POLICE ACTION
SCHOOL PROTESTS
In Soweto police used teargas on at least three occasions during July to disperse gatherings of pupils, both at school and as they left a meeting in a local church. Two Soweto priests involved in the protests were detained, as were a number of pupils.
At a secondary school in Tembisa, police arrived during a dispute over discipline on 22 July. They fired automatic hand guns into the ground in front of 700 pupils before withdrawing.
In Vryburg police arrested 31 students involved in the school protest there.
RENTS CAMPAIGN
Police action in Lamontville and Chesterville became intense, particularly after the killing of Harrison Dube.
In June the Joint Rent Action Committee sent an urgent letter to the Minister of Law and Order and the Minister of Co-operation and Development appealing to them to stop what they called a 'reign of terror'.
An opposition MP from the area alleged in Parliament that the townships were 'in a state of siege' and under 'undeclared martial law'. He said that his visit to the townships had 'tended to confirm allegations of police brutality'. There were a number of reports of children having been badly affected by teargas fired by the police.
BUS BOYCOTT
Within days of the start of the boycott of buses of the Ciskei Transport Corporation, two trade union organisers were detained on 21 July. This was followed by police stopping taxis at roadblocks and pulling commuters out of the cars.
On 22 July police began arresting train passengers who had decided against using buses. Five people were admitted to the local hospital after police fired on people near the Fort Jackson station.
On 4 August a state of emergency was declared in Mdantsane and at least five people were shot dead and more than 40 injured when Ciskeian police and soldiers fired on people who defied soldiers blocking access to the station to try to board trains.
