Leaflet advertising a demonstration at South African Airways office in New York on May 3, 1969. The leaflet says in January this year the UN Unit on Apartheid published a document containing the names of 404 South Africans, most but not all blacks, who were currently subject to banning orders under the "Suppression of Communism Act." The leaflet says the definition of Communism under the act is so broad as to include any active opposition to the Government's policy of absolute racial segregation known as Apartheid, or euphemistically as "separate development." The leaflet says without judicial trial or appeal the Minister of Justice is empowered to issue such orders against any person he...
Leaflet advertising a demonstration at South African Airways office in New York on May 3, 1969. The leaflet says in January this year the UN Unit on Apartheid published a document containing the names of 404 South Africans, most but not all blacks, who were currently subject to banning orders under the "Suppression of Communism Act." The leaflet says the definition of Communism under the act is so broad as to include any active opposition to the Government's policy of absolute racial segregation known as Apartheid, or euphemistically as "separate development." The leaflet says without judicial trial or appeal the Minister of Justice is empowered to issue such orders against any person he believes furthers the achievement of the of the objects of Communism, although many of the banned people are staunchly anti-communist. The leaflet says banned persons generally are prohibited from entering certain places (such as their places of employment), leaving certain areas, sometimes even their own homes, from communicating with other people, from receiving visitors, from attending any gatherings and from doing specific acts (eg. teaching, writing). The leaflet says Lillian Ngoyi is one such banned person; a 50-year-old widow, she was a skilled seamstress, member of the Garment Workers' Union, and, a devout member of the Anglican Church; in the 1950's she found a way to visit Europe, where she saw the Nazi extermination camps among other things; after her return she became an even more outspoken opponent of racism, and she was known to hold African township audiences spellbound for two or three hours at a time with the accounts she gave. The leaflet says Helen Joseph, aged 64, was banned and placed under house arrest in 1962, the first person to be banned in that way; she was also the first white woman restricted under South Africa's Suppression of "Communism" Law. The leaflet says as Mrs. Joseph had been acquitted of all charges of communist sympathy or affiliation by a South African Court of law after minute questioning about her beliefs (!), it is difficult to be certain why the Government banned her; one effect of the banning order was to stop her employment with the Clothing Industry's Medical Aid Society, through which she conducted welfare work among Africans banished to concentration camps in remote rural areas of the country; it is understandable, of course, that the South African police state would be reluctant to admit that they are persecuting a woman for humanitarian undertakings. The leaflet says one of the most frequently made, and most frequently denied, charges leveled against the South African Government is that it seriously mistreats prisoners, particularly political detainees, especially black ones. The leaflet says at this time Laurence Gander of the Rand Daily Mail is on trial for publishing material. The leaflet says for further details call Dr. Ivan Morris. The leaflet discusses the UN Human Rights Commission, tourist dollars and investment capital.
