The future of mass protest and of government verligheid could depend on Sunday afternoon’s ”welcome home” rally for the seven released African National Congress leaders. A senior National Party source, who asked not to be named, indicated the securocrats within the state were poised to reverse the tide of new thinking within government if the rally led to any ”violent spilloverâ€. ”I think some of them are hoping and expecting that things will not go smoothly, so that they can put a stop to open displays of support for the ANC and the Communist Partyâ€, the Nat MP said.
Rally organisers expect the event to be one of the largest displays of support for the banned organization in its 77-year history. Plans have been made to cater for 80 000 people at Soccer City near Soweto – 20 000 from outside Johannesburg. Wary of attempts to sabotage the event, organisers have appointed 700 marshalls in addition to the Soccer City security staff. Organisers say they don’t expect police to disrupt the rally but SAP representatives have indicated that if there is a flagrant promoting” of ANC aims, they may have to act. Exactly what that means is not clear. Banners and symbols of the ANC and South African Communist Party are likely to be displayed, and the released leaders will speak in their capacity as senior ANC members. Over the past week seemingly different signals have emerged from various government representatives regarding the status of the ANC.
Addressing the NP Transvaal Congress in Pretoria, State President FW de Klerk said he was prepared to accept ”every political party’s right to organise” and that he was looking for ”signals in words and deeds” that they were committed to peace. A Foreign Affairs Department advert in the international Herald Tribune went further by indicating the state had to unban the ANC and accept it as a negotiating partner, free Mandela and lift the Emergency However, Law and Order Minister Adriaan Vlok told a meeting in Bloemfontein that the ANC was still banned and it was a crime to further its aims. Government representatives yesterday stresses there was no ambiguity regarding the government statements and that the was no dissension between FW and his ministers.
”The ANC is a banned organisation but the seven leaders who will be speaking at the rally have been unconditionally released and are therefore entitled to speak to their people if they so please,” said a representative. Speaking on behalf of the National Reception Committee, which is hosting the rally, the United Democratic Front’s Murphy Morobe said if there were any interference with the rally it would be a clear indication that the leaders have been released with ”invisible restrictions”. Morobe said Walter Sisulu, Wilton Mkwayi, Raymond Mhlaba, Ahmed Kathrada, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni would be speaking.
So will former ANC national chairman Govan Mbeki, who was freed in 1987. Mbeki’s restriction orders were lifted for a week to allow him to speak on Sunday. Muntu Myeza, of the Black Consciousness Movement, said BCM supporters would attend the rally ”in a spirit of comradeship”. If the event goes ahead without incident, it will confirm semi-legal status for the ANC within the country, and will mean the Congress-aligned forces will operate at four levels. The ANC and SACP will have public faces, and at least seven representatives immune from serious threat of prosecution. At the same time they will maintain underground structures.
The UDF, which is restricted, has re-emerged as a public force and is building up its structures. The Mass Democratic Movement, created to fill the gap left by the UDF, has pulled the UDF, Cosatu and several previously unaligned groups into a coherant and public alliance. A fifth level could be created if the Conference for a Democratic Future in December succeeds in forging a broad alliance of anti-apartheid forces.
