In a move apparently designed to counter growing criticism of South Africa's security laws, the new Minister of Justice Alwyn Schlebusch announced on 29 August that a commission of inquiry had been set up to investigate the country's internal security legislation. The commission, under Justice P.J. Rabie, is to be asked to "inquire into and make recommendations on the necessity, adequacy, fairness and efficiency" of the laws.
It is thought that the government may be using the appointment of a commission of inquiry to give the impression that security laws such as the Terrorism Act are being re-considered and may be abolished. Meanwhile, nothing may be published relating to security laws until the Rabie commission has reported — which, as in the case of the Wiehahn Commission on labour legislation, could be several years.
The prohibition on publications which might "prejudice, influence or anticipate" the proceedings of the commission was published hurriedly on 1 September in a Government Gazette Extraordinary in order to prevent newspapers from reporting on a study of security laws drawn up by the SA Association of Law Societies, which had been released to the Sunday newspapers earlier in the week. The legal study was submitted to the Minister of Justice on 22 August.
The Law Society report was the latest of a number dealing with the subject drawing attention to the iniquity of South Africa's legislation relating to political opposition.
In a recently published book "Human Rights and the South African Legal Order" Prof. J. Dugard of the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand demonstrated how the wide definitions and easy procedures of the security laws had made it much simpler for the state to obtain political convictions. This has been done partly by shifting the onus of proof away from the prosecution.
In his book Dugard gives a historical overview of political trials in South Africa since 1815. He compares the post-1976 position with that in the early 1960's, when there was an increase in trials as a result of severe repression and the banning of the liberation movement. By the end of 1964 at least 51 people had been sentenced to death and three to life imprisonment. The following year there were more life sentences as a result of the Rivonia convictions. By mid-1966 there were nearly 1400 political prisoners.
Since the uprising of 1976, according to journalist Patrick Lawrence, "a battle has been fought with varying degrees of intensity between militant youths and the security police. The average South African knows little about it because it is in large measure a clandestine struggle. Political trials however provide one of the best barometers with which to assess the direction and nature of the contest".
Other studies recently published have been "Political Trials in South Africa 1976-1979" by Glen Moss, which analyses recent trials into four categories and gives summaries, in the manner of Focus, of 30 political trials, and "Security Trials 1978" by Linda Ensor (SAIRR) which draws attention to the shortage of defence lawyers willing to handle political cases and summarises 67 political trials.
Newspaper reports listed a handful of around 15 lawyers in political cases whose names "come readily to hand because there are so few of them". One, Shun Chetty, recently fled South Africa, and another, Priscilla Jana has been banned.
In May a lawyers' organisation called the Democratic Lawyers' Association was formed, to work towards a democratic South Africa and the abolition of detention without trial, arbitrary banning and restriction, mandatory sentences, torture and injury, solitary confinement and the death sentence. The Association also believes in the right of all citizens to a speedy and just trial, a judiciary representative of all South African citizens and the abolition of "all legislation discriminating against men on racial grounds".
