A variety of laws including the Internal Security and Intimidation Acts and the trespass laws continued during recent months to be used to disrupt trade union activity. In addition a miners strike in June was violently suppressed.
In April, trade unionists from the Metal and Allied Workers Union (MAWU) protested at the high bail demanded for 176 workers at the Auto Cables factory in Brits who were remanded on unspecified charges following a three hour work stoppage. A union spokesman feared that the workers, mostly women, would have to spend the two-month remand period in prison, as the bail requirement of R100 for each worker - a total of R17,600, would be very difficult to raise: 'Auto Cables are responsible for separating scores of workers from their children simply because they disagreed with it over a dismissal' (RDM 26.4.84).
- Albert WITTELS (WHITTLES) (24) a member of SAAWU who was detained in 29 March, later appeared in court charged with belonging to a banned organisation. In September 1983 the bantustan authorities in the Ciskei banned SAAWU when they accused it of being responsible for organising the bus boycott there. SAAWU has begun a court action challenging the ban which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' jail (FOCUS 49 p.10).
Many SAAWU members in the Eastern Cape work in East London but live in the dormitory township of Mdantsane, which is within the Ciskei bantustan. However, Wittels lives in Shornville, a black township of King William's Town, outside the Ciskei and works as a computer operator at the Da Gama Textiles factory within the bantustan.
Most of the argument in the case concerned details of Wittels' arrest. The Ciskei security police claimed Wittels was arrested at work in possession of his SAAWU membership card. Wittels alleged he was detained by South African security police who searched his home and found his membership card. The following day he was taken by them to his place of work where Ciskei police were waiting to arrest him.
On 2 May he was acquitted on the grounds that the state had failed to prove its case and because the court was satisfied the accused did not take his membership card freely and voluntarily into Ciskei (FOCUS 52 p.6; DD 3/5/17/18/19.4.84, 4.5.84).
- Arrests for trespass and intimidation resulted from a strike in mid-April at the Potchefstroom plant of Triomf Fertilisers. The entire workforce of 400 was sacked following a refusal by several workers to undergo alcohol tests. Sixteen workers were arrested on the day of the strike and were charged with intimidation together with three more arrested a few days afterwards. They were granted R500 bail and ordered to appear in court on 2 May. On 25 April a further six strikers were arrested at their hostel and charged with trespassing.
The South African Chemical Workers Union said that in both cases the arrested workers had been pointed out to police by a company security officer and that police action had prevented a return to work by the strikers. There was an earlier strike over wages at the same plant in late March. On 25 June the intimidation charges were quashed after the State was unable to produce further particulars of the charge (RDM 30.3.84, 26.4.84, 28.6.84).
- Robert MKHIZE, a shop steward with the Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union was acquitted of charges under the Intimidation Act on 30 May. The evidence of those he had allegedly intimidated was so contradictory that the magistrate found in favour of the defence case (FOCUS 52 p.9, RDM 29/30/31.5.84).
- Charges were withdrawn in the Johannesburg Regional Court on 14 June against a union organiser arrested after mediating with striking workers. Jeremy BASKIN of the Paper, Wood and Allied Workers Union was charged under the Internal Security Act with convening, organising, presiding over, addressing or attending an outdoor gathering for which a magistrate had not given permission. A case against 'Shakes' SHIKAKANE and 26 others on similar charges was continuing (see FOCUS 52 p.9 where Baskin's charge was reported incorrectly; RDM 15.6.84, 23.6.84).
- Strikes in a number of mines were reported at the end of June following the announcement of wage increases for coal and gold miners. The offer of between 13 and 14 per cent by the Chamber of Mines fell short of the twenty-five per cent demanded by the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the 40 per cent which an inquiry in 1982 said was necessary to bring the lowest-paid workers up to subsistence level (ST (Lon) 24.6.84).
The Chamber of Mines decided unilaterally to impose the increases on 1 July saying that the NUM, which had declared a dispute, only represented a maximum of 70,000 out of the 460,000 black miners.
On 25 June miners at the Coronation Colliery, Vryheid, stopped work. Most of the 3,000 workforce were involved and the police attacked them with teargas. Reports of the events varied but at least one and possibly two miners were shot dead and another four injured by 'unknown persons' from a nearby white residential area. The following day police in camouflage uniform patrolled the mine and its owners, Anglo-American, reported that the afternoon shift had returned to work as normal (RDM, DD, 27.6.84).
Many miners were arrested on charges of public violence. Eight appeared in court on 28 June and a further 88 on 2 July. All were remanded in custody until 16 August.
No arrests were made, however, in connection with the shootings. A South African Police colonel said that the whites had 'all the necessary reason' to shoot at the miners (RDM 30.6.84; 3.7.84).
- A strike by 400 workers at Union Carriage in Nigel led to the arrest of at least 17 members of the Metal and Allied Workers Union for alleged intimidation. Samuel SEEPEE and Joseph VUMENDLINI were charged on 21 June under the Internal Security Act and released on R200 bail. The protest followed the dismissal of a colleague (RDM 23.6.84).
