… the South African government made an extraordinary offer: free passage to the airport and a flight out of the country. Although this offer was immediately turned down by the three, holed up in a central Johannesburg skyscraper, it made clear how eager the government is to resolve the embarrassing situation. But late last night there was no sign of a quick end to the problem.
The three – United Democratic Front Publicity Secretary Murphy Morobe, UDF General Secretary Mohammed Valli Moosa and National Education Crisis Committee (NECC) leader Vusi Khanyile – appeared to be settling in for a lengthy stay, with a television set a video player, a coffee machine and plenty of food and drink. They received a number of messages of support yesterday, including one from Thabo Mbeki, executive member of the African National Congress. Last night they were speaking on the telephone to the US, notably to prominent politician Jesse Jackson.
UDF leaders from around the country were flying to Johannesburg to discuss the situation with the three fugitives. National presidents, Albertina Sisulu and Archie Gumede, and patron Allan Boesak are due to meet them this morning. Gumede is a veteran of consulate sit-ins; he spent eight weeks in the British consulate in Durban in 1985. The three are not acting in isolation. They have formed a five-person committee to advise them, made up of the Reverend Frank Chikane, Dr Beyers Naude, and Saki Macozoma of the South African Council of Churches; founding member of the now-restricted Detainees' Parents Support Committee, Dr Max Coleman; Jay Naidoo, general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions; and lawyer Krish Naidoo.
And it is known that their decision to break out of detention and take refuge in the consulate was the result of extensive discussion with the dozens of Emergency detainees in Johannesburg Prison, where they were being held. Weeks of discussion led to the decision that it should be done by these three, probably the most politically senior of the Emergency detainees in Diepkloof – and this is likely to affect any decision they make in the consulate. Yesterday afternoon, Morobe, Valli and Khanyile made it clear they would not leave the consulate premises without cast-iron guarantees of their freedom. The apparent eagerness to offer them a deal only strengthened their position and convinced them to hold out for a while, at least.
In an offer on Tuesday night by the Department of Foreign Affairs of a Right out of the country, both the US and Zimbabwe were mentioned as possible destinations. But the three rejected the offer before details were hammered out. In a statement, the three noted that Minister of Law and Order Adriaan Vlok had only said they would not be redetained. "It is clear that the minister intends placing us under severe restrictions. We consider bannings and house-arrest as just another form of detention," they said. They also pointed to the fact that the minister had said the three were due to be released soon anyway. "If that was the case, then the release of many of our colleagues who are still in detention should also be imminent. We will be convinced of the minister's good faith if indeed these people are released in the immediate future. "Surely, it would be an improbable coincidence if the minister was on the verge of releasing only the three of us," they said.
The three are demanding they be "allowed to leave the building without threat of redetention or any restriction; the lifting of the State of Emergency; and the unconditional release of all other detainees. "We would like our action to be seen as highlighting not only our own plight, but also that of the hundreds of other detainees whose situation is equally hopeless. Some of these are now in detention for as long as 27 months. "Among them are schoolboys and girls, breadwinners and responsible members of our community who have committed no crime," they said.
As the government offered on Tuesday evening to fly the three out the country, the special support committee set up by the three was meeting with US Ambassador Edward Perkins at a private house in Sandton. The next day the South African authorities went public: the three were free to leave the consulate without being arrested, a representative of the Ministry of Law and Order said. “There is no further reason to detain them … they would have been released shortly anyway," Brigadier Leon Mellet said. Mellet' s was an extraordinary admission – fuelling the view that there was no reason to detain the three and thereby going some way towards providing a justification for their escape. It also strengthened something the three said at almost the exact same time: that they had taken refuge in the consulate because "we failed to see any justification for our continued detention without trial".
Why is the government so keen to solve the situation? A difficult conflagration involving the Americans – as the US Senate considers new sanctions and during the build-up to a presidential election in which it is an issue that could be exploited by the leftwing – is not something the government relishes. They may recall their last such experience when UDF leaders took refuge in the British consulate in Durban, leading to a drawn-out problem which complicated relations with Britain. The situation was particularly embarrassing because the three are among the best-known and politically most senior detainees. This was driven home when the US State Department said: "We have been in frequent contact with the three men prior to their detention without charge and hold them in high regard."
Pretoria was therefore faced with a difficult problem this week: either lay siege to the 11th floor of the Kine Centre, in one of Johannesburg's busiest areas, or try to resolve it quickly and quietly. The former option would be diplomatically and logistically difficult. The latter option carries the problem that concessions to detainees would be exploited both by other detainees and the far rightwing, which would accuse the government of being soft on security and international pressure. The government chose the latter option – but as soon as they showed an over eagerness to settle the matter, the three fugitives held out, in the hope of winning stronger assurances of their safety. The US authorities showed a similiar eagerness to deal speedily and correctly with a potentially embarrassing situation. The three men clearly chose their consulate carefully, knowing this is a moment when South Africa has to tread delicately in its relations with Washington. – Vusi Gunene, Anton Harber & Thandeka Gqubule
This article originally appeared in the Weekly Mail.
