OTTAWA RESIDENTS CONCERNED ABOUT THE FILTH, RUBBISH, LITTER AND DIRT THAT HAVE ENGULFED THE LOCAL OTTAWA RIVER AND SURROUNDING AREAS

By Subry Govender The recent heavy rains have not only brought a great deal of relief for those affected by droughts and lack of water, but at the same time the accompanying floods and storms have also caused a great deal of damage to the rivers and the environment. One of the areas severely affected by the floods is the Umhlanga River that flows through the village of Ottawa, situated between the towns of Mount Edgecombe and Verulam on the North Coast.

Some community members, belonging to the Ottawa Environment Forum, carried out an inspection-in-loco of the river on Sunday (Nov 24) in an attempt to clean up the litter that has engulfed the river. They mainly concentrated on an area near the Ottawa motor and rail bridges. The officials found tons of plastic bottles, paper bags, all kinds of dirt and filth strewn under the railway and motor car bridges and along the river for kilometres on end. The officials started to pick some of the litter and collected them into bags for about two hours. But the operation was just too much for a few dedicated officials. They have now decided to utilise some of their time every Sunday in an attempt to clean up the river, the main road running through the town and the surrounding residential roads.

One of the officials of the Ottawa Environmental Forum, Ms Andisha Maharaj, said it was a major tragedy that there was so much of litter and filth in the river and the surrounding areas. “It seems the municipality and the Government’s Department of Environmental Affairs must start educating people living upstream along the river not to throw their rubbish into the river,” she said. “We have a serious environmental problem on our hands and all of us must do our bit to clean up the river and the surrounding areas in Ottawa. “This river, at one time, was the lifeblood for the residents but now it has been totally destroyed through reckless and senseless dumping of rubbish and filth. It seems some people don’t have any conscience at all.”

Another official said the environment had degenerated to such an extent that they had decided to embark on a continuous clean up programme of the Ottawa River and surrounding areas. “We have decided that the clean up programme must be on-going and that we would employ people to clean up the river. We would seek the assistance of business and other concerned residents to make donations towards the cost of employing unemployed people to help in the clean-up of the river and surrounding areas.” The local residents say they have taken up the cudgels themselves to clean up the river and the environment because they believe in a clean and friendly environment. Ends – subrygovender@gmail.com

68-YEAR-OLD GRAND MOTHER, THYNA SUBRAMONEY, WINS MERCURY MILLION GOLF TOURNAMENT FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW ON NOVEMBER 16 2019

(Thyna Subramoney holding the lady's trophy with the men's winner, Bryan Butterworth. Also in the photo is the Editor of the Mercury, Yogas Nair, and the CEO of the Wild Coast)

(Thyna with her team players on the final day of the tournament, Shirley Govender, Shona Nicolson and Chookie Govender) A 68-year-old grand-mother has won the lady’s section of the Mercury Million tournament for the second year in a row at the Wild Coast golf course over the weekend of November 15 and 16 (2019). Mrs Thyna Subramoney, who is a member at the Mount Edgecombe Golf Club, first won the tournament in 2018 after playing in the series for more than a decade.

Mrs Subramoney, who lives in Umdloti, has been playing golf for more than 20 years after being encouraged by her family members. “I used to caddy for my husband but after a while I told him that I want to also play the game,” she said. “I received some coaching at the Mount Edgecombe golf club and thereafter began playing on a regular basis. “Over the past two decades I have played in many charity and club tournaments in and around Durban, the Wild Coast, Umkomaas, Amanzimtoti, Drakensberg Gardens, Champagne Sport, other parts of KZN and even in Johannesburg.”

Mrs Subramoney now plays golf at Mount Edgecombe at least once a week. “Winning the Mercury Million lady’s section for the second year in a row is a`n encouragement for me,” she said. Mrs Subramoney has seven grand-children in Johannesburg and Durban. Four of her grand-children are very keen golfers and all of them want to play professional golf. “I sincerely hope my winning the Mercury Million for the second year in a row will be an encouragement to my grand-children and others to take up golf seriously. “My grandsons are keen followers of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.”

KZN COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS PAY TRIBUTE TO XOLANI GWALA AT A MEMORIAL SERVICE AT THE SABC IN DURBAN

(XOLANI GWALA 1975 - 2019)

Colleagues and friends of journalist and broadcaster, Xolani Gwala, attended his memorial service in their numbers at the SABC M1 Auditorium in Durban this afternoon (Nov 7). Gwala, 44, passed away in Johannesburg in the early hours of Friday, Nov 1 (2019).

The Durban tribute to Gwala coincided with similar events in Johannesburg this week. His former colleagues in Durban, Nhlaknipho Zulu, Jabulani “Mjay” Sibisi, Alex Mthiyane, Ms Zandile Tembe, Judy Sandison, who represented SANEF; and friend Njabulo Miya; KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala; family member Simo Gwala; and Busani Mthembu, who represented the SABC, all paid glowing tributes to Gwala. They all described Gwala as an upright journalist who left behind a rich legacy of fairness, impartiality, and a no nonsense interviewer of politicians and others. They called on the younger journalists of today to follow in the footsteps of Gwala as not only a vibrant and determined journalist but as a humble human being. They all called on the people not to mourn his death but to celebrate his life as a journalist and human being. They said he made a major impact in the new democratic South Africa and he vociferously promoted all the principles of the new democratic order. One of SABC’s SAFM presenters, Bongi Gwala, also paid his rich tribute to Gwala when he moved the vote of thanks and gave details about the funeral ceremony that would be held at Gwala’s home village of Impendhle in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands on Saturday, Nov 9 (2019).

Colleagues and friends were asked to make donations in Gwala’s name to the Teddy Bear Clinic for Abused Children. The details are: Investment Bank Ltd; Account No: 100111311625; Branch Code 580105; Branch name: 100 Grayston Drive. Nedbank Bank Ltd; Teddy Bear Clinic for Abused Children; Account No: 1944183361; Branch Code: 194405; Branch Name: Parktown.

MEDIA OPPRESSION IN SOUTH AFRICA DURING THE PERIOD JUNE 1976 TO 1978

(PHILIP MTHIMKULU AND SUBRY GOVENDER ATTENDING THE IFJ CONFERENCE IN NICE, FRANCE IN 1978 WHERE THEY DELIVERED A PAPER ON THE SUPPRESSION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS BETWEEN 1976 AND 1978) At a time when we observe the 42nd anniversary of the blackest day in the oppression of the media in South Africa on October 19 1977, I bring you in detail the brutality of the former apartheid regime against journalists and the freedom of the Press. I have compiled in detail the arrests, detentions, intimidation, banning and jailing of journalists between the period from the Soweto uprisings in June 1976 to 1978. The barbarity of the former apartheid regime against journalists, especially black media professionals, was presented by this correspondent, Marimuthu Subramoney (aka Subry Govender), as a paper at the annual conference of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in Nice in France from September 18 to 23 1978. I attended the conference along with colleague, Philip Mthimkulu, as delegates of the Writers Association of South Africa (WASA). WASA was established early in 1978 after the Union of Black Journalists (UBJ) was banned along with 17 other anti-apartheid organisations on October 19 1977. I am publishing this speech on October 23 2019 as a reminder that the attainment of a free media after the establishment of our new democracy in South Africa in April 1994 was achieved through tremendous sacrifices by journalists during the apartheid era. This detailed information should be an inspiration to journalists who operate in our free society today. They must always take note that they should not allow themselves to be intimidated or influenced by politicians and that our hard-earned democracy will be under threat if journalists and the media are captured or restricted in any way whatsoever.

(BLACK JOURNALISTS, INCLUDING THE LATE ZWELIKE SISULU AND LATE JUBY MAYET, PARTICIPATING IN A PROTEST MARCH AGAINST THE BANNING OF THE UNION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS(UBJ) ON COTOBER 19 1977) MEDIA SUPPRESSION PAPER DELIVERED AT THE IFJ CONFERENCE IN NICE IN FRANCE IN SEPTEMBER 1978. Good afternoon Mr Chairman, ladies and gentlemen. We bring you greetings from our fellow colleagues back home in South Africa. I consider myself to be in a fortunate position to be addressing you today for who knows my colleague here, brother Philip Mthimkulu, and I may not be permitted to step outside South Africa again in view of the turbulent situation in our country, caused primarily by Mr John Vorster’s white apartheid government. While I am addressing you several of our colleagues at this very moment are languishing in prison – incarcerated without being brought to trial for any offences whatsoever. JOURNALISTS WHO WERE TARGETED They are Mr Willie Bokala, a reporter for the now banned World newspaper who has been in detention for more than a year; Mr Jan Tugwana, a reporter for the Rand Daily Mail who has been in detention for more than a year under Section 6 of South Africa’s notorious Terrorism Act; Mrs Juby Mayet, a doyen of black journalists who is being held under the country’s Internal Security Act at the Fort Prison in Johannesburg; Mr Isaac Moroe, first WASA president in Bloemfontein; Mr Bularo Diphoto, a free lance journalist in the town of Kroonstad who is being held under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act; and Ms Tenjiwe Mtintso, a former reporter for the Daily Dispatch in the city of East London who has just been detained. Another journalist, Mr Moffat Zungu, who was a reporter for the World newspaper in Johannesburg, is one of the accused in the Pan African Congress trial that is presently underway in the town of Bethal, near Johannesburg. He was first detained under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act. The president of the now banned Union of Black Journalists(UBJ), Mr Joe Thloloe, who was one of the first journalists to be detained after the June 1976 uprisings by students in Soweto, Johannesburg, was released on August 31, 1978 after being detained incommunicado for 547 days under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act. Mr Thloloe, a feature writer for the now banned World newspaper, was arrested on March 1 1977 two months after he was released from the Modder B Prison in Benoni where he was held with several other journalists and black leaders under the Internal Security Act. He was at that time a senior reporter for the white-owned black magazine, Drum. The owners, however, dismissed him while he was still in detention. Just before colleague Philip Mthimkulu and I left South Africa for this conference, Juby Mayet, who is the mother of eight children, wrote to me from the Fort Prison where she is designated as prisoner number 3905178. This is what she had to say: “Dear Subry, August 10 has now come and gone and I’m still here. Any way I have adjusted myself to a further period of detention and I’m quite fine. Naturally enough, the two of us who are still in detention do miss the companionship of those who were lucky enough to be released. But, on the other hand, we are very happy that they were restored to their families. “The road to freedom is not a bed of roses.” Miss Thenjiwe Mntintso, a former reporter for the Daily Dispatch in East London, is one of the women detainees who was released early last month after being detained for 10 months. Miss Mntintso, who is a banned person, was not charged for any offences but she is now facing charges for breaching her banning orders. The harassment and intimidation of journalists in South Africa is nothing new but it took a turn for the worse after the historic Soweto uprisings in June 1976. Our colleagues, especially those in Johannesburg, faced the full brunt of the Minister of Justice, Mr James Thomas “it leaves me cold” Kruger. His notorious members of the Security Branch are perpetrating in the name of “law and order” ruthless and jack-boot actions against our journalist colleagues and activist members of the black majority. Two months after the Soweto uprisings, nine black journalists, who played a leading role in reporting and highlighting the events in Soweto, were detained under the Internal Security Act, and two others were incarcerated under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act. THE JOURNALISTS WHO PAY A HEAVY PRICE Among the very first to be arrested was Mr Joe Thloloe. The others arrested were Mr Peter Magubane (46) of the Rand Daily Mail; Mr James Matthews (49) of the Muslim News in Cape Town; Mr Willie Nkosi of the Rand Daily Mail; Mr Jan Tugwana (26) of the Rand Daily Mail; Mr Willie Bokala of the World; Mr Godwin Mohlomi, deputy news editor of the World; Mr Z B Molefe (36), labour correspondent of the World; Mr Duma Ndhlovu of the World and Mr Thoko Mbanjira, editor of the Black Review in East London. Miss Thenjiwe Mntintso of the Daily Dispatch and Mr Nat Serache of the Rand Daily Mail were detained incommunicado under Section of the country’s Terrorism Act. The majority of the journalists were held for about four months without being tried in a court of law. They were released at the end of December 1976 but some of them were re-arrested in 1977. Mr Joe Thloloe, for whom the IFJ had made many representations to the South African Government, was arrested on March 1, 1977 and Mr Mike Mzelini, a former reporter for the Drum magazine, was arrested at the end of March 1977. Mr Mzelini, who has just been released after being detained without trial for 14 months, was also dismissed by Drum while he was in detention. The magazine, which caters mainly for the black majority, did not even have the decency of waiting for Mzelini to be released. But subsequently, after pressure from WASA, he was re-employed. A free-lance reporter in Bloemfontein, the home of South Africa’s ruling Afrikaner people, Mr Andrew Schehisho, was also detained during this time under the country’s security laws. He came under heavy harassment at the hands of the ruthless security police. OCT 19 1977 – BLACKEST DAY AGAINST MEDIA FREEDOM The blackest day in so far as so-called press freedom is concerned, was on October 19 last year (1977) when the Minister of Justice or is it the Minister of Injustice, Mr Jimmy Kruger, banned the only two respected newspapers for the black majority, the World and Weekend World. At the same time, he banned the Union of Black Journalists (UBJ) and 17 other black organisations. Mr Kruger’s ruthless security police department confiscated all of WASA’s office equipment, including the printing machine and typewriters which were used to produce our journal, Azizthula. Mr Kruger went one step further when he locked up Mr Percy Qoboza and Mr Aggrey Klaaste, editor and news editor respectively of the World newspaper, and banned for five years Mr Donald Woods, Editor of the Daily Dispatch. Mr Woods is now in exile in London. Six other journalists were also detained at this time. They were Mr Willie Bokala, Miss Thenjiwe Mntintso, Mr Moffat Zungu, Mr Jan Tugwana, Mr Enoch Duma of the Sunday Times and Mr A Q Sayed of the Muslim News. Mr Duma, who was charged under the Terrorism Act, was acquitted. But by this time, however, he had been in detention for more than a year. JUSTICE MINISTER – JIMMY KRUGER: “DETENTION OF JOURNALUSTS NOT MEANT TO INTIMIDATE THE MEDIA”. When representations were made to the Minister of Justice for the release of the detained journalists, Mr Kruger had the temerity to announce that the detentions were not meant to intimidate the Press and that the Government had good reasons to detain the journalists. If locking up the most important journalists in South Africa is not intimidation, then we would like to know from the so-called honourable Minister of Justice, what is it? It was during this traumatic period that the publication of our UBJ Bulletin and all subsequent editions were banned by the honourable Minister. The banned UBJ Bulletin contained some revealing articles about the activities of the South African police during the Soweto uprisings. Four of our officials – Juby Mayet, Joe Thloloe, Mike Norton and Mabu Nkadimeng – are now facing charges of producing an “undesirable” magazine. Despite the various representations by the IFJ and other world organisations, Mr Kruger’s security police continued with their harassment and intimidation of journalists. In Durban in November last year, the security police detained two local journalists under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act. The journalists were Mr Wiseman Khuzwayo, a former reporter on the Daily News who was held for about three months; and Mr Quarish Patel, also of the Daily News who was held for 76 days. They were released without any charges being preferred against them. JOURNALISTS STAGE PROTEST MARCH AGAINST THE BANNING OF THE UNION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS (UBJ) On November 30 (1977), the day white South Africa went to the polls and re-elected Mr Vorster’s apartheid government, 29 black journalists staged a march in the centre of Johannesburg. They protested against the banning of the UBJ and the detention of journalists. They were arrested by the police and detained for the night in a Johannesburg prison. They were all charged under South Africa’s Riotous Assemblies Act and fined R50 each. They included Mr Zwelakhe Sisulu and Mrs Juby Mayet. Another two journalists, Mr Yusuf Nazeer of the Star, and Mr Boeti Eshack of the Sunday Times, were also charged under the same act for attending an open-air meeting that was called to protest against the banning of the World and 17 other organisations and the detention of journalists. On the day on October 19 1977 when the apartheid regime took its arbitrary action in banning the UBJ and 17 other organisations, it made sure that every top member of the UBJ was visited by the security police. Among those who were visited and raided were our officials in Johannesburg, and Mr Dennis Pather and Mr Marimuthu Subramoney (aka Subry Govender) – the speaker – of the Daily News in Durban. The security police not only arrived at my house in the town of Verulam, north of Durban, at the unearthly hour of five am and searched the house, but also visited the offices of the Daily News and raided my desk. Some of our colleagues who found it impossible to continue to work in South Africa skipped the country under trying conditions. They are Mr Duma Ndhlovu, Mr Nat Serache, Mr Boy Matthews Nonyang and Mr Wiseman Khuzwayo. I am happy to report, however, that all but six journalists, who I have mentioned earlier, are not under detention any longer. Our intention in giving you all these factual details is to explode and crush for all time the myth that South Africa enjoys one of the freest press in Africa. NO PRESS FREEDOM IN SOUTH AFRICA We want to submit today that South Africa is by no means a Christian, democratic country that it claims to be. In our view it is no better than other dictatorships, who crush all opposition. In fact, we contend that in view of South Africa’s oppressive actions against black and progressive white journalists that there is no press freedom at all in our country. What is press freedom? The Commonwealth Press Union once approved the following statement on this important topic: “Freedom of the Press is not a special privilege of newspapers, but derives from the fundamental right of every person to have full and free access to the facts in all matters that directly or indirectly concern him or her, and from their equal right to express and publish their opinions thereon and to hear and read the opinion of others. “In protection of these fundamental human rights it is essential that the Press should be free to gather news without obstruction or interference and free to publish the news and to comment thereon.” Evaluating press freedom in South Africa from this statement we contend that newspapers can only be free if the environment in which it operates is free. In our South Africa the society in which we live is not free and therefore there cannot claim that we have a free press. How can there be Press freedom in South Africa when newspapers are banned and journalists are detained and banned for pursuing the truth and expressing the wishes of the people? In South Africa there is a minefield of statutes which circumscribes the activities of newspapers directly or indirectly. Despite the world condemnations of South Africa’s restrictive measures against the freedom of expression, there is little hope that Mr Vorster’s apartheid regime will allow the press to operate freely. The regime’s intentions were clearly enunciated when after the banning of the World and Weekend World, the former Minister of Interior, Dr Connie Mulder, announced that his Government would not hesitate to close down other newspapers if the State was endangered or law and order threatened. He said the bannings could be construed as a warning to others not to misuse their “right to criticism”. The same Minister warned in November last year (1977) that the press in South Africa was in a probationary period. Mr Vorster’s Government was to have enacted a Bill in the whites-only Parliament early this year to control the Press. But after negotiations with the white-controlled Newspaper Press Union, a special Code of Conduct was formulated to keep the Press in its place. Despite the dropping of the Bill, the newspapers are in a weaker and compromised position now. A FREE PRESS IS THE ONLY WAY FORWARD We in WASA believe that there is no need for the minority South Africa Government to interfere in the affairs of the Press. We only want to operate freely and independently in a free and democratic society, subject only to the restraints of decency and the law of libel. A free Press will be the only sure sign of public liberty in South Africa in the future. Now I would like to give you some information into the position of the so-called Black press in South Africa. We in South Africa do not have a single national daily or weekly newspaper that is wholly-owned and published by blacks themselves. All newspapers in South Africa, except for a few insignificant and minor publications, are owned, managed and run by the minority white structure. Even black newspapers such as Post which took over from the banned World and Weekend World newspapers, and the Ilanga in Durban, are all owned by the mighty Argus Printing and Publishing Company. There is a vital need for a black-owned, edited, and managed newspaper in our country because the present newspapers, except for the Post in a very minor way, do not in any way cater for the majority. All the major daily and weekend newspapers are directed at minority white readership. WASA HAS DECIDED ITS OWN NEWSPAPER AND NEWS AGENCY We in WASA resolved at our last annual meeting in Durban in July (1978), after the banning of our meeting in Port Elizabeth, that our organisation should take the lead and the initiative in trying to establish a truly black newspaper that would cater for the aspirations and the needs of the black majority. We have also decided to establish a news agency in South Africa that will supply the world with accurate news on events in the troubled country of ours. At the moment whatever news items that are disseminated through the white S A Press Association (SAPA) are at most times seen through the eyes of white journalists. The news that is leaving South Africa at the moment is not in the best interests of the black majority. We aim to bring our ambitious projects to fruition by appealing to you to use your influence in getting foreign organisations to try to help our ventures. We want to as far as possible help ourselves but being the exploited class, we don’t have the necessary capital and finance to establish a newspaper and a news agency. When we do realise our ambitions, we would like the projects to be run and managed entirely by blacks. In this regard, we intend to establish a training school for aspiring journalists, sub editors, and other media professionals. If our finances allow us, we also aim to offer scholarships to outstanding journalists to study abroad. The main purpose of attempting to establish our own newspaper and news agency is to expand the news coverage about the interests and aspirations of the black community. We feel that the black people are fed at the moment with the wrong priorities. Sex, crime, rape and pillage are not going to help us gain self-reliance and freedom. We also aim to establish contact, through our news agency, with Third World countries and to give the Western countries accurate news of the developments and happenings in South Africa. In South Africa, in view of the racist position the minority white people hold the monopoly on the economy of the country, it is inevitable that the minority will own all the major newspapers in the country. And if this is the position then it goes without saying that they will automatically be appointed to all the top positions such as editors, news editors and other executive positions in a newspaper. Under these circumstances there is no scope whatsoever for black journalists to be appointed to executive positions on white-owned and run newspapers, except of course in newspapers such as the Post and Ilanga. Even black supplements in white newspapers are also headed by white editors. These supplements are mere token extensions of a newspaper and in no way cater for the aspirations of the black majority. In view of the country’s apartheid structures, blacks are effectively kept out of top positions in white-owned newspapers. Black reporters, who work on establishment newspapers, are in the main mere reporters who are employed just to gather news items on black affairs. They are very rarely given assignments to cover major events. However, there are a few exceptions where black reporters are allowed some scope. But in this instance too, the reporters are merely tolerated and not encouraged in any way. Regarding our status as a trade union, we would like to stress that we do not enjoy trade union rights in South Africa because of Mr Vorster’s apartheid legislations which prohibit the recognition of black trade unions. WASA, which is now only finding its feet, is soon going to ask newspaper managements to grant us negotiating rights. We are looking forward to this development and will definitely keep the IFJ and its affiliated units informed of the attitudes of white newspapers. We believe that they have no alternative but to recognise us. BANNING AND DETENTIONS WILL NOT DETER BLACK JOURNALISTS TO CONTINUE THE STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM In conclusion, we would like to say that the silencing of the opponents of apartheid and the banning and detention of journalists have had an opposite effect. Far from cowing to the brutal treatment meted out to journalists, black journalists have taken a solid and unified stand against the apartheid government. The formation of WASA so soon after the banning of the UBJ a year ago offers evidence of the commitment of many black journalists who refuse to accept the enticing carrots being offered to work in so-called “multi-racial” organisations. At home, the crucial question is: “How can we as black journalists work to highlight and promote the interests of the black majority?” It is in the closing of the ranks of black people that we see meaningful change. The picture we painted of our country may be a gloomy one. But that is the truth. However, when all hope of peaceful change is fast receding and when all hope of a new deal for all our people is now only a dream, we will still continue to hope. Like someone once said: “It is only for those without hope that we have hope.” We in South Africa believe that at this stage in the country where there is a minority and racist government, black journalists have to work on their own to promote the aspirations of the oppressed black people. We would not like to see any hindrance in the struggles for a free, fair, and equal society. We want to make it clear that we have no ill-will against other colleagues but for the time being they should instead use their influence to change minority attitudes. It is not the black people who need re-education but the minority who have failed to bring their apartheid government to order and to change the country for a better future for all South Africans. Written in Durban on this 1st day of September, 1978.

OCTOBER 19 1977 WHEN THE FORMER APARTHEID REGIME POUNCED ON JOURNALISTS AND PROGRESSIVE ORGANISATIONS IN AN ATTEMPT TO BREAK THE BACK OF STRUGGLE JOURNALISTS

(ZWELAKHE SISULU, JUBY MAYET AND OTHER COLLEAGUES PARTICIPATING IN A PROTEST MARCH IN JOHANNESBURG IN OCT 1977 AFTER THE BANNING OF THE UBJ) JOURNALISTS TODAY MUST LEARN FROM THE SACRIFICES OF YOUR COLLEAGUES OF THE 1970s, 1980s AND EARLY 1990s NOT TO BE INTIMIDATED AND INFLUENCED BY POLITICIANS

October 19 2019 By SUBRY GOVENDER

(RASHID SERIA OF CAPE TOWN, MIKE NORTON OF JOHANNESBURG, JUBY MAYET OF JOHANNESBURG, CHARLES NQAKULA OF EAST LONDON, SUBRY GOVENDER OF DURBAN AND PHIL MTHIMKULU OF DURBAN ATTENDING THE MEETING AT THE WENTWORTH HOTEL IN DURBAN AFTER THE BANNING OF THE UBJ. THE SEAT IN THE CENTRE WAS RESERVED FOR JOE THLOLOE WHO WAS DETAINED BY THE SECURITY POLICE AT THAT TIME) Forty two years ago today, October 19 1977, South Africa witnessed the extreme and further erosion of human rights and the imposition of dictatorial policies when the former apartheid regime carried out one of the most oppressive actions against the freedom of the media. It was the darkest day in the history of journalism in the country when the main black newspapers at that time, World and Weekend World, were banned and ordered to cease publication along with Pro Veritate, a publication of the Christian Institute; and when editors and journalists were either banned, detained or interrogated and had their homes and offices raided and searched. The action against the media, ordered by the infamous Minister of Justice, Jimmy Kruger, was carried out in conjunction with the banning of 18 anti-apartheid interest groups, civic, student, religious and media organisations; and banning and detention of their leaders and officials. Kruger and the State President at that time, Dr Nico Diederichs, signed the banning proclamations. With the stroke of a pen, the then apartheid regime had removed two newspapers that had played a crucial role in keeping the people informed. Mr Kruger just over a month earlier had described black consciousness leader, Steve Biko's death in detention as: "It leaves me cold". The notorious security police or "special branch" of the time carried out systematic raids against journalists, newspaper offices and other publications in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and other cities and towns around the country. In Johannesburg, security policemen arrested Mr Percy Qoboza, Editor of the World and Weekend World, at his offices at about mid-day, only a few minutes before he was due to hold a Press conference about the banning of his newspapers. He was taken to the then John Vorster Square police headquarters. Mr Qoboza was subequently issued with a five-year banning order. His deputy and news editor, Aggrey Klaaste, was also detained and locked up.

The Editor of Pro Veritate, Cedric Maysom, was also detained and issued with a banning and restriction order. The security police in Johannesburg also carried out raids and searches at the homes and offices of other journalists and organisations such as the Union of Black Journalists(UBJ), which was one of the 18 organisations banned. They also arrested and detained a number of journalists, including Joe Thloloe, one of the veterans of the struggle.

In East London, the security police raided the offices of the Daily Dispatch and served its editor, Donald Woods, with a five-year banning order; and searched homes of some of his reporters, including Miss Thenjiwe Mntintso, who later skipped the country to go into exile because of harassment and intimidation.

In Durban, the security police raided and searched the homes of Dennis Pather, who later became editor of the Daily News; and this correspondent. When representations were subsequently made to Mr Kruger for the release of detained journalists, he unapologetically responded by saying that the detentions were not meant to intimidate the Press and that his Government had good reasons to detain the journalists. The clampdown against the media on October 19 1977 had an ironic twist two weeks later when it was reported that the Government was planning to print postage stamps to celebrate 150 years of Press Freedom in South Africa. A Durban lawyer who was national chairman of the then Progressive Federal Party, Ray Swart, launched a blistering attack against the National Party Government for talking of Press Freedom at a time when it was conducting one of the ruthless campaigns to suppress the media. In an interview on October 28 1977, Mr Swart, a strong critic of the apartheid regime, told me in an interview that he was impressed that the Government should want to commemmorate Press Freedom but he would be more impressed if it grave greater indication of what it considered Press freedom to be.

He had said: "It seems strange that they intend doing this after having just banned three newspapers, incarcerated one editor and banned another. I find it difficult to reconcile the actions of the Government. I suggest the stamps they intend issuing to commemmorate Press Freedom should have the faces of Mr Qoboza and Mr Woods." Of course, the Government of the day did not take up Mr Swart's recommendation and despite his, the country and world-wide condemnations of the action against the newspapers, editors and journalists, the apartheid regime continued with its clampdown and suppression of the media much more forcefully. Over the next 13 years the apartheid regime continued with their repressive actions of banning and detaining journalists. Some of the journalists who paid the price included Nat Serache, Isaac Moroe, Duma Ndlovu, Mateu Nonyane, Thami Mazwai, Juby Mayet, Mono Badela, Don Mattera, Enoch Duma, Mathatha Tseudu, Zwelakhe Sisulu, this correspondent, Joe Thloloe and Phil Mthimkulu. But despite some of the most stringent regulations and harassment and intimidation of media practitioners over the next 13 years, most journalists never gave up and used October 19 to continue with the struggles for Press Freedom. They realised their dream of Press Freedom when the ANC and other organisations were unbanned and when Mr Nelson Mandela and other leaders were released in February 1990. But the new democratic regime also tried to stymie the media when in 2012 it attempted to introduce new measures to force journalists to be compliant and to “toe the line”. But the ANC Government dropped its plans after strong condemnation by editors, journalists and society in general. The non-government organisations informed the ANC that if it tried to suppress the media then it would actually be suppressing the freedom and democracy that was attained through a great deal of sacrifice by most people, including journalists. Despite the turn around by the ANC, today, seven years later, politicians are still trying to intimidate journalists and editors. A group of politicians, who believe the media is carrying out a vendetta against them, have embarked on a warpath against media houses and journalists they don’t agree with.

(Zwelakhe Sisulu)

(JOE THLOLOE)

(MATHATHA TSEUDU) (PHIL MTHIMKULU AND JUBY MAYET)

(Thami Mazwai)

(SUBRY GOVENDER)

(DUMA NDLOVU)

9ENOCH DUMA)

(ISAAC MOROE)

(JUBY MAYET)

v> (MATEU NONYANE)

(MONO BADELA) One politician, who has been exposed of gaining from millions of rand that were stolen from a bank, made this dastardly statement: “kick the dog until the owner comes out”. He accused some journalists of being the “Ramaphosa Defence Force”. What this politician, his fellow officials and others must understand is that we have a free media and a free society in South Africa today because of the role played by journalists during the apartheid era. Journalists under the wing of the Union of Black Journalists(UBJ), the Media Workers Association of SA (MWASA) and the Association of Democratic Journalists(ADJ) and other black and white media people stood up against the apartheid regime in the course of their work.

(UBJ MEMBERS OUTSIDE THE WENTWORTH HOTEL IN DURBAN IN LATE 1977 AFTER THE BANNING OF THE UBJ. THE MEMBERS HAD MET TO DISCUSS THE LATEST SUPPRESSION OF JOURNALISTS AND THE MEDIA AT THAT TIME) The politicians of today must realise that if they continue with campaigns against journalists who report factually and truthfully, then they would only eventually destroy the democracy we had all fought for. Our first President, Nelson Mandela, acknowledged after his release in February 1990 that if it had not been for brave journalists, he would still be in prison. “I want to thank all of you for standing up for freedom and democracy and it is because of your brave stance that I am free today,” he told a press conference in Cape Town soon after his release. He then went onto call on journalists to continue with their courageous work and to hold the present generation of politicians accountable. It seems that some of the new politicians believe that they are above the law and that they want to operate in our new democracy without being called onto to answer for their misdeeds and theft of billions of taxpayers’ money. No journalist worth his salt will allow himself or herself to be pushed around or intimidated by politicians. – ends Subry Govender Oct 19 2019

STEVE BANTU BIKO - REPUBLICATION OF SOME ARTICLES WRITTEN BY THE PRESS TRUST OF SA THIRD WORLD NEWS AGENCY IN THE 1980s ABOUT THE MURDER OF THE BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS LEADER BY THE APARTHEID SECURITY POLICE ON SEPTEMBER 12 1977. . THIS IS BEING DONE 0N THE 42ND ANNIVERSARY OF BIKO'S MURDER

“F0R WHEN BIKO THE MAN DIED, BIKO THE MARTYR WAS BORN” Steve Biko – 42 years since being murdered by the apartheid security police on Sept 12 1977 On September 12 (2019) it will be 42 years since South Africa’s black consciousness leader, Steven Bantu Biko, was murdered by the then apartheid security police. During this time I was working at the Daily News, situated at that time at 85 Field Street in the port city of Durban. Biko’s gruesome death evoked shock and anger and I followed the aftermath of his murder very intensely. These were some of my articles published in the Daily News since September 13 1977: Then when we started the Press Trust of SA Third World News Agency in 1980, I continued to follow up the developments following his cruel death. We wrote a number of articles which I want to re-publish here.

AUGUST 16 1982 FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MURDER OF STEVE BIKO On September 12 1977 the majority of South Africans and the world at large were shocked into silence and disbelief when one of the country’s brightest young black leaders met an untimely and gruesome death at the hands of Pretoria’s security police. The young leader in question was Steven Bantu Biko, the 30-year-old leader of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM). He died of head wounds and brain damage 25 days after being detained along with a close friend, Peter Jones, at a road block in the Eastern Cape region of the country on August 18 1977. Biko became the 43rd South African political detainee to die under mysterious circumstances while under police custody. Today, five years later, Biko still haunts the consciences of white South Africans and the white minority government that was responsible for his brutal demise. Black South Africans, on the other hand, remember Biko as a martyr of the ongoing liberation struggle in South Africa. The Azanian Peoples Organisation (AZAPO), which replaced the Black Peoples Convention (BPC) and the South African Students Organisation (SASO) that were banned after Biko’s death, has organised a series of events to mark the 5th anniversary of his death. Among the activities include, “Biko Week”, which will be held from September 5 to 12, and a play on the life and death of the late black consciousness leader. At the time of his unfortunate death, Biko, who was the banned president of the BPC, was reportedly involved in moves inside the country to unify the forces of the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) in an attempt to co-ordinate the struggles against white minority rule. It is reported that he and Peter Jones were on this particular mission when they were stopped at a road block between King William’s Town and East London and detained under the country’s security laws. But what was reported to be merely an arrest for breaking his banning orders turned out to be one of the saddest events in the history of South Africa. He was held in solitary confinement with no proper washing facilities in a cell at the headquarters of the security police in Port Elizabeth. And later kept naked and hand-cuffed and leg-shackled to the iron bars of his cell. On September 11 1977 when he was found to be in a state of collapse in the cell, he was transported, lying naked in a land rover, to the Pretoria prison more than 1 200km away. This the authorities said was done out of compassion for Biko because the medical facilities in Pretoria were far better than those in Port Elizabeth. But the next day Steve Biko died a miserable and lonely death on a mat on a stone floor in the prison cell. Immediately after his death reverberated throughout South Africa and the world, the then South African Minister of Justice, Jimmy Kruger, made small talk of the tragedy when he told a cheering meeting of his ruling National Party in the Transvaal province that Biko had starved himself to death. JIMMY KRUGER : : “I am not sad, I am not glad, it leaves me cold”. He echoed the callousness and satisfaction of the authorities when he announced: “I am not sad, I am not glad, it leaves me cold”. Kruger’s callousness knew no bounds even when it transpired that Steve Biko died of brain injuries. The Minister’s response was typical: “A man can damage his brain in many ways.” He went onto imply suicide by saying: “I don’t know if they were self-inflicted. But I often think of banging my own head against a wall.” “ASSAULTING TEAM” Even the security police in charge of Steve Biko at the time of his death, a Colonel Goosen, tried to absolve himself and his men from any blame by saying that he had taken all measures to ensure the safekeeping of detainees, and to make sure that they did not escape or injure themselves. But in trying to find excuses he made a gigantic slip that really landed him in the soup. He said: “I am proud that during Biko’s interrogation, no assault charges had ever been laid against my ASSAULTING TEAM.” He later changed the phrase to “interrogating team”. But the truth of the matter was that Steve Biko died of at least five brain lesions caused by the application of external force to his head. The inquest into his death, however, found that no one was responsible and cleared the security policemen of any blame. Five years later, while black South Africans again remember Biko, it is worth recounting the short life of the activist who was chiefly responsible for conscientizing and politicising the young people during the 1970s. Biko was born to humble parents in the small town of Ginsberg in the Eastern Cape region of the country where he completed his early schooling and his matriculation. He proceeded to Durban to do a doctor’s degree at the University of Natal Black Medical School where he soon became involved in the activities of the multi-racial National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). But his association with NUSAS led to disillusionment when he and his colleagues found that the black man could never gain liberation by joining the debating chambers of white-controlled organisations. It was against this background that Biko and his colleagues established the South African Students Organisation (SASO) and later the Black Peoples’ Convention (BPC) to cater for non-students operating outside the apartheid system. Biko set the two organisations on their course when he outlined the philosophy of black consciousness by saying that blacks had to shake off all forms of imperialism – cultural, economical and psychological – in order to win physical freedom. But his leadership was short lived. The Pretoria authorities, sensing that he was a force to be reckoned with, slapped him with a five-year banning order in 1974 and restricted him to his home district of King William’s Town. “F0R WHEN BIKO THE MAN DIED, BIKO THE MARTYR WAS BORN” However, in spite of the restrictions and security police harassment, he continued to harness the thinking of the young people and to be in the forefront of international spotlight. He was such a charismatic and vociferous opponent of apartheid and white minority rule that scores of diplomats and international personalities used to literally search him out in the backdrop of Ginsberg for his views and thoughts about the situation in South Africa. Therefore, when his death came suddenly and cruelly on September 12 1977, black South Africa and the world cried “murder” at the Pretoria authorities. To their shock and amazement an inquest into his death found that no one was responsible, and the security policemen, who were responsible for his detention, were cleared of all blame. Steve Biko, a young freedom fighter and leader who initiated a fresh “revolution” and who had outmanoeuvred an almost Nazi-system, is no more but his values and ideals still live on in new organisations and projects. And they will certainly not disappear. For when Biko the man died, Biko the martyr was born. Ends – Press Trust of SA Third World News Agency August 16 1982

Nearly eight years after the murder of Steve Biko, we published and distributed around the world the following article: March 26 1985 BIKO SAGA CONTINUES =====================

After eight years the shroud of secrecy surrounding the death in police custody of the South African black consciousness leader, Steve Biko, may at last be lifted. But the full facts may never become known. The dastardly manner in which he was treated by two district surgeons, Drs Ivor Lang and Benjamin Tucker, shortly before he died on September 12 1977, is finally to be investigated by the South African Medical and Dental Council (SAMDC). The Medical and Dental Council was forced to take this action by the Supreme Court of the Transvaal province of the country recently after the Council refused to investigate the conduct of the doctors over the past eight years. The Supreme Court found there was evidence to suggest “improper and disgraceful” conduct on the part of the two doctors after a court action was brought by six leading medical personalities. The six initiators of the court action were Professors Timothy Wilson, Frances Ames, Trevor Jenkins and Philip Tobias and Drs Yousuf Variava and Dumisani Mzamane. The Biko saga began when he was arrested at a roadblock near Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape on August 18 1977 and detained in Port Elizabeth under Section 6 of the Terrorism Act. From September 7 to 11 he was treated by Drs Lang and Tucker. He was then removed to Pretoria where he died on September 12. At the subsequent inquest, Mr M J Prins, the Chief Magistrate of Pretoria, found that Biko had died as a result of injuries sustained after a “scuffle” with members of the security police. More pertinently he found that evidence led at the inquest suggested improper or disgraceful conduct on the part of the district surgeons. Despite complaints lodged by the South African Council of Churches (SACC) and the Health Workers Association, the Medical and Dental Council continued to maintain that there was no evidence to merit a fully-fledged investigation. The evidence indicated that at various periods Biko was manacled to the bars of his cell; that he fell into semi-coma; that Lang and Tucker found evidence of brain damage but did not inform the police and that regardless of the instructions of a neuro-surgeon he was not kept under observation. Instead the doctors arranged for him to be moved back to his prison cell where he was found in a dazed condition and frothing at the mouth the next day. They thought he was faking but Tucker suggested Biko be admitted hospital. Biko was then bundled into the back of a police van and driven more than 1 200km to Pretoria. He was kept naked throughout the trip, given no food and forced to use the back of the van to urinate. The only medical attention he received was a vitamin injection when they reached Pretoria. He died six hours later on a dust-covered floor in the back yard of a police station. With the security police exonerated at the inquest and a thorough investigation of the conduct of the two doctors seemingly blocked by the Medical and Dental Council, it appeared that the Biko affair had run its course - despite the international uproar – and would be relegated to the files as just another death in detention. Biko’s treatment by the doctors and the Medical and Dental Council’s refusal to act decisively on the matter had certainly not improved the image of the profession in the eyes of the world. But ever since the Council first decided in April 1980 that there were no grounds to warrant an investigation, concerned members of the profession had been persistently trying to force the Council’s hand. Now, after eight years of struggle, justice is most likely to be realised. DR YOUSUF VARIAVA Dr Variava, one of the doctors who brought the case against the Medical and Dental Council, said he was very pleased but added that the South African political situation, however, still remained the same as when Biko died. “I am happy only from the medical ethics aspect of it but many people who handled Biko before he died until now have not been brought forward to a court of law. “Those people must surely be charged with murder,” he said. ISHMAEL MAKHABELA The president of the Azanian Peoples Organisation (AZAPO), an organisation which took over from Biko’s Black Peoples’ Convention(BPC), Ishmael Makhabela, said the political bias and sickening double-standards of the white-controlled Medical and Dental Council had now become obvious. “It is AZAPO’s contention that very little has changed in South Africa ever since our early leaders were dragged to Robben Island. We will only be satisfied when the Pretoria regime has been toppled,” he said. Mr Makhabela said under the rule of the minority regime some 50 political prisoners had died in police custody from “causes” as varied as “slipping on soap” and “falling down stairs”. “It’s clear that the surgeons, Lang and Tucker, had put the interests of the security police over and above those of Biko. “If Biko’s prominence as a leader and political thinker could not provoke anything other than the most cursory treatment from the district surgeons, one wonders what the common detainee and the common citizen can expect from the authorities.” “It is easy to understand the reluctance of an august body as the Medical and Dental Council to investigate the district surgeons. “Indeed, Biko’s intellectual and political stature within the country and the international outcry precipitated by his death would on all accounts have behoved a meticulous purging of the profession – especially considering the searing nature of the evidence led at the inquest.” TERROR LEKOTA Mr Terror Lekota, the publicity secretary of the United Democratic Front (UDF), said: “The Medical and Dental Council investigations will go a lot further than bringing the Biko killers to book. Hopefully, it will serve as a warning to doctors in South Africa to treat detainees as human beings.” - Ends – Press Trust of SA Independent Third World News Agency March 23 1985

STEVE BIKO DEATH PROBED AGAIN IN 1985 This is yet another article that we published and circulated to all parts of the world in July 1985 about the gruesome manner in which black consciousness leader, Steve Biko, died in police custody at the hands of the former apartheid regime on September 12 1977. July 8 1985 JUSTICE AT LAST FOR BIKO DOCTORS? INTRO: Ever since Black Consciousness leader, Steve Biko, died in police custody in September 1977, the South African Medical and Dental Council (SAMDC) has been reluctant to investigate the conduct of the district surgeons who treated him as he lay dying. Earlier this year, however, following an application by six prominent doctors, the Supreme Court sitting in Pretoria, ordered the Medical and Dental Council to hold an inquiry into the conduct of Drs Ivor Lang and Benjamin Tucker. This week a Disciplinary Committee of the Medical and Dental Council found the doctors guilty of improper and disgraceful conduct and then, merely, reprimanded them. Subry Govender writes that considering the gravity of the offences, the leniency with which the Biko doctors have been treated is being seen by South Africans as yet another example of “racial” justice….. JUSTICE FOR DOCTORS WH0 FAILED IN THEIR DUTIES WHEN TREATING BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS LEADER, STEVE BIKO The evidence led at the inquest hearing into the death of Steve Biko on September 12 1977 has shocked South Africans and the international community at large. It showed that by civilised standards Biko was treated barbarically before his death. He was kept manacled hand and foot and then transported naked in the back of a police van 1 200km from Port Elizabeth to Pretoria where he succumbed to his wounds. This week, and only after being ordered by the Pretoria Supreme Court, the South African Medical and Dental Council, finally held an inquiry into the conduct of the doctors who attended to Biko in the five days before he died. If anything, the evidence at the inquiry was even more horrific. The inquiry heard that when the doctors were first called in by the Security police to attend to Biko, they found him on a cell mat soaked with urine. His blanket and clothing were soaked and he was fettered hand and foot. The doctors examined him by the light of a torch and issued a certificate, declaring him to be without evidence of pathology. On a second occasion the doctors again found Biko to be soaked in urine, but could not make a diagnosis. They did ask, though, for Biko to be transferred to a provincial hospital. Three days later Dr Tucker was called in for a third time to examine Biko. According to Colonel Pieter Goosen, the security policeman in charge, Biko appeared to be in a semi-coma and was frothing at the mouth. He was lying on the floor on mats and the police officer could get no reaction from him. Despite the fact that Biko was obviously seriously ill, Dr Tucker could again make no diagnosis. He merely repeated that Biko be taken to a provincial hospital. BRAIN DAMAGE According to the evidence Biko had been exhibiting various symptoms consistent with possible brain damage. His gait was irregular, he was foaming at the mouth, was confused, hyperventilating and bed-wetting, and had swollen feet and lesions on the forehead and lips. A neuro-surgeon after finding blood in a lumber puncture tap had also recommended that both doctors closely observe the detainee. Despite all these signs, the doctors, according to Colonel Goosen, maintained that they could find nothing wrong with the patient and never mentioned the possibility of brain damage. Instead Dr Tucker agreed to Biko being transported 1 200km by road to Pretoria. Eight years later, Dr Tucker has now been found guilty on 10 counts of disgraceful conduct and three counts of improper conduct. The inquiry recommended that he be suspended from practice for three months, this itself suspended for two years. It recommended that Dr Lang, who was found guilty on eight counts of improper conduct, be cautioned and discharged. The leniency with which the two doctors have been treated has drawn sharp reaction from the black community. AZAPO PRESIDENT The president of the Azanian Peoples Organisation (AZAPO), which follows the black consciousness philosophy of Biko, Mr Ishmael Makhabela, said they viewed the lenient sentences in a very serious light. “These convictions are just a farcical action by the Medical and Dental Council to placate the international community and defuse the matter. “Steve Biko’s death will, however, continue to haunt those who murdered him and those who were accomplices to his death.” DR JOE PAHLA Dr Joe Pahla, the permanent organiser of the National Medical and Dental Association (NAMDA), which is an alternative medical organisation that was started after Biko’s death, said the campaign by the black community and others had been vindicated by the doctors being found guilty of shirking their medical responsibilities. “However, it was actually the system of detention without trial and other methods used by the security police that should be put on trial,” he said. MRS HELEN SUZMAN Veteran opposition leader in the white parliament, Mrs Helen Suzman, said that the recommended sentences were “superficial punishment, and astonishing in view of the offences of which the doctors have been found guilty”. “It is reprehensible that the council had to be forced to take action and further more that these doctors should get so lenient sentences for acts which brought South Africa into disgrace.” The leniency with which the doctors have been treated will rankle in the black community, especially as the statutory Medical and Dental Council had always contended that there were no grounds for an inquiry. The inquiry may not have lifted the shroud of secrecy surrounding Biko’s death, but it is bound to spawn calls to bring to justice all those who were actually responsible for the untimely death of the brilliant black consciousness leader. The Biko case will not be allowed to rest by the black people as long as his murderers are walking free in the corridors of power in the South African Government and in the security police establishment. Ends – July 8 1985 Press Trust of SA Independent Third World News Agency

STEVE BANTU BIKO - 42 YEARS SINCE BEING MURDERED BY THE APARTHEID SECURITY POLICE ON SEPT 12 1977

On September 12 (2019) it will be 42 years since South Africa’s black consciousness leader, Steven Bantu Biko, was murdered by the then apartheid security police. During this time I was working at the Daily News, situated at that time at 85 Field Street in the port city of Durban. Biko’s gruesome death evoked shock and anger and I followed the aftermath of his murder very intensely. These were some of my articles published in the Daily News since September 13 1977: DETAINED BLACK LEADER DIES IN HOSPITAL - SEPTEMBER 13 1977

STEVE TOO STRONG TO DIE OF HUNGER, SAYS WIFE

BIKO WAS DEDICATED "FREEDOM FIGHTER" - SEPT 15 1977

(THIS WAS THE CAPTION: THE MULTIRACIAL CROWD OF MORE THAN 2 000 PEOPLE AT YESTERDAY'S MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR DETAINEE MR STEVE BIKO, WHO DIED IN SECURITY POLICE CUSTODY IN PRETORIA LAST WEEK. THE SERVICE WAS HELD AT DURBAN'S EMMANUEL CATHEDRAL)