Briefing from ROAPE Volume 14 Number 40
Year of Emergency, A Year of Repression

For just over a year now we have been living in a ‘state of emergency’ . For most of that time we have been prevented from knowing the truth about what is really happening in our country. The press has been severely restricted in its attempts to inform, us. Thousands of people have been detained or restricted. A wall of silence has been built between the townships and the rest of South Africa. This ‘diary of events’ consists of some of the events which have occurred in the past twelve months. It serves to remind us of the fact that we are living in a society which is characterised by increasing repression - a society torn apart by conflict and fear. Let us not forget. We call on South Africans to demand an end to the state of emergency and the release of all detainees. Detainees Parents Support Committee (DPSC), Khotso House, 42 de Villiers Street, Johannesburg.