S.A. Election Brawls

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32274, 17 April 1970, Page 13

S.A. Election Brawls

(N,Z P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

PRETORIA, April 16. Squads of police moved in with dogs last night to stop fighting that broke out as a Rightwing party political meeting in Pretoria became one of the rowdiest of South Africa’s General Election campaign.

A constant barrage of heckling and jeering, isolated scuffles and eggs thrown at the platform marked the early part of the meeting held in a packed Pretoria city hall by the extreme-Right Herstigte (reconstituted) National Party (H.N.P.) The party, regarded as representing die-hard Rightwing Afrikaners, was founded by an ultra-nationalist, Dr Albert Hertzog after his expulsion from the ruling National Party last October.

Fighting spread among the 3000 people crowded inside the hall and gathered outside after the deputy H.N.P.

leader, Mr Jaap Marais, ended a two-hour speech. Mr Marais warned hecklers to keep quiet or “our young men” would be sent to make them behave. Shortly afterwards angry H.N.P. supporters surged through the hall, sbouting and brandishing their fists, and tackled the hecklers.

Police forced their way into the melee but failed to halt the fighting until reinforcements with dogs were called in.

After demonstrators had been removed, 70-year-old Dr Hertzog stood up to speak. A constant chant of the name of the Prime Minister, Mr John Vorster, was kept up by groups of National Party supporters and most of Dr Hertzog’s speech was inaudible. Mr Marais accused the Government of systematically breaking down the white man’s resistance to racial integration, of bowing to the demands of liberalism and of undermining the self-respect of the Afrikaner. A Supreme Court judge yesterday ordered publication

of the latest issue of the far. Right-wing newspaper, “Dir Afrikaner,” to stop after an urgent court application by the Prime Minister. He ordered the suppression of the issue after Mr Vorster; claimed that an item appearing in the latest issue was false, libellous and would do him irreparable harm. The paper is one of Mr Vorster’s most bitter critics in the Genera! Election campaign.

The article published to» day took the form of an official letter to the electorate from the Prime Minister. At the top was the official coat of arms and Mr Vorster’s official Pretoria address. The “letter” bore a reproduction of his signature at the end.

It was a piece of biting Hertzogite satire, where ail the faults ascribed to him were hailed in the letter as great Vorster achievements, and it ended: “On April 22 (the date of the election) yoii are the highest judge. After that I’ll take over the country.” Mr Vorster’s successful move to silence the official voice of the H.N.P. marked a new high tide in the conflict between the ruling nation l alists. and the extremist Afrikaners.