Don Stillman (back left with glasses), Director of Governmental and International Affairs at the United Auto Workers (UAW), and Moses Mayekiso (back right with hat), General Secretary of the Metal and Allied Workers Union (MAWU). Stillman was in South Africa on behalf of the UAW to support union activists in the metal sector as the Botha government repressed growing militancy in workplaces and townships. The UAW leader and Mayekiso were on their way to speak at a funeral of a slain MAWU member in Tembisa on April 27, 1986 when they were detained and held by government security forces in Casspir and Hippo military vehicles. An NBC news crew driving to the funeral saw the arrests and stopped...
Don Stillman (back left with glasses), Director of Governmental and International Affairs at the United Auto Workers (UAW), and Moses Mayekiso (back right with hat), General Secretary of the Metal and Allied Workers Union (MAWU). Stillman was in South Africa on behalf of the UAW to support union activists in the metal sector as the Botha government repressed growing militancy in workplaces and townships. The UAW leader and Mayekiso were on their way to speak at a funeral of a slain MAWU member in Tembisa on April 27, 1986 when they were detained and held by government security forces in Casspir and Hippo military vehicles. An NBC news crew driving to the funeral saw the arrests and stopped to film the action. The correspondent knew Stillman from covering General Motors and Ford bargaining six years earlier. After demanding to interview the arresting officer, frantic phone calls were made to SADF headquarters, which ordered Stillman and Mayekiso released immediately. During this period, funerals provided one of the few opportunities for legal gatherings at which unionists and anti-apartheid activists could speak out to large numbers of people. The detention of Stillman and Mayekiso prevented them from reaching the funeral before it had ended.
