Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 36, Number 4. 21st March 1973

S.A. Banning Row Continues

S.A. Banning Row Continues

The banning of sixteen student leaders of the National Union of South African Students and the South African Students Organisation continued to dominate South African news last week. Mrs Cathy Taylor, shadow Minister of Education in the "opposition" United Party, resigned in protest at the fact that four United Party members had signed the report which ted to the banning of eight members of NUSAS two weeks ago.

The editor of the South African "Sunday Times" has called for the resignation of the leader of the United Party, Sir Villiers Graaff. He was also greeted with calls for his resignation when he spoke to students in an attempt to justify his Party's complicity in the bannings.

Illegal quotation

In Maritzburg, a large group of students "broke the law" by reading out loud passages from the writings of one of the banned NUSAS leaders, Mr Phillippe le Roux, at a meeting of 900 people at the University of Natal. It is illegal to quote people banned under the Suppression of Communism Act.

Moves are afoot to organise protest demonstrations, although these too are against the law. Mrs Helen Suzman, the sole Progressive Party M.P., sent messages to students in English language universities throughout South Africa warning that they faced "severe penalties" if they held protest processions without the permission of the local chief magistrate. In a statement Mrs Suzman said it was not generally known that the 1970 legislation prohibiting the holding of processions without the magistrate's permission was linked to the "extremely severe" 1953 Criminal Law Amendment Act.

Fines, Imprisonment, Whipping.

Mrs Suzman, said the 1953 Act laid down heavy penalties whenever a person was convicted of an offense which was proved to have been committed by way of protest, or in support of any campaign against any "law", the repeal or modification of any law, or the variation or limitations of the application of any law. The penalties were: A fine not exceeding R300, or imprisonment not exceeding three years, or a whipping not exceeding ten strokes, or any two of these together.

South African government inspected cartoon

Positive Projects

Although students still plan protests, MUSAS itself has ended its campaign Against the bannings. The decision to halt protest action was taken at the National Council Meeting of NUSAS last weekend. The Council decided to concentrate its efforts on the various projects already planned for this year, including its education programme of free education for Blacks and Whites, its labour programme for underpaid and exploited workers, and a cultural programme for blacks. A NUSAS spokesman said: "It was possibly the implementation of these projects which led to the banning of the NUSAS eight".

Perpetual Suffering

The Black People's Convention said in a statement that for the black man, life in jail, or under banning orders or any other restrictions, was no different from ordinary life.

"Black people are restricted by job reservation, influx control, house permits, lack of freehold rights, poor amenities, poor wages, and they perpetually suffer the diseases of poverty and squalor."

The statement called "on all Black students in Black high schools and universities and general members of the community to come forward and replace any members of Black organisations who are "temporarily incapacitated" by the restrictive laws."