S. Africa Court Voids 2 Key Clauses of Emergency Rule : May Open Way for Release of 8,000 Detainees

The Durban branch of the Supreme Court today declared two key clauses of President Pieter W. Botha’s June 12 state of emergency declaration invalid, possibly clearing the way for the release of as many as 8,000 people detained without charge.

A three-judge panel said in a written ruling that Botha exceeded his authority in giving police and soldiers the right to detain people for 14 days and by giving a Cabinet minister authority to extend the detention indefinitely.

State lawyers said they would file an immediate appeal, and the effective date of the ruling was unclear.

Max Coleman, a leader of the Detainees’ Parents Support Committee, said he did not expect the Natal court to reverse itself and grant the government’s appeal.

Ruling May Be Averted

But he said the government might try to “neutralize” the ruling administratively, as Botha did recently in amending the emergency regulations after several courts declared certain sections invalid.

Today’s decision was the most sweeping court rejection so far of the emergency declaration.

Last month, the same court overturned rules barring lawyers from visiting clients detained without charge.

In other cases, judges have overruled the detention of specific people, ordering them released, but refused to alter the text of Botha’s declaration.

The judges today also ordered the release of United Democratic Front official Lechesa Tsenoli, who was held without charge following a nationwide pre-dawn sweep June 12 in which police picked up about 1,000 anti-apartheid activists.

Regulations Challenged

The UDF challenged the emergency regulations on Tsenoli’s behalf.

The court ordered the costs of the application be paid by Botha, Law and Order Minister Louis le Grange and Minister of Justice Hendrik J. Coetsee.

The government has refused to provide information on people detained under the emergency regulations, but independent monitoring groups estimate that about 8,000 people are being held in prisons around the country, some of them since the emergency was declared 61 days ago.

Most of them are trade unionists and organizers of the UDF, the country’s biggest legal opposition movement.

Press Curbs Attacked

In nearby Pietermaritzburg, state lawyers urged another three-judge panel to postpone a newspaper appeal against restrictions on press and television coverage.

The Argus Printing and Publishing Co. and South African Associated Newspapers, the country’s two major English-language newspaper groups, are trying to overturn sweeping press curbs included in the emergency declaration.

“In view of the judgment handed down in Durban today, the situation is confusing,” said state lawyer Jan Conradie. “We need at least three days to consider our position.”

The government Bureau for Information said today that unrest over the weekend dropped to its lowest level in the last two years.