WINTERISPRING 1985 W SHINGTON NOTES ON F le Inllde: • Round Two for R 8g n • South Afrlca Bilii ln Congre•• • Latelt on Pretoria'. Cr8ckdown Se/zlng th Moment: Free S uth Africa Movement American attention has • Events in South Africa. been focused on South Af­ The year 1984 saw the rica as never before through April Actions: March and Lobby Day implementation of South Af­ the Free South Africa Move­ For the first time in over a decade there will be a national march in rica's so-called IInew con­ ment (FSAM). Thousands Washington, DC which has the eradication of apartheid as one of its main stitutional dispensation," have demonstrated against themes. TheAprilActions for Peace, Jobs andPeace will bring people from leading to widescale unrest apartheid across the coun­ across the country to Washington for four days of action to demonstrate and police violence, includ­ try and weil over 1,800 peo­ their concern about issues which are important to every American. The ing at least 200 deaths and ple have been arrested in march has four themes, ail of which are related toPeace, Jobs andJustice: over 4,000 arrests. The civil disobedience to show 1) an end to apartheid and the eradication of racism, 2) freeze and reverse army invaded three black their solidarity with the 24 the arms race, 3) stop US military intervention in Central America, and 4) communities near Johan­ million black South Africans create jobs. The Actions will take place from April 19-22, 1985. The two nesburg. Over 80 percent who live under apartheid. main events will be a merch end relly on Seturdey, April 20 and a of black high school stu­ Among those arrested have Citizen. Lobby Dey on Mondey, April 22 with a lobby training con­ dents refused to take their been 18 members of Con­ ference on Sunday the 21 st. Anti-apartheid activists will be coming trom final exams in protest of the gress and Senator Lowell across the country to showtheir strength and the strong national resistance apartheid educational sys­ Weicker (~CT), !he 1itst to President Reagan's llconstructive engagement" policy. tem' and there was a mass Senator in US history to be stayaway strike in which arrested for civil disobedi- over half a million blacks ence while in office. demanded an end to apartheid. In retaliation, the South African The FSAM was launched on November 21 with the arrest of Rep. government-controlled SASOL oil-from-coal plant fired over 6,500 Walter Fauntroy (D-DC), Randall Robinson, Executive Director of workers for participating in the stayaway. While some detainees TransAfrica, and US Civil Rights Commissioner Mary Frances Berry have been released, over 200 remain in detention without charge, at the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C. The FSAM is a and many face increased government harassment. broad umbrella for national anti-apartheid actions. The Washington • The award of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize to Bishop Tutu Office on Africa serves as its legislative and research arm. focused worldwide attention on the unjust apartheid system. Tutu Since demonstrations and arrests began in Washington, D.C. on criticized US policy, calling again for international economic pres­ November 21 , the FSAM has spread across the United States, and sure against South Africa to dismantle apartheid. Tutu also called for some important local victories have been achieved. But the goals of Americans to IIget your act together" in opposing apartheid. the FSAM-the end of apartheid and a change in US policy-have • The candidacy of Jesse Jackson. Throughout the 1984 not yet been achieved. The greatest challenge remaining before the Presidential campaign, Rev. Jackson consistently raised the issue FSAM is to translate this groundswell of public outrage into effective of US support for apartheid, urging other Democratic candidates to national policy to end US support for apartheid. do the same. For the first time, South Africa became a part of the national debate during an election year. Why Now? • The prospect of four more years of "constructive engagement" upon the re-election of President Reagan gave an added sense of Several factors led to the development of the Free South Africa urgency to the need for speedy action to end US support for Movement, including: apartheid. Reagan's first term was marked by a dramatic increase in ®~67 <XgXXXS888B888888888RB_S-88888SggSB8888888X88XXXgXXXXXXX8XX economic, military and diplomatic ties to South Africa (see page 3). On the grassroots level, the FSAM has directed new attention to • The failure of the Export Administration Act in the closing hours state and local divestment initiatives and other anti-apartheid of the 98th Congress provided an added frustration. Congressional activities. The increased awareness of the apartheid issue and its opponents of apartheid had shepherded a significant package of linkages to local issues is sure to aid divestment activities in 1985 in economic sanctions against South Africa through the House of Pennsylvania, New York, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maryland, New Representatives, but it unfortunately was defeated on the Senate Jersey and other states. Protests Iinked to the FSAM have already floor. A new, strengthened national anti-apartheid movement was helped to stop some Krugerrand sales in Pittsburgh, Minneapolis-St. needed to pass serious sanctions legislation (see page 4). Paul, Miami, and Indianapolis and closed down honorary consulates • The success of anti-apartheid actions on the grassroots level in Boston, Massachusetts and Portland, Oregon in addition to the was also critically important. Local activists around the country have one closed in Pittsburgh last spring. succeeded in obtaining divestment legislation in five states and 17 Student action is increasing, as weil. Demonstrations at the cities, as weil as other successes. Church, labor and university University of California's Berkeley campus resutted in 38 arrests. action against apartheid have ail steadily increased. The ongoing The University of Texas will soon decide on the divestment of the grassroots anti-apartheid campaigns over the past several years $600 million of its investments in South Africa-connected firms. provided a firm foundation to the current protests. Such actions are taking place in universities around the country. Trade union activity against apartheid has also escalated. In What ha. Happen d? December, three organizers of the black South African trade union federation, FOSATU, visited Washington, D.C., speaking to Amer­ Atthough the FSAM has not yet achieved its overall goals, ican labor leaders and others about the repression of black trade significant developments have taken place both in South Africa and unionists in South Africa. Leading representatives of the AFL-CIO in the US. Five of the 21 labor leaders detained since August have and its affiliate unions joined the picket lines at the South African been released, atthough many more remain in detention and two Embassy, and many leading union officiais were arrested. have been charged with "high treason," and two others with "subversion." State President Botha has also indicated that some changes in restrictions on black political rights and the stoppage of some forced removals may be introduced, but insisted the changes would only affect urban blacks not in the "bantustans." Bishop Tutu Trans/at/ng th grassroots condemned the announced changes as "crumbs of concessions" and, therefore, unacceptable. momentum Into concrete ln the US, the FSAM has been an important factor in pressing for pollcy changes remains the increased Reagan Administration action. But there is as yet no sign that "constructive engagement" is on the way out. There has been gl1 at st challeng to the significantly increased pressure on the administration from Con­ gress, including Congressional Republicans, who may for the first m ~ m nt. time support in large number initiatives for economic sanctions in the 99th Congress. Partly in response to this increased Congres­ sional pressure, President Reagan for the first time publicly con­ demned apartheid in a speech on Human Rights Day, December Support from rank and file trade unionists across the country is 10. also rising. One of the most striking examples of this grassroots union support is the decision last December by 200 members of Local 10, International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) in San Francisco, California, to refuseto unload South African cargo. The Pacific Maritime Association (a shipping com­ pany group) has obtained a court injunction ordering the ILWU workers to unload the apartheid cargoes. The American religious community has also participated in the FSAM. Besides their presence on the picket lines, church persons have been among the over 1,800 arrested at the South African Embassy and around the country. A letter f!0f!l .over 300 leading American religious figures, initiated by Ctergy and Laity Concerned, was delivered to Congress on February 25 urging the passage of strong anti-apartheid legislation, including mandatory disinvestment, in the 99th Congress. The FSAM has generated not only a great deal of momentum and favorable public opinion, but also some significant resutts which can generate increased support for the passage of economic sanctions legislation in the 99th Congress. Translating this support into concrete policy changes remains the greatest challenge before the FSAM and its Congressional supporters. The process has already begun. In hearings on US corporate investment in South Africa before the House Africa Subcommittee on January 31 , Jean Sindab, Executive Director of the Washington Office on Africa, testified that "the anti-apartheid movement is determined to see sanctions passed in the 99th Congress. We implore the Congress to act before it's too late." She added: "Political and economic pressure must be imposed immediately ... We must remove the support this country gives to the maintenance of apartheid ... We strongly urge Congress to pass sanctions and disinvestment legislation." The chances are better now than ever David Seavey, USA Today before.