St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1962-06-01
Focus On
Africa
BY EDDIE L. MADISON, JR.

ing IN New York City, said
private and governmental aid
to his country would enable
that nation to assist in its
turn other sister nations" The
West African leader, in the United
States on an official state visit,
spoke at a luncheon meeting at
the Overseas Press club. The lead
er of the former French colony
asked for United States assistance
lin reaching some day a fully sup
ported and true social policy"
through expansion of the nations
industrial and agricultural cap
acity.
President Honphouet Boigny
later visited Washington for three
days where he conferred with Pres
ident John F. Kennedy and other
us. Government officials. He and
his wife are the guests of Presi-
dent Kennedy. They reversed the
usual itinerary of recent diplomat
ic visitors to the US, visiting
New York before Washington.
IN SOUTH AFRICA, Alan Pat
on, leader Of the Liberal Party and
Jan Steytler, leader of the Pro-
gressive Party, Immediately con-
demned the Governments shock
ing sabotage bill, published May
IL, which provides the death penal
ty for any person convicted of sab
otage. 1t carries a minimum (com-
pulsory) sentence of five years
Imprisonment with hard labor. This
applies to juveniles as well as to
adults convicted of sabotage.
The bill, called the General Law
Amendment Bill, defines sabotage
in the widest terms, and includes
injuring, damaging, destroying,
rendering e less, obstructing,
tampering with, communicating or
endangering public health or safe
ty, law and order, water supplies,
the supply or distribution of light,
power, fuel, foodstuffs, sanitation,
or medical or fire services, postal,
telephone, telegraph or radio serv-
ices, traffic by air, sea or land or
any property.
The definition now includes the
unlawful possession of firearms or
explosives and the unlawful entry
of any building or land. In the
broad sense, the bill sounds the
death knell for any effective OPP
position in South Africa. The
measure extends the banning pow
ers of the Minister of Justice, in
Guiding the power to forbid anyone
who is confined to any area to
communicate with others or re-
ceive any visitors which has
been interpreted as a new system
of house arrest.
THE SABOTAGE bill, while not
yet law, also serves warning to
the remnants of the existing liber-
al press. A new provision makes
it an offense to record, print, pub
fish, disseminate or reproduce by
any means a speech or statement
made anywhere or at any time by
any person banned from public
meetings.
1t will be impossible for papers
such as Contact" and New Age"
to continue publication in the re-
public. Observers say it is certain
that both publications will seek
asylum in one Of the protector
ates, from which they hope to con-
tinue their fight against apartheid.
Contact, for example, has already
removed office records, admins
trative machinery and other i'm
portant materials from Capetown
to some other part Of the country.
COMMON MARKET talks in
Belgium have given new impetus
to negotiations and prospects for
British membership are said to be
good. This development came des-
pite important differences which
have arisen between France and
the other delegations in Brussels
, on proposals for linking former
, British African with the Common
Market.
The French take the position
that an independent Algeria should
be automatically entitled to as
sociation with the market on the
most favorable terms. France feels
that independent African count
ries in the British Commonwealth
must, however, be content with
fewer safeguards for their trade
with the market and accept the
status of "second-class associates"
THE FRENCH claim that the
countries of former French Africa
were associates of the market at
the time it was founded March
%, 1857 in Romeo and therefore
senior to the British Common
wealth countries. Algeria, the
French point out, has until now
been part of Metropolitan France.
Britain proposes that countries
in the same geographical area
should be linked with the market |
on the same terms. Also, the Brit
ish position holds that they should