made extensive use ofcasual labour to keep the plant runn-ing overtime.PWAWU has sharply attacked theretrenchments. It says they havecome as a result of 'rationalisation'wit.'un Nampak and not as a result ofthe recession.It said workers were losing theirjobs at the same time as other Nam-pak factories were working overtime.jrpLiberty Life striker are now call pu Bc n against Its bosses.surance Workers Union of SA(IAWUSA). This was contrary toLiberty Life policy, a managementspokesperson said.Union spokesmen said other de-mands would be dealt with later -settled for'an increase of between l6c I i1 MAand 38c per hour.However the union and its ( Metal workersmembers have rejected this as an 'in-su1P, not to be interpreted as a wageagreement. More than 800 Nismawumembers have been boycotting thestaff canteen for the past two monthsas a show of dissatisfaction with theincrease.forge victoryA YEAR old dispute has finally beensettled between the Metal and AlliedWorkers Union (Maws) and 118,1Engineering after a decision byMaws to institute industrial court ac-tion.The 249 workers who were fired onSeptember 7 last year, met daily sincethe dispute. Several of their leaderswere arrested and charged under theIntimidation Act, however no-onewas convicted.All the workers are to be reinstatedshortly.GAWgoldenworkersOVER ONE hundred General AlliedWorkers Union members at AngloAmerican walked out recently inprotest against the dismissal of afellow worker.Walter Mnguni, a photocopymachine operator who. has beenworking with the company for 28years, was dismissed because he didnot smile at some of the white staff.The workers committee met withmanagement representatives, butwhen no satisfactory agreement wasreached, the workers decided not toreturn until the committee had metwith Gavin Redly, chairperson ofAnglo American.The walkout was finally defusedwhen management agreed to in-vestigate the matter, and Mnguni wassuspended on full pay.The workers say it was their con-certed pressure that brought aboutthe concession, and have pledgedthemselves to setting up a system ofgenuine worker representation byspeeding up the process of formingan official Gawu branch in Anglo.the fired workers would continuestriking and mobilisc support againstLiberty Life management, who haverefused to recognise the unionbecause of its 'political motivation'and because it only allows blackmembership.bs9 NAAWUMotor workersdrive for wagesO BEEWULaunch meetingshort circuitedrNAAWU IS investigating the legalityof Sigma's refusal to pay 2 000workers at its Pretoria plant afterthey were laid off for one daybecause of a strike at another fac-tory.This strike was precipitated by thebreakdown of national pay negotia-tions between Naawu and AutoPlastic management. A total of 1000Workers at the company's Rosslyn,Port Elizabeth and Cape Town plantscame out on strike.A BAN on all meetings in theNorthern Transvaal on the weekendof October I prevented the inauguralmeeting of the Black Electronics andElectrical Workers Union.The union was to have beenlaunched in Seshego, capital ofLebowa.This is the second time a unionmeeting has been banned in Lehowa.Union cracksshatterproof dealFOSATUS CHEMICAL Worker'sIndustrial Union (CWIU) has wonrecognition from three plants in thePlate Glass group in various parts ofthe country.The three companies are PlateGlass in Germiston and the Shat-terprufe Safety Glass plants inPretoria and Port Elizabeth. All threeagreements accord the union fullrecognition, including collectivebargaining rights on wages and work-ing conditions, recognition of shopstewards, access to organisers, stoporder facilities and procedures forhandling grievances. discipline.retrenchment and disputes.oCullinan`Peanuts' rejectedthen police arriveFOUR HOURS after workersdowned tools in demand of betterpay increases at Cullinan Refrac-tories, near Pretoria, police arrivedon the scene.A contingent assembled outside apolice station next to the factory.For two years the company had notgiven

Page 22 of 51 increases, but when it did sorecently, 'they gave us peanuts',workers said.Workers put onrocks, then sunkNINETY-TWO Umhlanga Rocksmunicipal workers are facing chargesof trespassing because they refusedto leave the municipality's premisesafter being dismissed.They were fired after 140 municipalworkers, members of the NationalFederation of Workers, downedtools demanding additional wage in-creases. The workers were notsatisfied with a salary adjustment inJudy.The 92 workers are to appear incourt on October 14.GAWUAgreement notchicken feedTHE GENERAL and AlliedWorkers Union (Gsw u) has reachedadvanced stages in negotiations for arecognition agreeement at the Stor-mill Packstation of Steinbro Eggs,near Johannesburg.Management agreed to recogniseGawu in principle when over twothirds of the total workforce werefound to be Gawu members.Negotiations over the form of theagreement are proceeding.eNumGoldminers shundangerous groundAT LEAST 40 workers at the WestRand Driefontein mine refused to gounderground recently because theybelieved the mine's 14 level to be un-safe. Insisting the work area was safe,the Gold Field's group, which ownsthe mine, threatened themineworkers with dismissal. Theworkers belong to the NationalUnion of Mineworkers.4L-SAMWUOrganisers facesecurity chargeTWO ORGANISERS of the SouthAfrican Mineworkers Union are fac-ing charges under the InternalSecurity Act after their arrest outsideRustenburg.Themba Nontlantane and PatrickTsholetsane were detained by SouthAfrican security police after trafficpolice stopped their car at, aroadblock.They were released on R100 bailand will appear in the RustenburgMagistrate's Court on October 28 inconnection with possession of FreeMandela T-shirts, Motor AssemblyComponent Workers Union of SouthAfrica (Macwusa) T-shirts and ban-ned literature.They will be charged under Section13 of the Internal Security Act, a sec-tion which has wide powers to con-vict people for furthering the aims ofa banned organisation.The South African MineworkersUnion was formed earlier this year ina joint initiative by the South AfricanAllied Workers Union (Saawu),Municipal and General WorkersUnion, General and Allied WorkersUnion (Gawu), Orange Vaal GeneralWorkers Union (OVGWU), GeneralWorkers Union of South Africa(Gwusa), Macwusa and the NationalFederation of Workers.

Page 23 of 51 EDITORIALSASPU NATIONAL 12NATIONALDadoo's spirit lives onA spiral of violenceSOUTH AFRICA is in a state of civil war. That's a very hash asdserbus statement and we don't say k lightly. So why do we say k at alliThree reasons. Firstly, South Afria le a sockty in which power andwealth are cooceatrated is the hands of a small minority. Tbfa minoritycan only retain their power sod privilege through the one of foroe sodimtkutboalised vbknce. secondly, they are responding to the populardemands for freedom and democracy by beefbg oP their repressiveapartheW machinery. This two only lead to more eootrootadon asdvbleoce. Thirdly, democrats b South Atria Gave bkeo the decisba tofree themselves, oo matter what obstacles are phtced io their path.Taken individually, these points are easy to deoroostrate. Polkit~tlpower is the form of parliament and the varfoas government depart-ments k reserved for whkn only. The same racW privilege applks toaU major resources io oar sockty: education, hoashrg, land, health,even bashress. Ie the ecooomk sphere we tLd the ame monopoly oaownership and control by s small minafty.It is obvbus that the majority of South Africans do not choose to Ifvethis way. They are forced to. Right from the days of van Rkbeeck peo-ple Gave fought against their subjogstbo- They Gave organised io thefactories, in the towmhips, and amongst stodeots sod women.Wherever they coox under the apartheid whip they resist. Organisa-tions Gave been banned by the government, activists kWed, detained,barred, jailed and harraesed. But resMance has continued and spread.This history of the world teaches na that oppresseioo sod resistsncego together, and because the democratk opposkbn to oppressbn andexploitatoo in South Africa is met with itcressed represabn, we findourselves confronted by a spiral of vbleoce. This is why we speak of acivil war in South Afrka today.NatalA brief survey of the natboal scene conftrnrs this. In the Durbanregion bus boycotts broke out in Deceorber 1982. In the months thatfollowed militancy and mobilisation were kept at intense levels by theassasination of Harrison Dube, the announcement that hou'ae rentalswere to be increased, and that the btu fares were to go up again. Acurfew was brutally enforced sad demomRntbos regularly attacked: fThe level of violence reached such heights that eventually the PFP coo-ducted its own investigation into allegatbr~s of police brutality whichincluded the chaining of young children to the sides of police vehicles toprevent residents from throwing stones at the vans when they enteredthe townships.For almost a year now those townships have been in flames. It is lo-teresting to note that, although Inkatha claims some 750 000 members,many of whom must live in the towtuitips wound Durban, Buthelezi hasnot come forward to provide the leadership, direction and support forthose residents that one would expert of a people's leader. Instead wesee him sending migrant workers to attack the residents of LamootvUlewho are resisting fortxd inoorporatbo into KwaZuln.BorderFutber down the coast, io the East London area where the supposedlyindependatt bontebmd of Ciskei is responsible for the geographical fat-prisonmeot of thousands of homeless, jobless, Isndless and rightlessblack South Afrians, bus boycotts broke out in July in protest againstan I l % increase in fares. What happened then has since been exposednationally and Wteroatbnally. LNe President Lermox Sebe turned hisofikW sad anotficial armies loose. Tltouaanda of people were sssaultedas Sebe's men tried to force them to rWe in the buses sad stopped themfrom travelling to work by car. Approximately 100 people were shotdead, many of diem for trying to do nothing more than board s train ispreference to a bus. Over one thousand people were detained. Tbtw-sands were herded into the Dukashe football stadium and tortured.Eight d the tea members of the committee elected to represent theboyrntting commuters were detained. Fifteen trade uniooiats from fourunbas were detaned. The South African Allkd Workers Uobo wasbanned in the Ciskef. there were house searches for supporters of theunion and opponents of the Sebe regime.W estern CapeThe Western Cape in turn follows the aante pattern of violent nprersion and unyielding resistance. For almost two years now the ad-ministratiop board has been trying to force the KTC squatters to move.They have tore down their shacks, burwt the materials and xot the patepie back to the rural areas at gnnpoiat.The admix board is now trying to remove the people of New Cros-sroads with the assistance of rubber bullets and sneeze machines. Ontop of this they intend to move the entire African population of theWestern Cape to a new area known as Khayalitsha, 42 kms away andas yet unbuilt and uninhabited. The residents of Langa, Nyanga andGuguletu, along with the squatters in Crossroads and KTC have saidloudly and clearly that they will not move.To this depressing picture of violent confrontation in three majorareas of our country we must add the less overt but no less violent oRen-sive currently being waged against the African working class in theform of the Koornhof Bills and other measures which seek to tighten upthe already vicious pass laws and influx controls. The rationale behindthe new measures is not difficult to spot. The Nests are faced with thou-sands of people (in fact, millions) to whom they cannot and will not givehousing, education, basic social welfare and political rights. Many ofthese people are unemployed, and those lucky enough to have jobs areearning only poverty wages.This is in many sen4es the most repressive side of the whole picture.These aspects which represent a system of institutional violencedesigned to deny the majority of South Africans not only their fairshare of this country's wealth snd power, but their birthright itself.Other repressive regimes have worse records in terms of the numbers ofpeople who have been killed, detained and gone missing, but ours is theonly one that denies the majority of people their citizenship,That is why we speak of a civil war.Basic demands for human rights and freedoms are being rejected,Our only hope lies in organisation. Organisation through whichdemocrats can express their political demands and aspirations.NE GOVERNMENT camedown hard on all attempts inSouth Africa to moron thedeath of Yusuf Dadoo.All commemoration services werebanned, and the newsletter of theI ransvaal Indian Congress whichcommemorated Dadoo's death suf-fered the same fate.In London 12W peope gatheredfor the Funeral, which took place atIlighgate cemetery, only a few feetfrom Karl Marx's grave.Among the crowd were represen-tatives from the banned AfricanNational Congress, the South AfricanCommunist Party, the Natal IndianCongress (NIC), the I'ransvaal IndianCongress (TIC), the South AfricanCongress of I rude Unions (Sactu),European Anti- Apartheid move-ments, and embassy oflicials fromCzechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, theSoviet Union, Sweden, the GermanDemocratic Kepublic

Page 24 of 51 and Vietnam.the rally to mark his death was ad-dressed by Uliver I ambo, presidentof the ANC. Moses Mabhida,general secretary of the CommunistParty, Joe Slovo, and Roshan, thelate Dr Dadoo's daughter.According to Lac Yacoob, whorepresented the NIC, the spirit of thefuneral was not one of sadness.'Before he died Ur Dadoorecovered from a deep coma andspoke tu. everyone I"or about 45minutes. Fle created an atmospherewhich made it impossible for peopleto be mournl"ul.'According to reports the mood atthe Ilighgate cemetery was one ofrededication and commitment aimedat showing the greatest respect fur aSouth AI"rican leader.No matter what steps the South African government- ;- took to deny Dadoo the#~,. marks of respect internally,.#~ ~s>ja the banning of the meetings' { was seen by the TIC to be a'fitting tribute'.'The banning of our Dadoomemorial meeting was nosurprise. After all, Dadoowas a national leader. The_ banning of the meeting is, in, ~ itself, a fitting tribute to theFfGNiS r'Gi man since it indicates thatswears stre~.~saw ~ the government still fears thisTa"rs'#~'R~) great son of Africa, in spiteoaaoo addresses ~oeand the of his death and his 23 years(iw~dfan~ meettny. in exile.tam!fitDadoo's death is a great loss to all those trying to rid oursociety of all forms of exploitation and oppression. Forhe played a major role in qualitatively changing thenature of opposition. At the same time when peoplestruggled separately and leftthe people at the top to fight,Dadoo created unity andadopted a broad approach.'The Anti-Paso campaignof the 1940'x, the 1947Xuma-Dadoo- Naicker Pact,the 1952 Defiance Campaignand the Congress of the People are testimony, in part, to Portrate of Dadoo and btorokaaymbollae orallythe significance of Dadoo'Dadoo was a popular figure with wide support. Hisdeath will be mourned by millions in this country, and hisspirit will never be forgotten; the TIC statement said.t the time of his death Yusuf Dadoo waschairperson of the Communist Party ol" SouthAfrica.Dadoo became a prominent figure in South Africa dur-ing the late 1930's when, with like-minded people, hechallenged the conservativecompromise approach of theleadership of the l ransvaalIndian Congress. Fle wasconcerned to generate amore active Indian popula-tion, at the same time es-tablishing closer co-operation between all sec-tions of" the South AI"ricancommunity.I o this end he formed theI ransvaal Nun-EuropeanUnited Front in 1939, whichwas a 1;urerunner of laterdevelopments.Flis conviction and imprisonmentthe same year for anti-war activitiesnational figure.Fle was chosen to be one ul the leaders of theAnti-Pass Campaign of 1944 which aimed to collect amillion signatures for the abolition of the pass laws.A year later he was elected president of the TIC at amass meeting of 12 000 people. The new activism of theTIC brought thousands of Indians into the mainstream ofopposidort.The 1946 Passive Resistance Campaign against theAsiatic Land Tenure and Representation Act was led byDadoo, and he was himself jailed several times for 'civildisobedience'.While he was serving a sentence he was brought to trialwith 51 others for organising the African mine workersstrike of 1946.By this time Dadoo was openly saying the future ofthe Indian South Africans lay alongside theAfricans and coloureds.After calling for united action of all communities, hetook pan in the signing of the Xuma-Dadoo-NaickerPact of 1947, laying the foundations for the joint cam-paigns of the 1950'x.In 1950 Dadoo succeededG M Naicker as president ofthe South African IndianCongress. In the same year aJoint Planning Council wasestablished which brought theCongress organisationstogether to plan a~ campaignfor the defiance of unjustlaws.As a prelude to the cam-paign Dadoo defied a banningorder which prohibited him from addressing publicmeetings. Again he was put on trial, but this time he wonhis appeal against his conviction.Dadoo was given a nine-month suspended sentenceafter he was tried with l9 others during the DefianceCampaign in 1952.A banning order prohibited him from participating inpolitical organisations, but he continued to contribute insecret.The Congress of the People.#: ~ trfro #! iw~ kK ~ ~.I ~`~ .,f , i~..1 . Ifor four months inmade Dadoo into aDadoo's role in fosteringunity and his courage andstrength was given recogni-tion at the Congress of thePeople in 1955 when he,together with Chief AlbertLuthuli of the AfricanNational Congress, andFather Trevor Huddlestone,was awarded the honour oflsitwalandwe.In 1960 the proclamation ofmarshal law forced him intoexile in London.I"here he represented theSouth African IndianCongress and acted as one of the spokespeople of thebanned African tiatiunal Congress.!Ie was later elected to the Central Committee of theNational i Communist Party and was its chairperson.rr_J ~. ~tc. _ _1+ ~~~ ,-t ~ ~~ ~_ i yi y;~ ~ ~ _~'sA1 the opening of the Defiance Campaign.

Page 25 of 51 SA bantustan reacts violently to bus boycott .... r:FOR ALMOST three months now, the Borderregion has been gripped by virtual civil war as theauthorities attempt to stamp out a bus boycott byresidents of Mdantsane.Although there is almost a totalclampdown on information, details ofatrocities committed by the Ciskeiauthorities and by privategovernment-supporting vigilanteshave leaked out.The picture that is emerged is one ofwholesale violence as vigilantes actwithout restraint to break the busboycott.At the same time, Ciskei authorities ap-pear to be using the situation and the stateof emergency they have declared to fulfiltheir long-term dream of destroying theSouth African Allied Workers Union(SAAWU).see...... 0)1 DDThe bus boycott began in July after an 11% fareincrease was announced by the company, which ispartly owned by the Ciskei government.Since then, the Ciskei government has declareda state of emergency, enforced a curfew, detainedhundreds of people, shot an unknown number ofothers and banned Saawu.The conflict has spread to schools, with a number standingempty as students boycott classes in support of theirparents.But perhaps the most chilling events have been thosedescribed by people released from a soccer stadium inMdantsane, used by police to hold detainees since all theother prisons are full. ,Detainees have described how the stadium was beingused by vigilantes to torture people, many of whom have nopolitical involvement.They have said, for example, that up to 80 people at a timewere locked into a small changeroom for several days,without food. water or a toilet.Officiai figures of deaths anddetentions have been challengedby opposition groups. TheDetainees Parents Support Com-mittee, for example, believes therehave been up to 90 deaths andthey have information on thedetention of scores of people.Ciskei officials have been ada-mant that only seven people diedin shooting incidents since thestate of emergency was an-nounced. They have not given anydetails of detentions.Ciskei spokespeople have con-sistently and repeatedly deniedreports of violence by vigilantes inMdantsane.But some observers have com-mented that it was the Ciskeigovernment's heavy-handedresponse to the boycott that madethe people of Mdantsane evenmore determined to.continue theboycott.As world attention was focussedon the power battle between thetwo brothers. Lennox and CharlesSebe, and the subsequent deten-tion of Charles. it appears thepolice, the army and groups ofprivate vigilantes were out in thestreets of Mdantsane attemptingto break the boycott by violence.The DPSC has said they believethe situation continues to worsenand that young children. who havebeen boycotting schools in sup-port of their parents, were beingandClockwise fromabove: CTC busesstand unusedsurrounded bybarbed wire;Saawu T-shirtsprominent atfunerals, beforethe ban; T-shirtshad to go afterthe ban bySebe; a victimof vigilanteviolence -'lucky' toescapewith justa brokenarmrounded up by vigilantesruthlessly beaten.the Sebe government hasturned down a number of attemptsfrom a variety of people tonegotiate an end to the boycott.Soon afer the busfare in-realewas announced IVldaws:rne residents elected

Page 26 of 51 . . . Saawu is banned, but buses remain empty ...0 From page 13mands that the increase be drop-ped. At a report-back meetincafter the bus company refused todrop the increases, residentsdecided to boycott buses.Eight of the ten committeemembers were detained in thecourse of the boycott. Thesedetentions made negotiation im-possible.Generally, the bus company hasbeen seriously affected by theboycott and they have respondedby retrenching 307 of theirworkers.The company's annual reportshowed huge losses for the periodof the boycott and they have goneto the length of dropping the fareincrease that led to the boycott byhalf and distributing leaflets in thetownship.The South African governmenthas kept a silent distance fromevents, generally preferring toallow the Ciskei authorities to actagainst the bus boycott.Occasionally, however, theyhave taken a direct hand, such asin handing over four detainees tothe Ciskei. Those detainees remainin the hands of the bantustanpolice.The launching of the UDF in theregion and a student meeting todiscuss the schools boycott wereboth banned by South Africanauthorities.The DPSC, which has beenmonitoring the repression, hasspoken out against the role of theSouth African government: 'Wecondemn the SA government forfailing to exert pressure on theSebe regime to end the atrocities.'Instead, they have colluded withthe Ciskei by handing over fourtrade unionists detained in EastLondon.However, such violence is notnew to the Sebe government,although it is unprecedented in itsscale.The situation in Ciskei is ul-timately the result of the SouthAfrican government's policy ofseparate development.Employers in the area have beenYharshly criticised for rerr~a_in_ingpassive and doing little to assistvictims of the violence. There hasalso been little support, eithermoral or material, from otherorganisations in East London.More recently democraticgroups ..ple of the region.Sebe stops at nothingto halt bus boycottCISKEI authorities have indicatedtheir willingness to use any means- including official or unofficial,legal and extra-legal violence -to force people to use buses totravel to work.In an extraordinary show ofstrength, the people of Mdantsanehave chosen to walk between 12and 32 km a day for almost threemonths, rather than pay the in-creased blis fare that sparked theboycott.The first attempt to break theboycott was directed at taxis andprivate cars. Road blocks were setup to stop the flow of traffic andpolice were manhandling womenand children, according to reportsfrom residents.Some passengers claimed they.were whipped with sjemboks. CarsfiatHearer aeurtty at iswere stopped and the passengersforced to walk the manykilometres to their destinations.Some cars were impounded sum-marily.A typical story is that of a Ms BM, a cashier in a restaurant. Shewas travelling home in a privatecar on the evening of September21 when the car was waved downand the passengers ordered out.Just outside thisrailway station onAugust 4, ninetypeople were shotby Sebe's army.The reason: theyrefused to ride inbuses when thefares were raised.Despite the horrorpeople still catchtrains rather thanbuses. `When wepass buses theysmell of detentionand blood. We'llgo on boycotting,-9they said.19a

Page 27 of 51 . . . Ninety people believed dead in shooting ...dories In the CiskelMs B M was then assaultedwith sjamboks and sticks. She waskicked in the eye. As a result of theassault she sustained a brokenarm, bruised back and breasts andlegs and lacerations and weals onher back.She lost consciousness duringthe assault and when she regainedconsciousness the kombi hadgone and she was lying on the sideof the road.'She did not report the matter topolice because she believesvigilantes are not prosecuted. Shewas treated in hospital.'SASPU NATIONAL hasrecorded numerous similar inci-dents.In an attempt to stop thisviolence, six commuters took outan urgent interdict from theSupreme Court which restrainedthe police from assaulting them ontheir way to and from work.Although the interdict , wasgranted, the assaults continued.The second part of the attemptby the authorities to force peopleto use buses came with assaultson people using the trains.Police attacked people comingand going from the railway station.A Ms Dlutu, for example, saidshe saw policemen, soldiers andvigilantes preventing people fromgoing into the station on August 4.She alledged that at one stage,police advanced on commuters,but the commuters shouted thatthey were not at war and wantedto go to work.Police drew their firearms andwithout warning fired at the com-muters who were standing still,she said.Dozens of other people told ofsevere assaults, vigilantes tearingup train tickets and even takingaway the money of commuters.The first shooting incident wason July 25 at Fort Jackson stationMount Ruth rallway stellon whenmany boycotters were killedin Mdantsane when at least fivepeople are known to have beenshot dead.Mrs Virginia Ganto described it:'She and. people leaving the sta-tion were confronted by theCiskeian police who demandedthat they present their referencebooks and demonstrate proof thatthey had paid the Ciskeianr-47`Injury marks on a man allegebeaten by vigilantesDevelopment Tax.In the course of this confronta-tion. police opened fire and anumber of people were shotdown.' There were also numerousother descriptions of commutersbeing shot down in cold blood,many of them as they fled thepolice.The police originally refused tocomment on the shootings, butsaid they were forced to use guns'to defend themselves against anunprovoked attack.But the case against 59 peoplecharged with attacking the policethat morning was stopped when amagistrate interrupted the hearingafter only the third witness to sayit was obvious they were notguilty.A 16-year-old boy was shotdead when police claimed he hadattacked them with a knife. Buteye-witnesses have said that hewas shot at close range after beingcaught playing soccer in the streetafter curfew had begun.Mdantsane residents claim thedeath figure is over 90.cYr ffrFfS400

Page 28 of 51 . . . Determined and defiant people don't give in . .Boycottersface dogsof war inthe CiskeiVIGILANTE groups have carriedout some of the cruellest torturesand harassment of people.They are an unofficial policereserve force made up bymembers of the ruling CiskeiNational Independence Party, orsupporters found mostly in therural areas.They were used in 1974 tobreak a bus boycott and in 1977to crush resistance after the deathof Steve Biko and have becomeknown as the 'green berets'because of the uniform they usedin 1974.The vigilantes roam the streetsat night ,enforcing the curfewregulations and assault people in-discriminately.The wearing of a Saawu T-shirtcan cost a thrashing and im-mediate detention. The failure tohave a document can mean athrashing, as can riding in a taxi.They are equipped with sjam-ooks. sticks, sabres and pelletguns, and some of the leadingmembers even possess firearms.They have been camping at thestadium, where they receive freefood. It is not clear if the vigilantesare being paid.Schoolkidshardest hitby violenceand beatingsA SYSTEMATIC campaign to beatboycotting students back to schoolis being waged in Mdantsane.Many students are hiding in themornings. If found on the streetsduring this time, students say, theystand a very good chance of beingassaulted.One youth said he was stoppedby police, who asked him whetherhe was a student. When he said hewas not at school this year, theytold him to get into their van andaccused him of being 'one of theBus boycotters have been forced to catch trains to work.Unity and strengthin face of attackTHE MOST surprising part ofevents in, the Ciskei, has been theresilience and determination of thecommunity in the face of officialand semi-official violence.Four months after the boycottstarted, the boycott continues tobe between 80 and 90 percentsuccessful. It is rare, according toreports, to see even one or twopeople on a bus.This is the case despite thedetention of community, unionand student leaders, widespreadintimidation by the authorities andattempts by the bus company towin its customers back.The company has, for example,dropped the fare increase by half,although they have denied it hadanything to do with the boycott.They have dropped pamphlets,aimed at undermining the boycott,by air into Mdantsane.fellows who are stopping kidsfrom going to school.'He was taken to the police sta-tion, where he was told he shouldalso join the police so that hecould also 'have a chance to beatyour own people'. He was told togive the names of people stoppingstudents from going to school.'I kept quiet. because I didn'tknow anybody. They made me doexercises, press-ups, for instance,and kicked me in the back withtheir police boots.' he said.'We were made to stand on ourheads with our legs against thewall for about half an hour.Afterwards we were made towash cars at the police station.'They were then told to run away,and chased by police cars, he said.The youth added he saw about100 others at the police station atthe time, including old people.Monday. October 3. was the daythe schools had been re-opened,and had been set as a deadline forthe students to return. It was alsothe day the police begansystematically moving throughMdantsane, area by area, andbeating any people of school-going age found in the streets.An eye-witness said he saw avan moving along a road betweenWongalethu Secondary Schooland Quleni Higher Primary School.There were men in camouflage un-iforms in the van, which movedalong, stopping next to groups ofpeople walking along. 'They stop-ped and beat the young peopleand made them get into the van,'he said.Houses have been searched forstudents. A mother said police hadcome to her house while she wasaway and searched it, claimingthere were students in it, hidingaway. According to the personwho was there at the time, therewere a number of young people inthe van the police came in.The beatings and searches con-tinued throughout the week. Butby the next week, most studentshad devised ways of avoiding theearly morning raids, and the situa-tion eased a little.Victims tellof `chamberof horrors'in stadiumTHE MOST horrific part of theCiskei story is the systematic tor-ture of scores of people at the SisaDukushe stadium in Mdantsane.Torture victims revealed thattwo change rooms in the stadiumwere being used to hold captives.Although these rooms were onlyabout eight metres square, up to80 people at a 'time were lockedinto one of them.There was no sexual division, nofood, no running water and notoilet facilities. The captives wereforced to defecate on the floor andfaeces lay all around the room.A number of people reportedthat they were handcuffed andhung up on a water pipe, andrepeatedly thrashed while theyhung in this way. Many have alsoreported women being raped bythe vigilantes.No medical attention was givento the captives and one captivereported seeing children as youngas 11 being held.Generally, people were held inthe stadium before being taken toa police station to be charged.Most of them were arrested forallegedly breaking curfew viola-tions, but others were allegedlypicked up because of informationthat had been given to the policeabout them.A Rev Ngidi, himself a victim,said he saw up to 100 people be-ing held in the stadium, many ofthem school children. He refusedto allow himself to' be handcuffedfrom the ceiling and was sjam-boked where he stood.He witnessed many others beingbeaten.A Mr Mbola said he was takento the stadium by vigilantes whoraided his house. He reported thathe had been handcuffed andsuspended from the, ceiling andbeaten for an hour. Afterwards, hecould not walk.He was held for five days beforebeing released, he said.Ciskeian army personnel have become a common sight in Mdantsane.4manning roadblocks. and patrolling the streets

Page 29 of 51 ADMINISTRATIVE LAMRS MOKONA had all thequalifications she needed to get per-manent urban residence in Soweto.There were two snap: she had nocertificate proving her place of birthand she still had to get the officialstamp from the official at the WestRand Administration Board.When the Wrab official studied herpapers he found the small gap, andtold her to come back when shecould prove her place of birth.Mrs Mokona, expecting not tohave an easy time of it (although see-ing no reason why), stood her groundand asked for the official to take anaffidavit from her. The officialrefused.She had no money, no husband anda child who was ill with measles totake care of. In desperation sheborrowed money from a neighbourto catch a train into town to visit theBlack Sash Advice Office.With the affidavit under her arm,Mrs Mokona returned to Wrab.This time the official threw the af-fidavit back at her and shouted: 'Goback to the Black Sash. If they are soclever they can help you!'Which she did. A Black Sashworker saw no alternative but towrite to the head of Wrab, Mr JohnKnoetu, demanding that the womanbe given her rights.A day later Mrs Mokona hadstamped in her pass book: 'Section10.1 (a)'.Although the name is not real, thecase is.There are many people who are notable to cut through the ad-ministrative red tape that governs thelives of all Africans in the land oftheir birth.Thousands have the stamp: 'EN-DORSED OUT' in their books, andare able to do nothing except go tothe area which they are told is their'homeland'.Many protest at the demolition ofsquatters shacks. Organisations areformed to fight removals and reset-tlement. But-diem are few who seethe more quiet way in which thou-sands are every year kicked out ofthe cities, or denied the right to livethere through the laws that are notseen, but only felt - the ad-ministrative laws.The day-to-day lives of Africans aredominated by the administrativemachine. Labour recruitment,allocation of labour, influx control,the right to remain in urban areas,and the allocation of housing arecontrolled through state organisa-tions such as administrative boardsand the labour bureaux.State administration lies in the ex-ecutive sphere of government.It consists of different types oflegislation - proclamations madeby, for example, the state presidentor provincial administrators, rulesand regulations made by ministers ingovernment departments and by-laws made by local governments.Apartheid is entrenched throughthe administrative machinery. Somesay this serves the economic needs ofthe bosses by providing a cheap andcontrolled labour force, and thestate's needs by providing politicalcontrol and state security.The executive and administrativebranvhes of government are becom-ing more powerful. Growing ad-ministrative structures and statebodies are performing ever-wideningfunctions. State officials baercise anincreasingly wide discretion whichthey are able to abuse as it is oftenabove review by the courts.This is one of the reasons why peo-ple say South Africa has never been atrue democracy. Not only is govern-ment by law passed by an un-representative parliament, but mostSouth Africans are excluded fromparticipation at all levels and forms ofdecision- making.The constitutional proposals con-tinue to exclude Africans frompolitical power. Africans are ex-pected to exercise their politicalrights in the Bantustans and outsideof those are subject to administrativecon f rrlsThe Koornhof Bills, particularlythe Orderly Movement Bill, attemptto tighten up influx control aiddivide permanent urban black resi-i. ~5t wy'j',4~.Z'~J 6,'y145~- ~1j~ I 7_~fo/0510;i l Il ~ l illa _01XhINIyyW. Wvs~y vvn.Memories of the anti-pass campaigns of the fifties and sixties.syMKOPPBlackworkershandcuffedI by rubberstampsland rules~i~. ..: WWOWtV:"11wSASPU NATIONAL 17~. avrrdents and contract workers.The provisions of these bills are be-ing slipped into practice through theback door despite attention beingfocussed on them and the fact thatthey are not yet laws.One of the main ways this is beingdone is through the administrativemachinery.In these proposais Africans areonly mentioned once - 'Control ofBlack affairs shall vest in the Presi-dent.' This could mean there willnever again be legislation concerningblacks and their lives will begoverned by presidential edict. Thiswill represent a total move to gover#.t-ment by administration.Regarding the provisions of theKoomhof Bills, the response to theRikhoto courtcase is interesting. Theeffect of this case is where a man hasbeen in an urban area for more thanten years, working continuously forone employer except for breaks torenew his contract, he will be able tocontinue living in the city. Thegovernment has tried to restrict theapplication of this case to as fewblacks as possible.Applicants are obstructed by ad-ministration board officials who say:'We don't deal with these applica-tion!.' Administration boards insistthat people applying for Section 10(I) (b) rights must have a detailedform filled in by their employers, butmost employers do not have thenecessary details on record.Officials have argued that appli-cants who have not completed theten years before their Bantustanbecame independent will not begiven these rights - but governmenthas refuted this.In August this year, Piet Koornhofsaid as far as his department, theDepartment of Co-operation andDevelopment, was concerned,nothing stopped people from qualify-ing for Rikhoto rights, but pointedout that laws administered by theDepartment of Internal Affairs andForeign Affairs may be applicable.This department deals withprohibited immigrants who can bedeported without appearing before acourt of law. Thus blacks from'independent' Bantustans who are inSouth Africa without documents giv-ing them permission to be here, willsimply be deported.Influx control is to become a purelyadministrative matter.The government also altered Sec-tion 10 (1) (b) so that a man who getsurban rights in terms of this sectionwill not be allowed to bring his wifeand children to five permanently withhim in urban areas, unless he has ap-s rte-."'rrdcw..Urban rights wereextended to peoplein two recent cases.Yet officials' frustrate thesedecisions daily.w`` Are a few#- verkramptes- digging their-' heels in, ordoes this \~\wreveal a sfundamentalmechanism \through whichwapartheid isenforced? -ElmFAA"N"wI,African workers face a daily mazeof bureaucracyproved accomodation for them. Ac-cess to urban rights is also becomingan administrative question.These factors also limit the appfica-.tion of the Komani courts decision.Other examples of the state tryingto limit urbanisation are:#A change in the Trespass Act interms of which a person convictedfor trespassing will be given up to aR2 000 fine or two years imprison-ment. Last year 98 000 people werearrested under this Act. The state isusing trespass as a disguised form ofinflux control.#Until two years ago a person bornin an urban area could acquire Sec-tion 10 (1) (b) rights if he/she couldproduce a birth certificate or two af-fidavits confirming place of~ birth.rd" IdlillII6-~ 2W')ywlam:4,

Page 30 of 51 El\MIvaIIII II~~1~~~w~11~A~~UlllllllHai..wN #~. -~111l ,,But, by administrative decree, onlypeople who can produce a birth cer-tificate can get urban rights.*Previously, people from homelandsand rural areas could look for workin urban areas. If they found a jobthey registered themselves at thelabour bureau in their home areabefore taking up their new job. Nowthis chance of finding employment ofone's choice and acquiring a right tobe in the urban areas has beenremoved by administrative processes.People can ony be recruited in therural areas through the labourbureaux.#ln the last few months most ad-ministration boards have made it arule that if a contract worker leavesor loses his job during the middle ofhis contract - even if he isretrenched - he may not transfer hiscontract to another employer. Hehas to return to unemployment andpoverty in the Bantustans.Clearly, the government wants onlythose people working in urban areasto be in these areas - not theirfamilies and not the workersthemselves once their labour is nolonger required.The growth of this administrativestate machine is a leading factor inthe South African state's increasinglyundemocratic policies.This administrative way of controll-ing people's lives is rule from above- rule outside the courts and theirlimited protection.It seems 'Mrs Mokona' got in justin time.

Page 31 of 51 aa'cSoweto . . . where community councillors are trying to wincorn o - attempts to bring dummyCommunity councils have done their bosses' work in the face ofalmost total opposition from the communities. Koornhof's LocalAuthorities Act gives them extra tasks, and the problem of gainingcredibility in the November elections. SASPU NATIONAL looks attheir chance of success and the arguments used to justify theirexistence.UNDER THE banner of the UnitedDemocratic Front, peoplethroughout the country are mobilis,''#g for a massive rejection of thegovernment's forthcoming councilelections, and are building and ex-panding their own civic organisationsto oppose council rule in thetownships.Any confusion created by thegovernment's announcement thatcommunity councils would be given'meaningful status' is now dis-integrating.It has become increasingly clear tomost people that the new councilswill be, if anything, more divisivethan the old model and will meaneven greater hardships for the peopleof the townships.Piet Koornhof and his men must befeeling anxious about the rejection ofthe forthcoming elections inNovember. The overwhelming rejec-tion by the people of the WesternCape of the 'Coloured ManagementCommittees' last month (with a pollof 1,67 percent) must haveaggravated a few ulcers in Pretoria.However, even if these electionsare something of a farce, they are nojoke. They will give the Sebe's of thetownships powers to raise rents, raid,evict and generally control residents.They will also provide some cover tothe Buti s of the townships, who willtry to claim that they now have somereal power to run their 'own affairs'.The government thought that byrepeating the phrase 'independent`lack states' often enough, peoplewould forget that they were talkingabout poverty stricken Bantustans.Similarly, they now happily think thatthe impressive title of 'municipalities.or black local authorities' will con-vince people they can turn apumpkin into a golden carriage.Most aren't easily fooled by fairystories. Nevertheless, GatshaButhelezi attempted to sell peoplethe 'new model' when he announcedgrandly from his kraal in Ulundi thatcouncils 'are not the vehicles of in-dividual enrichment. They must beturned into chariots which rush usinto battle.'People have rejected the 'strategy'of using the councils for two very;GW reasons. First, this Act, the oneprong of the notorious KoornhofBills, is designed to divide and con-fuse organised opposition toapartheid rule in the townships. Se-cond, the councils are structured sothe personnel occupying them will bebound to enforce and sanction themost hated aspects of apartheid.through the system of financing,ministerial control, and housing,irrespective of the individuals oc-cupying the position of councillor.A few misguided people have goneinto the councils genuinely believingthat they can achieve something forresidents. Sooner or later they eitherhave seen this strategy does not workand resigned, or have thoroughlycompromised themselves in theprocess.Some councillors compromisethemselves by agreeing to thebuilding of shacks in their areas butsubsequently agree with the boardthat shacks of unqualified peoplewould be demolished. A notable ex-ample of this is Shadrack Sinaba inDaveyton, a councillor who washimself from the Transkei. Hearranged for his supporters in thearea to build shacks, but when itcame to the crunch, agreed with theEast Rand Administration Board(Erab) that illegal shacks bedemolished.Perhaps a more significant exampleis that of Reverend Sam Buti, wholed a campaign to 'save Alex'.Koornhof, in oqe of his notoriousCrossroads-type reprieves, grantedAlexandra 'special municipal status'.Buti, together with his Alex LiaisonCommittee was to make Alex amodel garden city, nestling in theNorthern suburbs of Jo'burg.From a preacher of freedom andjustice Buti turned into a hatchetman of the West Rand Administra-tion Board, heading many evictionsof 'illegals' and demolitions ofhouses. This transformation wasachieved with Koornhofs by nowfinely tuned combination of carrotand stick.Some councillors whose oppositionhas become too much for the govern-ment have been summarily dismis-sed, either by the councils or thewhite bureaucracy.Less well-known is the fact that op-position councillors have come underthe hammer of the influx controllaws, been evicted from their housesand thrown out of the cities.Mr Phineas Lekolwane, a coun-cillor in Thokoza, who founded theThokoza Progressive Association in1980, was one victim. The TPA at-tracted some support in the townshipon the basis of Lekolwane'scriticisms of the council system, theRS levy on backyard dwellings andthe lack of creches. Erab cancelledhis 10 (b) qualification and orderedhim and his wife to leave thetownship within 72 hours.The experience of the last fiveyears and a glance at the new Actmake it quite clear that the councilswill be under the firm control of theirmasters in Pretoria. All the key areasremain under ministerial control andthere are plenty of measures in theAct to ensure that councils toe theline. In fact, a systematic look at allthe measures used would involvewriting out the whole 50-page Act.To quote just a few examples:# 1'he Minister of Co-operation andDevelopment can establish, dissolveand alter the council.#If the council is dissolved theMinister can decide what to do witheverything it owns.Removals - councils' responsibility*The Minister decides the numberof members on the local councils,whether to call a new election andcan even decide when and how anelection to fill the vacancy shouldtake place.*And just to make sure that thepresence of big brother is constantlyfelt, any government official can sit inand participate in the proceedings ofthe local authority.There is a nice little section in theAct called Section 29 which basicallyempowers the Minister to forcecouncils to obey his commands,strike them down if they refuse to doso, and put another one in theirplace. It is worth quoting this section,since it is very honest about its inten-tions:'if the Minister is of the opinion:I) that any object of this act isfrustrated by a local authority'sfailure to exercise or perform apower, function or duty assigned to itincluding a failure to make adequatecharges in respect of servicesrendered by such local authority, orto meet financial commitments; or2) that a local authority committedan act or ommission which is unlaw-ful or which may result in malad-ministration, he may direct such localauthority to take such resolution orto make such by- law or take such ac-tion within such period as theMinister may consider necessary.'If the council fails to follow theMinister's instructions then theMinister will simply make his ownarrangements.The Minister may:David Thebahsli, Chairman of the Soweto community councilSoweto residents face the police at a demonstration against rent Increases*himself take any action he sees asappropriate#authorise any other person or bodyto comply with an instruction onbehalf of such local authority.Thus, if a council misbehaves, theMinister could tell the

Page 32 of 51 administrationboard to take control of thetownships instead. Not only that, butthe costs of the process 'shall bepayable by or recoverable from thelocal authority concerned'. If thecouncil continues in its refusal to toethe line, the Minister can simply dis-solve it and call new elections, or ap-point his own people to run the localauthority. 'The discretion of theMinister in all this is total and final -there is no appeal to the courts, andhe doesn't have to justify his actionapart from saying that in his opinionit is correct.Extensive ministerial controlcharacterises all aspects of. statepolicy in South Africa and in par-ticular is central to the new policiesdesigned to control the African pop-ulation. 'This is important for twomain reasons: firstly it means that aspolicies are developed they can berapidly implemented through variouschannels, some of which mightotherwise refuse to implement them.Secondly, while it sets out broad out-lines, it doesn't give rigid formulaewhich must be routinely applied in allcases. In other words it allows for adegree of flexibility, according toregional differences, struggles goingon in the areas, periods of crisis andso on.When we look at the history of thecommunity councils and the designof the town and village councils, theimportance of this becomes clear. Itallows the Minister to juggle aroundthe powers given to a particularcouncil, their status, their financesand to take decisive action if condi-tions change in a particular area. Italso means that councils never knowwhere they stand and are usuallyforced to go cap in hand to theminister to ask for special favours,money and concessions.In practice this is regulated by therelationship between the councils,the administration boards and theDepartment of Co- operation andDevelopment, which is still not clear.But one thing is certain: the councilswill be subordinate to the Ministerand the boards in the running of thetownships. The whole 'deal' makessure the councils are completelydependent. The experience of thecommunity councils has shown thatresidents have had no control overthese bodies. For example, theMinister has refused to allow elec-tions to take place in the last fewyears, despite calls from residentsand even councillors themselves. Thecall was made because of extremedissatisfaction over oppressive andcorrupt administration in thetownships, and the rent increaseswhich have been imposedcountrywide.however, the councils as institu-tions are so thoroughly discreditedthat people do not believe thatanything can be achieved by newpersonnel.

Page 33 of 51 AINkmore than the few hundred votes they got In the last electionscommunityr aA policeman, a gardener and a mansion for Thebehall'Lack of financial backing placecouncils in a position of being unableto execute those decisions taken withtheir new powers. Councils have topull themselves up by their ownshoelaces, and in most cases theirshoes have no laces.'The community councils must becontenders for the title of the worstfinancial disaster areas in thecountry, with the administrationboards a hot second.I'his is not simply the result ofmaladministration and corruption(although there is evidence of plentyof both), nor due to the lack ofavailable finance: the governmentrevenues from the increase in thegold price alone could have wipedout the housing backlog in theAfrican townships (estimated to beover 100 000 houses in the Transvaa'alone).It has been government polity fordecades to starve the Africantownships of money. The rationalehas been simple but ruthless: thoseAfricans living and working in thecities must provide for their ownhousing, facilities and services. This isover and above the revenue theycontribute to the central statethrough taxes and what they produceat work. It must be made as difficultas possible, and as unattractive aspossible for African who are notallowed jobs in the cities to live in thetownships. Not only that, but thehousing service and infrastructuremust be so basic that it is made clearthat Africans in the townships arethere on a temporary basis.Ibis policy is known as 'self financ-ing': the state refuses to finance thetownships. Rather, the townshipsfinance the state and other areas,tass~ out # JrPosters spelloutsthe opposition of Katishong residents to community councilsThe councilsare a vehiclefor a purpose.If the vehicledoesn't fulfillthe purpose Iwill change thevehicle to suitthe purpose.'Piet Koornhofcouncils to lifeCouncillors meet in luxuryA VOTE11!80 RNMARCdirectly and indirectly through salestax, revenue from their labour and soon.Financing the state doesn't stop atproviding revenue which isn't usedfor residents benefits (SADF,SABC),but expands to directly financingtheir own control in the townships.i'he labour bureau, the administra-tion board police, community coun-cils are all financed by residents whopurchase beer, pay influx controlfines, rents, traffic tickets and more.Events over the last few years showthe state is putting this burden ever-more heavily on the saggingshoulders of the township residents.The town and village councils are tobe the instruments of this oppressivepolicy. Without any finance apartfrom that extracted from the resi-dents themselves, no council willhave any choice in this matter. It issmall wonder that several councillorshave expressed doubts about theviability of their new 'municipalstatus'.The government's much talkedabout stabilisation and co-optionprogramme involves 'upgrading' thetownships, providing electricity andmodel suburbs. Yet their economicpolicy undermines this process.Where these programmes pushahead they create massive tensions,resulting not in political co-optionbut rather in political opposition.The drive to upgrade thetownships, coupled with the refusalto subsidise the rising costs, facilitatepolitical class divisions in thetownships and destabilise those notwanted in the cities - the old, the..lw~5,ra.; ._ .,, .rw 1r #-wtA%"K14lhnt ~ t,.;4isa14+h -~ ##.The worldaccordingto councilarchitectKoornhofNOVEMBER 25 is D-day for thecommunity council elections underthe new Black Local Authorities Act.26 black town and city councilswould be elected over the course ofthe week, according to an announc;p-ment by Piet Koornhof, Minister of-Co-operation and Development.He expects 80 other communitiesto 'qualify' for town or city councilstatus by next April. He said thegranting of such status depended onmerit and the willingness of com-munitics involved.The 26 councils for which voting isdue to begin will be the first sup-posedly autonomous black localauthorities in the country.Koornhof also said elections forabout 200 community councils alsohad to take place, some of thembefore November.there is, however, some doubt asto how many elections will take placedue to the pressure on the com-munity council system from opposi-tion groups.The 26 councils for which electionsare to be held in November are:Soweto, Galeshewe (Kimberley),Mamelodi (Pretoria), Daveyton(Pretoria), Thabang (Welkom), At-teridgeville (Pretoria), Katlehong(Germiston), Uitenhage, Vosloosrus,Tembisa (Kemptort Park), KwaTema(Springs), Evaton, Port Elizabeth,Tokoza (Alberton), Kroonstad, Wit-bank, Grahamstown, Wattville(Benoni), Kagiso (Krugersdorp),Alexandra, Bethlehem, Cradock,Bloemfontein, Potchefstroom,Klerksdorp and Cape Town.Lines drawnin PE battleTHE REJECTION by the people ofPort Elizabeth of the communitycouncil system has been proved timeand time again, says Michael Ndube,general secretary of the Port.ilizabeth Youth Congress, (Peyco).'We have the support of the peoplebehind us in our campaign againstthe town council elections' he said,speaking about the implications ofthe Black Local Authorities Act.'Peyco is arranging workshops,house visits and meetings to expos ethe dirty effects of Botha's so-calledreforms,' said Mkhuseli Jack, Peycopresident.'We are doing everything in ourpower to isolate, neutralise andfrustrate the ambitions of PietKoornhof,' he said.Jack said they were working closelywith Pebco and all other organisa-tions that reject the 'new deals'.Jackson Mdangwe, Pebco ex-ecutive member, said New Brightonresidents were totally opposed to thecommunity councils. If e said the newdummy institutions would not do theresidents any good.disabled, the unemployed. It was theRiekert Commission which recom-mended that 'Black communitiesbear to an increasing extent thegreater part of the total burden inconnection with the provision of ser-vices in their own communities.'1'he current spiral of costs in thetownships seems set to continue.Apart from ambitious plans pushingup costs, the councils potentialsource of revenue is being narrowed.In particular the sale of the bottlestores by boards (forming a largeproportion of their revenue)drastically reduces money availableto councils. What will happen to themoney from the mass housing sale isanyone's guess. It is known only that50 percent will probably go to theDepartment of Co-operation andDevelopment. Not even councillorsthemselves know. In any event thedependence of councils on massiverent increases will continue, and it isalso likely that they will look to othersources of revenue, such as influxcontrol. The circle is complete.The question which many are ask-ing is: are councils just communitycouncils under a new guise? Theanswer seems to be 'yes' and 'no'.'Yes' in that the same type of peoplewill be functioning in a similar un-democratic way as an extension ofthe department of Co-operation andDevelopment. 'No' in that the formof control and the political implica-tions of this will be significantly dif-ferent.As an ideological offensive,Koornhofs strategy is designed toconvince people that they are

Page 34 of 51 gainingcontrol of their own affairs.People are to be directed into civilaffairs' and away from politicalstruggle, with the illusion thatavenues are opening up for them torun ail-airs in their own community.Given the legacy of corruption andin-fighting in the community coun-cils, it remains to be seen how succes-sful Koornhof will be in incor-porating 'respectable' figures (such asButi) into this political structure. Asthe anti-council campaigns gathersteam it seems likely that fewer and4111 To page 20

Page 35 of 51 Koornhof triesto breathe lifeinto dummyghetto bodiesFrom page 19fewer people will be prepared to as-sociate with the councils.Developments in the '70's put thewhite administration and particularlythe administration boards in a veryhot spot. l'he government saw theboards were doing less to control anddisorganise opposition than to focusit. )'he neo-colonial policy of settingup black adminstrations in the Ban-tustans had been very successful, sowhy not in the towns?Under the community councilsystem the councils increasinglycame to take the flak for unpopularmeasures in the townships, such asrent increases and evictions.Nevertheless, the boards continuedto be in the front line at many impor-tant points of conflict - shackdemolitions, pass and house raids. Onthe other hand the councils couldonly claim limited credit for the fewprojects which did take place in thetownships.l'he 'new dispensation' attempts toput the council in the front line at allpoints of conflict - demolitions,raids, rent increases, evictions - thelot. It will also give it the appearanceof having the power to run thetownship, both to plan 'improve-ments', and control people's accessto the many essential permits neces-sary to survive in the townships.So the councils' new-found powerscao't be dismissed lightly. They mightnot have independent powers tocarry out the wishes of the residents,but they certainly won't be ineffec-tive or toothless. They will have thepower to control and disorganisepeople and implement governmentpolicy. This is their intention, butbetween this and its achievement liesthe struggles of the communityorganisations.As with the other 'reform'proposals, control and the creation ofdivisions is the name of the game.l he government knows that certaindivisions lie just under the surfaceand hopes to harness and expandthese into fully-fledged political andideological divisions. The crucialquestion of housing shows this. Thecouncils are to spearhead a packagedesigned to diffuse the political ten-sion building up around this issue.Middle class elements are to be setapart in elite suburbs with the 99-yearlease and home ownership schemes.Workers are to provide their ownhousing in site and service schemes,and will continue to live in rentedhouses and backyard structures.Shacks housing illegals will bedemolished and houses raided for il-legal occupants. People in rented ac-comodation -will continue to beevicted for non-payment, while thosein 'owned' housing will have slightlygreater security.Combined with this strategy,greater control over housing and itsmore systematic use to enforce influxcontrol will increase the vulnerabilityof township residents.Countrywide, popular organisa-tions are picking up the gauntletthrown down by the state. The un-democratic and oppressive nature ofthe proposed councils is being ex-posed to large numbers of people inthe townships. I he anti-communitycouncils campaign is striking at theweak spot of the government's policyfor urban African. It serves to focusthe minimum demands of the peoplefor full representation in a non-racialundivided South Africa, and to forgealliances between different sectors ofthe oppressed population in thetownships. In building popular anddemocratic organisations around thedaily struggles of the people itdemonstrates a concrete alternativeto a system of institutionalised op-pression and exploitation.COMMUNITY COUNCILSAC I I VF: opposition againstgovernment-created township bodiesreally got underway with actionagainst the Urban Bantu Councils.I he UBC's - scathingly known inthe townships as Useless Boys Clubsor Urban Bantu Crooks - were ex-tremely unpopular, and though thegovernment planned to establishthem around the country, only 23were established by 1974, 12 yearsafter they had been introduced.During the 1976 and 1977 uprisings,the UBC was the target of many at-tacks. F he buildings of the SowetoUBC, for example, was one of thefirst to be set ablaze on June 16.But the real death blow to theUBC's came in 1977 when it wasrevealed the UBC knew about plan-ned rent increases, but couldn't doanything about them.l he Soweto Students' Represen-tative Council (SSRC) was furiousand demanded the resignation ofcouncillors. David l hebahali stooddown, signalling the end of the UBCin Soweto, and eventually throughoutthe country.But lbebahali was back, with thenew community councils whichreplaced the old system.In Galeshewe residents brought ina court action against proposed rentincreases, boycotted buses inresponse to fare increases and wereinvolved in massive school boycotts.I oday they ae building their owncivic organisation and conducting ananti-community council campaign.Virtually every major township inSouth Africa has seen clashesbetween residents and the com-munity councils rent hikes, evictions,appalling demolitions. removals andthe housing shortage.l hese became particularlysharpened in 1980 when the govern-ment's policy of imposing rent in-creases through the communitycouncils became nationally effective.Forced to defend themselves, peo-pie began to mobilise in civicsthroughout the country, making itclear who their democraticallyelected representatives really were.Residents' anger at councillors at-tempts to impose oppressivemeasures increasingly manifestthemselves in physical attacks oncouncillors - in their homes and atmeetings.in 1980 it became clear that thegovernment would have to redesignthe community councils. I he lengthof' time the government has takenhatching this plan indicated both thedegree of confusion in its ranks as tohow to enforce apartheid in thetownships and the growing unityamong township residents themselvesunder the umbrella of their civic as-sociations.0V l##1 o,rr.." owl1 ~1~ r1 ~ rr ~ rr ~vrrrr~~~~WINResidents demonstrate against community council's raising of rentsPopular bodiesblew kiss of deathat Pretoria's LocalAuthorities schemeThey tried to sell the UBC and the peoplesaid NO. Then the tried the communitycouncils and again the-answer was . othere are no prizes for guessing what theresponse is to the new attempts.I he Soweto Civic Association(SCA) was mandated by the residentsto form an Anti-Community Coun-cils Committee. Ibis was formed byrepresentatives of the SCA, women's,workers'. students', religious andmany other organisations.I he committee resolved to:organise a boycott of the elections,ensure that people are not made tovote against their will make clear whythe community councils have actedagainst residents' interests, organisepeople against all oppression and ex-ploitation and to encourage otherareas to form similar committees.!class meetings, house meetings andpamphlets have been used tomobilise people's opposition to theseVoters line up at the last community council electionsA wall In a Durban township - fair question . . .t#,~,=,,# ~..1i1111i1t.-j-001~=##,I,rr~rrr#~1+~'irr"~ err :1[owl , #, #II#~#II#,irrirnl._ 1 _,] / . err err ~rr rr ##, yen s !~ . _.11SASPU NATIONAL 20organisation JORAC.Reasons for the rent boycottdemonstrates clearly why

Page 36 of 51 residentsthroughout the country are rejectingthe councils:# F he community was not consultedand the community councils failed torepresent the people.*Workers' wages had not kept upwith the increasing rate of inflation.Existing rentals were already a greatburden to people and increaseswould make the situation intolerable.*Basing rent increases and calcula-tion of rents on total household in-come was unfair and completely un-acceptable.elf is the responsibility of the govern-ment to provide housing for all atrents people can afford.# 1'he rise in rentals in the townshipsis an attempt to force people out ofthe urban areas to dump them in thehomelands where the standard of liv-ing is even worse.eilousing shortages, no maintenanceof homes, unsatisfactory refusecollection, an absence of communityt',,ciliti,s and deteriorating conditionsexist in the townships.I here is no guarantee that rent in-creases will improve these problems.F he reluctance of the governmentto build more homes has left a criticalhousing shortage resulting in extremeovercrowding and danger to thehealth of the community. Given thelevel of people's anger in theLamontville and nearby townships itis not surprising that they are notamong the townships gazetted forelections in November.Organisations in the Pretoriatownships - Mamelodi, At-teridgeville and Saulsville - haveformed a front to oppose theforthcoming election.I he Saulsville hostel dwellers haveformed SHACC - the SaulsvilleHostel Anti-Community CouncilsCommittee.According to a SHACCspokesperson, hostel conditions havegone from bad to worse: 'Since Com-munity Councils took over our mis-eries have multiplied, for example,under the city council, rent was onlyR2. Now under the CommunityCouncil it has gone up to R 15. Com-munity Councillors are just an exten-sion of the existing order. Me onlydifference is that whites have beenreplaced by blacks.'At a meeting in the Vaal in Oc-tober, 11100 angry residents resolvedto form the Vaal Action Committee,which is to campaign against theLocal Authority elections.I hree members of the Vaal Com-munity Council are to seek a man-date from residents of their area.Lantdela, near Sasolburg, on whetheror not to boycott the November elec-tions.Few voters lined up at the last election. Even fewer this time?trbodies. People have discussed theirdaily problems in the townships andhow these tie in with national oppres-sion. I he housing shortage and thegovernment's attempts to drive peo-pie out of the urban areas have beenlinked, showing that the Black LocalAuthorities Act and Piet Koornhors'Influx Bill' are two sides of the samecoin. As a representative of the com-mittee said, even a 6 percent vote inthe November elections will be an'insult to Soweto'.Seven hundred people at a meetingin Nyanga in the Cape called for aboycott of the November elections.Residents in Lamontville and otherDurban townships have been fightingrent increases through their civicewe, ws' _ ! tos

Page 37 of 51 WORKER SAFETYSASPJ NATIONAL 21Profits costworkers livesON MONDAY September 12 themorning shift of 80 miners preparedto go underground for the day's workat the Illobane Colliery near Vryheidin Natal.Only 16 were to return to the sur-face alive. 64 mineworkers were in-cinerated alive when they switchedon their mining machinery - ignitingdeadly methane gas which hadseeped into the working areas overthe weekend.Several other miners were burnt allover their bodies - and one morewas to die after lying for days inagony in hospital.The National Union ofMineworkers (NUM) says workershave charged that methane gas wasnot tested in the mine that morning,as required by mining law. Minemanagement says it can't say whathappened until there is an investiga-tion - undertaken without workerparticipation.As the charges and counter-chargescontinue, one fact shines through:Mat this horror accident is just thelatest in a string in South Africa'smining industry which has seen 8 000people die in the past twenty years.I hat is roughly one person killed ona mine somewhere in South Africaevery day.In response to the accident, theNUM - which has 40 000 members-- has again called for the participa-tion of workers and unions in the set-ting of safety standards. These re-quests have so far been turned downbN the Chamber of Mines..Similar calls are being made louderand louder by more and-more voicesthroughout industry in South_A_rrtca;as occupational accidents continueto cause casualties.Latest figures from the Workmens'Compensation Commissioner showthere are 300 000 accidents at workevery year, killing over 2 000 peopleand permanently disabling over 30000 workers.and slipped but managed to pullhimself onto a rail of the cable. Athird man plunged to his death.#A construction worker plummetedfive floors to his death when one sideof a pulley scaffold on which he wasworking gave way. A witness at thescene said the accident should neverhave happened. (RDM 6.5.83)l'he chemical and refining in-dustries:GRecently two people died in an ex-plosion at AECI's acetylene plant atIn the construction industry: Sasolburg. Now more than 300#Two men clung to a scaffold cradle workers have refused to return toafter one of the supporting cables work until management has givensnapped. One of the men lost his grip them acceptable assurances that theWorkers and unions are mobilisingaround the accidents, and around thefrequently inadequate compensationpaid to victims. Management oftenblames workers for accidents, failingto relate them to the environment inwhich workers have to work.Here are some examples drawnfrom recent press reports showinghow poor working conditions cancontribute to accidents:Safety taken out of workers1'HE NEW Machinery and Oc-cupational Safety Act (MOSA), no 6of 1983, has been hailed as a 'boon toall workers'.H.J. Matthysen, general managerof the National Occupational SafetyAssociation, has been particularlyenthusiastic. 'South Africa is alreadya world leader in the field of oc-cupational safety and the pendingpromulgation of the Machinery andOccupational Safety Act will givenew impetus to the safety move-ment.'But putting this wild enthusiasminto perspective reveals the true im-plications of this new act for workersand unions involved in health andsafety struggles.MOSA, which replaces those partsof the Factories, Building andMachinery Act of 1941 applying tooccupational health and safety, isclearly an attempt to pre-emptworker and union organisation in thearea of health and safety by placingthe control of health and safety solid-ly in the hands of management.The act makes provision for an ad-visory council consisting of membersStrlklfty mineworkers, Right-TM-Htotmtte mineVICtim died soon after this photograph was taken.i low pay-and lack of unionrights isn't enough, #workershelpWappointed by the Minister of Man-power.1'he main function of the councilwill be to make recommendations tothe Minister on the setting of safetystandards.)'here is no provision for trade un-ion or democratic worker representa-tion on this executive body. I'here isalso no right to appeal against itsdecisions.This means that the council is givenarbitrary and unfettered powers toset standards and regulationsregarding preventative measuresconcerned with occupational healthand safety.Even if such standards and regula-tions do offer some improvement tothe poor working conditions as theyexist there remains the majorproblem of enforcement.The latest available publicisedfigures show a total of 29 factory in-spectors for 30 097 factories employ-ing 1,5 million workers in SouthAfrica.The most serious exclusion ofworkers and trade unions takes placein the factory itself. The Act calls forfactory is safe (Financial Mail, June1983).# 1'wo maintenance workers at Sasol3, Secunda, were critically injured ina fire caused by spontaneous com-bustion of inflammable material in afilter. A spokesperson said detailedinvestigation had been launched butproduction would not be adverselyaffected (RDM 12.5.83).hhe attempt by the state to dealwith the accident problem has beentwofold. Firstly there is the newMachinery and Occupational SafetyAct which is a clear attempt to pre-empt worker organisation.Secondly the state has taken greatthe designation by management ofsafety representatives. There is aclear indication that these represen-tatives will simply be appointed bymanagement from the senior levelsof management itself.The Act also provides for the deter-mination of safety committees bymanagement. Once again there is noreason to believe that managementwill not simply appoint these commit-tees.Management is also granted per-mission by the Act to co-opt expertsthey consider necessary onto thesafety committees. This provision isnot extended to workers or trade un-ions.The rights of both the safetyrepresentatives and the safety com-mittees are severely limited. Both therepresentatives and the committeeswill serve a watchdog function,acting as policing agents for manage-ment, ensuring that workers complywith rules and regulations laid downby the government.There is provision for severe finesto be levelled at workers. WorkersBelow: Yet another fatof the mines is can led awab#teaved fellow workers -inereasingly the sorrow is turn-ing to anger as workers demandhealth. and safety- 60t&_pains to develop the National Oc-cupational Safety Association(NOSA), a body funded directly bythe Workmans Compensation Com-missioner. NOSH acts to providemanagement with resources andtraining to develop accident preven-tion programmes in the workplace.NOSA is managing to sell theseprogrammes to management byrelating accident prevention to in-creased productivity and higherprofits. Running through all NOSA'sprogrammes is one thread: Workersare to blame for accidents and con-trol of accidents is achieved throughenforcing worker co-operation.handsmay be fined R2 000 or 12 monthsimprisonment or both for not wear-ing safety equipment.The Act makes no attempt toprovide any representation toworkers or unions

Page 38 of 51 in the area ofhealth and safety. But this is not tosay that the struggle around these is-sues cannot and will not be taken up.Workers could demand that allsafety representatives bedemocratically elected by themselvesand that safety committees consist ofthese elected workers.Struggles taking place aroundhealth and safety in Britain indicatethat workers and unions will fight formaximum rights for safety represen-tatives and that negotiation aroundhealth and safety be maintained in es-tablished elected worker committees.These rights would include accessto information about health andsafety, the right to inspect all areas ofthe workplace, especially those inwhich accidents have occurred, andthe right to consult with trade unionmembers or trade union appointedhealth and safety advisers.Bosses sayaccidents areinevitable butworkers payMANAGEMENT IS only con-cerned about the health and safety ofworkers when they become lessproductive or when worker demandsforce management to improve work-ing conditions responsible for poorhealth and safety.Management always blamesworkers for accidents. Workers arecontinually told they are careless andnegligent and the duty to prevent ac-cidents rests with them.Workers are made to believe acci-dents are a normal part of the job andthe real causes of accidents are oftenunderplayed.Many workers have not receivedadequate, if any, training in theirjobs. braining is most often done 'onthe job' and it has been shown thatmany accidents occur at this stage.There is a severe lack of qualifiedsupervision of workers. Workershave to deal with problematic anddangerous machinery.Very few workers are issued withprotective equipment or instructedabout how and why to use it. This hasresulted in workers refusing to wearuncomfortable, burdensome equip-ment. Management has been quickto victimise these workers withoutbothering to explain how and why itshould be used.A lot of machinery is very unsafe,lacking adequate protective safetydevices. I hese cost money whichmanagement is reluctant to spend.l he effort which management putsinto factory design often leaves muchto be desired and so workers have tocontend with an overcrowded anddangerous working environmentwhich lead to manAmore accidents.l his conflict can only be resolved ifmanagement agrees to worker de-mands for a safer, working environ-ment.

Page 39 of 51 ape electiondrought nurtures'Tee of freedom)n the Flats . . .KHAYELITSHASASPU NATIONAL 22JR I HE government, the colouredanagement committee electionsust have seemed rather like theought: What you'd really like to seea flood (A'voters, but, frankly, eventrickle would do. When what yout is little better than nothing, well,:ople must have tumbled to thed''-,- of what you were offeringem.And the very low percentage pollsthe Western Cape management,xnmittee elections don't exactlyode well for reaping a rich harvestom the proposed new constitutionther.For the United Democratic Frontthe area, the elections were alance to swing into hectic action ongrassroots, house-to- house, person-P-person basis. The UDF must-nerge in any analysis as the realinner in the elections - a triumphK organisation outside government-'cated structures.a UDF pamphlet: 'We havedown that we don't need manage-lent committees. We have stood onar own, gained strength in ourrganisations, and fought our ownruggles.' -UDF affiliates drew hundreds of-ople to mass meetings around theape Peninsula, where they called onic people of Cape Town to demand:al representation and reject theaanagement committee system ofusrepresentation.Until 1972 all local government in'ape Town fell under the City Coun-1. In that year control of the AfricanPwnships was transferred to the ad-tinistration boards.At the same time, in keeping with' le divide and rule strategy of theovernment, the system of a manage-tent committee for each residentialrea was introduced.The system was never more than a- tcade of representation. Com-tunities are still controlled by the)cal authority (Cape City Council orhvisional Council) with the manage-lent committees having advisoryowers.In order to try to win some support:)r the management committeeystem the government eventually in-roduced management committeelections, making the owner or oc--njer of each dwelling and theirpouse eligible to vote.When they were introduced theovernmertt did not even bother withlections and the first managementommittees consisted of peopleominated by the state.Apartheid structures have alwayseen unacceptable to the people whooffer under them and they refused:) participate in the elections. Only3867 people, some 8.3 percent of,le Indian and coloured populationver registered as voters and in theselections only a tiny percentage ofegistered voters turned out to vote.In the Athlone area, the poll hasever been higher than 14,5 percent.1.-ilarly, in Kensington, the highestoil has been 30,9 percent. In 1977his poll has steadily decreased with9,5 percent of people voting in the979 elections.Alan Flendrikse's Labour Party has>articipated in these elections andlominates Cape Town's manage-nent committees.It continues to work in these struc-Ires despite the fact that DavidIurry, head of the Association of4anagement Committees, has ad-utted that these management com-nittees have no power.tvo'R AA'ORALOne of the very few who voted inthe management elections.Indeed, with its current determina-tion to help implement the govern-ment's constitutional plan, theLabour Party was eager to par-ticipate in the recent round ofmanagement committee elections.I he UDF, on the other hand, hascommitted itself to fight the govern-ment's divide and rule strategy on alllevels and took up the campaignagainst the management committees.Under the call 'A vote for themanagement committees is a vote forapartheid', UDF and its constituentorganisations called on all people toboycott the elections.Civic, student, youth and religiousorganisations took up the call: con-ducting house visits, pamphleteeringand holding meetings in residentialareas affected by the elections.I he UDF campaign had two majorthemes: Firstly it focussed on every-day issues: High rents, bus fares andelectricity, badly maintained housesand the absence of facilities likehospitals, playing fields and creches.The UDF showed that people findthemselves in this position becausethey have no political control overtheir lives. They are only allowed toelect advisory bodies, with no realpower at all.-1'kiis enabled the campaign to linkopposition around grassroots issuesto opposition to the government'sreform plans, rejection of the LabourParty's participation in the new con-stitutional set-up and support for theUDF nationally.The second major theme was toshow people that it was their collec-tive power alone which could changetheir situation. The powerlessnesswhich people saw in the managementcommittees was contrasted with thestrength which came through unitedaction in civic organisations.The campaign referred to situationswhere communities have united andwon victories which the managementcommittees could never achieve.People -were urged to join theirorganisations, strengthen them and inturn strengthen the UDF.Despite attempts by the manage-ment committees to win broadcredibility by claiming credit forhurried street repairs conducted daysbefore polling, and underhand tacticsby the Labour Party like in Ken-sington where they fetched over 50pensioners from the local old agehome, took them to polling boothsand showed them how to vote, thepolls were the lowest ever for CapeI-own seats.By their absence from the polls, thepe~ple Flearly rejected apartheid. Atthe same time, the UDF was able touse the campaign to link the struggleof- tenants in the communities to thenational campaigning of the UDF.Khayalitshs -KFIAYELI I SF1A, the Peninsula'snew 'black city' announced at theheight of the K'rc squatter crisis inMarch, has begun to take shape atDriftsands near Mitchells Plain -rows of aluminium huts and toweringlights on a levelled site.The timing of the announcement ofthe township by Minister of Co-operation and Development PietKoornhof and the fact that 'legal'K 1-C families were the first to moveto Khayelitsha, may have caused it tobe seen as a specific response tosquatter crises.But facets of the scheme suggest itis also an attempt to use thedesperate housing shortage torestructure African housing provisionin the Peninsula to fit in more closelywith the new Black Local AuthoritiesAct and the two remaining KoornhofBills.Koomhof referred to Khayelitshaas a 'consolidation of black housing'in the Peninsula when he announcedthe scheme in parliament. Its objectwas 'stimulating the orderly andvoluntary settlement' of Africans inthe area, he said. The measure was tobe coupled with the proviso that noextension of established townships inCape I own. Paarl or Stellenboschwould be permitted.A consolidated black townshipwould facilitate the implementationof the Black Local Authorities Act.Several features of Khayelitsha havefuelled fears that it is to become aninfra-urban homeland designed inpart for this purpose:*Its extensive area - only slightlysmaller than Mitchells Plain, whichhouses 150 000 in a far less densedevelopment.#Its eventual offer of elite housing.#Rumoured possibilities of leaseholdrights, the first available to blacks inthe Peninsula.The K VC clashes and currentdemolitions at Crossroads - whereover 450 shacks were razed

Page 40 of 51 in recentweeks - are two dramaticmanifestations of a much larger hous-ing crisis in the Peninsula. The of-ficial waiting list for black familiesstands at 6 000 and squatter campshave mushroomed in the outskirts ofCape I own.I he Coloured Labour PreferencePolicy has contributed significantlyto the critical housing position. Dur-ing the 1970's a total freeze on familyhousing provision in the WesternCape was imposed, while the Africanpopulation in the area grew 63 per-cent -- despite the harsh influx con-trol that is part and parcel of thelabour policy.In February 1 000 families movedonto vacant land at K VC and builttheir own shelters. Many were'legals' who had been waiting yearsfor approved accomodation.I he government reacted, as in thepast, by sending in bulldozers. OnFebruary 14 and 15 shelters at KTCwere flattened, only to be rebuilt, andso the cycle continued.:Massive raids, demolitions andarow upon rowhayelitsha:bantustanof shanties, on a windswept, sandy plain.Aharassment plagued the people ofK I C daily, culminating in a raid inwhich all shelters were demolished,the camp was cordoned off withbarbed wire and then the inhabitantswere dispersed with teargas.Koornhof announced Khayelitsha-'Our New Home'- at this point.It is located nearly 40km fromCape Town on a windy, sandy plain,bordered on three sides by DefenceForce land.Phase one of the project, which isunderway at present, is the provisionof 1 000 emergency sites for 'illegal'K I C squatters, as part of a site andservice scheme. I he second phase,the 'consolidation' of black housing,will follow, in the form of high den-sity accomodation.Koornhof-s announcement, and theDepartment of Co-operation andDevelopment's reference toKhayelitsha as the 'new black city'have sparked speculation that it is tobecome a new intro-urban homeland,to house the entire black populationof the Western Cape.I his would entail the forcedremoval and relocation of over 200riot policeman at Crossroads ...000 settled residents of existingtownships. Speculation has beenfuelled by the suggestion that, for thefirst time, some form of leasehold,probably 30 years, would be offeredin the Western Cape, but only atKhayelitsha.The maintenance of the ColouredLabour Preference Policy, however,means there will be no sudden influxof blacks to fill Khayelitsha.Langa's location, between a whitesuburb and a coloured township, hasreinforced the belief that it isscheduled for upgrading into a'coloured' township.An advisor at the Athlone AdviceOffice was quoted recently as sayingthat over the years various officialshave told her Langa is to be reclas-sified for upgrading.Community organisations reactedwith anger when these fears wereconfirmed by Koornhof, although hestated that the process of relocationwould be a 'long term goal' over thenext 25 years.the United Womens Organisationsaid, 'We reject the continued at-tempts to create a patchwork society.11 f

Page 41 of 51 SASPU NATIONAL 23Police and women argue at Crossroadsnot `our home ',butthat nobody wantsThe government's `new deal' has found a home in Khavelitsha, a barren plainwhere residents of Nyanga, Langa and Guguletu are to be moved.*rid fins a cannisterby shunting people around accordiryto the government's blueprint for th.maintenance of apartheid. Nothin,causes more bitterness than this kin,of uprooting of settled communities.It would not be the first timeAfrican residents have beenrelocated in Cape Town. From thebeginning of the century, they havebeen moved: from District Six toNdabeni; from Ndabeni to Langa.People have never accepted theiruprooting: they have resisted. As acommunity worker said of the moveto Khayelitsha: 'We will fight it toothand nail. Leave us alone. We weremoved from the suburbs and dumpedhere. We want to stay where we are.'Frantic work followed the an-nouncement of Khayelitsha;oulldozers carved out the founda-tions of the new 'city' and by June 3the site was levelled.On June 6, the first 12 'legal' KTCfamilies moved into their'new home'which comprised one-roomaluminium huts, provided by the Ad-ministration Board. They lacked ceil-ings and floors.the 'essential services' amountedto a I-bucket toilet between two hutsand a tap for every four units. ByJune 9, 96 people were living atKhayelitsha.The nearest shops are Urn away inMitchells Plain, so people have torely on a hawker who visits the sitedaily in his Kombi and enjoys amonopoly on groceries.The divisional council provides amobile clinic, which has been essen-tial in the particularly cold and rainyweather of recent weeks, andbecause of unhygienic conditionscaused by the toilets which have tobe moved twice a week to be cleared.There is a bus service to severalcentral points, but costs are high. Forinstance, a return trip to Cape Town,where many residents work, is R1,46rWindows, shattered by a flying teargas cannister.cash. The average travelling time for status. This law was the first of theworkers is about four hours a day. notorious Koornhof Bills, and theThey leave home at 4.30am and only one to have been enacted.return after 8pm. While Cape Town townships areAs the only school facility is a not among the areas to receive localrecently built primary school clas- authority status this year, the es-sroom, many children will have to tablishment of Khayelitsha couldcommute to school in the townships. hasten this process.There are no immediate, plans for A 'consolidated township' likeproviding pre-school care, and many Khayelitsha would be better suited toyoung children are likely to be left the. provisions of the Act, which in-poorly attended. clude self-financing of townships.By early September, there were 112 It is also important to bear in mindKhayelitsha families, but the only the stress on 'national security' andevidence of the site and service the tightening of influx control in thescheme is the taps. Residents are still Orderly Movement and Settlementin the 'emergency' huts initially of Black Persons Bill.provided. They are not allowed to Khayelitsha's location, far removedalter these in any way to relieve the from the city, and bordered bycold, as they are designated tee- Defence Force land, neatly fits inporary dwellings. with the exercise of political control.Residents have also not been given The policing of the draconianthe go-ahead to build their own measures embodied in the Bill wouldshelters. A suggested reason for the be aided by the existence of only onedelay is the necessity for a govern- 'black homeland'.ment decision on leasehold, the There is presently one access road'carrot' to induce people to move to to Khayelitsha, policed by Ad-Khayelitsha 'voluntarily'. ministration Board Officials whoIn the era of 'reform', there has allow only 'legals' and residents tobeen disbelief in many quarters, that enter.the government would consider One resident said: 'It's like Robbenrelocating black townships en masse. Island here.' 1-he windswept andBut it is obvious this is exactly what barren site is illuminated at night bythe government has in mind. bright lights mounted high on tallKhayelitsha is not just a response to poles: they shine over the camp likethe numerous squatter crises of the spotlights. The recently constructedpast decade. It is a means of making primary 'school' is surrounded byaccess to housing conditional on peo- barbed wire.pie settling 40km away from their The establishment of Khayelitshaplace of work and old homes. has met with widespread oppositionAnd the government will have to from local community organisations.force many to move. The recent It has been pointed out the costs ofdemolitions at Crossroads make it construction and provision of ser-clear that people will not move vices will be higher relative to the'voluntarily' to Khayelitsha, aptly standard of housing than anywhererenamed by its inhabitants, 'The Wild else in Cape Town. I he poorest peo-Place'. pie are being forced to live in theUnder the Black Local Authorities most expensive area in terms of hous-Act, passed last year, community ing, transport, food and other com-councils are to get local authority modity pricesKHAYELITSHAThe possibility of Khayelitshagenerating enough money to provideadequate recreational and com-munity facilities is nil. Khayelitsha isintended as a 'dormitory suburb', tohouse the African working class, withno provision for the creation ofemployment opportunities nearby.Life at Khayelitsha will be an im-poverished cycle of work and sleep.Children will be neglected. Far fromsolving the squatter crisis, it is likelyto accelerate the move closer to thecity to cheaper squatter sites.The first phase of the scheme is onthe basis of 'self help'. But the in-creased costs of both constructionand services and the distance fromthe city, are likely to doom it tofailure.'Self help' has become a labelcynically used by the state, as itforces people to provide their ownhousing after it has destroyed theirshelters and moved them from placesthey have chosen to live.T'he government has also stressedthat Khayelitsha will 'allow residentsto build their own houses to theirown tastes and means', An intendedattraction is the development of an'elite' area, 'with one of the best seaviews in the Peninsula'.It was announced recently thatwork had begun on developingbathing facilities on the coastlinenear Khayelitsha, for a blacks onlybeach.In a recent Cape Town City Coun-cil report, it was estimated that afurther 300 000 people could be ac-comodated within the existingborders of the Peninsula In the ex-isting townships there is undevelopedspace for new accomodation. The of-ficial shortage of land is thusideologically and politically deter-mined. The Group Areas Act effec-tively creates this shortage.By relocating all Africans, in theabsence of a convenient neighbour-ing homeland, to a new 'intra-urban'homeland, the government createsspace for extending 'coloured' hous-ing, which is desperately needed.At the same time, Khayelitsha mayserve a political purpose in defusingthe threat posed by repeated squattercrises. It might prevent the inevitablecriticism engendered by demolitionsand raids.But these possible gains for thestate have to be weighed against theopposition

Page 42 of 51 likely to be triggered bythe mass removals that would becentral to the scheme.-[*here are indications that peoplewould battle to remain in theirhopelessly inadequate but infinitelypreferable accomodation in Langa,(iuguletu, Nyanga, New Crossroads,Mbekweni, Mfuleni and Mandi.I hose in squatter camps and on thewaiting list are more vulnerable.I hey are likely to be subject to inten-sified demolitions.But 'Our New Home' is unlikely tofind the mass of Cape I own'sAfrican people at its hearth in theforeseeable future.Leandraresidentsresoluteon issueof rightsTHE 18 OW people of Leandratownship in the Central Transvaal arefighting a bitter battle against plans tomove the vast majority of the com-munity to rural areas and a smallminority to a new township.The move is being presented by thelocal administration board and localpapers in the area as an attempt torid the township of squalid slum con-ditions.l he community has rejected thecommunity council's acceptance ofthese plans and has instead electedan action committee to represent it innegotiations with the Ilighveld .Ad-ministration Board over theproposed removal.The action committee says it hasbeen told that only 600 new houseswill be built in the proposedtownship. The people who don'tqualify for these new houses will bemoved to KwaNdebele.T he action committee has rejectedthis scheme, maintaining that:#Many people in the area have hadproblems obtaining the urbanqualifications they are entitled to.There are numerous complaints ofpeople being given Section 10 (Ixd)stamps when in fact they are perma-nent urban residents. The actioncommittee sees this as a deliberatemeans to try and push people into thebantustans, and deprive them ofurban rights.#The new township is not only an in-adequate size, but is far too expen-sive. House rents excludingelectricity will be R50, a massive in-crease from the average that peoplenow pay.#The new township is being built soclose to a recently opened goldmine,that residents fear they will have tomove again should the mine expand.The Leandra Action Committeehas demanded that the entire com-munity be treated equally and itsright to stay in the area is granted.But events up till now have shownit is likely to be a long struggle beforethis happens.The action committee and its sup-porters have been subject to in-timidation, harassment and threats.There have been attempts to detaincommittee members and pressurisethem into stopping their activities.In one incident policemen firedshots at the chief of the area,demanding to know why he had beenasking people to come to an actioncommittee meeting.The action committee has decidedit will fight the community councilelections to prove it has theoverwhelming support of the com-munity.There have been various attemptsto stop action committee membersparticipating in the elections. Pettvregulations have been implementedto block action committee membersfrom being accepted as candidates.Yet the people of Leandra aredetermined. I hey will not allow theirnames, their urban rights and SouthAfrican citizenship to he taken wa::vfrom them.

Page 43 of 51 EDUCATIONUS moneybuying thehearts andminds ofSA students?THE, l :NITE1) tiT.~TIa:#111?.~11;1at.1(~:~,C 5%'?ifJ09 CProgressive youth are being facedwith the thorn question owhether to acce t scholarshipspdesigned to prop up interestsMILLIONS OF rands of US moneyare being pumped into educationalprojects for black South Africans.The US Congress alone earmarkedsix and a half million rand for suchprojects last year, with the stated aimof demonstrating'America's commit-tment to racial justice, peacefulchange and black advancement inSouth Africa, and to generate a sub-stantial amount of goodwill on thepart of the black majority in SouthAfrica towards the United States.'Added to this direct governmentmoney ate funds from institutions,such as the Rockefeller Institute, theUS Agency for internationalDevelopment (AID) and the AFL-CIO trade union.For the South African bodies in-volved, the major issue is whether themoney comes with many strings at-tached. At the moment the issue is aparticularly important one as theSouth African government is makingmoves to stop donations from foreignchurch and anti- apartheid groups.The report of the US CongressionalSub-committee on Africa whichvisited South Africa for a whistle-stoptour was recently published givingrecommendations on how to spendCongress' money.It lists five masons for fundingSouth African educational projects:*It would help. a relatively peacefultransition towards racial justicewhich would be consistent withAmerican interests.#It would help sustain commercialrelations totalling $3,4 billion a yearand US direct investment of over S2billion a year.Olt could frustrate the growth of theSoviet influence.Olt could gain America a measure ofcredibility with black South Africansand 'it could be useful in avoidingdamaging diplomatic collision withthe important nations of the ThirdWorld over the issue of internationalsanctions against South Africa.In order to ensure the credibilitynecessary to promote those aims, thereport recommends that no supportbe given to South African govern-ment institutions. It says moneyshould only be given to anti-apartheid bodies and recommendsthat funds be channelled throughprivate institutions because of suspi-cion of the motives of the US govern-ment.I lie report, compiled by liberalDemoorats, is critical of previousreports by the Reagan administrationand .All) %khich advocated assistingbush colleges and other government-assisted institutions while ignoringcommunity based groups.In South Africa, the group met witha broad range of educationalists,trade unionists, political and com-munity figures and religious bodieswith widely differing views. But thereport says: 'of great importance wasthe refusal of some black groups(such as the Wits BSS and the SRCs)to meet with us in protest againstwhat they perceived as the U.S.government's support of the repres-sive South African regime.'The South African Council forHigher Education (Sached) is singledout as being the educational bodymost deserving of support because,'it is the premier change-oriented in-stitution serving black SouthAfricans' and because 'its program-me's priorities are the clear firstchoice of change oriented leaders'.The report suggests fundingSached's teacher upgrading andbridging programmes throughAmerican groups such as the Ford,Carnegie and Rockefeller founda-tions.Sached is currently financed bygrants from the Ford Foundation andthe World University Service as wellas by student fees. It only acceptsoverseas funding if no strings are at-tached.In 1981, Sached agreed to receive agrant from the Ford Foundation.This caused considerable con-troversy in the organisation, butSached felt it should take the funds asthe only strings attached were astipulation to give the usual reportson how the money was to be used.Sached has not yet made policy onthe U.S. Congress grant.The U.S. Congress report alsorecommends funding union educa-tion projects, ' because by so doingthe U.S. would be visibly identifyingGovernment bans teachersfrom all political involvement*AS THE government goes for a newparliament where coloureds will ad-minister coloured education, it is alsomoving fast to ensure long term con-trol over teachers in 'coloured'schoolsIn July a new section was added tothe 'Coloured Persons EducationAct'. This bans teachers in colouredschools from political activity.An identical section was put intothe Indiat: Education Act in 1979.Indian and coloured MP's in theu,..7174-7itself with one of the emerging butimpressive forces for fundamentalsocial. and political change in SouthAfrica'.The group and with some TUCSAunions but it mcommmends fundingonly the educational progmmmes ofthe independent unions. The moneywould go through the C.I.A. fundedAFL-CIO's African AmericanLabour Centre and the InternationalConfederation of Free Trade Unions(ICFTU) which would allocate themoney .The report also recommendsgranting 100 new undergraduateawards to the South African In-sititute of Race Relations' blackscholarship programme.The bulk of the money (over fourmillion rand) was allocated by theU.S. Congress for scholarships in theUnited States. The report recom-mends that these scholarships be ad-ministered by the SACC'sEducational Opportunities Program-me (EOC).This year, according to its directorDr. Mokqethi Mothlabi, the EOCwill administer scholarships to 115black students who are judged ontheir 'orientation to community ser-new parliament will probably bepowerless to change these laws -even if they wanted to.White and 'Bantu' education haveno such provisions. They are now -and will be in the future parliament- directly under Nationalist control.The new section in the ColouredPersons Education Act says that ateacher is guilty of misconduct if sheor he is a member of a bannedorganisation.It is also misconduct if a teachervices' for graduate and un-dergraduate studies in the U.S.The EOCs aim is stated as being'to look to the post-change era, tohave professional leadership asorofessional as possible'.The Congress report recommendsgreater assistance be given tograduate students and suggests thatEOC board members 'helpscholarship students keep in touchwith developments in their country'and that students on four yearscholarships return to South Africafor jobs with multi-national corpora-tions at the end of their second year.Because two out of every threesponsored students will study in theUS, they are likely to return con-vinced, at least in part, of the value ofthe 'American way of life'.The relatively small amount (R2,5million) granted to internal program-mes seems to be little more than atoken gesture to try and show thatthe US supports change in SouthAfrica. Groups offered this moneyhave to decide if this gesture in-terferes with their own aims andwhether.the grant could be used toinfluence or restrict their activities.promotes or prejudices the interestsof a political party through:*Using the position of teacher to doso.*Chairing or speaking at a publicpolitical meeting that does so.#Helping on a publication

Page 44 of 51 that doesso.A teacher found guilty of such'misconduct' can he reprimanded,fined, transferred to another school,or even fired.SASPU NATIONAL 24Apartheiduniversitystaggersforward ...A STONE'S throw away from theMoroko police station a group ofprefabricated buildings has recentlybeen erected. Behind a guardedbarbed wire fence a sign says VistaUniversity, Soweto Campus. ,The Vista University Act,.passed inOctober 1981, decreed that a new un-iversity centralised in Pretoria, withsatellite campuses in the main urbanareas, would be established.Vista University intends to cater for20 000 students nationally in the nearfuture. he Soweto campus - with344 students and a budget of R400000 - is the biggest of the four set upso far. The others are in Pretoria,P.E. and Bloemfontein.One problem which has alreadyemerged after six months is a severestaff shortage. At the Soweto campusonly 15 lecturers have been found,some of them part-time or un-qualified.There have been problems infinding a Soweto Campus Director.Dr. R.N. Gugushe, the present direc-tor says, 'The. management commit-tee had problems finding a suitableblack man. They had appointedsomeone, but he changed his mind,so 1 came out of retirement to fill thegap temporarily.' Gugushe is theformer general secretary of theDepartment of Education and Train-ing's (DET) Education Council.Students have been unable to af-ford the fees of R153 per course peryear. Over 80 percent of the studentsare doing full or part-time educationcourses, but the DET does not givebursaries to African education stu-dents.Despite a vigorous public relationscampaign aimed at the private sector,only the Administration Boards haveprovided funds for other bursaries sofar.Next year, students at Vista(Soweto) will elect their first SRC.According to Gugushe 'they will beallowed to speak freely and in-dependently - with very positiveguidance from us, of course.''We have a student advisor whowill always be in attendance to guidethe students - especially as far asthings like the SRC are concerned.''We do expect that the students willtend to be political - there's no wayof preventing that. This is the homeof Azaso and we expect that our stu-dents will be influenced by this, butwe're guiding them as positively aspossible, so that they don't becometoo rash and forget what they're herefor - their academic progress,' hesaid.Gugushe admitted that there hadbeen little support for the Vista pro-ject from the Soweto community, butsaid that as long as it drew on asmany blacks as possible, he did notexpect criticism.The English language campusesand the PFP have refused to supportthe project. They see it as furtheringthe government's racialised educa-tion policy and feel the restrictionson its autonomy and academicfreedom would be greater than atother universities.A Wits University Council state-ment said: 'There is a real risk thaiVista University will not enjoy theconfidence of the people it wishes t;;serve, that it will not attract higt:quality staff, and that it will fail to heaccepted by many universities inSouth Africa and abroad.'

Page 45 of 51 OUTHHw~Laitlfl~:tea6ow_-roll VY41SASPU NATIONAL 25Adv#7lrfdE I# roeeaEc.wiMarketplace outside Ondangwa, In the bubonic plague hit Owambo area.Another fight forNamibia's peopleMachines of war are a common sight In Namibia.Koevoetmethodsexposedat inquestStartling facts havecome to light inNamibia recently: abubonic pldgue ofcrisis proportlbr"~' ", -""arid a security forcewith astonishingactivities.the unit was not involved in maintain-ing law and order in the war zone,but 'only have to do with fightingterrorism'. His superior, BrigadierDRAMA I'IC EVIDENCE in #tom.. Hens Dreyer, will testify in cameramurder trial of two members of it when the trial resumes.special police counter-insurgency un-it, Koevoet, and the inquest into thedeath of a detainee in Koevoetcustody, has focussed attention onthis highly secret organisation.In Windhoek, on September 30,two members of Koevoet were foundguilty of murder, rape, robbery withaggravating circumstances, and at-tempted murder. It was heard howthe two, disguised as Swapo guerillas,went on a 'rape and robberv zxpedi-tion'.In mitigation of sentence theircommanding officer said thatKoevoet members were 'killingmachines' taught to show 'no mercy',and who would possibly 'not placemuch value on human life, par-ticularly in a conflict situation'.The two convicted men are, JonasPaulus (28), and Paulus Mathews(22). Paulus was found guilty ofmurdering Headman RobertAmunwe on January 2. The trial hasbeen postponed while Paulus un-dergoes psychiatric observation.Warrant-officer Norval, ofKoevoet, in his testimony said thatIn what is seen as an extremelysignificant case, Koevoet againcomes under examination in the in-quest into-the death in detention ofMr Jonas Hamukwaya, opened onOctober 4.Mr Hamukwaya, who was ateacher, died hours after beingdetained by members of Koevoet onNovember 18, last year.lop Cape Town advocates will ap-pear for Mr Ilamukwaya'a family atthe inquest, which is to be held inRundu, capital of Kavango.Mrs Katrina Hamukwaya, thewidow of the deceased, has givennotice that she is to sue the Ministerof Defence, the Minister of Law andOrder and the administrator general,who all face similar civil claims and adamage claim of K148 OW from thewidow of Mr Johannes Kakuva, adetainee who died in police custodyin 1981.Recent protests and complaints ofcivilian maltreatment in the war zonehave seen the establishment of amilitary board of inquiry and inquiryinto security legislation.Kadoma aims toFRONTLINE states have decided toprevent foreign newspaper reportenbased in South Africa from workingin their countries.This decision followed a meeting atKadoma in Zimbabwe between theMinisters of Information of all SouthAfrica's neighbours. They agreedthat 'foreign correspondents ac-credited in South Africa, and thosereporting to regional bureaux inSouth Africa will not be allowed, inprinciple, to work in the frontlinestates anymore.'The move was seen by both theSouth African and some Westernpress groups as an attack on the freeflow of information.straighten distortionsWAR-HIT HEALTH services, acrippling drought and unhygienicslum conditions have triggered anoutbreak of bubonic plague inNamibia's Owambo war zone claim-ing four lives so far.There have been 352 cases sinceApril this year, according to Dr AHitzeroth, in charge of environmen-tal health for the Nanubian ad-ministration. In September alonethere were 86 cases compared withthe 166 between March '82 andMarch this year.Doctors and health workers in thearea warn that the disease isspreading and may develop intopneumonic plague. for which there isno known treatment and little hopeBreaking the.barriers of theprison systemINTERESTING FACTS have cometo light about the prison system inMozambique.A report recently released by theMozambique Information Agency(AIM) revealed that prisonersgranted amnesty by presidentSamora Machel in 1979 are buildinga town at Unango where their 're-education camp' once stood.Unango's 550 prisoners - all withcriminal records - were invited tostay on in the camp and build it intoan agricultural town, with the as.sistance of the government.Arrangements were made to takethe families of the ex-criminals toUnango. Some of their families didnot want to move, so they remarried.Others left the camp, but most of thepeople stayed on.In 1980 a state farm was set up, in-itially with an area of 500 hectares.According to the director of thefarm, Gertrude Pelembe, anagronomist (soil expert) sent by theMinistry of Agriculture, the area un-der cultivation has now grown to Iof survival. Bubonic plague is not in-fectious whereas pneumonic plaguecan be transferred from one personto the next.The official explanation given forthe rapid spread of bubonic plague isthe crippling drought, the worst in 83years, that has forced rats bearingplague-carrying fleas to come closerto human settlements in search offood. Although the drought is a ma-jor factor in spreading the disease,the war itself has contributed.Health workers and schoolteachers have been detained after be-ing accused of aiding or supportingthe People's Liberation Army ofNamibia (Plan), Swapo's armed wing.A male nurse at a clinic in Kakuhu,western Kavango, JohannesKasamba, was detained for twomonths after being accused oftreating Swapo guerillas for warwounds. (Rend Daily Mail, August 6,1983)the dawn to dusk curfew andmilitary restrictions on travelsometimes hamper the workers intheir duties. Landmines are an ever-present danger. Health services havedeteriorated as the 17- year-wardrags on.But it is the internal refugees whoflock to the areas around the majortowns, who have created the greatesthealth risk. Bubonic plague is moreor less confined to the 30km stripbetween Oshakati and Ondangwawhich is home to 250 000 people, aquarter of Namibia's population.Military 'depopulation' program-mes in the rural areas have forcedthousands of people off theirtraditional land to create fire-clear,no-man's land areas. There are about80 military bases in Owambo alone.The refugees have been forced tomove to the towns, both of whichhouse military bases. Rural villagershave also moved to the towns toavoid being caught in the crossfire.bite result has been a build-up ofmassive refugee camps constructedof corrugated iron and hessian whereabout 15 000 people five in miserableconditions - no sanitation, no runn-ing water and almost no health care.Lavatories are in the streets and pigsand stray dogs share shacks withmalnourished, diseased children.As one doctor commented:'Oshakati was a cesspool waiting foran epidemic to happen.'Record-keeping has all but brokendown as the war cripples ad-ministrative services, 'and there isreally no way of telling just howmany cases go unreported ... and wedon't have any record of those whodie before they can reach medicalcare.'National health teams have begundusting military bases and infectedkraals with rat poison.An SADF spokesperson said notroops had contracted the diseasedespite rumours of servicemen hav-ing fallen ill.the

Page 46 of 51 SADF has virtually taken overmedical services in both Kavangoand Owambo war zones as part oftheir 'civic action' programme to'win the hearts and minds of the peo-ple'.A military spokesperson at asSADF media briefing in Windhoekon April 25 this year said 49 of the 58doctors, rive of the eight chemistsand all the dentists, vets, psy-chologists and surgeons in theKaokoland and Owambo weremilitary personnel.Besides the bubonic plague, otherdiseases like tuberculosis, variousstrains of veneral disease and malariaare also present.As health services deterioratefurther under the strain of the war,the situation can only get worse.But in the Kadoma declaration theministers 'appealed to news agenciesand other international media to es-tablish their regional bureaux in theindependent countries of the region'.Several Western news agencies havealready done so.So, the frontline states argue, in-stead of shutting the door in the faceof the press, they have opened it.The motivation of the KadomaCeclaration is reported to be that theWestern press continually publishesinformation favouring the SouthAfrican government.One example given is the SouthAfrican air strike into Mozambiqueafter the Pretoria bomb blast. Theyouth African military claimed theyfired only on bases of the AfricanNational Congress, which is what theWestern journalists based in SouthAfrica reported.But Maputo based journalistsalleged that only Mozambican fac-tories and civilians were hit in theraid.The Kadoma Declaration aims tocombat the allegedly distortedcoverage given to Southern Africaand develop a perspective in theWestern press that is not the SouthAfrican government's.The Declaration does not limit theaccess of journalists working forSouth African newspapers.000 hectares. A further 200 hectareshas been set aside for the 150 head ofcattle.According to AIM, since 1979,Unango's former criminals have beenattempting, step by, step, to putMachel'Sgu idelines into practice.Men who were once crooks aresaid to now be honest workers, proudof what they are producing, andproud of their town which is slowlygrowing.What used to be the prison ad-ministration building is now the townhall. People who were once prisonersare now involved in the planning ofthe town and farm.The social affairs committeeresolves problems facing the com-munity, including justice.'We deal with disciplinaryproblems and other minor questions,says the head of the committee.When someone breaks a law 'theyare placed in a house, and we givethem the chance to reflect a little onwhat they have done.'The town has a hospital, school anda small scale radio station.Plans are under way to upgradehouses built out of local materials.132 brick houses will be built over thenext three years.One of Unango's residents, DanielSimbine, was sent to the re- educa-tion centre in 1979 after being caughtembezzling money from the NationalRoads Directorate. 'My wife andchildren have joined me here. hetold AIM. 'They are happy with.this,and I've made up my mind to stayhere.''We were given the challenge ofbuilding a city that would haveagriculture as its economic base. Weare ready to right to overcomehunger, and to show that criminalscan be rehabilitated, can becomeuseful members of society.'

Page 47 of 51 rv'-f,v..a ~I' ~# SOUTH AFRICA in 1981 was' a bleak# politicalwilderness.I he biggest security clampdown in the country's historyhad torn thousands of people and the major resistancemovements from the political landscape. Leaders hadbeen jailed, banned or forced into exile.So, the founding of the African Students' Association onwhat has come to be known as Heroes' Day was a par-ticularly deliant act.I he ASA sought to organise black students in high schools and moreimportantly those in the newly established 'tribal colleges', such :u theUniversity of the North in Pietersberg and the University of Lulul:lndat Nguye. Although it soon secured a base ol'support at the Universityof Fort Flare - an old AN(: Youth League stronghold - its growthwas short lived. Within the first months of its formation, it dis-integrated as a result of police pressure.which finally resulted in aviolent confrontation withthe police. After this Nusaswas banned from operatingon the black campusesaltogether.Oy:#Although the right forblack students to affiliate toNusas had become syn-onomous with their generalstruggle to determine theirown future path and direc-tion, Nusas itself could notlive up to the expectationscreated of it. A realdivergence existed in thefact that white studentswere campaigning againstthe erosion of democraticrights, while their blackcolleagues were righting tosecure the most basic ofthose rights. At the sametime the task of politicisingwhite students differed con-siderably from chanellingthe opposition and anger of .iblack students.y 7:~o,~;" W.t.t1 661=- Although the NationalUnion of South African-~ Students (Nusas) had beenlargely put of step with theCongress Movement, it didnot escape the attention of:~ the authorities. The deten-'# lion of Nusas leaders,alongside those from the,,!ANC, Sactu and theCongress of Democrats,stimulated a significantradicalisation within theorganisation. The decisionto appoint ANC President,Chief Albert Luthuli, asNusas Honorary Presidentin 1961 and to developcommunications with theAfrican Students Associa-tion, were examples of thisshift.1 he largely emotionalbasis of this change inNusas, coupled with thepolitical vacuum during theearly '60's, created a greatdeal of confusion within theorganisation. The participa-tion of Nusas leaders in theactivities of the AfricanResistance MovementThe formation of theUniversity Christian Move-ment (UCM) in 1%7 servedas a catalyst for a divisionthat already existed. TheUCM was a multi-racialgroup, but thepredominance of black stu-dents created a qualitative-ly different experiencefrom that of Nusas. Thosestudents involved in theUCM quickly saw thebenefit of an organisationthat was geared for thespecific needs of black stu-dents, playing a significantpart in the development ofblack theobgy and funninga literacy programme forthe black community.crystallised in the formationof the South African Stu-dents Organisation (SASO)in 1%9.(ARM) - a largely whitesabotage group - not onlyrepresented an exercise incostly futility, but severely, ~ damaged the popular sup-port of Nusas amongst stu-dents.,'"- Two events, however,allowed Nusas to rally sup.port on the white cam:.!. puses. In 1%S Nusas in#.:I voted Martin Luther King;r and Robert Kennedy to donational speaking tours ofthe campuses. At the samefl time as refusing King a visato enter South Africa, thestate banned the Nusas',..Y president.The banning evoked mas-#sive public outcry and, inmany senses, turned thetide of public opinion infavour of Nusas. Kennedy'sspeaking tour therefore sawNusas riding a wave of pop-ular support, with up to 10OQU people attending his ad-dresses.Nusas continued to enjoylarge-scale support on theEnglish- speaking univer-sitics as it launched a series' .j of massive protest cam-paigns. Issues like the ex-elusion of communist lec-turers from the universities. and the removal of a blackacademic from a lecturing.;'. post - the 'Mafeje Afiaiiwere just two issuesaround which studentsmobilised. Although theirprotests were met with'; deportations and deten-tions of student leaders, thissimply served to fuel Stu-dents' enthusiasm.Justice Minister JohnVorster's claim that Nusaswas a 'cancer in the life ofSouth Africa that must be- :r1 cut out' looked like nothingmore than the hystericalranting of a threatenedtyrant.With the ASA substan-u rally smashed, black stu#Y.#~cnts now turned to Nusas.Despite vetoes by campus # -authorities and the Ministerof Education, they cam-.;: ;~ paigned vigorously for the#;:.. right to affiliate to theNational Union-, In 1968 students at Fort:' Flare staged a lecture police arrest a Nusas supporter at St.boycott over the issue Cape Town.'Me 1967 annual NusasCongress at RhodesUniversity in Grahamstownprovided the impetusneeded for a reassessmentof black-white student in-teraction.When the Minister ofBantu Education issued adecree forcing black stu-dents to cat and sleepseparately from their whitecounterparts, various blackstudent leaden began toraise the need for an all-black student organisation.t-he idea was discussedfurther at a meeting inMurionhill in 1%8 (at-tended by the Nusaspresident) and eventuallyThe black student walk-out from the 1969 NusasCongress, led by AbrahamTiro, Steve Biko andBarney Pityana,represented a decisive mo-ment in the history of thestudent movement.From this point on, bothblack and white studentswould have to define rolesin the opposition ap-propriate to their own con-ditions and communities.On.ly once this wasachiieved could they con-sider defining theirrelationship to one another.It was a full decadebefore either group reallybegan to meet thischallenge.At the time of its forma-tion, itlion, Saso had withinmany different ideologies,and aimed itself at thebroader goals of unitingblack students and at thegeneral political develop-ment of the black people.In 1970, however, it beganto take a more definitedirection with the writing ofblack consciousness into itsconstitution. 'Black manyou are on your own'became the rallying cry ofSaso as a vigorous cam-paign was now launchede wtoleoumire.rrr# t3a,1.-"?~E POWER IN.)~THE DARKNESS~.An Era of Protest Politics in Black and White _0fivrl:~CSHJ, y~~~encouraging students to I universities.have nothing to do with the'white' Nusas.The second was the 'VivaFrelimo' rallies called tocelebrate the independenceof . Mozambique in 1974.Although these rallies werebanned by the authorities,students defied the ban andwent ahead in the face of apolice presence al Turfloopand in Natal.LThe reassessment inNum after the black stu-dent breakaway broughtnew ideas that protest ac-tivity was simply notenough - it had to be ac-osdpanied by social action.tiY ~t.F ##rxBy 1972 the notion ofblack consciousness hadexpanded to the pointwhere its proponents feltthe need to establish anational poetical organisa-tion. The Black People'sConvention (BPC) wasformed by Saso and threereligious groupings and waspresented to black peopleas an alternative to workingwithin the apartheidsystem. BPC committeditself to fostering the prideand self- determination ofblacks and to rejectingapartheid institutions. Aseries of community pro-jects was

Page 48 of 51 established, aswell as a range ofenterprises intended topromote the 'economic ad-vancement' of the blackpeople as a whole.ff mtf t r. . ~VKrRI a,s h~1,0~+1..xM~o; s:While Saso and BPCbecame active at the publiclevel and in the media, littlewent into concreteorganisation at the gras-sroots. They did not have aclear programme of actionand became preoccupiedwith fostering pride andself-dependence, ratherthan political power.rTwo campaigns stand outas the significant in BPCand Saso history. The firstwas the 1972 'May Revolt',where Saso launched anational student boycott onthe black campuses overthe expulsion of Tiro fromTurfloop for criticisingwhite control over black'their failure to define arelationship to the long-established resistanceorganisations meant thatthey soon came to be seenas a third force' -an alter-native to both the ANC andthe PAC. Early in thehistory of the two organisa-tions, elements within thembegan to explore new ideasand attempt to direct themin a more progressive direc-tion.Wages Commissions setup on the Nusas campusesin 1971 and 1972 played animportant role in the earlyyears of black workerorganisation.But a lack of a thoroughIn 1973 and 1974 over 100 1 analysis of their own posi- -;',rGeorge's Cathedral,MSaso and BPC foundthemselves with few linksand little stated interest inthe plight of the blackworker. Saso was severelyconstrained, too, by stateaction against it. Its entireexecutive was banned in1973 and 12 leaders wereput on trial the next year.#a r-' '~ S~e#-v w s.r#: ~~ .r,slr.~- .:teaa~ wrY.000 black workers downed-'%'4 '~^~#tools in the huge strike '#wave which swept thecountry. It showed updeficiencies in Saso andBPC as well as in Nusas.'#=3a yo.Though Nusas proved tobe quicker to respond tothe rise in workermilitancy, it was not ir~without its problems. ;,tVr,

Page 49 of 51 sf~##' A1 12l=~~.f~lri"Y4..46Wit1k.rf...i#' J;6#c.kots wcb,, ,.Fp. ..^, ion in society meant they found not guilty on chargesoften allowed relationships of furthering the aims ofty of 'dependence' to develop ( communism.with worker bodies - acommitment students%-. weren't ultimately able tofulfil.one of the two nationalstructures to emerge. It wasformed at a national youthseminar held in KingWilliamstown in 1973.Delegates from the Tran-svaal, Western Cape, Nataland the Border regiondecided to form a nationalorganisation which coulddraw university students,working youth and schoolstudents into a programmeincluding leadership train-ing, language tuition andcultural activities.On a more public level,;r Nusas was gating a lot ofr: attention. Its 'Free Educa-tion' campaign in 1972 sawclnha with the authoritiesand unrest~owtiM#"s1QL,.z pules., The most dramaticI r-Winent was the batont# charge on students on thesteps of St George's-V~ Cathedral in the centre ofCape Town, whichprovoked a huge publicoutcry.The state used the oppor-4: tunity to launch an all-outrs ;S,k attack on Nusas. Followingthe Schlebush Commission-% of Inquiry into Nusas and! the Christian Institute in,= 1973, Nusas was declaredan 'affected organisation''' and eight of its leaders ban-, # ned.In the 'Nusas Trial' of1975. four leaders and oneacademic spent a year inthe courts before beingWith both Saso andNusas under severe statepressure; and somewhatout of tune wi(h the risingdemand of black workersduring the middle of thedecade, it once again fell onthe younger students andthe youth to provideleadership and direction.`rmen1 ..of ideasgenerated by the formationof Saw had rapidly spreadto black scholars and youthin general. A host of youthclubs, discussion groupsand cultural organisationshad sprung up to ac-comodate this response.Groups like the JuniorAfrican Students' Congressin Natal and the BlackYouth Cultural Associationon the Witwatersrand werenot formally political, butrather aimed to promoteunity among the youth andto provide wider educationthan existing structuresallowed.The National YouthOrganisation (Nay o) wasVA~# h,r -J16060 L,40441LIftr1G>r 14AS~s57b+. fti.l' a yZYrY ~#, r , ~~TL,42aM

Page 50 of 51 GQWETA SPEAKSI am not exaggerating when l say that we are in a state ofcivil war in Mdantsane. Defenceless people are beingbrutally beaten, detained at random, killed and'houndedall because they refuse to ride, on the buses owned by theCiskei Transport Corporation. Nothing will force them toride on those buses until their demands for the release ofall detainees, the unbanning of the South African AlliedWorkers Union, and a halt to all atrocities are met.The Ciskei rulers are themselves refusing to meet the de-mands of the people. Rather, they continue to pressuriseus with their army, vigilantes and security police.'lhe deaths and suffering of my people did not happensuddenly - the situation did not start with our boycott ofbuses because of increased bus fares. It started in 1913,when the majority of our people were herded into only 13percent of the land. It started too, with the passing ofrepressive legislation that deprived us of the right to formtrade unions, own houses, take part in government, and allthe laws which have been condemned the world over fortheir basic inequality and inhumanity. .T The democratic movement in South Africa has for yearsfought against these basic inequalities - between the veryfew who own everything and the majority who ownnothing but their labour. Against a system which puts thepower to rule in the hands of those same few people, andagainst the range of unjust laws used to maintain this ine-uality.he South African Allied Workers Union continues thistradition. Our watchword has alwayi been 'An Injury toone is an injury to all'.We am a trade union committed to protecting theworkers who are our members. We stand for the buildingof independent unions which can advance the interests ofworkers against the power of those who own the factories.We, in Saawu, hold the South African governmentdiroctly responsible for the ban. We do not see a divisionbetween the Ciskei and Pretoria.When Ciskeian independence was proposed in the late70's the people of this country, the people of the Ciskeithemselves and even the Quail Commission, appointed bythe South African government itself, rejected it.But the government ignored the wishes of the peopleand for its own ends granted independence to the Ciskei inDecember 198 I.So the South African government cannot wash its handsof the situation. We feel it must be held responsible foreach and every act of injustice committed against the peo-ple of that region.We believe that Saawu was banned because Sebebelieves it is behind the bus boycotts. I can state clearlythat it is not. The Community organisations themselves arein the lead, even though most of the committee of Ten isin detention at this time.wit it is true that the workers am the most consciouselement and provide the backbone of the opposition, itdoes not mean that Saawu is in the forefront. Workershave every reason to be leaders in this boycott - they arethe people who pay the busfares, and provide the studentsand unemployed with the money to travel. They are thepeople who suffer most and so take up the issue most ac-tively.If the governments of Ciskei and South Africa sincerelywant a settlement to the situation, they must release allmembers of the Committee of Ten so they can negotiatewith the community. Banning Saawu is no solution.My people will never submit. They are determined tocontinue the boycott - forever, if needs be - until mat-ters are settled on their own terms. On the basis of thedetermination and unity of the people in Mdantsane.The determination of the people is based on the loss ofmany friends and relatives in the wake of the boycott.They say the buses smell of blood, of detention andeverything else they despise, and they may not even beprepared to ride the buses at all - whether the fares arelowered or not.The people have shown their determination and unity.They have braved torrents of rain, they have had to walklong distances to and from work, they have had to faceSebe's guns and vigilantes. But they are not prepared toride the buses anymore. That is why we feel the Ciskeiangovernment should at this point be prepared to negotiatewith the leaders of the people in the region, instead of us-ing violence as a solution.therefore appeal to democrats throughout the world,but particularly South African to turn their attention notonly on putting a stop to the atrocities by the Sebe government, but to oppose the entire bantustan system. If we areto avoid similar. situatons happening elsewhere we mustremove the cancer which causes the conflict - theapartheid system which is based on the bantustanisation ofour land.#I call on all democrats to oppose the ban on Saawu.*We demand the release of all detainees.#We call for a united and democratic South Africa free ofexploitation and oppression.9We call on democrats to support us in united action.aSASPLI NATIONAL 28a 4r 7~.i !. -F_ os_+..APublished by the South African Students Pros tJnior40. Jorissen Street. Braarnfontein and Printed by Kernpion News Primers. Newton Road. Spartan.

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