Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
y b . i u s '
END CONSCRIPTION CAMPAIGNP.O. Box 537Kengray 2100 Phone:836-8423
Fax:834-3189
ECC P R E S S S T A T E M E N T 29 APRIL iflfla
CA L L FOR THE S U S P E N S I O N O F P R O S E C U T I O N S U ND ER THE CALL -U P I AWfi
The End C o n s c r i p t i o n C a m p a i g n w is he s to call on the g overnment to f o r m a l l y susp en d all p r o s e c u t i o n s u n d e r the call-up laws.
In r e c e n t months, a p a r t f r o m the cases of John Downie and John K elly w h o are being c h a r g e d for refusing to do further camps, there h av e been a few c as es of individuals being court martial led for n ot reporting for camps. In pr actice on ly a handful of call- up rela te d pr os e c u t i o n s are being purs u ed despite the fact that the c a l l - u p laws are being d i s r e g a r d e d en masse by conscripts.
All of the people at p r e s e n t being p r o s e c u t e d are Citizen Force campers. Many of th e m have a l r ea dy c o m p l e t e d two year periods of s e r v i c e in the SADF and now have wo r k and family commitments. C i t i z e n Force m e m b e r s are c o n s i s t e n t l y also subjected to h a r a s s m e n t by m e m b e r s of their units w h o use the threat of arrest, prosecution, and d e t e n ti on to intimidate people into re po rt in g for camps. O f t e n the thr ea ts a re based on information w h i c h is c om pl e t e l y false.
Wg. c a T 1—on the, g o v e r n m e n t to suspe nd all prosecutions under the c a l l - u p laws,—pa r t i c u l a r l y u n de r the f o l l o w i n g provisions o f the - D e f e n c e Act:
1. S e c t i o n 126A(1)(a) w h i c h p r o vi d es tha t it is an o f fe nc e to refuse to do m i l i t a r y service.2. S e c t i o n 126A(1)(o) w h i c h p ro vi d e s tha t it is an offe n ce to fail t o report for m i l i t a r y service.3. S e c t i o n 72I(2)(a) w h i c h p r o v i de s tha t it is an o f fe nc e to refuse or fail to re nder c o m m u n i t y service, after classification as a C o n s c i e n t i o u s O b j e c t o r (previously Re li g io us Objector).
The call for all p r o s e c u t i o n s under the call-up laws to be s u s p e n d e d is s u p p o rt ed by a n u mb er of o r g a n i s a t i o n s including the A N C , th e SACP, and the AWB. The ANC has a l re ad y actively called on c o n s c r i p t s to defy the w h i t e s o nl y call-up. The A W B ’s m o t i v a t i o n for s u p p o r t i n g the ECC call is that, they say, the g o v e r n m e n t should n ot f or ce pe ople fro m d i f f er en t nationality, race and cult ur e into one d e f en ce force" w h ic h protects "only c e r t a i n groups".
AWB s u p p o r t for the call for c o n s c r i p t i o n related pr os e cutions to be s u s p e n d e d refl e ct s the fact that t he conscription s y s te m is r e j e c t e d by p e o p l e f r o m a c r o s s the political spectrum.
The leade r of the D e m o c r a t i c Party, Dr Zac de Beer, d eclined to s u p p o r t the ECC call but c o n f i r m e d the D e mo c ra ti c P a r t y’s wish to g e t rid of c o n s c r i p t i o n and in st itute "a volunteer, profess io na l, and non-racial d e f e n c e f o r c e .”
In r e s p o n s e to o u r appeal for s u p p o r t the S outh African C h am b er of B u s i n e s s stated t h a t th ey a c c e p t "the need for the present s y s t e m of m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e to be reviewed and for the Defence Act to be c h a n g e d to ta ke a c c o u n t of the reality of the South African
basis t h a t "Ia r n n h o w e v ® r d e c l l n e d to s u p p o r t the ECC call on the basis t h a t S A C O B c a n n o t s u p p o r t a c ti on s aimed at the e x on er at i onof any p e r s o n w h o has c o n t r a v e n e d a s t a t u t o r y provision."
c c ! t T w ^ u ? ! Z"j 1n,JlVldUaJ S Who thus f a r supported thefalL * J Suspension.of prosecutions under the call-u p
Afri ca n National C o n g r e s s A f r i k a n e r W e e r s t a n d s B e w e g i n g
Tpro>/inee*of6 Southedn"*AfrleaTU^U behalf °f ' « » ^ u r c h of theC o n s c i e n t i o u s O b j e c t o r s S u p p o r t Group D i a k o n i a
Dr C F B e y e r s N a u d e and Dr W o l f r a m K i s t ne r on behalf of the Ecumenical A d v i c e Bureau uer.dir o t tne
H um an R i g h t s C o m m i s s i o n
I n s t i t u t e for a D e m o c r a t i c A l t e r n a t i v e f or South Afri caK o i n o m a S o u t h e r n A f r i c aLawy er s f o r H u m a n R i gh t sM e t h o d i s t O r d e r of P e a c e m a k e r sNational A s s o c i a t i o n of D e m o c r a t i c Lawyers
^ rT r 1 t Z b U : 9 A g e nc y for C h r i s t i a n Social Awareness So ut h A f r i c a n C o m m u n i s t P ar tyS outh A f r i c a n Council o f C h u r c h e sS o u t h e r n A f r i c a n C a t h o l i c B i s h o p s C o n f e r e n c eU n it ed C o n g r e g a t i o n a l C h u r c h of S o u th e rn A f ri caWo me n f or Peaceful C h a n g e Now
G e o f f B u d l e n d e r S h e e n a D u n c a n L aurie N a t h a n Pe te r S t o r e y He le n S u z m a n
Issued by: Da vi d BruceFor: the End C o n s c r i p t i o n C a m p a i g n
J O INT .. ST A TE M E N T BY C A M P E R S IN SUPPORT O F JOHN DOWNIE AND JOHN K E L L Y . ~ ~
John D o w ni e and John Kelly have each com p le te d two years of m i l i t a r y service in the SADF as well as a number of camps. They have both been charged for refusing to do more camps and are due to a p p e a r again in the V a n d e r b i j 1 park M a gi st r at es Court on 28 J u n e .
In s u p p o r t of John Downie and John Kelly, we, our names being listed below, wish to a n n ou nc e that we are refusing to do further Citi ze n Force camps.
We al so wish to:* call for the c h ar ge s agai ns t John Downie and John Kelly to be
wi t h d r a w n ;* call for an end to c o mp ul so r y Citizen Force camps; and* s u p p o r t the ECC call for the suspens i on of all prosecutions
under the call- up laws.
NAME F ORCE NO. NAME FORCE NO.
1 .2 .3.4.5.6 .7.8 .9.1 0 . 1 1 . 1 2 .13.14.15.16.17.18.19.2 0. 21 . 2 2.23.24.25.26.27.28.29.30.
A n d r e w Ainsl ie D. B. Arm st r on g S i mo n A nn et t G a rt h Ashman R or y Baker Peter Barry Bam J o r da n Beagle P et er Bennewith L.E. Bierman M .A . Bierman A n d r e w Brand M i k e Brasler A n d r e w Brouard Alan Crusoe D o mi ni c de Bruyn C h ri s de Vi lliers D .I . de Vil l ie rs (77427573) D e rr ic k du Pav il io n (83547042 G av in du Plessis (85604486) Lind sa y Falkov (80356322) C o n r a d Geysel (83379719)
(82370131 ) (80616451) (78421922)
(80216849)
(80348745) (85360048) (77247153) (82398942) (83405795) (80351521)
(78315710) (86315066) (87291647)
Rich ar d Maguire(78445830)
(728236) (83442327)
(85389781) (84628031) (83358556) (87405759) (84344662)
3132. Tony McCrae
33. Gideon Meyer 34. A n dr ew Morley
35. Tony Morton 36. Ken Page
37. Kevin Pahl38. Paul Rappe39. Andre w Rippon40. Gr an t Robbins 41 . Tom Robbins42. C. Schalkwyk
43. A n d r e w Schofield(78278140)44.45.46.47.
Mark Spencer Russel Taylor Kyle Thompson Keith Turner
B rian Gishen R o l a n d Hatz G uy Jennings G ar y Kraemer A.S. Lay G e o r g e Leatham Neil Lightfoot S t e p he n Louw J u s ti n M a c K e nz ie
(78402245) (76405364) (81240822) (8225951) (77574986) (78609609) (88573829) (82603762) (80431240)
(78506649) (85604486) (80215510) (78393956)
) 48. A n dr ie s van der Walt(76239706)
49. A nton van Rensburg(86211596)
50. Rev. John Wessels
JOINT STATEMENT BY C A M PERS IN SU PP ORT OF J O H N DOWNIE AND JOHN KELLY.
John Downie and John Kelly have each completed two years of military service in the SADF as well as a number of camps. They have both been charged for refusing to do more camps and are due to appear again in the V a n d e r b i j 1 park Magis t ra te s Court on 28 June.
In support of John Downie and John Kelly, we, our names being listed below, wish to announce that we are refusing to do further C itizen Force camps.
We also wish to:* call for the charges against John Downie and John Kelly to be
wi t h d r a w n ;* call for an end to compulsory Citizen Force camps; and* support the ECC call for the suspension of all prosecutions
under the call-up laws.
NAME FORCE NO. NAME FORCE NO.
1 . 2 .3.4.5.6 .7.8 .9.1 0 . 1 1 . 1 2 .13.14.15.16.17.18.19.2 0. 21 . 22.23.24.25.26.27.28.29.30.
A ndrew Ainsl ie D. B. Armstrong Simon A nnett Garth Ashman Rory Baker Peter Barry Bam Jordan Beagle Peter Bennewith L.E. Bierman M .A . Bierman A ndre w Brand Mike Brasler A ndre w Brouard Alan Crusoe Dominic de Bruyn (87291647) Chris de Vi 1 1 iers D.I. de Vi 1 1 iers (77427573) Derrick du Pavilion (83547042 Gavin du Plessis (85604486) Lindsay Falkov (80356322) Conrad Geysel (83379719)
(82370131 ) (80616451 ) (78421922)
(80216849)
(80348745) (85360048) (77247153) (82398942) (83405795) (80351521)
(78315710) (86315066)
R ichard Maguire(78445830)
(728236) (83442327)
(85389781) (84628031) (83358556) (87405759) (84344662)
3132. Tony McCrae
33. Gideon Meyer 34. An drew Morley
35. Tony Morton 36. Ken Page
37. Kevin Pahl38. Paul Rappe39. Andrew Rippon40. Grant Robbins41. Tom Robbins 42. C. Schalkwyk
43.44, 45 46. 47
Andr ew S c h o f i e l d ( 78278140)Mark Spencer Russel Taylor Kyle Th ompson Keith Turner
Brian Gishen Roland Hatz Guy Jennings Gary Kraemer A.S. Lay George Leatham Neil Lightfoot Stephen Louw Justin M ac K enzie
(78402245) (76405364) (81240822) (8225951 ) (77574986)(78609609) (88573829) (82603762) (80431240)
(78506649) (85604486) (80215510) (78393956)
) 48. Andries van der Walt(76239706)
49. Anton van Rensburg(86211596)
50. Rev. John Wessels
END CONSCRIPTION CAMPAIGNP.O. Box 537 Kengray 2100 Phone: 836-8423
Fax: 834-3189
ECC PRESS STATEMENT 29 APRIL 1993
CALL FOR THE S U SP EN S IO N OF PR OS EC U T I O N S UNDER THE CALL-UP LAWS
The End Co ns c r i p t i o n C a m p a i g n wishe s to call on the government to f o r m a l l y suspend all p ro s ec u t i o n s under the call-up laws.
In recent months, a part from the cases of John Downie and John Kelly w h o are being charged for refusing to do further camps, there have been a few cases of individuals being court martial led for not reporting for camps. In p ractice only a handful of call- up related p r o s ec ut io ns are being pursued despite the fact that the c a ll -u p laws are being d i sr eg ar de d en masse by conscripts.
All of the people at p r e s en t being p rosecuted are Citizen Force campers. Many of them have already co mp le te d two year periods of s e rv ic e in the SADF and now have work and family commitments. C i t i z e n Force memb er s are c o ns is te n tl y also subjected to h a r a s s m e n t by m e m b e r s of their units who use the threat of arrest, prosecution, and d et ention to intimidate people into reporting for camps. O ft en the threats are based on information w hi ch is co mp le te l y false.
We call on the go ve rn m e n t to suspend all prosecutions under the c a ll -u p laws, p a r ti c ul ar ly under the f ol lowing provisions of the Def en ce Act:
1. S e ct io n 126A(1)(a) w hi ch p r ovides refuse to do mi litary service.2. S e c ti on 126A(1)(b) which provides fail to report for m i l i ta ry service.3. S e c ti on 72I(2)(a) which p rovides
that it is an offence to
th at it is an offence to
that it is an offence to refuse or fail to render c om mu n i t y service, after classification as a C o n s c i e n t i o u s O b j e c t o r (previously Religious Objector).
The call for all p r o s e c u t i o n s under the call-up laws to be su sp en de d is s up po rt e d by a number of or ga ni s at io ns including the ANC, the SACP, and the AWB. The ANC has already actively called on c o n s c r i p t s to defy the w h i t e s only call-up. The A W B’s m o t i v a t i o n for su pp o r t i n g the ECC call is that, they say, the g o v e r n m e n t should not "force people fro m different nationality, race and culture into one def en ce force" which protects "only cer ta in groups".
AWB s u p p o r t for the call for c o n s c r i p t i o n related prosecutions to be s us pended reflects the fact that the conscription system is rejected by people from acros s the political spectrum.
The leader of the De mo cr a t i c Party, Dr Zac de Beer, declined to s u p p or t the ECC call but co nf ir me d the Democratic P a r t y’s wish to get rid of c o n s c r i p t i o n and institute "a volunteer, professional, and non-racial defe nc e force."
In r esponse to our appeal for sup po rt the South African Chamber of B u s i n es s stated that they a cc ep t "the need for the present s y st em of mil it ar y serv ic e to be reviewed and for the Defence Act to be changed to take a c c ou n t of the reality of the South African
GOiCs'iptl*r\ C&mpaiqrn
JOI NT S T A T E M E NT BY C A M P E R S IN S U P P OR T OF JOHN DOWNIE AND JOHN K E L L Y .
John Downie and John Kelly have each completed two years of m i l i ta ry s e r vi ce in the SAD F as well as a number of camps. They have both been charged for ref us i ng to do more camps and are due to appea r again in the V a n d e r b i j 1 park Ma gistrates Court on 28 J u n e .
In s u p p or t of John Do wnie and John Kelly, we, our names being listed below, wish to a n n o u n c e t ha t we are refusing to do further Citi ze n Force camps.
We als o wish to:
* call for the char ge s a g a i n s t J oh n Downie and John Kelly to be wi t h d r a w n ;
* call for an end to c o m p u l s o r y Citi ze n Force camps; and* s u p p o r t the ECC call for the s us p e n s i o n of all prosecutions
under the c a l l - u p laws.
NAME F ORCE NO. NAME FORCE NO.
1 .2 .3.4.5.6 .7.8 .9.10 . 1 1 . 1 2 .13.14.15.16.17.18.19.2 0. 21 . 22.23.24.25.26.27.28.29.30.
A n d r e w Ai nslie D. B. A r m s t r o n g Simon A n n e t t Garth A shman Rory Baker Peter Barry Bam Jo rdan Beagle Peter Be nnewith L.E. Bierman M.A. Bierman A n d r e w Brand Mike Brasl er A nd re w Brouard Alan Crus oeD o m in ic de Bruyn (87291647) Chris de Villiers D . I . de V i l l i er s (77427573) Derr i ck du Pa v il io n (83547042 Gavin du Plessis (85604486) Lindsay Falkov (80356322) Conr a d Geysel (83379719)
(82370131) (80616451 ) (78421922)
(80216849)
(80348745) (85360048) (77247153) (82398942) (83405795) (80351521)
(78315710) (86315066)
Richard Maguire(78445830)
(728236) (83442327)
(85389781) (84628031) (83358556) (87405759) (84344662)
Brian Gishe n Rola n d Hatz Guy J e n n in gs Gary K r ae me r A.S. Lay Geor g e Leath a m Neil Lig ht fo ot S t ep he n Louw J ustin M a c K e n z i e
(78402245)(76405364) (81240822) (8225951 ) (77574986) (78609609) (88573829) (82603762) (80431240)
3132. Tony McCrae
33. Gideon Meyer 34. Andrew Morley
35. Tony Morton 36. Ken Page
37. Kevin Pahl38. Paul Rappe39. A n dr e w Rippon40. G rant Robbins 41 . T om Robbins
42. C. Schalkwyk43. A n dr ew S c h o f i e l d ( 78278140)44. Mark Spencer (78506649)
Russel Taylor (85604486) Kyle Thompson (80215510) Keith Turner (78393956)
) 48. Andries van der Walt(76239706)
49. Anton van Rensburg(86211596)
50. Rev. John Wessels
45.46.47.
So you wanna be a kitskommando?
_ a in■HE colonel was discussing
I issue o f shooting people when I we entered the Vaal Commando
lecture hall on Monday.“We will train you when to shoot,
how to shoot and when not to shoot,” he told the 41 would-be black “kit- skommandos” from Iscor.
It w as perhaps an inopportune fc o m e n t to make our entrance, and C a u se d a sligh t flurry am ong the
South African Defence Force officers. The point Colonel FJ van den Berg was making was one about the a rm y’s com m itm ent to the use o f minimum force.
“It is our job to defend the rights of people,” he said, noting that it was better if this goal could be achieved by talking to people — and that he had never shot anyone.
“But if it becomes necessary, you will have to shoot.”
The recruits had the day off from their jobs at Iscor in order to hear about the C om m andos, w hy they should join and what will be required of them once they sign up.
W itw atersrand C om m and spokesman Major Andreas Jordaan said the men first heard about the
^ o m m a n d o s th rough a “w ord o f K o u th ” recruitm ent drive, and had
come to the SADF to find out more. The idea was that they would then be sent “notes” for their employers.
Instead, the captain responsible illegally sent them official SADF call-up instructions which included a clause saying: “Note that disobedience of this Call Up Instruction without permission is an offence according to the Defence Law and you will be subject to prosecution.”
The prospective volunteers were also allocated false SADF numbers — before they had even signed up for the job.
M ajor G eneral WG K ritzinger, officer commanding Witwatersrand Command, said an “administration error” occurred and the “Iscor Hostel” recruits were sent the “wrong form”.
, pleaseThe army ‘call-up’ of Iscor workers,
reported in The Weekly Mail last week, was an ‘administration error’. GAVIN EVANS went along to find out what those who showed up for commando training were taught
“The SADF regrets any inconvenience caused due to this error and will ensure that the necessary steps be taken to prevent any re-occurrence.”
The officers went to considerable lengths to stress to the recruits that their presence was entirely voluntary. It was hardly necessary, however. All 41 who arrived filled in their forms and signed up.
C om m andant SJ L om bard, the com m anding o fficer o f the Vaal Commando, described this as a pilot project, aimed at drawing blacks into the SADF to help protect their own communities. The idea is to form a full company (about 120 soldiers) of black commandos.
“T hey understand the c irc u m stances o f the b lack people in the townships and in the hostels. It’s easier for me to use people from the community in the community. We cause the problems in the Vaal therefore it is for us to solve them,” Van den Berg added.
These new kitskom m andos will undergo an initial 12-day training period, which the SADF believes will be sufficient to make soldiers out of them. They will be trained in discipline, drill, shooting and in conducting patrols.
They will then be required to do a minimum of 12 days a year, where some will specialise as drivers, chefs and guards, but most will be used in SADF patrols. They will not have access to their SADF rifles when not on duty.
One of their roles, says Kritzinger, is the protection of national key points in the area. As Iscor is a national key point (and the Vaal Command is situated on Iscor property) it is clear that p ro tec ting the Iron and Steel
Your country needs you ... SADF recruitment officers sign up an aspirant kitskommando Photograph: KEVIN CARTERCorporation will be one of their main tasks.
The SADF officers present stressed that the men were not all Zulus and that they were drawn from the entire Vaal area and not just the hostels.
Speaking to the men afterwards it appeared that most were Zulu-speaking, though there w ere also some Southern Sotho, Tswana and Xhosa- speaking volunteers. About half live at Isco r’s kw aM adala and kwaMaseza hostels— both known as Inkatha strongholds — while the rest live in the surrounding townships.
The SADF officers said there was no way they could determine whether the men were Inkatha supporters, but stressed that once they were in uniform they were soldiers required to
protect the entire community.“ I explained to them that in
SADF we are apolitical. The of the car has to do its work no who the driver is, and no matter what kind of oil he uses,” said the colonel.
Clearly, however, not everyone in the com m unity is satisfied by this explanation. The African National Congress and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa have called for an immediate halt to the campaign.
The ANC described the recruitment drive as “highly irresponsible and provocative”, saying that many residents from the surrounding communities had been killed by residents of the Iscor hostels.
Collection Number: AG1977
END CONSCRIPTION CAMPAIGN (ECC)
PUBLISHER: Publisher:- Historical Papers Research Archive
Location:- Johannesburg
©2013
LEGAL NOTICES:
Copyright Notice: All materials on the Historical Papers website are protected by South African copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, or otherwise published in any format, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Disclaimer and Terms of Use: Provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein, you may download material (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal and/or educational non-commercial use only.
People using these records relating to the archives of Historical Papers, The Library, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, are reminded that such records sometimes contain material which is uncorroborated, inaccurate,
distorted or untrue. While these digital records are true facsimiles of paper documents and the information contained herein is obtained from sources believed to be accurate and reliable, Historical Papers, University of the Witwatersrand has not independently verified their content. Consequently, the University is not responsible for any errors or
omissions and excludes any and all liability for any errors in or omissions from the information on the website or any related information on third party websites accessible from this website.
This document is part of a collection held at the Historical Papers Research Archive at The University of the
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
