38 activists face trial in S. Africa

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Rm. 308, San Francisco, CA 94110 SOCIALIST ACTION SEPTEMBER 1985 15 nity groups as the backbone of the According to Ramaphosa, union leaders have begun to confront the government politically in response to mounting pressure from the rank and file.

The growing confidence felt by Black workers is in large part a result of their increased power within South African industry, which served as a high-profit oasis for foreign investment during the early 1970s. Despite high unemployment during the current economic crisis in South Africa, Black trade unions have tripled in membership since they were legalized four years ago.

Black automobile and rubber workers helped to organize an on-going boycott that has cut purchases from whiteowned businesses in the Eastern Cape region by close to 30 percent. The mineworkers participated in extending the boycott to communities in the Transvaal in order to protest the state of emergency.

Next month the mineworkers plan to meet with other Black trade unions in order to consolidate a strong, nonracial federation that would represent up to 500,000 Black and white workers.

The apartheid government is particuInternational Viewpoint is a biweekly political review analyzing recent world events from a revolutionary-Marxist perspective. The latest issue contains articles on Polish Solidarnosc, the peasant upsurge in Mexico, the unification of Dominican revolutionMary forces, the European peace movement, and women's liberation today.

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Several top leaders of the United Democratic Front (UDF) are on trial for their lives in South Africa. At least 38 trade-union and community activists face charges of treason in the biggest court battle since African National Congress head Nelson Mandela was imprisoned in 1964.

The trial opened for 16 defendants in Pietermaritzburg, Natal province, on Aug. 6, a few days after defense attorney Victoria Mxenge was assassinated by a clandestine death squad. The activists were charged with hundreds of "treasonous" acts, including giving speeches critical of the apartheid system, distributing pamphlets, and singing freedom songs.

It is expected that the judge will begin hearing evidence this month. Twenty-two other UDF leaders will be tried on similar charges in Transvaal province in October.

Subscribe now A sixViewThe United Democratic Front, which claims 2 million members in some 600 affiliates, is the largest and best-publicized anti-apartheid organization. Its platform embraces the charter adopted by the African National Congress in 1961 that attempts to unite all races in a common drive for freedom.

The National Forum, another massbased coalition, is more concerned with a direct attack on the capitalist system. Its principal constituent is the Azanian People's Organization (AZAPO), which is rooted in the Black Consciousness Movement of the 1970s.

The South African government has tried to foment suspicion and rivalry between the two groups. Police blamed the June 1985 murder of four UDF leaders near Port Elizabeth on AZAPO members. Both groups, however, have rejected the suggestion.

Coalitions born out of struggle Both the United Democratic Front and the National Forum were born two years ago during preparations for the successful boycott of elections for segregated Coloured and Asian chambers of Parliament. Two days before the election, police arrested 150 activists, including members of both groups.

Six members of the UDF had to seek refuge in the British consulate. They and other UDF leaders arrested at the time are among the 38 facing charges for treason.

The huge mobilizations against the elections and the mass organizations that developed out of them took the government by surprise. At one point, an angry crowd forced Louis Le Grange, the Minister of Law and Order, to turn back his armored convoy.

Early this year, Le Grange took the opportunity to exclaim to Parliament that South Africa is "moving into a potentially revolutionary situation."

And revolution, in the eyes of the ruling class, is the result of conspiracy rather than mass discontent and justifies severe repression.

Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, and others were likewise charged with membership in a "countrywide conspiracy" to overthrow the state during their trial for treason that lasted from 1957 to 1961. After being found not guilty, they were rearrested in 1963 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

International pressure on the apartheid government helped to save them from the death penalty. Once again, the international labor movement and friends of civil liberties must mobilize in defense of the accused. ...F.L.O.C.

(continued from page 20: “Salvadoran labor _ leaps to action MUSYI”) available, they should be made available to the poor in this country."

"You're going to win"

UFW President Cesar Chavez was the keynote speaker. He declared, "Your struggle is our struggle. Your struggle is a just struggle. You're going to win very soon."

Chavez detailed the important gain in• wages, benefits, and working conditions the UFW has achieved. He explained that it took over four years of striking and boycotting to achieve the union recognition that had made these gains possible.

When the convention adjourned, Toledo area trade union members joined with convention participants in a spirited march, expressing their determination to continue the pressure on Campbell's Soup Co.

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