T o w ^ hT ow n

rainsILIZWI is surprised to hear the different things that the comm­unity councillors are saying about the new rents. Mr Jamela, the Deputy Chairman of the Comm­unity Council, has said that the rents will not go up until after the No vember elections. This is because there is "opposition" to the Community Council.Mr Nduna, the Chairman, has said that the rents are going up now. This is confusing and means that the Council itself is divided.The reason is easy to find. The Community Council does not listen to the people of Grahamstown.They cannot make decisions based on the feelings of the people because they do not represent them But they pretend not to hear the many voices of protest. They are afraid of losing their., privi­leges. So, instead of telling people at meetings about the new rent increases, they sing their own praises. They use meetings to try and tell people that every­thing is fine. So people do not go to the meetings, ^f they do

TO PAGE 2 **

new

'THE PEOPLE OF GRAHAMSTOWN MUST STAND TOGETHER'. THIS IS WHAT RESIDENTS SAID WHEN ILIZWI ASKED THEM ABOUT THE NEW SERVICE CHARGE INCREASES AND ABOUT THE ELECTIONS FOR A NEW LOCAL AUTHORITY THAT WILL BE HELD IN NOVEMBER.

These things are important for the residents of the townships. They Bean that things will change people have to pay more for houses at a time when life is already hard - food prices are rising and unemployment is increasing.

One day Nkululeko and puppet were discussing the new community council elections and what they mean...

'No man, we must look at these plans again'P'JPPET: Hello Nkululeko. Have you heara- that we in Grahamstown ^ave received independence. Everything will be under control of the black councillors. Now we are lijjj Transkei, Ciskei and other home-

NKULULEKO: Hello P. 1 do not see I J ^ V s - S a y . Why two local author -ities instead of one? Is that not Apartheid? Is this not • crime against the majority of South

p u p p e t " *' But the government says SiHnust'govern ourselves and develop seperately.They say this is what blacks want, and I support that

NKULULEKO: No maan! We must look c a r e f u l ly"dt these well laid plans - 5ho made the idea, the government.Were we consulted as free and equal people in South Africa.

PUPPET:’ But the councillors are our”T e a d e r s . they know what we

NKULULEKO: Can you tell me are ourT e a d e r s . Only when there is no political crime for saying ■•down with seperate development and when the peoples leaders are free can we begin to decide.PUPPET: Do you mean to say that

leaders are sell-outs?These are people who

are trusted by Pretoria. They are making govern me nt policy work in South Africa. But who are they. They live well, we are poor.Thev make decisions, we are not consulted. 1 say, one democratic South A*ric* for all who live here One single municipality for G r a h a m s t o w n , irrespective of race, colour, and creed. We must stand up against Apartheid.

PUPPET: That is true suffer hardships that by us. But the local will help us.NKULULEKO: Aah P, do you really believe that? Look at the history of our people. We are not getting more money, we are not getting a say in the government of South AFrica. Yet a few of our people get rich, and this divides us.We, the workers must stand togeth -er, the students too, and the w o m e n -, who have played a special role in fighting the ideas of

- we blacks are not made authority

division. PUPPET: Yes 1 ndeed think things .

Nkululeko. I must again about these

’hone 1 and" NKULULEKO:

New council** FROM PAGE 1

qo they are not interested in the things that the Community Council has to say. These people have no faith in the Community Council. They are As one resident told ILIZWI "They are a bunch of people looking for mo n e y " .

ILIZWI is also surprised to learn ~of the change in the date when people will vote for a local authority. Has the change been explained to the residents of Grahamstown? Is it b e c a u s e t h eCorasun ity Council needs time to

corrupt power and

prepare, to persuade and to make promises? There have been too many promises and still there is no action. The Community Council spends more time at the tables of ECAB than at the tables of the residents of Grahamstown.

It is time for the residents of Grahamstown to stand united and reject a Community Council* that does nothing for the people* that is confused* that protects its own interests.

The Community Council is soon to become more powerful. Now is the time to REJECT this council, to stand up and say:AWAY WITH APARTHEID!

P a g e 2

W h y must we five like this?

The RainsAfter the terrible drought itbegan to rain at the end of July.It raired for five days almost without stopping. Afterwards it lookec as though the people were living in cages made out of sticks and poles.

In Zenzele they were made out of chicken wire. The mud had fallen off the walls and it lay in heaps next to where the walls had been. All that was left below the roof was sticks and chicken wire.Inside the cages peopl e were trying trying to stay warm from the winter wind by putting up plastic sh eet s.The houses had no gutters so the water ran into the yards. The yards were not drained properly so the water lay ther e in deep puddles until it flowed into the houses. So the houses had water coming through the leaks in the roofs, through the holes in the

THE RAINS WASHED THE WALL S OF

HOUSES AWAY.

BAD DRAINAGE CAUSED WATER TO RUN

INTO HOUSES.

walls and up through the floors, j"We have no money to buy better houses as they are very expensive. The rains are coming all the tir* now and the walls and floors of our houses are damp. I have to wrap my baby up in blankets in the bed it is so cold," said one mother.

Another mother said that her chiloren were forced to sleep on mattresses on the wet floor.Also she said that she could not keep them inside her small house for four days so they played in the rain.

Outside in the yards there was no drainage of street gutters.The roads turned into mud deeper than your shoes. Nobody walked across the road unless they were barefoot. All the old people an£ children that Ilizwi LaseRhini spoke to were c o u g h i n g .

One yard that Ilizwi visited had 42 people staying there. There were two toilet buckets in the far corner of the yard. For the whole week of the rains the

Council only emptied them once. "After all .this trouble with the rain," said one woman, "this toilet thing makes us angry. We are glad that it rained after so long.. But look what happens: When its drought we cannot get water out of the taps. Then when it rains we get washed away. Why don't our roads have gutters and tar. Why must we live like this?”

Pace 3

BoycottOnce again the Iron fist of repression has struck the workersand r e s i d e n t s of M d a n t s a n e in the C i s k e i . For many years people

. have re s i s t e d the c ombined forces of the b o s s e s in East London and

'the Sebe regime. Since the Soutr. A f r i c a n Allied Workers' U n i o n (SAAWU) was started in 1979, the Sebe g o v e r n m e n t has

tried to crush SAAWU, with help from South Africa. SAAWU has along h i story of strikes, retrenchments and detentions.

Now the workers in Mdantsane are rejecting bus fa^e increases - by boycotting the buses and walking to work.

THE BUS BOYCOTT BY THOUSANDS OF WO RKE RS IS HAPPENING AT THE SAME TIME AS OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS ARE HA PPE NIN G IN EAST LONDON:

* The Sebe government is in confusion. Top people in the government - like Lennox's feared half-brother, Charles -

.• have been detained. People say there was an attempt to over- throw Lennox.

» ' Jf .. " ** • • " - ‘ ’ -* The economy of East London has

been badly affected by the economic depression which has hit South Africa. This means that the bosses are not making big profits and can't afford to close the factories - they would lose too much money.

These two things have shaped the way the bus boycott has gone.Sebe has tried to crush the boycott with heavy police

‘ ‘ this has made prob- bosses because the it hard to get to

actions, but lems for the workers find work.

In the early people heard

morning of August 4, shooting at the Fort

Jackson and Mount Ruth railway st at io ns .

Hundreds of workers were stopped in Mdantsane by armed supporters of Sebe's party (CNIP). They tried to force commuters to go to busstops and board the buses.

But the people were angry and stoned the buses when they got off. Other people demanded their money back. People told the bus- drivers to tell their employers that they did not want to board b u s e s .

Angry people stoned two houses belonging to members of Sebe's CNIP (Ciskei National independence Party). They threw a petrol bomb into another CNIP house.

People became angry with the Sebe government. They tried to burn down the rent office in Zone One in Mdantsane. People sang together on the trains, shouting: •AWAY WITH SEBEJ-

One worker said:"We are going

P a g e 4

Boycott

home to bullets. We are going tothe o p e ' i t i o n a 1 area, but we must staid together throughout."

Workers : egan the bus boycott in the midc'.e of July. They were angry f i t they were not tcld about ar 11 % increase in busfares run by t*e Ciskei Transport Corporation (CTC).

People ircided they would not use the buses until their demands were met {that the people be consulted about increases). So people used the trains instead.

But the colice tried to force people tc use the buses. They tried tc stop people from catching the trains. The police hired thugs with sticks to help t h e m .The Ciskei police said they did not use force, but many people said police threatened to kill them if they tried to board buses. The CTC distributed 500 000 a n t i ­boycott pamphlets to the people of Mdantsane. One man said: "We are not at war. We want to go to work."

The South African government said it wanted nothing to do with the boycott. They even put more coaches on the trains.

On 5 August the boycott spread to Sada in'horthern Ciskei.

The Ciskei government blames SAAWU ar,^ COSAS for the boycott. The Ciskei police raided the homes of SAAWU officials. The SAAWU local organiser and others were detained. SAAWU called on the Ciskei government to release all those detained and stop the sho ot in g.

NINE PEOPLE HAVE DIED SO FAR IN THE SHOOTING AND MANY WENT TO MAKIWANE HOSPITAL WITH BULLET WOUNDS.

Illzwi calls on the Ciskei to immediately release all detainees and stop the i n t im id a­tion of people travelling to work by train.

Port Elizabeth bus worker* give their lign of solidirii) during 1961 ttnke

11 held in PE. boycott

PEBCO (PORT ELIZABETH BLACK CIVIC ORGANIZATION) AND OTHER ORGANIZ­ATIONS (LIKE PEYCO AND COSAS) DECIDED TO BOYCOTT BUSES IN JULY The Port Elizabeth Tramways refused to listen to the demands that busfare increases be stopped. These organizations formed an Action-Committee and called m e e t ­ings in Kwazakele and other places to discuss the problems of increased busfares.

The boycott has not been very successful. The police have taken quick action to prevent the organizers explaining to the bus travellers what it means to stand together. Altogether 11 people have been detained and charged with public violence.We must remember that there is a long history of 'AZIKWELWA- WE WILL NOT RIDE' and each attempt unites the people.

P a g e ' s

JiSSSa S e S * i S f e *t % .--r * — ~ V; 1 • ••‘Jlr. |

WE M U ST UNITE W HERE WE ARE DIVIDEDIFORWARD TO A UNITED DEMOCRATIC FRONTILET US SPEAK OF FREEDOM.

LET US SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE. ;

LET US BUILD UNITY AND OPPOSE

APARTHEID. .

Some of most respected leaders,', of the peoole, workers, teachers priests, youth and students came together to elect national leaders, speak of unity and freedom and to plan the struggle against the apartheid laws:.*-:.v.ii’

r «“f

The United Democratic Front (UDF) - -

has jcined a million people from ;~

about ^00 organisations to -

fight against the government'sV£

new Constitutional and Koornhof '

Bills. - -■ *V •.

On August 20 thousands of people..,...; gathered in Mitchells Plain;- -:s; Cape Town at a rally to launch^;-.; the United Democratic Front CUDF)

i national ly. : ■; ' 1"'

This was the message of the U D F ^ t r *- ,"0n this day, we stand shoulder-4;-*-* , to shoulder- so that South Africa-5-.i - and all the world may hear 'our)fLv-* voice. We have come to build a f ^ ! _ - better life for ourselves a n d O - f -*-rf our children, in the land.of o u r C S R :--. birth-fi^ .br •. * T.:-

'Down the road, the apartheid parliament is meeting to prepare/.*^-, its plans.rV Our rulers fear:our: uni our Fortquestions of our youth.~r. In' Mdantsane, in Lamontville,: in:t-* . =̂-'4.

,Orlando and KTC., they drive usf/c^v-v': from our homes like dogs.v * Apartheid stalks our land^"~*:

* . - *:• v.\« : *;■;V V J *

s plans.r. Our rulers fear:our' ity..,. They do not want .to.heari-^i;; r voice. At Mountview, at! ", * - rt Hare, they silence the

APARTHEID DIVIDE:€e

WHAT The U^T

IS THE UDF? unites all freedom-loving

people who reject apartheid.Any organisation which believes in the aims and objectives can join this broad front, but they keep t h e i r independence. Over 400 organisations belonq to the UDF. They work together to oppose the President's Council, the new parliament and Koornhof's Bills.

On July 24, Western Cape organisations launched their regional UDF with Oscar Mpetha as president.

Now UDF has had its national launching. The Eastern C a p e , Free State and other areas will have their regional launchings soon.

The UNITED DEMOCRATIC FRONT YES to a UNITED DEMOCRATIC NON-RAC IAL SOUTH AFRICA.

says

UDF UNITES

P a g e 7

WE M UST ORGANISE FOR OUR RIGHTS I

WE MUST STRENGTHEN OUR ORGANISATIONS!

"No- :_r rulers are inviting sore c* us to join them. They c r-re' _s a third-class seat in the a:=rtheid train. In their pc'i:c~ent, they are 'talking- of ti"e:r constitution and the Kcorr^rf Bills; but it is we who *.11 pay the c o s t ."

"So *= have gathered here to say NO. To refuse their plans. We are fere to say that no-one can tell us what we want; it is ourselves who must rule our 1 i ves

"We have launched the UDF so that we may go forward in unity. Black and white, young and old, worker,student, priest: on this histc-ic day we have begun our m a r c h ."

WHAT IS THE PROGRESS SO FAR?Natal was the first region to launch a regional UDF. More than 40 organisations elected an executive corrrittee ir. May with Archie Gumede at its head.

In the Transvaal, community, worker, student and other organisations agreed to form the Transvaal United Democratic Front.

' CJ * **-‘ •*••"*• . *. ̂ ^wTfV “r*V '* r

9 •n̂T'>* *

ty^K-Vi-♦J-.'-r-V-'i

! \\ f i • • » lilt J‘J ^IM }-.*• 11 't 1 V? i i

‘ I t i i ¥ \ \

THE PORT ELIZABETH YOUTH CONGRESS (PEYCO) WAS LAUNCHED IN JUNE AT A MEETING IN PORT ELIZABETH ATTENDED BY OVER 800 RESIDENTS AND MEMBERS OF YOUTH GROUPS.

Mr Mkhuseli Jack, President of PEYCO , said at the launching ■ -: that it was necessary for the youth to participate actively in organizations which were part -' of the broad democratic movement.

He stressed the need for u n i t y . . ' amongst the youth and spoke of the the benefits that national contact could bring. - *Mr Curtis Nkondo , ex-Azapo President , said that "workers, - . parents and youth should establish dialogue to solve common problems, The slogan 'an injury to one is an injury to all' should not be restricted to the workplace". Addressing the audience as 'comrades'. Mr Nkondo said he - used the term not because it was currently fashionable but because it meant loyalty and dedication

W - - i {• £ 'S. '.•«• <■.«■<!v- • J* ii?a2 £ '& tT * 3 ifU is}:

to an organization, commitment' v and hard work-*-:' -_-T ■

The aims of PEYCO are

1. To normalize the relations"? between youth' and parents.- -

2. To create a spirit of trust, responsibility and under--' standing between the y o u t h’.

3. To directly involve ourselves Y i n community projects. t h a t _ -

make' for prosperity^-?-. 'v-TX4. To instill a spirit of ho pe'

. and self determination i n ;.disillusioned young people. •:

5. To encourage youth to.-^ complete their academic.

• . studies/* •'■i-6. To become practi-cally'invoL '

-ved. in projects contributing to' the improvement of.T PEYCO members.. ;£.» c-

... *.■ *. *•*, ' "V -• ■- .7 ̂* ■- .Mr Tsediso Madona. organizing secretary of COSAS, said young people have special qualities, like a motivation to act to change an unjust society and the courage and determination required to build a new order. •

Page 8 f

I ¥ I ¥ I ¥ I I I I - I I I 1

1 , 1 . ib:|r'.•£'? ! *

u j A a a a a m

Ilizwi :aseRhini welcomes the

launching of the United

Democratic Front (UDF) in Cape

Town or. 20 August.

The me-ters of UDF are many organisations from all over South Africa who are opposed to Botha's new constitution and the Koornhof

Bills. With these bills the government is trying to make bigger divisions among the people of South Africa. But the UDF brings together all those people who do rot want to be divided.UDF opposes the attempt by a minoritv of wealthy and powerful people to tell the majority what to do.

The organisations that make up the UDF are organisations that continue the fight against injustice - workers, students, community groups and women's o r g a n i s a t i o n s .

In Grahamstown, there are pa r ti ­cular problems - like the new rents and the new local authority elections in November.

BUT WE IN GRAHAMSTOWN MUST SEE OURSELVES AS PART OF THE MOVEMENT TO RESIST THE POLICIES THAT DIVIDE THE PEOPLE.

Residents of Grahamstown must work together to fight division and build organisations that can move FORWARD:

LIZWI LASERHINI

Thina bantu sinengxaki yebhasi! Ngunojikeleza kuphela ofumanekayo oya edolphini kusasa. Ukuba ufuna ukukhwela le bhasi kufuneka ube sewusesi-khululweni ngomkhono emva kwentsimbi y e s i t h a n d a t h u. Isizathu soku kukuba awazi nokuba lebhasi iyeza okanye ayizi. Ingaba umqhubi wale nqwelo ngumpathi, njengokuba esiza xa ethanda, okanye angazi?

Ezi bhasi a zi si ci n g el i, kuba kufuneka sifike emsebenzini ngexesha. Ngamanye amaxesha sifika emva kwexesha kuba le bhasi izele,

kude kunyanzeleke ukuba siye ngenyawo emalikeni ekwakude emsebenz i .

Ngomhla wesibhozo ku 1 A g a s t i ' kw an ya nz e1eka ukuba ndiqeshe ngesenti ezimashumi amathathu ukuze ndibe nokufika emsebenzini. Salinda ukususela ngomkhono emva kwentsimbi yesithandathu uya kutsho ngomkhono phambi kwentsimbi yesibhozo e Joza. Le bhasi- yentsimbi yesixhenxe ayizange ifike kwa ukufika.Kutheni lento iibhasi sezingaba- phati nje? Siyabhatala, kodwa kufuneka silindile. Ndinqwenela ukuba oku kufikelele esiphelweni.

•

Omnye umsebenzi weli ziko lebhasi eJoza. ___________________________

Page 9

August 9 - W om en unite on National W o m e n ’s Day

ON A l 3.ST 9TH 1556. 20 00C WOKEN MARCHED TO THE UNION BUILDINGS IN PRETORIA. THEY STOOD WITH THEIR FISTS RAISED IN SILENT PROTEST FOR HALF AN HOUR, THEN THEY SANG:

"WENA STRIJDOM WATHINT' ABAFAZI WATHI NT 1 IMBOKHOTHO UZOKUFA!"

STRIJDOMYOU HAVE WOMEN, YOU HAVE

TAMPERED WITH THE

STRUCK A ROCK! "

Women protest

These women came from all over South Africa. They joined together to tell the Prime Minister that African women did not want passes. The women collected thousands of signatures and petitions protesting against passes. They wanted to give these to the Prime Minister to show that women were angry and unhappy about passes.They had seen what the "dompas" did to their menfolk.

But the Prime Minister Mr Strijdom was scared, and he did not want to see the women. Only four women- Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahica Moosa and Sophie Williams- were allowed to enter the Union Buildings. They left the petitions and signatures on his desk.

Strength and courage

This day was later called NA TI O N A 1 WOMEN'S DAY. Today, 27 years later, this day is remembered with pride by women and organisations throughout South Africa. But we shouldn't only think of the women who sarched to Pretoria. Women have also shown th e i r strength and courage in struggles at other times.

Life is f the major country , women who burden. I for lower women. It make a 1 i way, and It is the hungry ch who have

u 11 of hardship for ity of people in this but it is often the must carry the heaviesi

t is the women who wcrk wages because they are is the women who must

ttle money go a long <eep the house going, women who must face ildren, and husbands no jobs.

Stand to g e th e r

This is why August 9 is a special day. We must remember how the women united to fight against their oppression. There1 is a lesson to be learnt from this. Women can solve their problems if they stand shoulder to shoulder with their menfolk in the struggle against all foi of oppression.

FREEDOM CANNOT BE WON FOR THE PEOPLE AS A WHOLE AS LONG AS THE WOMEN ARE KEPT IN BONDAGE.

Uyilo lombutho ongakhethe balawezemidlalaABA N T w e e l i l i z w e e a s c l o k o b e z a f a

UKUOI LA IQUMRHU LEZEMIDLALO EL I - NGAKHE'-'E BALA. ELI LILINGE L0- KUPHE-ISA IQUKRHU E L I C I N E Z E L A Y O , ELICAL’.LAYO NELAHLULA-HLULAYO

k w e a w * : c l a l o .

IRhin: eli alohlukanca kule m i - ngwenc. Amaqela ezemidlalo an- jengecela lomboxo i.e. SEDRU, nebhole ekhatywayo; 6RASA nele- bhola \cmnyazi; GRANA ambalwa kakhull. Isoloko inguir.nqwemo walapha ukuyila iqumrhu leze- midlalc elizakuphatha jikelele, kodwa ezi nzame aziphumelelanga- kule rinyaka iklulileyo.

Abangal-.ambisani nequmrhu leze- midlalo e 1 imgakhethe bala baso- loko besisiphazamiso kule minqwe- no. Basuke baya kunqoloba aba- ntu elokishini, bevela ngasemva la maqunirhu akhoyo.

Izwi kubantu base J

' Rhini abaneenqwelo

z o d o n k i j j

Ukuba ufuna iintambo zokubopha oodor.ki kunye nemikhala enje:1 Yiya kumzi w o g c i n o - z i l w a n y a n a ,

i-S.P.C.A., okufuphi e-New

Cesetery. . _2. Khona bayakunika lzinto zo-

kwenza iintambo zokubopna, ngemalana engange - R5.00, baze bakuncedise nokuzenza.

3. Xa uthe wagqiba ukuzenza iintambo zokubopha, uya kuni- kwa umkhala wentambo simahla.

Oku senzela ukucedana nani, asi- funi kube siphinde sibone oodonkl abanezilonda ezibangelwe zxintam- bo zokubopha ezindala nezonakeie-

yo.

Injongo zaba bantu zabekwa phandle ki ntl ang an iso kwi'yuni- vesithi yas e Rhodes, te ntlanga- niso ya va lw a ngumhlali ngapham- bili, oli lu ng u lebhunga labantu. Le nto ibonisa mhlophe ukuba ababantu bazama ukuyila eli qumrhu ng aph and le koluntu jike­lele, afcadibananga nalo nelinye kumaqumrhu ezemidlalo akhoyokwe-

l i .

Kule ntlan§an i so kwathenjiswa ukuba enye i n t 1anganisc y o 1ande- la. Kodwa kunamhlanje akukho namnye umntu othethe namalungu okanye abaphathi bamaquisrhu eze­midlalo akhoyo ngalo rbandela.

Abantu kufuneka baziswe ukuba kule nyanga izayo kuza kubakho intlanganiso yabami basiRhini bephela, malunga nequmrhu eliza- kuphatha ezemidla lo kule dolophu, Umhla, indawo nexesha kuya kube kufikelelwe engakhethe bala lamntu iza kumenywa kule ngqu- ngquthela.

Ukuba abantu bayahambisana nemi- butho yabo enyulwe kwangabo, ezi bhodi zemidlalo zicalulayo, za- hlu la-hlulayo azisayi kyphumele-

la.'

I Abalizi Civic Action Committee iza kuvula umzi wentengiso weze- zandla e Market Square. Ukuba ubumba izinto ngomthi, ngamaso, nge 'wool*, ngesikhumba, uya- thunga, okanye neyiphina into yomsebenzi wezandla, ungafumana indlwana e Market Square, apho unokusebenza uthengise khona.Ezi ndlwana ziza kwakhiwa kwa- kamsinya. Ukuba unomdla, thetha no Jill Joubert kule nombolo yocingo: 5141, okanye 5041 ebusuku. Usenokudibana no Betty Davenport kule nombolo yocingo:. 2774 ukuba u y a t h a n d a . ___________

PLEASE WRITE TO US: .11 izwi l a s e R h i n i , Delta, c/o 5Ri,Rhodes University, Grahamstown.Ilizwi is put together by Delta.

Page 11

GRASA:tacklingproblems

T H tr ££*-;>,$TOWN SOCCER A S S O C I A ­TION (GRASA) WAS FORMED IN 1977 W H rN CLUBS CAKE TOGETHER AND DECIDED TO FORM A UNION. THE LIFE PRESIDENT OF THE A S S O C I A ­T I O N MR T.V. MONAHENG FORMED EARLY BIRDS FOOTBALL CLUB IN 1973 WHEN MORE AND MORE MEN IN G R AH A MS TO WN SHOWED AN ACTIVE INTEREST IN SOCCER.

Before then the only sport played in the location was rugby, but many people did not like rugby or were too small for the game.Some soccer players left Early Birds and decided to form their own club. Grahamstown then saw many soccer clubs established and games were played regularly.When the union was established it joined Thabe's SANFA, but soon switched to the non-racial Federation affiliate, KWASBO.[since then GRASA has been an active and strong member of I KWASBO and some ex-members of Ithe GRASA executive are now on I the KWASBO and Federation ex e c u ­t i v e . In 1981 two Grahamstown Iplayers, Ashwin Desai and lan IPillay.were chosen to represent IKWASBO at the inter-provincial I soccer tournament. Again in 1982 and 1953 two GRASA players made

Ithe KWASBO team and Ashwin Desai I captained the side this year in jCape Town.

lit was also during that time that Ithe association began to explain Ithe SACOS policy to the players.|To do this successfully the GRASA Inewsletter was started and differ- lentt aspects of the non-racial I principle were explained.I As an Association, GRASA has,Jover aany years, been facing problems. For one there is a

Idefinite lack of sporting faci- 1ities in the t o w n . Ud until

Page 12

the beginning of 1982 there was only one football pitch avail- ■ able, and this had to cater for 16 soccer clubs. It was then that the players decided they would have to do something against that state of affairs, end an open field was turned into a soccer field. Ever though the^e are now- two fields this is still by far net enough for 18 clubs. The Ass oc iat io n also lacks a suitable venue to hold its meetings and at present they are using the e x ­president’s garage.Finance is the other great probler, that has been with GRASA since its formation. Grahamstown has very high unemoloyment and many of the soccer players are still scholars, therefore they do not have much money. To counter this numerous fu nd -raising projects were organized and this has helped to keep the Association going. The extent of this problem can be seen by the fact that, on numerous occasions games had to be cancelled because there was no ball available.

GRASA's association with SACOS has also led to problems. Last year security policemen visited the then President several times and to told him he would be deported and lose his job if he allowed his garage "to be used for political purposes". There have also been times when players were taken from the soccer field to the police station because they were . in the location illegally.But despite these problems, soccer is still the major sport in Grahamstown and some of the games draw very large crowds. GRASA is a strong union and has a good, relationship with the Federation KWASBO.

Collection Number: AK2117 DELMAS TREASON TRIAL 1985 - 1989 PUBLISHER: Publisher:-Historical Papers, University of the Witwatersrand Location:-Johannesburg ©2012

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