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ECC P O S TE R S T - S H I R T S

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ecc focusMARCH 1986

Construction not conscriptionHave you ever thought of building a park for the mentally handicapped or running a holiday programme for black schoolchildren, rather than patrolling the townships in browns?

Thousands of South Africans will have the opportunity to perform tasks such as these in the course of the End Con­scription Campaign’s Working for Just Peace campaign next month.

‘We are not opposed to the idea of a truly national service,’ said Johan­nesburg Publicity Officer, Annemarie Rademeyer. ‘But we believe the SADF’s role is to uphold apartheid. This is contrary to serving the nation as a whole’.

She said the ECC’s central concern is that conscripts have the right to choose whether or not they participate in the SADF. Only universal religious pacifists have an alternative. But even those who are accepted by the Board for Religious Objection face six years alternative service in a government department.Those who fall outside this definition face a choice of six years in prison ora life in exile. J Z J

The projects we have chosen are aim- ' ed at serving and working closely with different communities, unlike the SADF. The army occupies townships against the will of the black residents, hence our slogan ‘Construction not conscription’, Annemarie said.

In Johannesburg three main projects have been chosen:

* Running a holiday programme for children in the coloured township of Western from April 1st—5th. A train­ing course before the event will be held.

* Building a park for the intellectually disabled children in Eldorado Park, April 18th and 19th. All keen gardeners and carpenters are in­vited to participate in helping to create a stimulating environment for the children in the home.

l i C C C

The distinctive Working for Just Peace logo which will soon be recognised as the symbol of the campaign throughout South Africa. By presenting alternatives to na­tional service, such as building, painting, garden landscaping and child-care pro­jects, ive wish to demonstrate the possible positive aspects of national service as a response to the needs and wishes of local communities.

'^Organising a non-racial picnic on April 26th. Parents and children of all races will be able to meet and share experiences of life in South Africa.

! The build-up to the programme will in­clude the public painting of a Peace Ribbon on Saturday April 12th. You do not have to be a professional artist — just follow the design.

Extensive pamphleteering and poster­

ing, the conducting of a survey attemp­ting to gauge public opinion on alter­natives to military service and two public concerts are also part of the build-up.The Working for a Just Peace cam­paign will end with a rally in the City Hall at the end of April. If you are in­terested in getting involved in the cam­paign, please phone Clare at 648-9282, Stephen at 643-4689 or Gavin at 648-4166.

ECC gets a warm welcome in Europe and Asia

Laurie Nathan and Pete Hathorn, on their return from a two month tour of nine Euro­pean countries and India. They were hosted by War Resisters International and the Catholic Institute for International Relations.

Locally — and believe it or not inter­nationally — the End Conscription Campaign is growing. A recent overseas trip by Laurie Nathan and Pete Hathorn served to establish and strengthen these international ties.

Laurie, the National Organiser and Pete, a Conscientious Objector, spent seven busy weeks travelling through London, Helsinki, Sweden, Paris, Nor­way, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Brussels, India before returning home.

‘The intensity of the struggle in South Africa makes one hopelessly unaware of global politics and of specific strug­gles in other places such as Asia and South America,’ they said on their return.They were VIPs at numerous meetings and discussion forums. ‘Many people were very keen to meet and discuss the possibility of establishing lasting contact. We have not yet begun to realise the full potential of the interna­tional solidarity network,’ Laurie said.

The ‘Working for Just Peace’ cam­paign was received with great en­thusiasm throughout Europe and in In­dia. In a letter Laurie remarked that ‘It is hard for the European Community to believe that from the underbelly of what many there see as South Africa’s most repressive society could come a

movement studded with leading op­position figures drawn together around a common cause — and with the sup­port of black people.’

In Germany, particularly in Stuttgart and Frankfurt, Pete and Laurie discovered a large following for the ECC. They spoke to hundreds of peo­ple who had participated in solidarity fasts in support of the Troops Out’ campaign held towards the end of last year.,‘In fact the support for the ECC is so great that our posters and our Declaration have been translated into German and are on the walls,’ Pete said.

The highlight of the tour was the Trien- nial meeting of the War Resisters In­ternational. This took place on an ashram, a self sufficient village, in In­dia. They made contact with delegates from Malaysia, Mauritius, the Phillipines, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Central and Latin American countries and India.

Finally the tour ended, and the ECC’s travel weary diplomats trooped home to report on their European conquest. They brought with them a positive message from the international anti­apartheid movement for the ECC and other opposition groups in South Africa.

Annual get- together sets pace for 1986In the moving shadow cast by South Africa’s clanking military colossus rides another vehicle. And although lilliputian by comparison, the End Con­scription Campaign has grown enor­mously over the past year.The ECC held its second annual Na­tional Conference in Durban recently. 90 delegates from six branches spent an exhaustive three days cloistered in a convent discussing ways of taking up the demand to end conscription in South Africa.The conference marked the beginning of yet another successful year. Last year 30 regional delegates attended. The representation this year indicates that the call to end conscription is in­creasingly heard from all corners of the country. Apart from the six establish­ed regions, Cape Town, Johan­nesburg, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown, there is growing interest in East Lon­don, Pretoria, Stutterheim, Middelburg (Cape) and Stellenbosch.In this, the major national decision making forum, delegates evaluated the past year. It was felt that the ECC, through the Peace Festival held in June and the Troops Out Peace Fast’ had developed a broad following in the white community. In planning for 1986 delegates urged one another to con­tinually seek to increase this support by drawing on Afrikaners and conscripts.The expansion of the ECC over the last year led to the decision to establish a new post of full-time National Secretary and David Shandler was elected to this position. Stephen Lowry of the Johannesburg region was elected National Treasurer.The conference also resolved to launch an alternativerratiorrahseFviqe campaign ‘Working for Jus!'

( Peace’ with ‘Construction not Con- ''-scojDtion’ as its slogan. . ^

Laurie Nathan, who was unanimously re-elected National Organiser, said: ‘We hope that all South Africans will pick up the idea and engage in one or more of the regional projects during April’.With a spirit of solidarity and unity the delegates prepared themselves for another year of dynamic campaigning against conscription in South Africa.

i § c c

ecc rocosEDITORIAL

The 1986 Johannesburg ECC Executive: Adele Kirsten, Clare Verbeek (Chairper­son), Gavin Evans, Stephen Lowry and Annemarie Rademeyer.

The ECC and you ...

End conscriptionFor the first time in three years a Con­scientious Objector is facing a 33 month jail sentence. 22 year old Philip Wilkinson, a Catholic and a member of the Port Elizabeth ECC, was refused recognition as a Religious Objector when he appeared before the Board for Religious Objection on February 27th, 1986.

As the civil war in South Africa inten­sifies, his case is a reminder of the thousands of young men who agonise about their lives and principles when conscripted to the South African Defence Force. ‘I am prepared, physically, morally and spiritually, to stand by the oppressed people of South Africa. Until there is justice in our land I will be prepared to go to jail anytime they call me up,’ Philip stated at a recent press conference.

We in the ECC firmly believe that con­scription should end. Until conscription is ended we call for:— The right of Conscientious Objec­

tion to be granted on ethical, moral, political and religious grounds,

— The length of alternative service to be the same as that for military ser­vice, not a punitive one and a half times the length,

— Alternative service also to be available in non-governmental organisations.

Working for a Just PeaceFor this reason, the ECC is launching the ‘Working for Just Peace’ cam­paign. Conscription is destructive to the community and through the slogan ‘Construction not conscription’ the campaign will question the violent role the SADF performs in the townships of our country, despite the rare media report of troops playing soccer with township youth.

CensorshipMagnus Malan, the Minister of Defence, has informed the public that information concerning the numbers of conscriptees failing to report for na­tional service plus the number of troops deployed in our townships and the findings of the Geldenhuys Com­mission on Conscientious Objection will not be publicised. He claimed that ‘certain organisations’ misuse such in­formation. We believe the suppression of these facts serve no purpose in the quest for peace in South Africa.

The birth and subsequent success of the anti-conscription campaign would never occur without an organisational superstructure designed to steer and facilitate it.

The Johannesburg ECC General Body gathers every fortnight. It is attended by representatives of affiliated and member organisations, subgroups as well as by individuals. These meetings are based on consensus rather than on formal committee procedures and any policy making matters are referred back to affiliates before decisions are taken.

An Executive committee guides the ac­tivities of the ECC. Your local 1986 Executive are: Clare Verbeek as the Chairperson, Annemarie Rademeyer as Publicity Officer, Gavin Evans as Public Relations and Contact Officer, Stephen Lowry as Treasurer and Adele Kirsten as the Secretary. Their tasks include the overseeing of all ad­ministrative functions, liaising with the ECC nationally and looking for creative ways to publicise the campaign.

The real work of the ECC is perform­ed by its five sub-committees. These are forums for the involvement of all supporters. They are geared towards developing creative approaches to campaign oriented work as well as the ongoing growth of the ECC’s profile.

Unleash your hidden talents by joining one or more of the following sub­committees:— The Media and Culture group— the Education and Development

group

— the Contact and Newsletter group— the Churches group

These groups, each with its own elected co-ordinator, meet regularly. At the fortnightly General Body meeting reports on their activities are given. This facilitates smooth co-ordination between groups and allows for sug­gestions and volunteers for specific ac­tions from the larger grouping.

In addition, workshops and educa­tional seminars are held at which specific matters affecting all members are discussed. One workshop might be devoted to planning our participation in a national campaign and another might be concerned with the ECC's relationship with its affiliates.

Older members (like the writer) remark on the non-confrontational style of operation within the organisaton — markedly different from more tradi­tional political or religious groupings. This democratic spirit can best be il­lustrated by an example, such as the way in which people are chosen to represent the ECC. Discussion on a clear analysis of the major skills re­quired for the particular task, the can­didate’s qualities and limitations, and the deliberate rotation of persons selected takes place. These aspects all suggest something of the society for which those in the ECC strive.

Finally, we in Johannesburg are part of the national ECC and the local Chairperson attends regular National Committee meetings made up of the Chairpersons of the different branches throughout South Africa.

IT ’S TIME TO DANCE TO A DIFFERENT BEAT ...

Okay people, get up off your feet — it’s time to move to a different beat and get your ear tuned and your bodies into the ECC’s latest gear.

Hundreds of people thoughout South Africa are indeed bopping to a different beat. They are jumping and jiv­ing to the sounds of 11 local bands playing against the call-up.

Within three weeks of the initial pressing of 800 ‘Forces Favourites’ records and tapes by the ECC and Shifty Records, there were none left. More have been made and everybody now has the chance to enjoy listening to The Facts, The Softies, The Aeroplanes, Mapantsula, Kalahari Surfer, In Simple English, Nude Red, The Cherry Faced Lurchers and the spine-tingling lyrics of Roger Lucey, Stan James and Jennifer Fergusson.

And that is not all — the ECC believes the anti-war, anti­apartheid culture is growing and has not neglected the latest fashion trends. In Durban, the Eastern Cape, Johannesburg and Cape Town, mothers, musicians, priests, conscripts, students and pupils are proudly donning T-shirts, socks and badges emblazoned wit^ ‘End Conscription’, ‘Moms against war’ , ‘Troo of the townships’, and ‘Killing is no solut]

Art exhibitions, posters, photograp and plays all add up to a gut-levj tion and the activities of

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ecc focusAUGUST 1987

EDITORIALTHOUSANDS of young men begin their initial two years of military service this month.

For a growing number o f conscripts, their call-up presents a major dilemma.They do not support what the SADF is fighting for, yet see no viable alternatives to national service.

Many of these ‘reluctant conscripts’ are ECC supporters — people in the army who support ECC’s call for a change in the law regarding compulsory military service.

At the same time there are those who have decided that they cannot serve in the SADF in any capacity, and have opted for a period of alternative service, the possibility of a lengthy jail sentence or a life in exile.

By the beginning o f this year 611 people had been granted ‘full objector’ status (category 3) by the Board for Religious Objection. This made them liable for up to six years ‘alternative service’ in a government department. The recent Defence Amendment Bill, which set the period of service for religious objectors at one and a half times the four year military service obligation, was enacted despite strong opposition from the PFP. PFP MP for Durban Central, Peter Gastrow, criticised the six year provision as being ‘excessive and punitive’.

In this issue of ECC FOCUS we interview Dr Ivan Toms, former ECC Cape Town vice chair, who now faces up to two and a half years imprisonment for refusing to do an army camp. Toms, who holds the rank of lieutenant, is not a pacifist and is therefore not eligible for religious objector status.

We also interview a conscript who has made the decision to go into exile. In the 12 months to the end of April this year a total of 14 505 people emigrated, over2 000 more than in the previous year. According to Professor Margo Steele, head of the Wits University Accounting Department, the majority o f accountancy graduates are leaving immediately after receiving their call-up papers. Were it not for their call-ups, she said, most would have stayed.

South Africa is rapidly reaching a situation of de facto civil war. The government regards the ANC as its main enemy and has resolved to fight rather than talk. Last month Deputy Defence Minister, W N Breytenbach, attacked the Van Zyl Slabbert delegation for engaging in dialogue in Dakar at a time when the SADF is at war with the ANC.

We reiterate our call for the government to allow all who object to military service for political, moral or religious reasons, to be able to do alternative service in non­government departments for a period of equal duration to that of current military service.

We also call on the government not to compel conscripts to serve in the townships or in Namibia.

AUGUST 26, 1987 is International Namibia day, yet Namibia keeps dropping out o f the South African consciousness.

1988 will see the tenth anniversary o f the passing of Resolution 435 and the people of Namibia seem further away from their liberation than they have ever been.

The war goes on. Little is reported in the South African press o f the deaths and destruction, of the casualties, o r o f the hopelessness o f people for whom war has become a way o f life and for whom survival is a daily uncertainty.

During the last nine years the South African government has succeeded in putting into place a system of government in Namibia very similar to South Africa’s race based system o f ‘own affairs’ powers for ethnic legislatures and administrations.

These ethnically defined bodies control for their own race or ethnic group all the functions o f government which are of the most importance to people such as health, education, welfare and pensions. It is a constitutional system which, like South Africa’s, cannot function at all without race classification and without the further subdivision of the black population into ethnic identities. Namibian national identity is denied.

The Group Areas legislation no longer exists but children who live in an area predominantly occupied by people of another group are bussed from where they live to racialiy divided schools o f their own group. People must seek medical treatment from clinics and hospitals for their own race group.

Namibians experience the same kind of control system as do South Africans where the State uses a combination of repression, co-optation and ‘redressing the grievances o f the people’ in order to ‘protect the system o f government’ and ensure its continuance.

The repression is evident. The notorious Koevoet is well known world wide and the ‘war on the border’ is the subject o f regular official news bulletins which are the only substitute South Africans and Namibians have for free and independent investigative reporting by newspapers, which is forbidden.

Less evident and more sinister is the war for ‘the hearts and minds’ o f the people.

As in South Africa this is waged by a combination o f security forces, cultural organisations, front organisations and conservative evangelical church groups whose claimed membership affiliations are impossible to establish (perhaps because membership barely exists?) with skilled disinformation and propaganda thrusts and a seemingly inexhaustible supply o f money.

Religious and cultural organisations like Etango in Owambo, Ezuva in Kavango, Nasok in Windhoek are all filling the vacuum left in communities by ‘pacification’ o r ‘sterilisation’ which is the official description for the ruthless crushing of opposition to the South African occupation of Namibia. Nursery schools, creches, clinics, vegetable gardens, sport, hunger relief, rural development, Christian crusades are all used by the State through

Their our

the security forces to control the populace and to prevent the expression and organisation of civilian opposition to SA government policies. Leadership training in schools, community education programmes which are compulsory for civil servants, evangelical outreach, all redolent o f Nazi Germany in the 1930s, o f 20th Century Russia, of ‘1984’, are the weapons of the South African State in its attempt to destroy the image of the enemy — communism — which it created in the first place.

There is no enemy. There are only people who want freedom to decide their own future.

Whatever the South African government intends for Namibia it is certainly not the implementation of 435 and it does not seem

‘Meaningful ideals’

struggle is struggle

Th e war in Namibia

continues. Despite

attempts by S A 's security

forces to quell objections

from Namibians, support

for trade unions and

com m unity based

resistance organisations is

grow ing.

that Namibia will be free in any real sense of that word until the political conflict in South Africa has been resolved. When that day comes a democratically elected South African government will rejoice to be able to unshackle the people o f that country.

Meanwhile we in South Africa must not allow Namibia to be forgotten. We must find ways of forging links between her people and ourselves and of keeping them constantly in the forefront o f our minds and in the pages of our newspapers.

The fourth o f May is the day on which Namibians remember the Kassinga

massacre, the day in 1978 when 867 Namibians were slaughtered in a refugee camp in Angola. W e should start planning now for that day in 1988 to be an occasion when we remember Namibia and remind the world that Resolution 435 is ten years old and has not even begun to be implemented.

We are responsible for their distress. Their condition is worse than ours. Their impoverishment has enriched us. Their oppression is our fault.

Their struggle is our struggle and we are failing them by our neglect.

MILITARY service should be extended to all races, black political offenders should be sent to training centres to gain ‘meaningful ideals' and stricter censorship should be implemented, the Social Affairs Committee of the President’s Council recommended in June.

The report claims that riots are a result o f communist influence, the objectives of which are to discredit education, culture, morality and discipline.

It proposed that military service, ‘or other forms of training for young people where the emphasis is to foster discipline and to realise one’s potential', be implemented. It also recommends that training and rehabilitation centres be set up for politically motivated juvenile delinquents.

Mr Robin Carlisle. PFP member of the President’s Council refused to sign the report because it often amounted to ‘gobbledy gook, gibberish and rubbish'. He said it failed to define a common ideal that would inspire both black and white young South Africans.

The report’s proposals fail to address the despair among young blacks, according to Carlisle. He said it threatened, postured and suggested further repressive measures based on addled and ignorant reasoning.

Black progressive organisations, City Press and the Sowetan also slated the recommendations, and questioned how anyone could expect people who did not have full citizenship or rights in a country to join an army which actively helped to prop up the system of apartheid. They queried whether anybody could seriously expect blacks to join an army which indulged in acts o f ‘adventurism’ across SA’s borders, spreading fear and destruction against innocents.

ECC dinnerECC has a history o f creativity and the ECC supporters dinner was no exception to this tradition.

ECC is based on a broad range of support. This is reflected by its 50 affiliate member organisations and the range of prominent people who back the campaign.

The dinner on June 6 provided an opportunity for people to meet one another, for ECC to meet with its supporters from affiliate organisations, the churches and other groupings.

Education

The battle

‘OUR education system must train people for war’, said the then Minister of Defence,P W Botha in 1976.

This view of education applied to white pupils studying under the guise o f ‘Christian National Education’. Black pupils were subjected to so-called ‘Bantu Education’ founded on the tenets o f separate education systems and departments for all races in South Africa.

State expenditure on each white pupil is nearly seven times greater than that on African pupils. At the same time both groups of children are subjected to various forms of militarisation and brutalisation at the hands of the state.

Pupils attending schools in black townships, rural areas and the bantustans have long been subjected to the presence of troops around their schools and even within their classrooms. The Lawyers for Human Rights report on children in SA provides chilling evidence of state violence, largely perpetrated by the army and the police against children. They were moved to describe the present situation as a ‘war against children’.

White youngsters, conscripted into the army immediately after finishing school and sent into the townships (and often into the black schools themselves), become part o f the machinery of oppression maintaining the social, political and economic system of apartheid.

The battle is on for the hearts and minds of all children in South Africa — and as far as whites go the outcome is distinctly favourable for the government.

How has this been achieved? Through institutions such as veld schools, youth preparedness and cadets, all o f which have become unquestioned features o f their school lives.

Most parents do not know that in terms of Section 57 of the Defence Act of 1957 their child’s participation in cadets is not compulsory and that parents can demand that their children do not participate.

Pupils are trained to accept commands from authority figures unhesitatingly and to defend apartheid. War and violence is glamourised and pupils are not encouraged to look for creative ways of bringing justice and peace to SA.

The presence of armed persons and military personnel has been extended to white school classrooms. The Transvaal Education Department recently instructed certain teachers to carry guns. It was reported in the press that the TED was even planning to provide selected teachers and parents with firearms. It was stressed that male teachers who have completed their national service can be particularly useful in implementing ‘anti-terrorist’ programmes. Headmasters and teachers were warned not to publicise this matter.

Forbidding fences, barbed wire and high walls have been built around schools and emergency evacuation drills have been carried out, instilling unnecessary fear.

The male teacher is expected to encourage a positive attitude towards the

is onsecurity forces, to be enthusiastic about his own military obligations, to be proud o f his cadet officer uniform, to cultivate patriotism in the pupils and ‘not denigrate the authority o f the government and the leaders of the state’, according to Captain Charles Fox in ‘The Motivation Role o f the Teacher— A Military Perspective’.

The question about how children should be educated is raised in a recent leaflet drawn up by the ECC and Black Sash Education groups. The leaflet states that while harsh repressive measures are imposed on the black community, ‘our sons

and brothers in the SADF are the cause of much anger in the townships. We teach white school children to fear black school children. Is this really how we want them educated?’

The leaflet, which was sent to Transvaal schools in the belief that South Africans could find peaceful solutions also said that cdets, veld schools, teachers carrying guns, security checks at school gates, emergency drills and security fencing all contributed to an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty. In combination they promoted violence as the solution to SA ’s problems.

VeldschoolsSurvival of adifferentkindWHITE South African school children are taught in accordance with the principles of Christian National Education which is designed to instil patriotism, responsibility, discipline and spirituality. They also learn that theirs is a political system with all the trappings of any western style democracy; viz a parliament, opposition parties, and an independent judiciary. They are told that blacks who demand majority rule already have it in the homelands.

Part o f this system of education dished out to white youth is the weekly Youth Preparedness programme involving cadet training, supplemented by veld schools and ‘leadership courses’. The thread running through these programmes is ‘survival’; survival through an increased awareness o f the so-called ‘communist threat’ .

The ECC Education Group interviewed two white school children about their experiences of veld school.

What did you, as a Std 8 pupil, know about veld school before you went?

Denise: I had heard people say there was a lot of brainwashing. I never quite knew what that meant.

Lena: I knew it was a chance to get away from school for a week. I heard it was fun, that there was camping, hiking and lessons about our country.

Was it what you expected?Denise: I enjoyed the lectures on fauna

and flora. What worried me was that it was all a cover up for the lectures on communism, insurgents, survival and the role o f an able-bodied woman in SA. They even told us that the music we listen to promotes sex, communism and drugs.

Lena: It was very tough, but still fun. They taught us about nature, our country and survival. We learnt what it means to be a ‘true South African’ and a ‘true Christian’.

What kind of activities did you take part in?

Denise: I remember having to stand on guard duty in the middle o f the night. It was frightening because we were told a ‘terrorist’ had been shot nearby the previous week and that we had to watch for others. There was always an atmosphere of tension and fear. One night we had to go on a march. We had compasses but couldn’t see anything. Some of my group stumbled across an old black man in the grass. We all screamed and some girls actually kicked

him. Five of us ran away.Lena: Hiking, camouflaging, mapreading

and using a compass. We also had lots of lectures.

What were the conditions and daily structure of your lives like?

Denise: We only bathed in cold water and most o f the toilets did not work. After a while you start to lose respect for yourself because you feel so dirty. The training was hard and disciplined.

Lena: We were all girls and were divided into groups o f seven. We had to be very loyal to our group. We had to get up early in the morning and read from the bible and pray. We had to stand to attention when the South African flag was raised.The worst thing was the late night lectures— we had to stay awake and listen.

What were the teachers like?

Denise: Most of them were men and I saw one had a rifle. I ’m sure some of them carried guns, probably to protect us girls.

Lena: They were very patriotic. They said we could call them ‘Oom’ (uncle) because they were not our teachers, but we still had to have respect for them. One of them was in army uniform all the time.

Did veld school have an effect on your outlook on life?

Denise: Yes, it made me think twice about our schooling. They told us how black pupils are being used by the communists, but I couldn’t see the difference between the brainwashing I was warned about and what happened at veld school.

Lena: It made me love SA more and helped me realise what a beautiful country it is.

It’s th year a

Die broer wat ’n vlugteling geword het .’n Jong Afrikaanse man het onlangs die land verlaat. Hy sal tien teen een nooit ol nie gou na sy vaderland terugkeer nie. FOCUS wou by hom weet wat alles aan so ’n ingrypende besluit voorafgegaan het.

ANDRE was in Matriek toe sy broer in ’n landmynongeluk aan die grens beseer is. Dit was ook die jaar waarin hy vir die eerste keer met die werklikheid van oorlog in sy persoonlike lewe gekonfronteer is omdat hy uitstel vir studie-doeleindes moes vra.

Sy broer se ongeluk het spesifieke spanninge en konfrontasies in hul gesin geskep hoewel Andre in daardie stadium reeds al hoe minder kontak met hom gehad het. In sy lewe op universiteit en later 'n technikon het hy self meer polities bewus geraak en ook morele besware begin ontwikkel hoekom hy nie sy diensplig wou gaan doen nie.

Verlede jaar het hy na Europa vertrek maar na "n sameloop van omstandighede 'n jaar later sonder enige probleme na Suid- Afrika teruggekeer. Hy het nie oproep- instruksies gehad voordat hy weg is nie.Kort na sy terugkeer egter is hy vir Augustus opgeroep. In Julie het hy weer vertrek — die keer met die ernstige voornemens om in Amsterdam om ylugtelingstatus aansoek te doen.

‘My redes vir my besluit om die land te verlaat is ’n ineenstrengeling van politieke, morele en sielkundige oorwegings.’

Toe Andre klein was, het sy ouers hom altyd bang gemaak met die polisie wat hom sou kom haal as hy nie wou skool toe gaan nie (amper soos ander ouers na die ‘lammervanger’ verwys het — wat dit dan ook al mag beteken). Vandag glo hy dat hierdie vrees nou nog betekenis het wanneer dit na mense in uniform verwys. Hy het moeite om die outoritere gesag van ’n uniform te aanvaar.

Sy broer se rugbesering wat hy in 1981 in die landmynongeluk opgedoen het, het tot gevolg dat ’n geringe besering hom vir die res van sy lewe kan verlam. Hy ondergaan gereeld sielkundige terapie en kan van tyd tot tyd so lank as ’n maand nie werk nie. Wat Andre bekommer, is dat hy meen die ineenstortings raak intenser. Tydens die

laaste een — kort voor Andre se vertrek — kon sy broer twee maande lank nie werk nie.

Minstens vyf operasies het op die besering gevolg en dit het boonop sowat twee jaar geduur voordat sy broer van kampe vrystelling kon kry.

Andre beskou dit as een van die ontstellendste dinge dat hierdie man, wat goed in sport en op ander gebiede was, vandag ’n enorme las op sy skouers dra.

Maar Andre se besluit het nie uit die lug geval nie. En dit is ook nie ’n impulsiewe en onverantwoordelike jongmens-besluit nie. Na sy terugkeer in Januarie vanjaar het hy eers hard probeer werk kry — as personeel- beampte waarin hy opgelei is. M aar hy het besef dat sonder bewyse dat hy diensplig gedoen het, sy kanse baie skraal is.

Hyself se dat hy in die maande voordat hy weg is baie tyd gehad het om te dink, waar te neem en besluite teen mekaar op te weeg. ‘Verlede jaar was ek inderwaarheid nog ’n student — met vae politieke idees, miskien ook meer teoreties as prakties.M aar in Europa het ek amper as ’n “ buitestaander” dinge oor SA ervaar wat ek die afgelope maande hier in die praktyk kqn sien.’

Hy het onder meer by die Adviesburo vir Godsdienstig-beswaardes aangeklop waar hy ingelig is dat sy kanse ’n ronde nul is.Hy het oorweeg dm ’n werk in ’n ‘tuisland’ te gaan soek, maar is geadviseer dat sy finale oproep-instruksies dit ook buite die kwessie sal maak. Ten einde laaste het hy besluit om Amsterdam toe te gaan. Die tuisland-idee.het hom veral nogal aangestaan

omdat hy dan die tyd sou kon vind om verder in maatskaplike werk te studeer — wat hy baie graag wil doen.

Sou hy altematiewe diensplig gedoen het? Sy antwoord is ’n onomwonde ja. Indien hy, soos dxt wat die ECC voorstaan, ’n keuse gehad het om gemeenskapsdiens pleks van militere diens te doen, sou hy beslis.

Sy ouers, wat hy as polities taamlik konserwatief bestempel, het hom hul voile ondersteuning in sy besluit gegee. ‘Na wat met my broer gebeur het, sal hulle my nooit teenstaan in so ’n besluit nie. Ek dink ook hulle ken my goed genoeg om te weet dat ek moeilik in die SAW sal aanpas.’

W at wag in Europa vir Andre? Beslis nie ’n paadjie wat met maneskyn en rose besaai is nie. Ten eerste mag iemand met vlugteling B-status in Amsterdam twee jaar nie werk of verder studeer nie en het jy net genoeg geld om jou met basiese behoeftes aan die lewe te hou. Daarna volg nog minstens ’n jaa r voordat jy na streng keuring om burgerskap kan aansoek doen. En dan begin die harde werklikheid van ’n bestaan probeer maak in ’n oorbevolkte en ontwikkelde land. Gelukkig is hy op 24 iemand met ’n besonder volwasse lewensuitkyk.

Die ironie is dat hy nou vir homself ’n selfgerigte bestaan moet uitkerf in ’n oorversadigde arbeidsmark, terwyl hier, op eie bodem daar soveel meer geleentheid en behoefte is aan professionele mense wat ’n bydrae tot gemeenskapstigting kan maak.

(Andre se naam is vir sy beskerming in hierdie artikel verander.)

Did You Know ...that Hendrik Koom hof, 24 year old graduate from RAU, considers his army call-up a ‘dilemma’? Hendrik, the nephew of SA’s ambassador to the United States, Dr Piet Koornhof, was rocketed into the public eye by his recent marriage to Reahana Bobert, a Muslim Malay woman.

‘Although I am morally against conscription, it is totally untrue that I asked my uncle to pull strings to avoid

doing service’, Hendrik told the Sunday Times. ‘At no stage did I contemplate evading military service. It would have been immoral o f me to ask anybody to get me out as this is the law o f the land.

‘Morally I was brought up as a Christian and the Bible teaches one not to kill one’s fellow beings. The same applies to Islam ... I have always believed that nothing can be achieved through violence.’

1S

at time of gain ...

Dr Ivan Toms, ECC member and founder of the only clinic in Crossroads in 1980, discusses his attitude to military service.

WHEN did you receive your most recent military call up?

I received a call up in April for a 31 day camp at the Western Cape Medical Command from 1 July. I had just come back from speaking at an ECC meeting on UCT’s campus! I was stunned because my last call up in May 1984 had been withdrawn following pressure from the American ambassador. But I remained committed to my decision to go into jail rather than serve in the army.

What is your occupation at present?I am presently part o f a team training

community health workers in four black townships in the Western Cape. The project falls under the auspices o f the department o f the mission of the Church o f the Province o f South Africa.

Would you discuss your work experience at Crossroads and the extent to which it affected your attitude?

My experiences in the squatter camp of

rain. On one Friday some o f the women tried to hold onto their shelters o f plastic and branches. For the police this constituted a ‘rio t’ and they used teargas, sneeze machines, rubber bullets and dogs on the squatters. We treated a woman with half her calf torn away by a dog bite, as well as another with a battered skull. The Crossroads community did not differentiate between the police and the army. They were all ‘amajoni’ to the children and were feared and hated. My political choices became clear because of the state’s disregard for the rights and value of blacks.

In May/June 1986 the vigilantes known as ‘witdoeke’ attacked residents in the surrounding squatter camps and KTC, leaving 70 000 people homeless. Our clinic was in the middle o f ‘witdoek’ territory, where the SADF and police were seen to side with the ‘witdoeke’, protecting them while teargassing others. The sADF also patrolled the burnt areas which had been

The sad dilemma of having a conscience ...

Crossroads, outside Cape Town, were crucial to my political development. I founded the Empilisweni (‘Place of healing’) SACLA Clinic at Crossroads in 1980 and worked there for six years until 1986. When it was established it was the only curative clinic in the area, despite the presence of 40 000 people. By 1986 there were 130 000 people at Crossroads. My initial reason for going to Crossroads was the fact that I was a Christian and wanted to serve the poor.

A number o f experiences at Crossroads affected me deeply. One was witnessing administration board officials and riot police breaking down people’s small shelters on a daily basis over three weeks in September 1983. These people had come to Crossroads because they were starving in the homelands, yet officials left women and tiny children exposed in Cape Town’s winter

fenced off to prevent squatters rebuilding. The ‘witdoeke’ issued many threats against our black clinic staff. As a result we had to close the clinic. Four days later the ‘witdoeke’ invited the SADF to run the clinic. The SADF symbolically moved in on June 16 1986, the tenth anniversary o f the Soweto uprising. Posters saying ‘SADF from the people for the people’ were put up. Yet for six months they ran the clinic using army doctors with pistols in their belts, and medical orderlies who had their rifles standing in the com er of the dressing room. They also gave their instructions to people in Afrikaans.

What support have you received from the ECC and the church on the stand you have taken?

The ECC supports my stand and sees me as someone who has no choice but to go to prison. But the ECC does not expect

Rashid Rooinasie, an Ovambo con­scripted into the SWA Territorial Force faces a possible six-year prison sentence if he fails in his bid to be classified as a religious objector.

everybody to object. That is why they are fighting to resolve the dilemma for people like me so that the consequences of objection don’t force people to serve in the army against their consciences. My church has been fully supportive o f my stand and Archbishop Desmond Tutu has agreed to be a witness if I go on trial. The Anglican Methodist and Catholic establishments have called for a change in the legislation to accommodate both religious, moral and political objectors who will not. fight in this unjust war.

LATE FLASH: Dr Toms’ call up has been withdrawn by the authorities. But it could be re-issued at short notice.

EEN van die redes vir die mislukking van die ECC se Oproep tot Vrede onder middelklas konserwatiewe Afrikaanse mense, is die ondeurdringbaarheid van ’n bepaalde soort taal. Dit is ’n manlik-militer- pietistiese taalspel.

Dit is die taal waarin veral drie Afrikaner-deugde saamval: macho- manlikheid ( ‘ek hou van ’n man wat ’n slag kan slaan’); dienspligtigheid: ( ‘dit is ons plig om ter wille van behoud van volk en vaderland militere diens te doen en paraat, gedissiplineerd en slagvaardig te wees) en pietistiese protestantisme: (‘die eintlike heil le tog in die hiernamaals; hier op aarde moet ons ons in gehoorsaamheid onderwerp aan die owerhede en die magte wat God oor ons aangestel het. Het Christus dan nie gese dat ons aan die keiser moet betaal wat die keiser toekom nie?’).

Die beste en mees skrikwekkende voorbeelde van hierdie soort taalspel kry ons in die populere ‘geestelike literatuur’ tans in Afrikaans beskikbaar vir dienspligtiges en vir hul moeders op die ‘tuisfront’. Ons het ’n rondte gaan maak by ’n paar boekwinkels en die volgende 5 titels teegekom: 'n Dagboek vir die Grenssoldaat deur Juanita Joubert, Daan Retief-uitgewers, R4.50; In die Weermag, Ons vir jou Suid- Afrika deur M J Cronje (Evangelie- uitgewers, R l,50); ‘Ekself sal voor jou uitgaan — Dagstukkies vir die moeder van die dienspligtige ’ deur Juanita Joubert (Lux

Treat theBiltong en

Verbi, R6) en Grens toe met Christus deur Johan Smit (Lux Verbi, R6,55).

Die meeste van hierdie boekies is ontwerp in ’n handige sakboekgrootte vir die slagveld en Grens toe met Christus is verpak in ’n netjiese plastiekomslag, om die aanslae van die ‘ruwe soldatelewe’ te weerstaan.

’n Mens kan voorts ook nog die Kirkwoodse Suiderkruisfondstak ondersteun deur hul kookboek te koop Trakteer die Troepe/Treat the Troops (Cum-Boeke, R9,95).

Op die voorblad tussen die uitstalling van droe pruime, biltong en droe wors, le ’n dosie R l-koeels waarvan die inhoud koperig glinster tussen al die tradisionele pionierskos. ’n Gekamoefleerde soldatehelm op die agtergrond voltooi die prentjie. Verder is die boek vol resepte vir beskuit en koekies, bestand teen kommunistiese miet en maaiers en ander staatsonder- mynende vuilgoed. ’n Mens sou wil aanbeveel dat die tantes hul boek ten minste van die volgende leuse voorsien: ‘Dis my

biltong, dis my wors, ek stry vir volk en vaderland met my R1 voor die bors.’

Die ‘geestelike voedsel’ wat die soldateboekies bied is ewe voorspelbaar, maar miskien gevaarliker as die tradisie van mosbeskuit. Al die tekste is geselekteer met die oog op die regverdiging van die koloniale oorlog, en die versterking van die hegemone gees van durf, gehoorsaamheid en paraatheid wat nodig is vir die ‘doeltreffendheid’ van die soldaat as oorlogsinstrument. Romeine 13:2 word aangehaal: (‘Wie hom teen gesag verset kom dus in opstand teen die ordeninge van God’, p. 63 Grens toe) en die psalms van Dawid word gesiteer: (‘Al is ek afgetakel na liggaam en gees, God is my sterkte, aan hom behoort ek vir altyd,’ p. 27 Grens toe) en voorts word daar 'n uitleg van hierdie tekste gegee wat die gesag van die Weermagowerheid regverdig en die soldaat moed gee vir die stryd, alles onder die dekmantel van die vervulling van sy Christenskap.

Een van die mees pikante illustrasies van

Students bewareWITS university and especially the Engineering faculty have many links with the military. The Chancellor, Mike Rosholt is chairman of Barlows. A Barlows subsidiary is one of the largest armament manufacturers in South Africa and is its principal tank manufacturer. In the engineering department the links are more overt. The electrical engineering department recently had an army major as one of its lecturers. The head of the mechanical engineering and aeronautical department has, adorning his walls, pictures o f military aircraft.

Not only are engineering students in contact with senior academics supportive o f their skills being used for direct military applications, they are also surrounded by military research. In the aeronautical engineering department most o f the research is concerned with the design and improvement o f military aircraft. Moreover it receives almost all its funding from the military. The new defence force helicopter gunship, proudly displayed shortly before the white elections, was actually partly developed at Wits.

These students are subjected to the idea that support o f the military is the norm. It is thus not surprising that amongst the index of 4th year projects is the title ‘An HF whip antenna system for a naval strike craft’.

There is no official policy on the acceptance of military research or their funds at Wits, although there is apparently an ongoing argument in the upper echelons o f administration, on this topic. At present

The Progressive Engineers group (PEG) of Wits University held a joint seminar with Wits ECC on ‘Engineers and the military’. The following is an extract o f a paper on the use of engineering students’ research by the SADF delivered by a PEG member:

it is argued that since this is an academic institution any research may be undertaken, providing its academic and technical content is sufficient and that it is published. Incidentally this is not the case at Pretoria university, where doctorates can be classified.

The university has an incentive to allow military research. I have been told that military funding is higher than that from commercial concerns. Researchers are more likely to get greater remuneration and all the equipment used in military projects become the property of the university once the project has finished. The university is thus unlikely to forbid military research projects taking place.

Also, not all research needs to be published — private work can be done with the approval o f the head o f the department. Any university work which has a military application can be disguised. Either the title can be worded differently, for example, I am told a ‘large truck gas turbine’ is actually a tank. The work itself can be so fragmented that the publishing of a portion of it has no overt military application.

Finally, incoming students themselves have to make choices on whether to accept

military funding. On page 42 o f the university bursary book, Armscor advertise their bursary. It appears to be a fairly lucrative scholarship, with no apparent strings attached, presumably the only requirement being vac work at one of the Armscor factories. About 20 Wits students have taken up this bursary or similar bursaries with companies such as Kentron.In addition there are several other students with bursaries from Atlas. At other universities, such as Pretoria, the number is much larger.

Thus it appears that many decisions to become involved with the military are financially based. For students it may offer the only chance of going to university, for admin it may give a chance of greater funding. Some academics may also become involved with the military, because it offers an opportunity o f work, which might not normally be available with civil applications. High tech engineering which is supposed to be very stimulating is mainly concerned with military applications worldwide.

Finally I would like to suggest a couple o f solutions:1. The possibility o f engineering skills

being used for construction, and not conscription.

2. Alternative funding being found so as to provide an alternative to military funding.

3. Making students aware of the facts. They can do something about it. In 1970 at Kent state university, students prevented the continuation of military research.

Collection Number: AG1977

END CONSCRIPTION CAMPAIGN (ECC)

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