S. AFRICA DIGS IN

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30172, 2 July 1963, Page 6

S. AFRICA DIGS IN

Barb-Wire Borders

(N.Z P.A.-Reuter— Copyright | JOHANNESBURG. June 30 From tomorrow South Africa will police its frontiers with tlie British protectorates of Swaziland. Rsentoland, and Bechuanaland.

Barbed-wire fences six feet high will be set up and guarded by round-the-clock patrols. The major aim is to halt the entry and exit of potential saboteurs and political agents. Hundreds of suspected African saboteurs are reported to have fled the republic for training camps in other African countries.

South African police have already set up a check-point near the 700-mile-long border with Bechuanaland—the main escape route The ruggedness and length of the protectorates’ borders will make it comparatively easy for Africans to evade the new controls. Another reason for the immigration posts is to check ■'foreign Africans" who flood into South Africa in search of jobs. Twenty years ago. long before the start of South Africa's apartheid policy, it was assumed the proteteorates would ultimately join South Africa. The opposite is now taken for granted.