by Eileen Harper The Canadian Council

For

international Co-operation held a conference in Mon- treal in February. The highlight of the conference came Friday night (Febru- ary 27) when speakers from Southern Africa addressed the issue of apartheid and stressed the need for sanc- tions. Among the guest speakers were Alan Boesak of South Africa, Teodato Hungwana of Mozambique and Thabo Mbeki also from South Africa.

Alan Boesak urged the International community to take a strong stance against apartheid. “We must take

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Taking sides in South Africa

y

sides,” he stated. Boe- sak’s words powerfully re- flected the black struggle in South Africa — “There is a civil war going on in South Africa. Yes, we are been imprisoned, Yes we are been detained without trial and yes we are been tortured. There is a war go- ing on and We cannot re- main neutral”, he contin- ued ~For to remain neu- tral is to already have taken sides.”

Boesak described the destruction and_ suffering caused by the State of Emergency, where black schools and homes have been attacked by South African police. Thousands of children have been im- prisoned and even infants have been killed by police

tear-gas. “We are tired of fighting with stones — lit- tle black children are been killed in the streets —— the mothers are crying -— for they do not if their children are dead or if they are miss- ing. And if they are miss- ing, where they have fled.”

Boesak challenged Margret Thatcher’s argu- ment that sanctions would hurt the people and cause suffering. “Our people are suffering NOW, and they have suffered for many years. I would like to ask Mrs. Thatcher ‘Where have you been for all this time? That you did not know this?’” Boesak con- cluded that sanctions can “shorten the period of suf- fering” provided that they are enforced now.

Teodato Hunwana de- scribed South Africa’s mili- tary attack on Mozambique and how this aggression has caused thousands of death in his country. He de- scribed Mozambique as a strong link in the struggle against aparthied. Canada can support countries like

‘Mozambique in the strug-

gle against aparthied. The benefits for strengthen-

' ing Mozambique’s economy

(for example) are twofold — 1) It would indirectly weaken South Africa’s eco- nomic. control over neigh- bouring countries, and 2) It would strengthen Mozam- bique’s defenses against South Africa. Thabo

Mbeki described the situa- tion in South Africa as one

which “is not only a matter for moral concern” but one which demands “political and economic action”. Be- cause of South Africa’s eco- nomic dependancy on for- eign investment, its mili- tary function would seri- ously be affected if its “‘eco- nomic supports were cut off”.

All three speak- ers made a strong argument for sanctions against South Africa, and were strongly

_applauded by the partici-

pants at the conference. As a Canadian participant, I came away from the con- ference feeling that Canada must take strong action for sanctions against South Africa. Moral support is not enoughs

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