1;- A Weekly Digest of - African Affairs SAT., JANUARY 31, 1931 THECASCLTCATlSrS-IJ Subscribe To The Carolina Times Call today 682-2913 SOUTH AFRICA Crackdown On The Black Press AN The South African government has taken action against black newspapers and jour nalists, steps that many observers see as the precursor of further press curbs. After a two-month long strike led by the black trade union, Media Workers' Association of South .Africa (Mwasa), three journalists active in the organization were ban ned. Mwasa President Zweiakhe Sisulu and the Natal branch vice presi dent Marimuthu ' Subramoney were served with the restriction orders' just after the strike ended. Transvaal regional officer Mathata Tsedu was bann- ed ten days later. j Sisulu, son of jailed f African National Con- gress leader Walter Sisulu, and Tsedu worked for the : Postnewspapers. Last week, the company that owns those papers an- nounced it would not try to publish again, follow ing threats by the govern ment to ban them. In the following two reports, Dick Usher details this ac tion and Subry Govender reports on other signs of official displeasure with some of the country's newspapers. BLOEMFONTEIN AN , The closure of South Africa's two leading black newspapers has sparked J indignation throughout : the country. Commen-1 tators representing a wide; range of political opinion have condemned the move. And even, Afrikaans newspapers, usually supportive of the : government, have been ex-: tremely critical. South Africa's two most .,, respected v . black Transvaal and Sunday Post, were forced to close down under the threat of government action. The two papers had been off the street since' November when they were struck by members of the Media' Workers Associa- ; tion of South Africa in a , dispute with management. Following the settlement of the strike, the govern ment refused to allow the papers to resume publica- ( tion, claining the cer-' tificates of registration re quired under the country's Internal Security Act had lapsed. JOHANNESBURG ANJ The Steyn Commis sion of Inquiry, establish-, ed last year to look into the performance of the mass media, has been holding hearings here, and government officials call ed to testify have raised some serious allegations against the English language press. Vlok Delport, from the Department of Foreign Affairs, accused certain newspapers of being "undeniably involved in the psychological onslaught" against the country and contributing to the "revolutionary climate," in South Africa. A Department of. Defence psychologist labeled the positive repor ting by some newspapers of the "Free Mandela" campaign as "subversive," because it undermined te state, which has seen fit to jail the African National Con gress leader. Another defense spokesman slammed a series of "positive" ar-1 tides on the banned African National Con-. gress published recently in the Johannesburg newspaper, The Star, because the articles blam ed the "radicalisation" of the ANC on the inflexibili ty of white South Africans. Some of the most serious charges were made by the head of the security police, Brigadier Johan Coetzee. According to Coetszee, reports such as those com-1 memorating" the banning of black consciousness organizations in 1977, bordered on support for subversive organization. s He also alleged that cer tain reports concerning the death of black leader Steve Biko, who died in police custody, were part of a campaign to discredit detention clauses in the In ternal Security Act. Time and again, various civil servants told the Steyn Commission that newspapers were responsi ble for the unhealthy state of race relations in South Africa. Repeated calls have been made for statutory controls of newspapers, the registration of jour nalists, regulations con trolling the contents of reports, and disciplinary action against editors who venture beyond the bbunds of government regulations. A common thread runn ing through most of the Submissions has been an emphasis of the "total, onslaught" facing the' country and the need for newspapers to back the government in its "total strategy" to counter, the apparent offensive. - v . EAST AFRICAHORN Signs of Peace, War ANJFour African presidents met in Kam pala, Uganda, on January 17 in a highly symbolic gathering marking the return to peace if not complete harmony in the area formerly grouped as the East African Com munity. Zambian Presi dent Kenneth Kaunda joined the presidents of Tanzania and Kenya and newly-elected Milton Obote of Uganda as they celebrated the end of the Amin era, which had -isolated Uganda and con tributed to the break-up of the East African Com munity. ...... The issue of the proper . . ., oeen one or ine aivisive : factors for the EAC Presidents Kaunda of j Zambia and Nyerere of; Tanzania had been among I the strongest African critics of Idi Amin, and Tanzanian troops played. . the critical role in the dic tator's overthrow in 1979. For its part, Kenya, under President Daniel Arap Moi and his predecessor Jomo Kenyatta, had maintained a more ac comodating . attitude .. toward Amin, and it strongly rebuked Tan zania for what Kenyan leaders say was an attempt to re-install Obote in the , Uganda presidency. Moi and Obote made their peace,, finally, in a January 5 meeting, and economic ties between i Uganda and Kenya are resuming, In spite of a new atmosphere, however, there seem to be 1 no early prospects for resolution of the disputes between Kenya and Tan zania that have kept their common border closed for four years. One prerequisite, the object of discussion in Kampala, is settling the dispute over disposition of the assets of the dissolved East Africa Community. But other substantial, and less tangible, issues re-, main. Kenya, with its strong industrial base established under the British, had profited most ! from regional trade, and the border closure has , served as some protection for weaker Tanzanian in dustry. In addition, the ideolqgical dispute bet- Helps Shrink Swelling Of Hemorrhoidal Tissues caused by Inflammation Doctors have found a medica tion that in many case fives prompt, temporary relief for hours from pain and burning itchin hemorrhoidal tissues,then helps shrink swelling of these tissues caused by inflammation. The name; Preparation H. No prescription to needed. Prepa ration H. Ointment and sup positories. Use only as directed. ' I t fte ft (- L-J ' if rt'o - -n -v.:. y.w' ir- r : I ir? JiSJ? .-.v. J hi " s kvv ! tr mi ; r . smmiM mm v ; I ' - IT.- I TV. . Mf.J 4 -Sr i 1 17 r - iJj?. -21 ' 1 Alt Smiles At left, Mrs. Mattie Jones, wife of the only black hostage held in Iran (or the fun captivity said last Monday she saw her husband in television film earlier in the day and he looked "great." "He looked thinner when we saw him at Christmas," Mrs. Jones said of her hus band Charles, a teletype operator with the international communications agency. At right, rharins .tonus accomnanied hv an unidentified medic leaves the dental clinic in Wiesbaden, West Germany, last Thursday and waves to newsmen gathered at the main entrance of the Welsbaden Air Force hospital. ween Tanzania's socialist orientation and Kenya's private enterprise-based perspective continues. And incidents such as a December clash in which 22 presumed Tanzanian ; "cattle raiders" were kill ed by Kenyan police pro-. vide repeated occasions ' for hostility and mutual recriminations. Meanwhile, further north in the Horn of : Africa, the longstanding 1 conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia, may gain new impetus with a U.S. decision to release $40 million in military sales credits for Somalia. The credits had been held up since an agreement was signed in August for U.S. use of the military facilities at Berbera. The delay: congressional in sistence on assurances that. Somali regular troops were not involved in the fighting inside Ethiopia between the Ethiopian government and somali speaking guerrillas. In- the last week of the Carter ad,- UP1 Photos ministration, U.S. of ficials supplied "verified assurances" to the House Foreign Operations- sub committee that Somali regular forces were no longer involved. 7 kKT PEICE SALE CLOSEOUT! Misses' Nylon All-Weather Coats Were $29.99 in 1980 SpringSummer Catalog 14" The look of silk taffeta in woven nylon with glazed finish. Shower-resistant, nylon-lined. Full-flowing style in Misses' sizes. Tie belt included. 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