374. Memorandum From Secretary of State Muskie to President Carter1
[Omitted here is material unrelated to South Africa.]
3. South African Demarche: David Newsom called in South African Ambassador Sole this afternoon to express our deep concern over the South African Government’s drift toward greater political repression in recent months. Newsom specifically highlighted the recent banning of Fanyana Mazibuko,2 a prominent moderate black leader, as the latest [Page 1117] incident in a wave of security crackdowns which include a pervasive ban on peaceful assembly, widespread detentions without trial or charge, and bannings of moderate leaders of all racial groups.
Ambassador Sole expressed his total confidence in Prime Minister Botha’s continuing commitment to the “adapt or die” sentiments expressed last year which suggested some reform was imminent. However, Sole stressed that stability and public order remain paramount, particularly in the face of deliberate attempts to create internal unrest, e.g. through the school boycott.3
[Omitted here is material unrelated to South Africa.]
- Source: Carter Library, Plains File, Subject File, Box 40, State Department Evening Reports, 7/80. Secret. Carter initialed the memorandum and wrote at the top of the first page: “Ed.”↩
- In telegram 4845 from Pretoria, July 14, the Embassy reported on the 3-year banning of Mazibuko on July 11. Additionally, the Embassy noted: “The Mazibuko ban is only the latest incident in what has been a three-month security crackdown throughout the Republic. The best current estimates are that over 300 people remain in detention on various security laws. (See Pretoria 4527 [Telegram 4527 from Pretoria, July 1; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800316–0953]). This figure does not include the 126 men detained last week in East London under the terms of the Riotous Assemblies Act over what was basically a labor dispute. Moreover, since May 23, three major South African civil rights figures—Curtis Nkondo (May 23—Pretoria 3592 [Telegram 3592 from Pretoria, May 27; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800259–0960]), Helen Joseph (June—Pretoria 4446 [Telegram 4446 from Pretoria, June 27; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800309–0662]), and now Mazibuko—have been banned. Consequently, we believe it would be appropriate for Assistant Secretary Moose to call in Ambassador Sole to discuss the current situation in South Africa and register our protest over continued detentions without trial and the banning of prominent moderates. Our concern could also be noted at that time about the 66 Section 10 detainees engaged in a hunger strike (Cape Town 154 [Telegram number is incorrect. See telegram 1554 from Cape Town, July 11; National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800336–1035]) and the renewed ban on political gatherings.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800338–0031)↩
- Colored students in the Western Cape started a boycott on April 14 that lasted until July. For details of the boycott, see Keesing’s Contemporary Archives, 1980, p. 30513.↩