- Title
- New Nation number 618 - Another peace pledge
- Creator
- New Nation - SA's Biggest Independent Weekly
- Subject
- New Nation - SA's Biggest Independent Weekly
- Date Issued
- May 1991
- Date
- May 1991
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/112945
- Identifier
- vital:33679
- Description
- The ANC’s May 9 ultimatum is effectively over and the organisation is unlikely to make any further demands of the government, at least until its July National Conference. At the same time, no major shift is expected in ANC policy between now and July. There now seems to be general agreement that government undertakings aimed at ending township violence this week addressed the ANC’s most important demands contained in its open letter to FW de Klerk in early April. A meeting between ANC deputy president Nelson Mandela and De Klerk this week further confirmed that agreement had been reached on key demands made by the ANC. Mandela told a group of the ANC’s Women’s League, who had occupied the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday in a campaign to support the ultimatum, that the government had met two of the organisation’s key demands. These included a ban on all weapons except assegais and sticks and the closure or conversion of hostels into family units. Attacks On the eve of the ultimatum, law and order minister Adriaan Vlok went further and announced plans for “Operation Stabilise” to end the violence. The new measures ban open air gatherings in unrest areas from May 9 onwards to May 22. Some of the bloodiest attacks on township residents have followed mass rallies of Inkatha supporters. Rallies could still be held in areas like George Goch near Johannesburg, where Inkatha has a strong presence. Vlok said permission to hold rallies in townships declared unrest areas could, however, still be obtained from police in the areas. Inkatha rallies were planned for Soweto and Tembisa yesterday. Vlok also announced stricter enforcement of curfews and the deployment of more troops and police in areas hit by violence. Areas covered by Vlok’s announcement include Soweto, Mead- owlands, Diepkloof, Dobsonville, Alexandra, Tembisa, Thokoza, Katlehong and Vosloorus. Townships around Johannesburg and the city centre remained tense despite Vlok’s announcements to curb violence. Terror Reports reaching NEW NATION indicate that heavily armed men had been deployed in various parts of the city and townships in what appeared to be part of the planned terror in the run up to the May 9 ultimatum. Residents in at least one block of flats in Central Johannesburg, occupied mainly by ANC supporters, were reported to have left in anticipation of an attack. There were also reports of unknown men searching for activists in various flats around central Johannesburg. The armed men, residents claim, were deployed some time before Inkatha central committee member Musa Myeni warned that his organisation was ready to commit 250 000 armed fighters in defence of its members on the Reef. Johannesburg’s city centre, which has not been declared an unrest area, is not covered by Operation Stabilise and Inkatha supporters remain free to brandish their weapons, now effectively outlawed in the townships. There is also evidence that many of the fighters currently in township hostels are paid mercenaries, who are otherwise unemployed. Some of them claim to have been brought in from Natal to fight township residents.
- Format
- 32 pages
- Format
- Publisher
- New Nation - SA's Biggest Independent Weekly
- Language
- English
- Rights
- New Nation - SA's Biggest Independent Weekly
- Rights
- No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | New Nation 10-16 May 1991.pdf | 15 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |