Lees gerus weer hierdie berig wat in Beeld verskyn het en vergelyk dit dan met Genls. Louis Botha en Jan Smuts se optrede in 1914 soos wat dit rapporteer is in die Advertiser van 1914. Dat die liberaliste, die mynmagnate en imperiale regerings nog altyd hand om die blaas loop, slaan telkens soos vetkolle op ʼn bruin papiersak waarin jy biltong probeer wegsteek, uit.
Marikana moenie beleggers afskrik’ (OF MOET DIT?)AVP se vraag.
2012-09-18 21:56
Leopold Scholtz
Brussel. – Die regering is ondanks die onlangse myngeweld by die Marikana-myn in volle beheer van die situasie. Beleggers moet dus nie afgeskrik word nie, was pres. Jacob Zuma se gerusstellende boodskap gistermiddag hier.
Hy het op ’n mediakonferensie in die hoofkwartier van die Europese Unie (EU) gepraat ná die vyfde spitsberaad tussen die EU en Suid-Afrika.
Die samesprekings het plaasgevind in die skilderagtige kasteel Val Duchesse buite Brussel, waar die oorspronklike ooreenkoms vir die totstandkoming van die Europese Ekonomiese Gemeenskap in 1958 gesluit is.
Zuma het toegegee dat die Marikana-gebeure “ongelukkig” was. Dit het onverwags gebeur omdat Suid-Afrika ’n demokrasie met ’n goeie grondwet en voldoende wigte en teenwigte is, was dit ’n skok vir almal.
Maar, het hy bygevoeg, die regering het vinnig gereageer deur ’n kommissie van ondersoek in te stel sodat almal presies kan weet wat gebeur het.
Alle sektore van die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing – die regering, die kerke, die burgerlike samelewing – het gereageer soos dit in ’n demokrasie hoort. Dis dié wete wat beleggers nodig het.
Hy verstaan die kommer onder beleggers, maar die regering se vinnige reaksie wys dat hy in volle beheer van die situasie is. Daarom hoef beleggers nie bang te wees nie en daarom bly Suid-Afrika ’n bestemming vir beleggings, het hy gesê.
Herman van Rompuy, president van die EU, het gesê die spitsberaad is ’n refleksie van die strategiese vennootskap tussen die EU en Suid-Afrika.
Onder meer is afgespreek dat die Suid-Afrikaanse en die EU se vlote meer saamwerk in die bestryding van seerowery.
The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931)(about) Previous issue Friday 30 January 1914
THE DEPORTED LABOR LEADERS. GOVERNMENTS ILLEGAL ACTION. INTENTIONS KEPT SECRET. HOW THE OBJECT WAS ACCOMPLISHED. MEN UNAWARE OF THEIR DESTINATION.
CAPE TOWN, January 29. The action of the. Union Government in deporting ten of the most prominent leaders of the recent industrial crisis is the subject of general comment throughout South Africa
Very few of the officials selected to carry out the Government plans were aware of what was intended. Neither the detectives who escorted the men nor the railway officials who supervised the train arrangements had been warned to hold themselves in readiness. When ultimately the chief detective gave his men their orders he simply told them to bring
.their overcoats and their handcuffs along, j Notwithstanding the elaborate precautions I taken to keep the secret, the news leaked out in Johannesburg. This happened through a civilian chancing to hear the inmates of a prison van singing "The Red Flag" as they were being taken to the train. This man informed the news- papers of what was transpiring, and the "Rand Mail'' published the news. The authorities then warned the newspapers that they were not to refer to the matter, and all comment was forbidden.
Did Not Know Where They Were Going.
The deported men were removed from the jail on Monday night, and conveyed in the prison van some miles into the country, where they were placed on board ''a special train containing troops. The men had no idea where they were going, but believed it was towards Pretoria. All the windows and shutters of the train were kept closed.
When the train pulled up at its destination "the prisoners were surprised to find themselves in Durban, where they arrived at midnight. They were now strongly guarded by a detachment of the Natal Rifles, while water police guarded the passage of the train to the steamer Umgeni, on which the men were cm barked. The Government had chartered all the passenger accommodation on this boat, and" the prisoners were hurriedly taken, without resistance to their cabins, each strongly guarded by water police.
Up to tins time the men had no know- ledge of the Government'6 intentions, and the secret was so well kept that no one in Durban "was aware of the proceedings. Even the railway officials were ignorant of the identity of the "passengers," -the train having been designated a "special" conveying a theatrical company to the steamer. Soon after the prisoners were put on board the Umgeni crossed the bar and anchored in the roadstead. The prisoners were now for the first time informed of the plans of the Government, and were given an hour and a half in which to write ashore, the letters being dispatched by the Government tugs, to inform their families and friends of what had happened. Punctually at dawn on Tuesday morning the Umgeni, which carries no wireless telegraphy plant, departed for London.
Application to Restrain.
When the intentions of the Government became known on Tuesday application was made to the Supreme Court to restrain the Government from deporting the leaders. Mr. Justice Wessels declined to make an order, on the ground that he had not sufficient evidence before him. The application was renewed yesterday after the men had been sent off. It was announced that the court had allowed counsel to apply for a writ of attachment against the officials concerned and the deportations for contempt. Mr. Justice Wessels said he regretted that he had not sufficient information on Tuesday, or he would have granted the order restraining the Government from deporting the men. If the Government chose to use force to commit an illegal act no court could stop them. The Government were acting invalidly if the men had been locked up and were refused their rights as citizens to appeal. But the Government's use of force was a matter for which they were responsible to the citizens.
When Mr. Lucas, counsel for the appellants, applied on Tuesday for the restraining order, Mr. Justice Wessels said he could not assume upon a mere rumor that the Government were going to kidnap citizens and deport them, except on the authority of an Act of Parliament.
Mr. Justice Mason remarked that he must not be taken as concurring in the view that the material before the court was insufficient. He called the Attorney-General, who" declared that he was not aware of the facts.
Colonel Truter, Commissioner of Police, replying to a question put by Mr. Justice Mason, stated that he handed the prisoners to an escort under instructions from the Government.
Mr. Lucas based his application for an attachment order on the fact that Messrs. Poutsma and Waterson should have appeared before the court on Wednesday morning. An application that Colonel Smith should be ordered to produce the deported men was withdrawn on the ground that the court was without jurisdiction beyond the Transvaal.
Responsibility of the Government. The opening of the Union Parliament < on Friday (to-day) is being awaited with keen interest. This extraordinary crisis has brought the English and Dutch into remarkable sympathy, which has been strikingly illustrated by the public meetings held during the industrial troubles, and by fraternizations between the two peoples during the mobilizations. The first duty of the Government now will be to obtain an indemnity from Parliament for the acts committed under martial law. It is doubtful whether the "Government will proceed with the projected Bills for the legalizing and controlling of trades unions, and for dealing with industrial disputes. The late strike was really a protest against these Bills. It is considered likely that the Government will postpone the whole of their industrial legislation until public passions have subsided.
Commenting on the deportations, the '"Cape Argus" remarks that the Government have incurred a grave responsibility. It will be nothing short of a national calamity if the recent happenings encourage the evil spirit of bureaucracy.
The “Cape Times" considers that the deportations were not justifiable legally, but were justifiable on the grounds of commonsense and public safety. The newspaper recalls the action of the authorities in New Zealand recently in giving notice to agitators to quit their district”.'
CONDITIONS NEARLY NORMAL.
JOHANNESBURG, January 28.
Benoni is now the only place where martial law has not been relaxed. The strikers are largely applying for permits to leave the country. Many Australians are among the strikers. The position elsewhere in
South Africa is normal.
OPINION IN ENGLAND.
LABOR PARTY DISCUSSION.
VIGOROUS SPEECH BY MR. MAC-DONALD?
LONDON, January 29.
The Sonth. African deportations were discussed yesterday at the electoral conference in Glasgow of the Parliamentary Labor Party, when a resolution was carried condemning the South African Government's suppression of trades unionism by armed force and the violation of the elementary rights of citizenship. The resolution also demanded the immediate recall of the Governor-General (Lord Glad- stone).
Mr. J. Keir Hardie, M.P. for Merthyr Tydfil, pointed out that any Act passed by the Union Parliament to indemnify the Government for such course required the King's signature. Lord Gladstone, he added, could refuse to sign an indemnifying Act until it was sent home for consideration.
The leader of the party. Mr. J. Ramsay Macdonald. said the deportation was a cynical conclusion to the South African war. The result of spending one hundred millions in money and thousands of lives was that trades union leaders were to be deported if they brought out men who were suffering from industrial grievances. It was not easy for members of the British House of Commons to intervene in matters of this kind, for it must be remembered that South Africa was à self-governing Dominion, and that any interference from Downing-street would be immediately resented, even by the victims of the tyranny. But the British Labor members could raise the question of Lord Gladstone, the Governor-General, consenting to martial law. The matter was beginning to get a little bit too thick. He had always thought that under the British flag there were certain inviolable rights and liberties, including the right to strike and the right to picket. But they were now told that that was nonsense, humbug, and moonshine. A self-governing Do- minion could make or mar the Empire's fair name, and "if there is no Imperial authority vested, with powers to stop this sort of thing, it is about time we had it. If we are going to allow the self governing Dominions to do this I say candidly we would far rather they were under a foreign Power."
NEWSPAPER AND OTHER VIEWS.
LONDON, January 29.
Sir Harry Poland, "K.C., for many years one of the counsel to the Treasury and the Home Office, interviewed regarding recent happenings in South Africa, said at first sight it made one's blood boil to think of ten respectable members of the Labor Party «being banished in such- a fashion. Therefore he was inclined to think that "there was some truth in the statements about a conspiracy to upset the Government and establish a Labor Republic.
The "Times" says the gravity of the situation lies in the fact that the .Government, Legislature, and electorate of South Africa apparently approve of this administrative step, which is certain to provoke the strongest resentment among large and powerful classes in the electorate at "home, and possibly also in the electorates of the other Dominions. The "Times'' concludes: -"The deportation of these leaders is the most startling event that has yet occurred to reveal our want of common policy in dealing with Imperial problems which affect more than one self-governing community."
The Cape Town correspondents of the leading English newspapers this morning summarize the opinion prevailing in the various South African capitals concerning the deportation of the Labor leaders. In Cape Town some of the unionists who have hitherto supported the Government, feel that Ministers have established dangerous precedent, and that it would have been better to have waited for an Act of Parliament lo sanction the deportation. Little doubt is felt regarding the success of the Government in obtaining an indemnity from Parliament. In Durban it is generally admitted that the "agitators" were dangerous members of the community, but that it would have been better if the courts had regularized the expulsions. The feeling in Johannesburg is approval of the action of the Government, as meaning the end of the labor unrest for a considerable .time. It is understood there that Mr. Smuts (Minister for Defense) was chiefly responsible for the deportation. It is reported that Mr. Creswell. M.P. for Johannesburg, dispatched telegrams to the Labor leaders in various centers, informing them of the action of the Government, but they were returned to him by the press censor. All the morning newspapers in Johannesburg were prohibited from publishing the reports of yesterday's court proceedings.
The Johannesburg correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" states that Mr. Waterson has been deported to Australia.
MR. HARCOURT CAUTIOUS.
LONDON. January 28.
The Secretary of State for the Colonies. Mr. L. Harcourt, today refused to receive a deputation on the subject of the deportation of Labor leaders, saying that the matter was solely within the * competence of the Union Government, but he promised to obtain particulars from Lord Gladstone.
ALL LEADERS ARRESTED.
LONDON. January 28.
Mr. Drownelie, the chairman of the Amalgamated Engineers' Society, has ; announced that all the Labor officials in South Africa have been arrested and books and funds confiscated. His society were unable to cable funds to South Africa to assist the strikers for fear that the money so sent would be confiscated also.
"BRUTAL DESPOTISM."
PROTEST FROM THE BARRIER.
Broken Hill, January 29.
A mass meeting of the Barrier Labor Federation last night carried a resolution "That this special mass meeting of the Barrier Labor Federation condemns the despotism of the brutal Botha Government and urges the workers of South Africa to unite at the ballot box to replace the representatives of capitalism by the representatives of democracy, and we pray that the workers of South Africa be treated with less martial law and more justice."