Special Hearings — Conscription Hearings — 1997-07-23

CHAIRPERSON: Laurie is waiting here in the vicinity somewhereand he'll be coming in shortly after Roger.  There is thank you. Over to you Roger please start.

MR R FIELD: Okay so I press the red button and then Ican start.  Briefly, thank you for this opportunity to make thisbrief input on the Committee on South African War Assistance whichwas an organisation of exiled conscientious objectors that wasactive between 1978 and 1990 when we closed the offices.  I workedfor the organisation from May '85 to December '89 and it's onthat basis that I am making this presentation.
 The organisation had an office in Amsterdam and an office inLondon.  I have quite a bit of information about the organisationbut what I'm going to stick to for now is the exile experiencesince I think it follows quite neatly on some of the presentationswe've heard this morning.  
 There was, and perhaps still is,  a mis-perception that we hadan easy  time in what some people referred to as the flesh potsof Europe, but for most of our constituency exile was the mostimportant decision and I think often the most traumatic experienceof their lives and it's long term effects should not be underestimated. 
 Now most exiles made their asylum applications in the UK andthe procedure there was long and sometimes very uncertain.  Ifthe initial application was rejected the process could last severalyears as we worked through appeals and appeals against appeals. Exiles were not allowed to work for the first six months of theirapplication although they were entitled to a small weekly stipendfrom the British State.  Now for many young men exile was an extremelystressful period and we spent much of our time trying to sortout personal needs and integrating new arrivals into the largerexiled community.  Many were without financial and emotional resourcesand for the first time I think, many were confronting the consciousand I think often unconscious fears and racist attitudes of WhiteSouth African society and there were casualties.  During the timethat I worked for COSAW I can recall one suicide and six peoplewho were hospitalised for nervous breakdowns.  
 However, our limit resources also did encourage us to use ourinitiatives and we wanted exiles to retain links with South Africathrough active involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle ,sowe held study classes and discussion groups and organised socialevents.  And we drew on the expertise of other refugee organisationsof which I'm sure you can understand there would be many in aplace like London and Amsterdam and we formed the Kliptown HousingCo-operative which found accommodation for exiled young SouthAfricans and not only South African War resisters.  
 The work of the Commission has already shown us some of the psychologicaland political benefits and problems that follow when we re-livetraumatic experiences but I hope that in some way this brief presentationhas helped you to understand the exile experience and the contributionwhich opposition to apartheid conscription has made to the SouthAfrica we inhabit to-day.   And I'd just like to thank the Commissionfor this opportunity to present this brief presentation and tosubmit a copy of the book which contains the distillation of COSAWand resisters' analyses of the SADF and it's occupations of Namibia,it's war against the frontline states and it's war against thepeople of South Africa.  Thank you very much.

CHAIRPERSON: Roger could you just tell us who the authorsof the book are just for the records.

MR R FIELD: Alright, the authors were Gavin Callthra,Gerald Kraak and Gerald O'Sullivan and I'm sorry none of themcould be here to-day.

CHAIRPERSON: And the title of the book?

MR R FIELD: War in Resistance - Southern African Reports.

CHAIRPERSON: Published?

MR R FIELD: Published by McMillan and the first publicationdate was in 1994.

CHAIRPERSON: Thank you very much.  I appreciate that.

MR R FIELD: Thank you.

CHAIRPERSON: We would just like to place on record thatwe have received the book.  It's been submitted to us, SouthernAfrican Studies - War in Resistance, Southern African Reportsedited by Gavin Callthra, Gerald Kraak and Gerald O'Sullivan whohappens to be a colleague of ourS.  Thank you very much.
 We would like to call upon Laurie Nathan.  Laurie could you pleasecome up and Miss Glenda Wildschut will facilitate this session,thank you.  Laurie Nathan approaches.  
 The Commission doesn't really censor as such but Laurie in hiskindness was warning the audience that he's going to read extractsfrom statements of ex-conscripts the language of which might beoffensive so I am just presenting what Laurie Nathan has presentedwithout really a need to sensor or to get responses from the audience. Be warned, thank you.  Glenda Wildschut?
CONTEXT ON ECC

GLENDA WILDSCHUT: Good afternoon Laurie thanks for comingI know you need very little facilitation except for me to saythat the floor is yours.  If you press the red button on yourlittle, as the Archbishop says, jiggle miggles, what you presentto us will go into the record and the language facilitators willbe able to do the necessary interpretation thank you.