UDF INFORMATION BULLETIN ™ z ■» 3 »o~«t>er »98t_____ _______________________ — — — 1

iTy pi fi f t O P j f e a t

■'CAMP T IO N

* 1 !

The call for national united action against im spjfftheid regime and the State of Emergency must reach every corner of the land. norobe (UDF), flafumadi (Cosatu) and ttolobi (HECC) launch the joint Campaign for National United Action

UDF caJJs for ten days of united action

Christmas Against the EmergencyALL FREEDOM loving people of our beloved country are called on to participate in 'Christmas Against the Emergency’ . The UDF has asked the people of South Africa to honour the ten days from 6 am on 16 December to6 am on 26 December.

Ten days of -unity1

Unity against the Emergency! Unity against apartheid! “Christmas Against the Emergency” w ill be ten days to rededicate ourselves to the struggle for national liberation.

In the spirit of the broader Campaign for National United Action

we call on our people to observe this Christmas Against the Emergency.

Let this campaign reach into every community:

* We must observe this ten day period with dignity.

* We must avoid drunkeness in the

CtDffittBQHDWfl awn b>g $ o S

r

Page 2

Christmas Against the EmergencyT ra m 9008 Istreets.

* On 16 December, and on 24 December between7 pm and 9 pm all (electric) lights should be put out and candles lit.

* The National Anthem should be sung, a Pledge for Unity read out and a minute silence observedat all church services

* We must visit theFramilies of those In detention and in exile.

* Let us conduct weddings and other family functions in the spirit of a Christmas

Against the Emergency. The time Is one for moderation, not excess.

The UDF has made and is s till making an appeal for sports fixtures and big music festivals falling within this period to be suspended.

ShoppingAnd to avoid

< 5

Christm as C<mp<ifn poster

complications we are asking people not to shop In town during these ten days.

Shebeens are requested to close at 8 pm from 16 December to 26 December.

Church bells should ring at 6 am on 16 December to usher in the ten days, and again at 6 am on 26 December to announce the end of the campaign.

The above requests are guidelines for all parts of South Africa. They have been discussed by the different regions of the UDF, and not too much regional variation is expected.

UPDATE

' ------

Youth to unite in national organisation

Forward to CongressYD! !7H r'ftnnroccitc frnrn I t___SOON YOUTH congresses from

around South Africa will unite in a national youth congress.

Urban and rural youth are wcitedly working hard towards

W he formation cf the South African Youth Congress (Sa/co). Nearly 40C youth congresses w il1 join together under a banner of black, green, gold and red.

It is almost four years since the now banned COSAS took its historic decision to initiate the formation of youth organisations throughout the country

This decision was taken after much consideration of the conditions facing the youth and students at that time. The need to channel the energies of student activists and unemployed youth into another form of organisation youthorganisations - was identified.

The formation of Youth Congresses started in 1983 onwards and began to play a vital role in community struggles.

In January 1964 youth organisations affiliated to the United Democratic Front. During this period delegates of COSAS attended the first National Youth Consultative conference.

It was here that the youth organisations resumed official responsibility for organising and co-ordinating youth activity nationally

The mandate of the conference was to form youth organisations in a reas ie re there are none, to strengthen- regional co-ordination, to form regional structures arid to work towards building a national youth organisation.

Youth congresses began to form and organise the youth

around issues such as unemployment, the lack of recreation facilities, education and community struggles

Last year the International Year of the Youth (l.Y.Y) provided a basis for youth organisations to mobilise and organise around the theme of “Participation, Development and Peace."

As a result of activities such as cultural festivals, workshops and sport events youth congresses grew. l.Y.Y. was interrupted by the declaration of the firs t State of Emergency, which led congresses to finding new strategies in the fare of repression.

Today the vision of that first conference is close to being realised.

The future is ours!Forward to congress!

UPDATF_____________________N a t io a t l E ie c m t ir e C o m m it te e p e r s p e c t iv e

Uniting for National Action

THE JOINT launching and support of the Campaign for Notional United Action by the UDF, COSATU, NEOC, SACC and SAC8C marked a significant leap forward in our opposition to the State of Emergency and our fight against apartheid.

It was launched after a long process of consultation between

( and within these organisations. M5uch consultation and "discussions were subject to the

many difficulties imposed by emergency conditions.

Thus as the campaign was launched, debetes, discussion and consultation are s till taking place

RegroupingGiven the fact that the state

with all the tools of repression at its disposal, was bent on destroying our organisations, this campaign was seen as an important step towards assisting our organisations to regroup,'

/ reorganise, broaden the base for A fjn fty and continue the advance

against fascist apartheid rule.The Campaign for National

Unity must be seen as a significant focal point to galvanise all democratic forces in the country.

When we say "National" we are talking of all sections of the democratic movement in a ll parts of the country, rural and urban. When we so/ “United" we are soying that our forces must not be dispered We hove to act together, with one fist, in order to have maximum effect. This National Unity cannot be paper unity. It must be Unity In Action. It is not enough to hove one fist - that fist must strike. The unity and militancy

of the people must be mobilised and galvanised into actions which express and reflect their mood and demands.

This is the only way in which we can defend ourselves and move forward. Whenever we are inactive, the enemy cells s tir among our people and disorganises us.

A powerful forceHow do we see the campaign

unfolding? To us, the process of building National United Action must be a creative and ongoing one. It should not be restricted to a specific action or single day. The campaign must unfold according to the political conditions in the various local areas, as well as drawing together democratic forces at a national level. The campaign must come alive in all our organisation’s programmes.

It is a powerful force which must be harnessed by the people in their struggles. The programme for the campaign must be built on the ground in ordBr to make National Unity a reality.

The current Christmas Against the Emergency campaign provides a important opportunity to put this Into practise. We must ensure that in every township and village all

COSATUNmNo 2 Nov. 1986

Forward to

MASS ACTIONHASifla

Cosatu ca ll fo r m ass action

ctemocrotic forces In all sections of the people are frown into these ten days of united action under the banner of the Campaign for National United Action.

Basis for future struggle Let us use this campaign to

reach out to the people, to Involve those sections which are sympathetic but passive, to build the people's unity into an unbreakable dynamic force. And so providing the basis for further advances in struggles to come. The alternative is a defenceless, disorganised and demoralised people

Briefly therefore the campaign is aaen h*

•The culmination and the fruit of years of struggle, mobilisation and organisation. In turn it provides us with the opportunity to take that struggle and organisation to a higher level, in accor douce with the political conditions operating in any particular sector.

* Providing an opportunity for organisations to work towards a definable objective, in both tactical and strategic terns.

* Helping organisations to reconstitute (after the immediate blows of the State of Emergency) and define their programmes in terms of of the campaign for National United Action.

* Assisting in broadening the base of resistance end drawing into the people's camps more and more of those elements forced by the State of Emergency to take a definite political stand against apartheid.

* eiving us the opportunity to isolate the apartheid government even further.

________________ Page 3

Communities stand solid behind rent boycott

Page 4

SINCE the Imposition of the Emergency, the rent boycott has spread like wildfire.

Fifty townships are now Involved ' In rent boycotts nationwide, including Soweto, Port Elizabeth, Mdantsane, Kimberley and Mamelodi.

This means up to six million people are protesting against high rents and the tw n council system despite the state using every means at their disposal to break the boycott.

C The rent boycotts are a way of obilising and politicising

residents around brooder political issues.

The rent boycotts are losing the apartheid regime hundreds of thousands of rand every da/.

Attempts of the state to break the solidarity of the people have

Victims «r WfclU CityMSSKT* IT* k r M

Included ra ids, warning letters to residents, the use of vigilantes, illegal evictions and illegal attempts to make employers collect rent

The Soweto City Council set up offices in central Johannesburg where they claimed residents would pay rent without being ■intimidated*. This lie was soon exposed as the offices stood deserted

The guns of the government have been turned against people

boycotting rent.The resistance of the White

City residents against illegal evictions - from the oldest granny to the youngest child building barricades - exposed the regime s lies that residents do not support the boycott.

The people continue to contest Illegal evictions on every front and to defend themselves where

THE GOVERNMENT has launched a masStVP* •» propaganda and censorship drive’ to justify Us repression and the current State of Emergency.

The Bureau for Information is attempting to censor the spread of Information about the South African situation. The state has made it a “crime" to attempt to produce alternatives to what it says in happening in our townships.

There has also been a increase in propaganda against the democratic movement.

Township residents are bombarded with pamphlets from helicopters, or awake to piles on street corners.

In Port Elizabeth a government sponsored so-called "community newspaper" was delivered house to house.

Fake and false pamphlets attempt to spread disunity and confusion among residents. Claiming to come from our organisations or groups such as students, the pamphlets condemn community struggles or warn the people of consequences If they become involved.

An example oould be a pamphlet with the UDF and Oosatu logos promising to pay residents if they participated in stayaways.

Government officials have also

necessary. Rents are used to pay the salaries of town councils, vigilantes and municipal police. By refusing to pa/ rent residents are no longer prepared to pay for their own repression and subjugation.

Underlying this unity across broad sections of the community has been the establishment of street committees, block, zone and area committees.

The street committees make it

_____________ UPDATE

been instructed to collect information and discredit the UDF and black organisations. They were told to place articles In sympathetic media to spread disunity and to raise questions about the UDF and its links to the ANC.

They were also instucted to;* Discredit the UDF in the

eyes of coloured and Indian people by suggesting that as "minority groups' their interests would be disregarded.

* Establish personal contact with trade union leaders to cast suspicion on UDF initiatives with the unions.

* Act to restrict work sta/awa/s and consumer boycotts and strikes.

* Encourage political divisions in local communities.

The Bureau for Information is also contacting community groups and organisations such as the Black Sash to find out what they do. A Bureau for Information officer, Renette Stone, said ‘ Bureau fx Information - ‘for’ is to GAIN as well as give....lts a question of wanting to gain as much as possible Information."

The Bureau of Information is sneaking into our communities and promising sewing machines to squatter groups and fashion shows to womens'groups.

possible for the entire community to take part InT » m i is

State tries to discredit UDF

The Joint Managemen t Centres

* The State Security Oouncil(SCC) meets tz/ce a week and

^fvises PW Botha's cabinet on national "total strategy".

* At a regional level there are I I Joint Management CentresrJMC's). The JMC’s

use SADF command boundaries and co­ordinate local strategies to deal with potential security problems. ‘

* There are 60 sub-JMC's. They work noughly alonside the

manned Regional ^ r vices Councils. The places where sub- JMC’s operate include Soweto, Credock, Nelsprult, fast Rand, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein.

0 At the local level there are 448 m ini-JMC’s. They are found in the smallest towns such as K warn ash u,Pietersberg, VealTriangle end Wynberg.

0 A ll these structure are for whites. But there are also civilian or "Skakelcommitteesm which ere non-racial.

_____5k

Secret army committee1 spy on every townshipTHE MILITARY apartheid state has set up a network of secret committees throughout the country to monitor "security”.

Recent press reports toW of a massive system of 500 committees under the control of the m ilitary and the police.

The National Security Maanagement system gives the m ilitary and police direct influence in decision making from the Cabinet level down to local government. The network of committees were set by PW Botha when he firs t came to power.

The committees consider everytMwf- trom a rent boycott to the lack of wWer taps in a township as a potential security problem. They deal with a broed range of issues.

Intelligence reports

The committees work alongside and ad/lse the government's structures from the highest cabinet level to the lower local authorities. They recommend courses of action based on intelligence reports.

A top government official quoted In The Weefctv Mail said- ’ They w ill worry about their areas: so many stones have thrown this morning, there is a shortage of water here."

The report said the committees also investigated meetings and

watched important community figures.

Every JMC, sub-JMC or mini JMC has three sub -committees.

The job of the intelligence (GIK-KOM) sub-committee is to allow the military and the police intelligence services to share information.

The political, economic and social committee (PES -KOM) deals with problems of rents or services. And the communications committee (KOM- KOM) relays issues to residents throu# press, radio and TV.

Danger for communities The Cape Town Joint

Management Committee believed that a Residents Association in Atlantis, Cape Town was creating a "revolutionary climate".

The JMC arranged food parcels for the hungry and soccer teams for the children The local Coloured ManagementQommittee was given all the credit

The government Is trying to establish contact with potentially co-optive groups in communities. The breakdown of its informer network over thepast two years due to community struggles means it is desperate to gather information end monitor and Intervene In the struggles of communities.

Page 6 UPDATE

A GREAT FREEDOM FIGHTER AND AFRICAN LEADER IS DEADIN THE early hours of Monday morning, 20 October, a dark cloud covered the people of Mozambique and Africa.

The unbelievable news was that Comrade President Samora Moises Machel had died in an aeroplane crash just over the South Africa border He was returning from a meeting w ith three

^ i^ e r African leaders in C £ m b ia .

Tfc* M t im f ly death t f Machel is a k l t v not only to the people o f Mozambique but also to the South A fr ioan people

Comrade Machel died in the crash along with 28 other people, including several Mozambican government officials.

There ore many questions about the circumstances of the crash that have to be answered. Whet caused the USSR-made Tupolev TU - 134 je tline r to veer so suddenly off its course?

Samora Machel heroically led the people of Mozambique in a long and

is state is the question of the establishment of a people > power that •sserts oar iadepeadeace aad ideatity

aad destroys eipioitatioa.That is why the imperialist coentries which live by eipioitatioa come to the rescue of Portagal siace it is in their

interests that exploitation goes on. Coande Machel on Peoples Ptrrer

against imperialism and colonialism.

It was a measure of the leadership qualities of Comrade Machel. tempered in struggle, that there was a process of fundamental transformation affecting ell aspects of life in Mozambique

After liberation millions of people had for the firs t time access to education and health and welfare services. The people of Mozambique have developed a dynamic and progressive culture.

For the firs t time the people of Mozambique were able to take part in decisions shaping their future. The economic well-being of the people improved many times.

Through his personal conduct Machel passed on new revolutionary values and his vita l leadership animated everyone in Mozambique. He was a working class leader for he was guided in his view of the world by the international outlook of the working class.

b itte r war against the Portugese colonialists.The thought of Comrade Machel was shaped by revolutionary practise.

He knew that “without revolutionary theory there can be no practise"

GUIDING TOOL

Marxism-Leninism emerged w ithin the Frelimo movement as a tool for guiding the struggle

UPDATE

a dart, cloud ovor

Mozambique but the

people vow to fight on

During the liberation war, he played a major role in convincing Frelimo fighters that the struggle was not against individuals, but against a system of colonial and facist dominotion and exploitation. By identifying the enemy correctly, he enabled the M02ambican people to find allies among the Portugese and to recognise the enemy when he wore a black face

In this respect Comrade Machel played a v ita l role in reinforcing the policies of our own liberation movement, by demonstrating the practical success of the anti-chauvinist and anti-racist approach

A main concept in the evolutionary

transformation applied to Mozambique was that of People's Power.

M acbe l: from the people and

Comrade Machel knew that the liberation of the people of Mozambique could never be complete until the people of South Africa had won their freedom.

for the people

In the course of this noble struggle he developed fraternal friendships with other revolutionary African leaders of the calibre of Agostinho Neto, Am Hear Cabral, Oliver Tambo and many more the world over.

The example, ideas and life of Comrade Machel w ill continue to be a shining inspiration to the people of Southern Africa. The greatest tribute we could pay to our departed comrade is to realise his dream - that of a liberated Southern Africa, free of racism and Imperialism.

•lev Mozambican president Comrade Cbissano fo lio v s the coffin

VIVA FRELIMO!VIVA THE PEOPLE OF

MOZAMBIQUE!

UPDATE

AS 1986 draws to a end the UDF and the democratic Movement can look bock with pride at the massive blows struck against the apartheid regia*.

no longer ts we prospect of victory over the forces of facism end colonialism a distant dreem. Today we can say with confidence thet the day of our own liberation is In sitft.

1986 sew the r e - imposition of the Emergency, the detention of over 30 000 of our activists, the (teeth and injury of thousands of comrades, the occupation of our townships and schools by the SADF, the censorship of information about the brutal actions of the feclst forces and the intensification of the SADfs programme of destabilising Southern Africa.

Despite ell its efforts the regime's ettempt to reverse the tide of history has been e dismal feilure. When our organisations are restricted or banned we have formed new ones and have adapted our old ways of working to the new conditions we faee. In townships through South Africa, for example, we hove seen the emergence of street committees end defence committees in Oder to deepen mass participation and protect ourselves from the agents of the state.

During 1987 we can expect no mercy from the regime. The more desperate they become the more they will be inclined

towards new levels of brutality and genocide.

A prime took for the new year w ill be to increase the political education end participation of our supporters, creetlng new activists end extending end deepening the structures of mass democracy. We also need to ensure a tight discipline in our own ranks, end to prevent the egents of oppression from making any Inroads.

The UDF, together with

Cosetu, NECC and SAOC is engaged In a Campaign for National United Action.This campaign should extend into every township end rurel eree building unity among our seperate organisations end drawing together ail democratic forces.

Let the Christmas Against the Emergency be a time when we demonstrate our unity, our discipline and our willingness to socrifice for the freedom we desire.

Botha war machine carries conflict to frontline statesTHE SOUTH African regime's campaign of aggressive intervention in the internal affairs of neighbouring states is reaching new heiahts.

Concerned ‘ about escalating regional conflict, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the UDF has called on the leaders of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland to resist the mounting pressures end inroeds on their sovereign independence and self-determination by the Botha government.

In open letters of strong protest to the leaders of these three frontline states, the NEC outlines South African government attempts to destabilise its neighbours at the economic, military and politicallevels. Tactics to maintain white dominance in South Africa and break anti-apartheid opposition from the rest of the ' sub-continent over the past few ’ years have included SADF raids, bombings, secret commando operations and support for dissident groupings.

The dependence of Botswana,

Lesotho and Swaziland on South Africa for goods, food, transport and. migrant employment has made them particularly vulnerable to bullying by the apartheid regime.

Bent on stopping any opposition to its oppressive policies, the South African war machine has carried conflict into neighbouring states. A disregard of refugee status as well as a disturbing emerging pattern of collaboration between the security forces of the three countr ies and the SADF and SAP with instances of kidnappings, death squads and involuntary repatriations of refugees back to South Africa have ied to concern on the part of the UDF and the people of South Africa.

The open letters, copies of which are being sent to the UN, the OAU 8nd the Non-Aligned Movement, highlight particular examples of South African pressure in each state with special attention paid to the protection of those seeking sanctuary from the violence of the apartheid state

UPDATEPage 9

The Uninformed in Green UniformsRecently the Department of

Constitutional Development and Planning oke/ed the use of 17 OOO new council policemen. The council police undergo a short three month training period after which they are issued with guns end sjamboks and let loose into the townships.

Government officials claim that the job of the council policemen is to guard houses and municipal property. But it has been widely reported that these undisciplined rookies appear to haye almost unlimited power. Q n several occasions the council's puppet policemen have attempted to evict people who are part of the rent bo/cott.

More and more the municipal police are acting in a support capacity to the SADF and SAP. They assist the security forces in raids and arrests, and they intimidate youths and residents and beat them with guns 8nd sjamboks.

* At the beginning of July a young man of 25 years went to vistt a friend who lived in the same road as Silas Tshabalala, a Sayeto councillor. Council ™ ce guarding the house shot him, and dragged his body close to the house. When his mother and 22 year old brother went to see what was happening, the brother was also shot dead

* In the Vaal Triangle between August and September there were 21 shooting incidents involving blackjacks Two people died.

* On 26 August (Black Tuesday) council police killed 26 residents resisting evictions ■In Jabavu, Soweto

* One resident was shot dead in early September by blackjacks in Sebokeng.

* Seven people were shot in Sharpeville during rent

More control over townships is being handed to council police. And vigilantes are returning to terrorise in the uniforms of 'Jrits 9 constables

armed k it s Icons tab# Is i t a pa ssin g out parade *n T * v n a fte r tHr*« v » » k s tra in ing

evictions during mid September.

* In mid September two people were shot dead in Dube township and several others injured blackjacks opened fire on mourners. ""

* At the beginning of November open confrontation developed between townships residents of Orlando West and the council police. Six people were killed, three being SOYCO members.

* An 18 year old Sebokeng pupi I, Leonard Mzizi, was shot dead in mid November.

The arrests of 115 council police for striking against low wages in Katlehong as well as the strikes by 100 Kagiso, md Dobsonvllle municipal police raise questions about the role of these gun-toting supplementary forces. Kagiso police recently demanded a pay raise from R250

to R500, injury compensation and more uniforms.

Calls to resignBut the alleged rampage Dy the

Katlehong and Dobsonvilie police serves as a sign that they are a two-edged sword - that the/ could threaten the state as well as prop it up. The strikes must nave reminded the government that black policemen are constantly called on to resign and turn their guns against their masters.

But the government has no choice but to expand its security forces. The new kits constables, meant for use against the "comrades" are the latest sign of this.

The firs t kits constables finished their three week training in October. Another S000 are being recruited

The smallest victims of

apartheidTHE PLIGHT ana fate of an estimated tan thousand children aid youth In detention w ill be the main focus of campaigns run by progressive organisations this Christmas.

It is the chilfren of South Africa who are the most brutualised by apartheid - socially, psychologically and educationally.

And it is also the children who refuse to become victims of

.apartheid and meekly submit to repression. The turning point of the uprisings of June 1976 and the rejection of colonial education meant that our youth were placed at the forefront of the battle against the regime.

Student organisations hsve been banned and student activists detained in their thousands since 1976. Children have been shot at in the streets, at funerals and in their yards, tear-gassed, beaten up, harassed, detained, and charged.

But although apartheid brutality causes suffering, it also unites families. Increasingly youth and parents are joining together in the street committees organised to protect the lives and homes of their neighbours. And the struggle for people's education has led to families uniting In a common struggle for equal education.

Families apartThe sufferings that apartheid

brings on children does not only include police and army repression. Through the system of migrant labour families are

* separated most of the year. Where families do live together parents have to travel long

distances to work.In the urban areas children of

between ten and fifteen are exploited as kitchen cleaners and street vendors for little pa/.

S till others are forced to make their homes in the gutters and alleys of the white areas. In the rural areas children work long hours on farms in exchange for food

It is the organised young people, the “young lions’ , who this State of Emergency have faced the fu ll might of the apartheid regime. Youth have been the main target of state violence.

Child detainees are not treated differently from adult prisoners. Many are held in the

cells as criminals and are exposed 15' thieves, murderers and rapists. ,

Others are held in overcrowded and filthy cells with inadequate food x washing facilities. There is little access for child detainees to medical attention.

Assaults and torture

Hundreds of cases of assaults on children have been recorded. These have ranged from beatings with fists, rifle butts and sjamboks to electric shocks and other forms of torture. Some released detainees have told of having petrol poured over them and death threats made.

There seem to be several purposes for assaulting children: to extract real or imagined information from them, to force them to confess to "crimes” such as stone throwing regardless if the children were In the area or not at the time, and to instill fear of further involvement.

Parents and lawyers struggle to obtain visits or to even establish where children are being held Often children are

Paacs parks: ■ clsar siga that aar yaath deslra Traadaai tad• hattar lif t far allbrought to court and sentenced on charges of public violence, intimidation or theft without parents or lawyers being informed.

They have virtually no chance of obtaining bail, understanding, the court proceedings or defending themselves.

Since June hundreds of children have been “on the run“ , unable to go home for fear of arrest.

Missing

Organisations involved with monitoring detentions have also noticed scores of missing children. Some have been taken from their homes by people their families thou^it were government agents, while others have disappeared from school or while playing with friends. Missing children range In age from seven to 18 and some have been m issing since June.

Children mm4 ywiU t»4*y y r iv up in a v k W # f 9«v*rnment

Detainees reject Nazi

youth campsMANY DEVIOUS methods to coerce people into supporting the regime, acting as informers or deserting their organisations are used by the security forces. One such method is the

notorious youth concentration camps. The camps are part of a brooder state strategy to depoliticise youth and win their "hearts and minds".Former detainees have

described how at Dlepkloof Prison at the end of July detainees were divided into three groups. Category A being the leaders, Category B for members of organisations or street committees, and Category C consisting mainly of young people Who often were not members of organisations. Category C detainees were

separated from the rest - the authorities being well aware that detention is a school for political education. Detainees in Category C were given more exercise time and promised videos. And they were asked on many occasions to become Informers for the state.While in detention youths were

approached and told that they would be released if they firs t underwent an "education course". Others signed forms for the camps not knowing what they were signing.

Told would be released

A detainee from Mamelodi said; "There we signed the forms that stated we w ill be released. They said we would be taken home in a bus." But instead he and 36 others were taken to a camp

"P a g e H .

where they were asked about what organisations they belonged to and questioned about their schooling.The camps have been used to

“reorientate" youths, to indoctrinate them as well as a means to recruit informers. As an ex-inmate of Roedewal Camp said: "they taught us about leadership and also 8bout communists and terrorists. They showed us pictures of the Russian AK47 guns that the terrorists use and the Rl guns that the Republic uses and they taught us that the Republican guns are more powerful. I did not like that place."On leaving the camp, detainees

were told that their problems . were over and that the security forces would “be In touch".

; But the majority of detainees have refused to go to these schools for brainwashing, while others escaped the firs t night.In 8 letter smuggled out of Diepkloof Prison detainees, all members of UDF affiliates, said they were rejecting the advances of those people advertising the camps. The detainees said that they wanted to assure "all progressive organisations andi people that our freedom and commitment is not compromised by the venomous niceties dangled by the system."Trasco has demanded that the

camps be disbanded. "The government has failed to re-establish itself through the rejected Nazi-style youth camps", said ' a Trasco spokesperson.Trasco has 8lso called on the

government to reveal the whereabouts of about 3000 missing youths.The UDF said; "As its attempts

to pacify the townships become increasingly desperate, the regime has turned to undercover and more brutal ways of regaining control."

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Page 12

S t a t e is s u e s o u t a t d e m o c r a tJ c m o v e m e n t

UDF bears the bruntUPDATE

THE WHITE minority government is wallowing in a crisis of escalating proportions.

This crisis is the product of an intransigent government who refuses to yield to a process that would meaningfully and less violently resolve the fundamental problems facing our country today

The governments answer has been one of self imposed myopia. It has chosen to ignore the root causes of the crisis and has Instead opted for intensified repression.

The apartheid regime has declared two states of emergencies within a period of two years

The emergencies were designed to crush the democratic movement which has continued to dictate the pace and course of political developments in this country.

1985 and 1986 saw the government declaring open war against our people. The peoples answer is clear: Recognising that the dismantling of apartheid and the genuine transfer of power to

the people has become a historic necessity - the people have declared their own war.

The determined resistance of the people has sent the government into a blind panic. It has now launched a systematic attack against the UDF and other democratic forces.

A new terror in our landOur people are being attacked

by vigilantes in areas where apartheid structures have been challenged or dismantled by the people.

The powers vested in the SADF and the SAP have allowed them to CTTfftnd maim our people. Homes of UDF activists are burnt down or petrol bombed. Since March 1985 large numbers of people have mysteriously disappeared or been killed.

An analysis of repression related incidents indicate that the brutalities perpetuated : against activists and their families as well as communities as a whole are systematic and sustained. It is a determined attempt to crush the resistance

of the people.It would appear that all organs

of the state's repressive machinery are acting in collaboration with one another.

A general pattern has emerged of the SAP refusing to accept complaints against them. For example when a man reported being beaten up at the Tembisa police station, a black policemen told the station commander that the man wanted to necklace him. He was detained.

In addition there have been incidents where SAP and SADF reports of events have contradicted those of witnesses. In one case a man was shot by police while driving in his car. He was arrested and assaulted, in court the magistrate was told that it was a case involving a car accident and a stolen car.

Damage of homes

When security police have been unable to find activists at home they have allegedly destroyed or damaged family property.

Another trend that has emerged has been the harrassment and detention of the families of activists in 8n attempt to isolate activists from support within the families as well as in the community as a whole. Families have been taken hostage and assaulted whenever the security forces are unable to find an activist.

On 15 August council police from Soweto abducted the fifteen year sister of a UDF activist. They wanted her to get her brother for them. They took her to a scrapyard and locked her up in an old fridge. She was rescued by people who heard her screams for help.

Collection Number: AK2117 DELMAS TREASON TRIAL 1985 - 1989 PUBLISHER: Publisher:-Historical Papers, University of the Witwatersrand Location:-Johannesburg ©2012

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