Jabu MKWANZI (32), appeared briefly in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on 22 November on Terrorism Act charges. The charges relate to alleged recruitment of people for military training and of taking people to Swaziland without valid travel documents, between September and November, 1976.
In an article in the Guardian on 9.12.77 it was reported that eighteen Africans were to be tried in January 1978 on charges under the Terrorism Act for furthering the aims of the Pan Africanist Congress. The number one accused in the trial would be Zeph Mothopeng (65), a founder member of PAC and former Robben Island prisoner. The number one co-conspirator alleged in the trial will be Mr. Robert Sobukwe, founding president of PAC, who is under banning orders in Kimberley. The other 85 listed co-conspirators reportedly contain the names of 4 men who died in detention, including Bonaventura Sipho Malaza.
ASSETS SEIZED Under the terms of the Internal Security Act, all the assets of the banned Black Consciousness organisations and Christian Institute are seized by the state. After being held for six months they are disposed of to "charitable or scientific bodies" designated by the Minister of Justice.
Several of the banned organisations were engaged in welfare work and are thought to have been holding substantial funds. The Black Parents Association was reported to have R200,000 in its account to be used in aid and legal defence for detainees and families in need. The Black People's Convention is thought to have had around R250,000 to be used in a number of projects.
It is not known what will happen to the clinics and other projects initiated by the banned organisations, but there was anger in the black community at reports that they would be handed over to the Bantustan governments.
GUERILLAS It was reported in the Johannesburg Star in early November that one guerilla was killed and another captured when police surprised two men in a hut containing a cache of Russian-made weapons and explosives in the Pongola area of northern Natal. A South African police detective sergeant was wounded in shooting between police and the guerilla who died.
The Commissioner of Police said police went to the hut after receiving certain information. When they got to the hut, one man who was standing outside fled, and was later captured, while the other man opened fire on the police from inside the hut with a machine pistol. The police returned fire and then there was an explosion in the hut. The police chief said the guerillas had been trained in Luande and had crossed into South Africa on 11 October. The name of the detained man has not been released by the police.
In spite of the widespread detentions in recent months in South Africa, the police have apparently not been able to catch those responsible for a series of recent explosions in the Witwatersrand area. The people responsible have been described as "hard-core terrorists" by the Minister of Justice, Mr. Jimmy Kruger.
There have been at least four blasts where sophisticated explosives have been used in the recent period:- * a bomb exploded in the £60 million Carlton Centre complex in Johannesburg on 24 November injuring 16 people, none seriously, and damaging at least 11 shops. Apparently Russian-made TNT was used. * there was an explosion in the guards van of a train near Pretoria on 30 November. The bomb was believed to be in a mailbag, and it destroyed mail and damaged the van. The guardman was slightly injured. * a bomb exploded at the Germiston Police Station on 6 December in the early morning. Extensive damage costing thousands of rand was caused to the station and adjacent buildings and to vehicles parked in the area, but the only injury was slight cuts on the forehead to a passing motorist. Windows in flats in the neighbourhood were blown out and the explosion was heard 16 km. away. * a hidden bomb exploded under a parked car at the Benoni Railway station car-park on the afternoon of 8 December, destroying three cars and damaging at least nine others. No-one was injured.
After the Germiston bombing, the Minister of Justice Mr. J.T. Kruger, said that incidents like this could be expected from time to time. Although a lot of explosives which were being brought into the country illegally were intercepted, it had to be accepted that a lot were still reaching their destination, he said. Mr. Kruger added that the recent explosions had proved that his security clampdown had been necessary. Commenting on the four bombings, the Commissioner of Police said that it appeared the people responsible had the same training. Afrikaans press reports apparently blamed saboteurs of the ANC for the Carlton Centre blast.
The Deputy Head of the Security Police alleged on South African television that preliminary investigations indicated the ANC was responsible for the Carlton Centre bombing. The Nationalist supporting daily The Citizen said the explosions were "almost certainly" the work of Soweto students who had fled the country in 1976 and had been trained in urban guerilla tactics by the ANC. Several newspapers have commented that the saboteurs appear to be making 'property rather than people' the target, as no-one has been seriously injured in the explosions.
NEW BANNING ORDERS Several former political prisoners are among the latest persons to be served with banning orders. New bans announced in December are as follows: * Siegfried BHENGU (47) restricted to Nkanda, Natal, a former ANC member who served 10 years on Robben Island for having undergone military training and was banned on his release in 1975. His ban has now been renewed for a further two years. * Moses BHENGU, of Pietermaritzburg, who was first banned on 7.2.64. He was re-banned from March 1971 to March 1976, detained in December 1975 and re-banned for a third five-year term in December 1977. * Mohammed ESSOP, of Roodepoort, who served five years on Robben Island after being convicted in 1972 of conspiracy to further the aims of the ANC, in conjunction with others including Ahmed Timol, who was the 19th political detainee to die in police custody. Essop was banned for five years on his release from prison. * Sedick ISAACS, of Cape Town, who was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for sabotage in 1964 and has now been banned for two years. * Peter METSHANE, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for furthering the aims of the ANC and banned on his release from Robben Island in 1975, has now been banned for a further two years and is restricted to Phokengstat, Bafokeng, Transvaal. * Jackson OMPHAHLELE, banned for five years and restricted to Thabamopo. * Abraham WALKER, personal adviser to Dr. Cedric Phatudi of Lebowa, banned for five years.
On 1 January 1978 it was reported that Donald Woods, banned editor of the Daily Dispatch had fled to Lesotho in disguise and applied to the British consul there for political asylum.
At the end of November the SAIRR reported that a total of 160 banning orders were in force.
GUNMEN KILL BANNED MAN Dr. Rick TURNER, a banned former political science lecturer, was shot dead at his home in Durban just after midnight on 8 January, by an unknown assailant. He was reportedly killed by a shot fired through a window of his house.
The Guardian said the killing "appeared to be part of a pattern of Right-wing terrorism."
Two weeks before this a gun attack was made on the home of the banned sociologist, Mrs. Fatima Meer, who like Dr. Turner was formerly a lecturer at the University of Natal in Durban. A guest in her home was injured in this attack but neither she nor her husband were injured.
