SOUTH AFRICA-
Government policies... The stick and the carrot The two treason trials which opened in Durban and Johannesburg on Monday, May 20 reveal the other side of the coin to the 'reforms' with which the Botha regime have been trying to demonstrate to the world that it is in the process of, slowly but surely, abandoning apartheid. Even as it "liberalises' the constitution, the state organs of repression are in increasing evidence in the Black townships of the Eastern Cape, the Vaal triangle, the Orange Free State and the Western Cape.
The background to the treason trials is the successful campaign against the August 1984 elections to the tri-cameral parliament (See International Viewpoint No 74, April 22, 1985). Although the government had anticipated some apathy and resistance to the elections, it was clearly of millions of Black people living in the townships and 'homelands. They rarely mixed socially with whites and the residential segregation imposed by the apartheid laws made even the most platonic relations difficult.
These residential laws are still in force. This means that marraiges or liaisons across the race barriers will still confront the couple with the problem of where to live and which school to send their children to. To the outside world, especially to the regime's imperialist supporters in Washington and London, these cosmetic changes are grasped at like a drowning person clutching at a straw and blown up as proof that South Africa is moving in a progressive direction. For the great mass of the people of South Africa it means exactly nothing.
The second of these new 'reforms' is the abolition of the ban on inter-racial political parties. This act was brought in in the 1960's and chiefly aimed at the Liberal Party of which Alan Paton the author of Cry the Beloved Country and Patrick Duncan, son of a former Governor-General of South Africa were leading members. This was the only party with a predominantly white membership which stood for universal franchise. Duncan was closely associated with Philip Kgosana, a prominent leader of the Pan-African Congress (PAC), which lead the anti-pass campaign which had its sequel in the Sharpeville and Langa shootings. The government's proposal to scrap this act is not quite as liberal as it sounds. The South African parliament, set up under the Botha Constitution, is strictly divided across racial lines — one chamber for whites, one for 'coloureds' and one for Indians. There is no proposal to change this. This means that if the 'coloured' Labour Party wants to field a candidate in the election for the white chamber or the Indian chamber, that candidate would have to be white or Indian. Similarly, if the ruling National Party or the Progressive Federal Party want to contest elections for the 'coloured' or Indian chambers, they would have to find candidates from the appropriate race groups. There is to be no mixing of parliamentarians across the race lines. Even the dining room in the white parliament is barred to members of the other chambers. The much-trumpeted reform turns out to be a miserable squeak from a tuneless penny-whistle.
But while the government plays about with its pathetic reforms, the struggle goes on in the urban townships. The funeral of Andries Raditsela, who died shortly after his release from police custody, a leader of the Chemical Workers Union and executive member of the strongest independent body of Black trade unionists, the Federation of South African Trade Unions (FOSATU), was attended by over 30,000 people. In South Africa, funerals of the victims of state violence have become symbols of revolt. It was a funeral which acted
3 taken aback by the overwhelming polls. NDABENI
It is axiomatic for the South African government to refuse to recognise that the masses can act spontaneously against the repression imposed on them by the apartheid regime. There must always be leaders, some hidden hand, which manipulates the innocent and ignorant people. As the cases were adjourned till July to give the defence an opportunity to study the charges against the accused, the exact terms of the indictment have not been made public. We can, however, safely assume that it will follow the line of the accusations against Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and others, when 156 persons were indicted in the notorious treason trial in Pretoria, which dragged on from 1957 till March 1961. They were charged with membership in a 'country-wide conspiracy to overthrow the state by force and violence, inspired by international communism' . The evidence, assembled by the prosecution over a long period, was so flimsly that all the accused were found not guilty and discharged.
Mandela and Sisulu were, of course among those arrested in the Rivonia raid in July 1963 and sentenced to life imprisonment which they are still serving. It was only international pressure and fear of the consequences within the country - this was in the aftermath of Sharpeville - which saved them from the death penalty.
The present trial follows directly on the successful anti-election campaign. No doubt the prosecution will be able to underpin the indictment with similar accusations of conspiracy and violence. This despite the fact that all the reports of the campaign stressed its non-violent character. The only violence came from the police and the military.
lewpoint 3 June 1985 rejection manifested in the derisory
Among the accused are the six people who took refuge in the British consulate in Durban when they were being threatened with arrest; Albertina Sisulu, a president of the United Democratic Front (UDF); Ismail Mohammed of the Transvaal Anti-Presidents Council Committee; and three trade union leaders, Sam Kikini, Isaac Ngeobo and Thozamill Goweto of the South African Allied Workers Union (SAAWU).
There are indications that things may go harshly for the aceused. The judge presiding over the Durban case has warned that demonstrations which 'assume that the accused are not guilty' and which demand their release would be guilty of contempt of court. Apart from the press, the public was excluded from the first hearing and the sloganshouting crowd outside the court buildings were brutally dispersed by baton and sjambok-wielding police.
Once again it will be necessary to rouse the international labour movement in defence of the accused.
In the meantime the Botha regime continues on its path of camouflaging repression with its snail-pace reforms. Since the Uitenhage massacre in March it has announced two measures which managed to get into the headlines. The first of these was the proposed abolition of the Mixed Marriages and Immorality Acts. These acts which were once regarded as the sacred lynch-pins to preserve the purity of the white race in South Africa, prohibited intermarriage and sexual relationships across race lines. It was, from the start, a farce. No law could effectively counter-act sexual attraction and transgression of the law was commonplace. It was, however, a policeman's charter and between 1974 and 1982 1,916 persons were prosecuted under these racist acts. But this legislation did not touch the lives
as the catalyst for police violence in Uitenhage on March 23. This time, with the trade unions involved, the police were wise enough to keep their armoured cars and water cannons on the outskirts of Tsakane during the funeral. Hardly a day goes by now without incidents of violence in the townships. These are no longer confined to the Eastern Cape. There have been clashes also on Soweto and in 'coloured' townships in the Western Cape.
Black violence is directed, not only against the police and military but increasingly against the stooges in office in the "self-governing' authorities in the townships. It is today almost impossible to find a live mayor or serving councillor in any of the townships of the Vaal triangle. This rejection of the Black township councils was underlined in the last weeks when not a single candidate last weeks when not a single candidate offered herself or himself for election to fill ten vacancies in the Lekoa town council. This council is the local authority for four Vaal townships, including Sebokeng and Sharpeville. The white town clerk of Lekoa blamed "intimidation' for the failure to stand, adding that there was no point in even trying to hold the bye-elections before November as on June 16 people would be commemorating the anniversary of the student rising in Soweto in 1976 and on September 3 they would be commemorating last year's revolt against the increased rents proposed by the council. The publicity secretary of the Sharpeville Civic Association, Philip Molefe, had a more realistic appreciation of the absence of candidates which he hailed as a victory for the residents. "The Lekoa council has proved to everyone that it has failed he said, "and nobody wants to join a failing body." He could have added that nobody was anxious for a rapid departure from this mortal coil.
The intensification of the liberation struggle in South Africa has also sharpened the rivalry between the organisations striving for leadership. This has been evident since the setting up of the National Forum Committee (NF) in March 1983 and the United Democratic Front (UDF) three months later. (1) This rivalry was aggravated during the campaign against the new constitution and the August elections. Although suppporters of both organisations actively organised and participated in the campaign, the UDF publicity machine was the more effective and they hogged most of the credit. Members of the Cape Action League and Azapo, affiliates of NF, who clashed with the police during the anti-election campaign were particularly annoyed to read in the newspapers next morning or to see on the television screens that they were UDF. Newspapers actuallly carried photos of protestors carrying Azania and National Forum posters but bearing captions or commentaries describing them as UDF supporters.
This came to a head after the Uitenhage
South African police (DR) 295912 massacre. The UDF took complete charge of all funeral arrangements. Azapo and NF supporters were barred from attending by youths wearing UDF T-shirts. A message of condolence from Azapo president Ishmael Mkhabela was not read out at the funeral. Bereaved families told Azapo that they had 'strict orders not to hold discussions with any other organisation except UDF.
It would appear from available evidence that most of the provocation has come from UDF who seem determined to establish itself as the only legitimate anti-apartheid organisation in the country. There have been physical attacks, not only on Azapo but also against members of FOSATU and other unions. aus
At a meeting attended by several hundred workers in the Jubilee Hall in Langa township, FOSATU levelled serious charges against the UDF. FOSATU had previously approached relatives of the shooting victims to see if they required any assistance but had met with the same response as Azapo. FOSATU charged that a leading official of UDF had hoodwinked many workers about the true position at the funerals. It accused the UDF and other Black organisations in the Black community of a dictatorial attitude toward the workers'. Those organisations deliberately ignored the reality that the liberation struggle would be won by the working class. Violence between the two rival organisations first broke out after the visit to South Africa of Senator Edward Kennedy. The visit was broadly supported by the UDF but vociferously opposed by NF and Azapo, which succeeded in forcing Kennedy to cancel his final visit to Soweto.
While the inter-organisational rivalry may have been spontaneous in origin, there can be little doubt that government agent provocateurs are fanning the flames. Both groups have denied responsibility for anti-Azapo slogans daubed in red paint on the Regina Mundi church in Soweto as well as for inflammatory pamphlets now circulating in the townships in which they berate each
HiLUG 2925~ other in violent language. Leaders of both organisations have expressed their belief that some of the physical attacks on individual members of their respective organisations was probably the work of government agents.
The African National Congress (ANC), from its headquarters-in-exile in Lusaka, Zambia, has expressed its concern at this situation, calling for the careful preservation of unity, which, it adds, is a 'top priority" . It goes on to state Let us stop the enemy from exploiting the temporary problems between the UDF and Azapo ... We should not give comfort to an increasingly uncomfortable and frightened regime.'
Our watchwords, says ANC, must be "Unity in mass action ... confront the enemy on all fronts.' The present unrest has opened the way for the people to seize the initiative and build their own organs of popular power which must be the only authority in the townships ... ' This undoubtedly reflects the new direction which seems to be emanating from the ANC consultative conference in Lusaka, its first since 1969. The force of events in South Africa has raised many doubts within the ranks of ANC. The growth of the trade union movement has led to a demand for a closer definition of the primary position of the working class within the liberation struggle than the vague reference to its "leading role" as defined by the Morogoro consultative conference in 1969.
The final outcome of the Lusaka Conference remains to be seen. ANC has not, as yet, ruled out talks with individual members of the South African government, but insists that these must, in no way, be seen as negotiations and that any talks must be premised on an agreement that apartheid must be completely dismantled. To Azapo, any thought of talks with the regime is anathema. 1. Charter, which is the point of reference of the The UDF identifies with the Freedom African National Congress (ANC): Azapo, participates in the National Forum. - IV. the black consciousness organization,
International Viewpoint 3 June 1985
ITA V ITALY-