001022 South African and Namibian people. tolerated the presence of their representati'0sQ 0 5 7 5 ' ' Recently, the Anglican synod adopted a mo­ on the Board for Religious Objection. Steps tion calling for the 'demilitarisation' of are now being taken to have these represen­ chaplains serving in the SADF, So that they tatives removed, but the churches have already will not be expected to wear uniform or carry assisted the board in gaining some credibili­ weapons. But it failed to endorse a motion call­ ty, in that growing numbers' of young conscien­ ing for chaplains to be withdrawn from the war tious objectors are applying for — and usual­ zones of Namibia, and did not discuss a resolu- s ly receiving — postings in the Alternative Ser­ tion calling on members of the church to refuse vice scheme. to serve in the illegal and brutal occupation of Alternative Service Serves the Regime Namibia, because it ran out of time! Nor would Objectors participating in the Alternative Ser­ the church give full support to the anti- vice Scheme ignore the fact that, like military , c c ■ ription campaign — it offered only service, it is service for the apartheid regime. "gtneral support" to the ECC. On the other They are allowing themselves to be co-opted hand, the Catholic Bishops have gone further, by the state, and their participation does little by formally calling for an end to conscription, to undermine the regime’s war effort or to and this call has also recently been made by spread the movement of resistance. Objectors the Methodist Church. But in general the South taking part in this scheme usually serve in one African churches have failed to rule une­ government department or another, and fall quivocally against the SADF and in support under the control of the Department of Man­ of the liberation struggle. power. They are therefore closely linked with Alternative Army Service for Objectors the apartheid system, particularly as they are Some of the churches also continue to main­ often deployed in roles which are tied to the tain a-presence on the Board for Religious Ob­ bantustan authorities. jection. The Board was set up by the regime The SADF likes to refer to Alternative Ser­ in 1984, to administer a new system of Alter­ vice as "community service," but in a situa­ native National Service for religious pacifist tion where anyone working for the regime is -objectors. But by limiting recognition to identified as an enemy of the people, Alter­ religious pacifists only, the regime hopes to native Service is as unacceptable as military isolate anti-apartheid objectors, who would be service to individuals whose allegiance ge­ sent to prison for six years if they refused to nuinely lies with the struggle for freedom. serve in the SADF. Nevertheless, it is a sign of the growing The churches rejected the Alternative Ser- disaffection with the SADF that the Board for V,v * scheme as discriminatory in singling out Religious Objection has been inundated with only pacifists and ignoring the most important hundreds of applications for alternative reason for refusing to fight — apartheid, a service. crime*against humanity. Furthermore, it was Objectors applying to the Board for pointed out that Alternative Service was itself Religious Objection form only a small propor­ punitive, as it is six years in duration, instead tion of those resisting. It is estimated that every of the initial two years of military service — year since the 1976 uprisings, between 3 000 and those taking part in it face various and 4 000 young White men have failed to turn restrictions. up for service in the SADF. Hundreds of them The Botha regime clearly hoped that by mak­ — mostly Jehovah’s Witnesses and other ing these so-called concessions for religious religious pacifists, but including some anti­ pacifists they would be able to co-opt the chur­ apartheid objectors — have been imprisoned. ches and undercut support for anti-apartheid Thousands more have left the country . apply­ objectors. While the churches have seen ing for political asylum or refugee status in Bri­ through the ulterior motives of the regime and tain, Holland, the USA and various European rejected the scheme, they have nevertheless countries, or in Southern African countries. y » ■ 000576 >X •5* *. v-Since the deployment of large numbers of Many war resisters who have taken the road _ . troops in the townships towards the end of into exile have in fact joined up with the libera­ f Vv;1984,‘ the number of young men resisting ar- tion movement, and in many ways they have my .'call-ups has increased dramatically. In shown the way forward and helped establish January this year, the regime admitted that war resistance as an essential aspect of the over 7 000 had failed to turn up for the call- struggle for freedom. But this process needs • upwhich is about one-third of the totalto take root inside South Africa as well as in number of people mobilised. Subsequently, exile if resisters are to play their full and when this statistic became widely used as an rightful part in the struggle to liberate our indication of growing support for the anti- country. conscription campaign, the regime argued that As part of its activities in protest against the almost all of those seven thousand were military mobilisation which took place in July students who would have qualified for defer­ 1985, the Committee of South African War ment in any case. But this ignores the fact that Resisters (COSAWR), the war resisters* i v - fl8ure *s much higher than in previous organisation established in London and years, and leaves unanswered the question as Amsterdam, held a series of workshops and to whether all these 'students' will eventually discussions in which resisters: obey their conscription orders. At least some seven thousand have gone 'on "... concluded that the liberation struggle re- the run' inside South Africa, keeping one step N quired more than refusal, it required a positive ahead of the military police by changing ad­ and active commitment to ending the apartheid dresses, registering for university courses regime. ’ which offer temporary deferment from the ar­ The resisters in COSAWR have followed this my, or using other tactics to keep out of the commitment in recent months by organising clutches of the SADF. There are also hundreds a number of activities in support of the wider of young conscripts who have refused call-ups liberation struggle. These include raising for township deployments under the State of money to purchase goods to send to ANC Emergency — many of these people 'on the cadres in Southern Africa, and participating run.' A few have been court-martialled. Other in anti-apartheid demonstrations and protests, . conscripts are known to have mutilated as well as organising activities in support of themselves — deliberately breaking their those resisting the apartheid war; for exam­ ankles, for example — rather than be called ple, by holding a 24-hour fast in support of the up for township duties. initiative of the End Conscription Campaign in Southern Africa. Mobilising the Politically Committed .'■■■■> While many resisters are not politically com- Resistance Within the Apartheid Army mitted, or explicitly motivated to resist .military While resistance to military service itself is' the / call-ups out of anti-apartheid convictions, they most urgent aspect of the campaign to end the ^constitute a relatively large group of people apartheid war, it is clear that, as the struggle who are alienated from the regime, who are escalates, more and more conscripts actually obliged to take on a semi-underground lifestyle in the apartheid army will be drawn into acts and who can be mobilised into the liberation of defiance and resistance. Already there have struggle. The challenge facing the liberation been growing numbers of deserters from the movement is to find means of translating pro­ SADF, some of whom have subsequently join­ test actions into broader political com­ ed up with the liberation movement, and there mitments. New structures and new methods have been press reports of several mutinies, of mobilising this constituency are required, mass walk-outs and other protest actions in­ especially as the struggle intensifies and the side the SADF. In 1984, ayoung national ser­ regime responds with ever more brutal viceman, Roland Hunter, was sentenced to five methods of repression. years’ imprisonment for exposing secret infor- 22 (Left) Harold Winkler o f the ECC on 6th October 1985, the clay before he completed his 30-day fast in protest against conscription and the deployment o f troops in the townships. (Right) COSA WR organised a '_______________' __________________fa3t solidarity, outside the South African embassy in London. mation about SADF training and deployment formation.' A fire which destroyed a section of the MNR bandits operating in Mozambique. of the Walvis Bay military base and was public­ Minutes ofa secret meeting of Sou A African ly described as 'accidental' was revealed to military intelligence officers held in Namibia have been an act of sabotage carried out by: . in May last year, which were obtained by SWAPO, have revealed the extent of de­ 'White and other population group national ser­ moralisation and disaffection in the SADF. vicemen from South Africa and South West Africa, incited by a White ANC-inclined national The intelligence officers expressed concern at serviceman." "poor discipline’', "immorality'' and "the in­ creasing use of dagga and drugs, particularly How many incidents like this have gone amongst national servicemen." They noted unreported is unknown, as it is rare that a docu­ that: ment of this sort is obtained to provide an in­ sight into the reality behind the SADF pro­ 'what is particularly unsettling is the damaging paganda claims to be "the finest armv in military equipment by military personnel, Africa." which can be regarded as sabotage, especially if Jjie negative attitudes of certain national ser­ Black Units in the SADF vicemen is taken into account." In Black units, the SADF faces even greater According to the officers: problems.