Fi : “Ne z mn “da 234! REx ul 3 < = NS ‘2c , Florence Mohphoso, head of the Women’s Section of the African Na- tional Congress addressed Women Under Apartheid Conference. School boycott — children’s struggle against apartheid Florence Mophosho, head of the Women’s Section of the Afri- can National Congress, visited Canada to attend the UN-spon- sored Women Under Apartheid conference in Montreal, May 9-10. During her stay, she was in- terviewed by the Tribune and de- scribed recent events in South Africa. * * * The current school boycott in South Africa is a continuation of the struggle our children have en- gaged themselves in since the 1976 Soweto uprising which: took - everyone by surprise. The resis- tance since then, despite the mas- sacres, has never stopped. The significance of the current boycott is that it began among a section of our population, the so- called ‘‘coloreds’’ which, accord- ing to apartheid scales, is sup- posed to be ‘‘superior’’ to the Af- rican peoples. 5 The boycott is very well or- ganized. Strategy was planned ahead of time to try to avoid the Soweto massacres by police. The ¢ students then called on parents to join the strike, and they did. The political maturity of our students was seen, because they are not only protesting racism in educa- DeBeers profits from EDMONTON — A recent demonstration against South Af- rica’s DeBeers Consolidated Mines by the Free Southern Af- rica Committee of this city, showed that cooperation with apartheid won't go unchallenged here. The demonstration took place May 10, in the heart of the Ed- monton Centre shopping mall. As part of Alberta’s 75th Anniver- sary celebrations, Birk’s: Jewel- lers and Edmonton Centre spon- sored ‘*The Story of Diamonds’’, a display produced by DeBeers. The display illustrates the uses of diamonds, their beauty, and their final processing — but not the story of diamond miners. DeBeers, the largest corpora- tion in South Africa, and the largest diamond mining company in the world, has extensive opera- tions in Namibia, which ‘is illeg- ally occupied by South Africa. It has a concession 50 miles wide and 220 miles long on the Nami- bian coast, from which it makes fabulous profits. Despite a- 1966 United Nations decision terminating South Afri- ca’s trusteeship of the country, the occupation continues. As one of the major exploiters of Namibia’s wealth, DeBeers fol- lows apartheid laws denying its Black workers equal wages, proper working conditions and labor rights. The Free Southern Africa Committee (FSAC) decided that for maximum effect, the demon- stration would have to take place at the display, inside Edmonton Centre, whose management is well-known for harassment of petitioners or pickets of any type. The result was a ‘‘guerrilla theatre’ operation, in which sev- eral actors staged a skit satirizing white boss-Black worker re- lationship under apartheid. At the culmination of the skit, the Black worker ‘“‘escaped”’ his oppres- sors, to the spontaneous applause of a large crowd which had gathered. While bewildered sec- urity guards questioned the ac- tors, adozen FSAC members and supporters distributed leaflets ex- plaining the protest, and outling the facts about apartheid, Namibia and DeBeers. Spokespersons for FSAC, apartheid speaking to the media afterward, called the event a great success. Hundreds of people saw the skit or received the leaflets, and the local CBC station carried a 10- minute story on the event. FSAC, which in the past has protested other links with apartheid, indi- cated that it will continue to do so in the future. Diamo DeBeers profits from apartheid from Blood nds Judy Seidman It is also about blood South West Africa. The Edmonton Centre display, The Story of Diamonds, is not just about diamonds. of black Africans who mine the diamonds under the brutal and racist regime in Namibia, or Leaflet used for Edmonton protest. — the blood and sweat PACIFIC TRIBUNE—MAY 30, 1980—Page 8 tion but the entire racist system of apartheid. This‘boycott, like Soweto, has spread to all parts of South Africa. The students called on their Afri- can brothers and sisters to join © them in solidarity. The police at first refrained from using their usual methods: because of the excellence of the planning. But once the boycott spread into African townships they once again began using force, including a new toxic tear- The regime has also promised to begin discussions of the stu- dents’ problems, but will be un- able to address the underlying is- sues which brought about this boycott. Our children are demanding a unified national eduction system. They don’t want *‘African”’, ‘‘In- dian’, ‘‘Colored’’ education — but demand free, compulsory education for all. This is their basic demand. It is the pressure from many directions for basic changes that is forcing the regime to even agree .to talk to the students. But they cannot answer the demands of the students without dismantling the apartheid system. Free Nelson Mandela! The campaing to free Nelson Mandela (imprisoned since 1964 on a life sentence) has been car- ried out by the ANC for many years. We have been working for, his release and that of other politi- cal prisoners and now this cam- paign has caught fire inside the country as well. Friend and foe alike say that no one is going to tell our people who their leaders are — Mandela is one of our lead- ers; Oliver Tamba is one of our leaders. ; Everybody accepts the fact that Mandela is the only leader who the regime can talk to if they are serious about changes in South Africa. The campaign to free Mandela and the others is to be seen in the fact that more than 70,000 people have signed a petition for his freedom. This is unprecedented in recent South African politics and shows a high level of struggle has been reached. This level could also be seen at the funeral last month of the pres ident of the Women’s Section-0 the ANC where people came out in ANC colors with our move- ment’s flags flying, singing the revolutionary songs of the Afri- can National Congress; all this despite an official ban against US Women in Struggle’ -The Women’s Section of the S ANC is an integral part of the lib- eration movement. We are cOl- vinced that unless the whole structure of apartheid is stroyed, we South Africal women, particulary the Black Af rican women of South Afric _ cannot talk of women’s emanict | pation. Ours is the liberation of the whole nation. That is why we af& + in the context of the whole strug- gle for the seizure of powél, which will give us that emancip@ tion we demand. In the ANC Constitution and the historic Freedom Charter the ANC is reflected very clearly what the position of women cal be in a democratic society. A Word to Canadians _— I would appeal to Canadian women to stand in solidarity with women struggling inside South Africa. We know the Canadian government is an active member -of the United Nations, and that the UN has consistently regis: tered its abhorance of apartheid. In the meantime, the Canadian government actively supports our oppressors by continuing its re! tions with the South African fe — gime despite UN resolutio#’ which Ottawa has endorsed. We call on Canadians to dé mand their government cut all 1 lations with the South African 1 gime. We know that the regime does feel its isolation from the world community. The African National Congress of South Africa is mourning the loss of one of its leading members — ANC leader dies _ with the death of Kate Molale, | who passed away May 9 in Tan- zania. Tribune readers will remember Kate from her tour of Canada in the winter of 1977, with Mpho Thoabale a student involved in the Soweto uprising of 1976. Kate was a member of the ANC and its women’s section for over 25 years. She was also a member of the Federation of South Afri- can Women, since its foundation in 1954. ¢ She served as aleading member of both women’s organizations and was actively involved in the protest. movements against’ the apartheid regime in South Africa. Her prominence in the struggle caused her to be arrested and de- tained on several occassions. When the situation became un- tennable and Kate was forced to work underground, the ANC de- cided she should flee the country and work at its external mission in Tanzania. She served five years as the 2 -> She was to have been the ANC’S eee women’s section representative to the Women’s Internationa | Democratic Federation in Berlit responsible for African affairs: delegate to the Copenhagen Ut ited Nations world conference 0% the Decade of Women in July this ear. | : An untiring fighter for hel people, Kate was involved in 4 car accident on her way to a res ional political committee meeting: — She was in a coma for five day$ | ‘ i | ——~._- \ \ oo { Fe and died on May 9. | . ;