Violence less, says Botha

Press, 23 July 1986, Page 12

Violence less, says Botha

NZPA-Reuter Johannesburg South Africa’s President, Mr Pieter Botha, says political violence has dropped sharply since he declared a nation-wide state of emergency. At a meeting with the Archbishop-elect of Cape Town, the Rt. Rev Desmond Tutu, yesterday, Mr Botha gave the first official collated figures on political unrest since the emergency was imposed on June 12. He said that from June 12 to July 20 there had been 1465 “unrest related incidents,” compared with 2459 from May 12 to June 11. These incidents covered stone-throwing, fire-bomb-ings, and arson, as well as clashes with security forces. His figures, released in a statement after two hours of talks with Bishop Tutu, made no reference to the casualty toll. According to daily reports from the State Information Bureau the death rate has not slackened: the death toll stands at 166

since the emergency started. Mr Botha, who will meet Sir Geoffrey Howe this week, said “a greater general sense of safety and security has returned to black townships” and that confidence by the financial community was growing. He also hit out at the news media. “The negative effect of the media who were bent on exploiting unrest for the sake of sensationalism was largely neutralised,” his statement said. Curbs introduced under the emergency have seriously hampered news coverage, barring journalists from trouble spots and reporting any action by security forces. Bishop Tutu said he and Mr Botha, who have met rarely, had “not minced words ... the State President did not agree with me that the situation was deteriorating.” Mr Botha had undertaken to review the cases of some churchmen believed to be among the thousands of detainees rounded upsince June 12.