AFRICAN BOY’S ORDEAL

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28774, 20 December 1958, Page 15

AFRICAN BOY’S ORDEAL

‘Poisonous Outburst’ From Britain (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, December 19. The ordeal of a seven-year-old African boy, who lay 45 minutes seriously injured in a Johannesburg street without medical examination, and whose photograph appeared in British newspapers this week, has led to a furious rejoinder in Cape Town, the “Daily Telegraph” reported todhy.

The boy, Kangweni Singwo, was knocked down by a lorry and is now recovering in hospital from a fractured skull.

The daily newspaper, “Die Burger,” yesterday denied that it was a case of shocking neglect or indifference that may have been aggravated by the apartheid conditions prevailing in South African medical and ■ambulance services. It described British press reports as “the most poisonous outburst against South Africa for many years.”

The story was first told by a photographer of the “Johannesburg Star,” Charles Channon, who arrived on the scene half an hour after the accident, said the “Daily Telegraph.” He photographed the child lying in the street, while policemen took tape measurements, the “Daily Telegraph” said. After 15 minutes, Channon obtained permission from a policeman and took the child to hospital in his own car.

“Die Burger” published an explanation from the Johannesburg police that this was an administrative blunder, and that the child was thought to be dead.

A mortuary van was on the way, said “Die Eurger,” after the boy was reported dead by an onlooker who saw the accfdent.

Channon said yesterday that the child was plainly conscious when he arrived on the scene. His pulse was quite strong and he was moaning.

The Nationalist Party of South Africa had been stung by a suggestion that the apartheid doctrine, to which its main legislative effort has been directed for the last ten years in every walk of life, may have had something to do with this state of affairs, said the “Daily Telegraph’s” correspondent in Cape Town. European ambulance services do not accept calls for Africans, although the head of Johannesburg’s ambulance services (Mr James Low) made an appeal in -May to the public for tolerance in cases of emergency. Two recent cases had caused indignation among all races in South Africa, said the “Daily Telegraph’s” correspondent. In October, the body of a coloured girl was allowed to lie five hours in a street in an urban area after an accident.

A police escort was called out in Johannesburg on November 20 when a crowd threatened to assault a European ambulance driver for refusing to take away a critically injured African in his all-white ambulance. .Many South Africans are critical of these conditions.