South Africa Voted Out Of I.L.0.

Press, Volume C, Issue 29554, 1 July 1961, Page 15

South Africa Voted Out Of I.L.0.

(S Z.P.A -Reuter—Copimpnt, GENEVA, June 30. The International Labour Organisation’s conference in Geneva has decided to request its governing body to advise South Africa to withdraw from the organisation because of the Republic’s racial policies. Voting on a Nigerian resolution to this effect yesterday was 163 for, none against and 89 abstentions.

The resolution condemned] apartheid, expressed sym-' pathy for those people in South Africa whose funda-; mental rights were suppressed by this policy, said' that the continued member-' ship of South Africa was not ; consistent with the aims and purposes of the 1L.0., and] requested the governing body of the 11.0. to advise the; South African Government i to withdraw from the organ-1 isation. Most of the Afro-Asian i group, the entire Communist) bloc, and some Latin Ameri-j can delegates voted in favour, I Those abstaining included moot of the government and employer delegates from Western Europe, the United States, some of the Com-; mon wealth countries, and the majority of Latin American/ states After the vote, the South! African four-man delegation remained seated at their places in the conference hall, but when the assembly turned to other business they left the room.

I Before the vote. South Africa's delegation, led by Mr Daniel Johannes Geyser I the Deputy Secretary of Labour, had sat grim-faced; as delegate after delegate criticised the South African; Government for its apartheid! policy. Mr Geyser, who was the first speaker this morning, expressed bis Governments “deep regret and concern" [that IDO. procedures were . being used to attack South \ Africa on political grounds. He said that to accede to ■ a request of the sort contained in the resolution would be the antithesis of South Africa’s policy of international co-operation and would be nothing but inimical to the interests of the 1.L.0. and its splendid objectives. Mr Johannes Van Wyk, the South African workers’ delegate. appealed to the conference to opnose the resolution because the interests of South African workers “can best be served while we remain within the organisation.”