S.A. unions protest over prison death

Press, 12 February 1982, Page 6

S.A. unions protest over prison death

NZPA-Reuter- Johannesburg Trade unions throughout South Africa planned to'stop work for half an hour late yesterday (N.Z.' time) in an unprecedented action to mark the death in police custody of a white trade unionist, Neil Aggett. Unions representing more than a quarter of a million workers intend to down tools, many with the blessing of their employers, from -.11.30 a.m. to midday i (South African time) in protest at the death of Dr Aggett who was found hanged in his cell last Friday.

The work stoppage was to be accompanied by a rally at the liberal-leaning University of the Witwatersrand, where the outspoken black bishop,

Desmond Tutu, will be a key speaker, and a nationwide prayer vigil called by the Witwatersrand Council of Churches. - Dr Aggett, a regional secretary for the Food and Canners’ Workers’ Union, was the first white person to die while in detention under South Africa’s tough security ' laws which allow for deten■tion without charge. Unions in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town. Port Elizabeth. East London, and Durban all pledged support for the action. The Government says there are 114 people being detained under South Africa’s security laws. Civil-rights groups say 46 people have died in detention since 1963.

, So far there has been no official investigation into Dr Aggett's death, but the Minister of Police told Parliament yesterday the results of the post-mortem inquiry had been given to the AttorneyGeneral. Henk Botha, the director of South Africa’s Institute for Industrial Relations, appealed for "the utmost restraint" by both employers and employees regarding the stoppage. Many companies, including most of the motor manufacturers and the giant AngloAmerican Corporation, have taken a neutral stand on the issue saying they would treat with sympathy any requests to observe the period of mourning.