During July, August and September anti-apartheid protesters continued to be arrested and gatherings were dispersed, often violently.
Until the middle of August, when they ceased, police reports gave a daily account of incidents of unrest and arrests. From these alone it was clear that hundreds of people had been arrested, mostly following gatherings alleged to be illegal. Press reports suggest that the issues around which people mobilised included the detention and trial of activists, police violence and vigilante actions, and segregated municipalities.
There are no mechanisms for black people to address their grievances in South Africa. Therefore it is to be expected that ... mass action should be resorted to ... (Nelson Mandela, Pretoria, 6 August 1990)
Statements from senior government members made it clear that they envisaged an increased use of the courts and new legislation aimed at protesters. In September the Minister of Law and Order said that a new, stricter law on intimidation would be introduced in the next parliamentary session. The State President said later that 'steps would be taken to ensure that all people who broke the law in the latest wave of violence [would] be brought to justice'.
Support for detainees: The ANC declared 23 August a national day of action against detention and protests were held throughout South Africa. In Cape Town, 39 protesters were arrested outside the Security Branch headquarters at Culemborg Police Station, which the demonstrators said was 'the place where the most consistent stories and allegations of torture of our people have taken place'.
Amongst those arrested were Cheryl CAROLUS, Johnny ISSEL and Trevor MANUEL, members of the ANC's interim committee in the Western Cape. All the accused, who were charged with illegal gathering, were released on bail and ordered to appear on various dates in October. A regional representative of the ANC condemned the arrests and said that Cape Town's city council had given permission for the demonstration. However, a police spokesman said it was illegal in terms of the Internal Security Act because magisterial permission had not been sought.
On the same day in East London ten ANC marshalls were arrested. They had been posted in the city to inform people that a march to mark the day of action was cancelled after magisterial permission had been refused. The police said they were arrested in terms of an amendment to the Dangerous Weapons Act which came into force in July because they were carrying replica guns. The amendment prohibits the carrying of an object that 'is likely to be mistaken for a real firearm' unless the bearer can 'prove he had [no] intention of using [it] ... for any unlawful purpose'. Convictions under the act carry fines of up to R4,000 and/or a 12-month jail term. However, charges against the ten were subsequently withdrawn.
Others arrested following action in support of people held in custody include 18 people who face charges of illegal gathering after two protests in July in Cape Town over the detention of Shirley Gunn.
Also in Cape Town more than 100 teachers taking part in an alleged illegal gathering were arrested outside the Magistrates Court in July. They were there in support of two teachers who were appearing on charges of attending an illegal gathering.
Two men were arrested in August when they unfurled a South African Communist Party flag outside the Cape Town Supreme Court. They were among a group gathered to greet defendants in the Yengeni trial who had been released on bail.
In September six executive members of the Merebank Interim Committee of the ANC were among 24 people arrested at Wentworth police station in Natal. Their arrests arose from a sit-in protest against detentions under Section 29 of the Internal Security Act.
Police and vigilantes: At the end of July, 28 members of the Progressive Teachers of Graaff-Reinet were arrested following a march to protest against police brutality and to demand the resignation of a councillor thought to be responsible for three deaths. The march was met by hostile police action and one teacher was reported to be seriously injured after being attacked by police dogs. According to a police constable who resigned from the force immediately after the march, 'dogs were set loose while the teachers were dispersing'. As a result of the police action, residents embarked on a consumer boycott of white-owned shops in Graaff-Reinet.
A boycott in the Transvaal aimed at ending police and right-wing violence led to a number of arrests. The two-week boycott of white-owned businesses was suspended in August.
In Wesselton, Ermelo, in the eastern Transvaal, the chair of the local action committee was arrested at the end of July and appeared in court on charges of intimidation, arson and malicious damage to property. His arrest followed clashes between residents and vigilantes. According to local residents, a vigilante group, the Black Cats, was attempting to crush the consumer boycott and a nine-month old rent boycott. They said that the vigilantes seemed to have the protection and support of the local police.
Residents of Siyathuthuka township in Belfast in the eastern Transvaal, also took part in a consumer boycott. They said that local police abused their powers during the protest. The entire Belfast Civic Association was arrested, although the charges against them were not reported. Eight residents, most of them members of the South African Youth Congress (SAYCO), were arrested on charges of public violence. According to a lawyer, one of the accused, Lucas KHUMALO, was severely assaulted whilst in custody and suffered a suspected broken jaw. The local ANC convenor, Steven MASANGO, faces two public violence charges. He was released on 1 August but was re-arrested as he was paying bail and charged a second time with public violence.
Forty-six students from the University of the Witwatersrand were arrested at the end of August as they tried to march to police headquarters in Johannesburg as part of a week of student action to protest against violence in the townships. The students, who face charges of illegal gathering, were among a group which was dispersed by the police using teargas and batons. The students called for the South African police to stop assisting Inkatha and for the disarming of Inkatha vigilantes.
