The crackdown on resistance to apartheid rule continues unabated. Each upsurge of militant activity in a particular area is followed by police repression and arrests.
A noticeable trend in the current list of detainees is the apparent absence of detentions under Section 10 of the Internal Security Act (ISA) until early November 1980. Section 10 of the ISA allows for 'indefinite preventive detention' and is used against people thought to be organisers of opposition. From March to July 1980, over 200 people were detained under this law. A number of them were still being held in November in Viktor Verster Prison in Paarl.
The Minister of Police, commenting on these detentions at the Cape National Party Congress on 1 October, and on police methods of dealing with "riots and unrest", said that "one effective, if unpopular method of dealing with unrest was to detain people, removing them from the community until the situation had cooled down".
"Preventive detention" has, however, not succeeded in suppressing the boycotts, strikes, and protests. The use of still harsher methods has increased, including widespread use of Section 6 of the Terrorism Act which provides for the "detention of terrorists... until the Commissioner orders his release when satisfied that he has satisfactorily replied to all questions... or that no useful purpose will be served by his further detention."
FOCUS detention lists are by no means complete. Many arrests go unrecorded and in the turmoil of the schools boycott and closures pupils have been "rounded up" in their hundreds by the police in "clean up operations", especially in the Eastern Cape.
In the Ciskei arrests of school pupils have been taking place on such a large scale that police have had to use trucks to cart away the pupils.
More than 500 pupils were rounded up by police in Mdantsane and Zwelitsha on 24 September 1980. The Secretary of the Ciskei Intelligence Service, Brig. Charles Sebe, said it was decided to "sweep" Mdantsane and Zwelitsha after the closure of schools in the urban areas. During the "clean up" a number of pupils were taken to the charge offices in both townships, so that those who have come from the urban areas and were "operating" in the Ciskei could be identified. A house-to-house search was conducted by the police and those detained were held under Proclamation R252 of the Ciskei Emergency Regulations until their parents came to fetch them.
The following day police raids in Mdantsane were intensified. Every available police van was used and police off duty were recalled. Another 400 people, including pupils, were held for questioning.
A number of lawyers and community workers who have assisted detainees with legal matters have themselves been detained. Mohamed Rashaad KHAN, an Athlone lawyer who was detained on 10 June 1980, is still being held under section 10 of the Internal Security Act. He was the legal adviser to the Committee of 81, which was involved in organising the schools boycott in the Cape earlier in 1980.
A Mdantsane attorney, Hintsa SIWISA has been detained by Ciskei security police. He was to defend 132 high school pupils who were charged with holding an illegal meeting when he was detained. A field worker of the South African Council of Churches, David MNGXEKEZA, who went to pay bail for the same students was also detained by the Ciskei police.
Durban advocate, Lewis SKWEYIYA, has been arrested under Transkei security laws. He had defended a number of people charged with entering the Transkei without travel documents. The defendants were found not guilty. Skweyiya was also one of the advocates who appeared on behalf of the widow of Joseph Mdluli, the ANC member who died in police custody in 1976.
In FOCUS 31 p.5 the detentions of Carol PLAATJIES (15) and Nancy QIKA (15) were listed. On the same day, however, seven same juveniles, all girls, one aged 13, one 14, four 15 and one 17, were arrested in Cape Town African townships. Two have been released, Mniki MASHIYA (14) and Elizabeth NDZULE (13), but seven still remain in detention, all, it appears, under section 6 of the Terrorism Act.
In August 1980 the four children of Ezra MTSHONTSHI, ages five, eight, nine and eleven, were detained by Transkei Security police. Mtshontshi was the president of the University of Transkei SRC. In June he was expelled from his university and fled from the Transkei. His children were left in the custody of his sister-in-law. The children were held for five days and then handed over to Mtshontshi's father at Cale in the Transkei.
The last issue of FOCUS (31) detailed increased control over the press and arrests of journalists during 1980. Several more journalists and reporters have since been detained.
Stan MOTJUWADI, the editor of Drum magazine, was arrested when he arrived in the Transkei to cover the funeral of Saul Ndzumo, the former Transkei Minister of the Interior who died in detention. Motjuwadi was held for almost four weeks under Transkei security laws and released after issuing a signed 'confession' and apology for defamatory articles he had written about the Transkei.
Cape Times journalist Richard WICKSTEED was held by Security police for 2½ hours on 16 September 1980 and questioned about a story he wrote for the newspaper. In April 1980 he was questioned by Security Police while working for the Daily Dispatch.
Rand Daily Mail reporter Arnold GEYER was arrested by security police while covering the annual conference of the Methodist Church in Bloemfontein. He was arrested for the alleged possession of ANC literature but was released four days later.
Umtata-based Post journalist, Marcus NGANI, was held for nine days by Transkei police. He was not interrogated while in detention nor told why he was arrested. On his release he was 'deported' from the Transkei. He is the fourth journalist to have been detained and released by the Transkei government this year.
Zubeida JAFFER (22), the Cape Times reporter who was detained on 26 August 1980 and held under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act, was released on R500 bail on 15 October after appearing in court on charges of being in possession of banned documents. Her detention made headlines in the international press and prompted 54 United States congressmen to send a letter to the South African ambassador in Washington expressing concern for her safety.
In the biggest crackdown against trade unionists since 1976, fifteen black trade unionists from four unions were detained in the East London area. Two of them, Thozamile GQWETA and Sifa NJIKALANA, leading officials of the South African Allied Workers' Union, were picked up a few days before the others were arrested on 9 November 1980. The union is the first unregistered union to win formal recognition by an employer. Seven of the thirteen were also officials of the SAAWU.
Oscar MPETHA (71), the veteran trade unionist and SACTU founder member, remains in detention despite international appeals for his release.
Eight Section 10 detainees were released on 26 September 1980. These included Nombulelo MELANI, the acting president of the Azan People's' Organisation, and Nicollete VAN DRIEL, a Bridgetown High School pupil. Both went on hunger strike at Pollsmoor Prison for more than two weeks in August in protest at their detentions. The others are Ebrahim PATEL, Cecil ESAU, Zunade DHARSEY, Patrick RICKETTS, Rev. Richard STEVENS and Matthew CLOETE. All were kept at Victor Verster prison at Paarl. Two detainees, who were detained at the same time, were not released. They are the banned former president of the South African Students' Association, Achmat CASSIEM and Abdurazzack ACHMAT, a community worker.
Elliot CWELE, the former Commissioner of Police in the Transkei was released from Umtata prison on 2 October on R200 bail. He was detained after the appearance of a newspaper report on his alleged involvement in an abortive coup against the Transkei 'government'. Detained with him was the former Transkei Minister of the Interior, Saul NDZUMO, who died in detention. On his release Cwele was charged with theft - the alleged stealing of government documents.
