S. Africa Court Strikes Down Ban on Coverage of Violence : Ruling Will Let News Crews Enter Black Townships

A provincial Supreme Court quashed key censorship regulations today in a ruling that will allow television crews and reporters to cover political violence in black townships again.

The decision curbing sweeping police powers was hailed by anti-apartheid groups and lawyers as a major victory.

The order by the Natal Province Supreme Court would be binding only in Natal, but according to legal tradition the other three provinces would abide by it unless another Supreme Court rules otherwise.

The government immediately announced that it will fight the 120-page ruling, issued in Pietermaritzburg.

1,424 Children Being Held

The ruling coincided with police disclosures that 1,424 children are being held without trial--far more than previously stated--under the state of emergency imposed last June amid mounting political violence.

Police also said they killed three suspected black guerrillas in a gun battle near the city of Durban and another man was burned to death by fellow blacks in the troubled township of Soweto, outside Johannesburg.

At least 14 people have been killed this week in a violent prelude to next month’s whites-only general election, and security forces fear an upsurge of unrest on May 1, traditionally a day of black protest against apartheid, the country’s system of racial segregation.

The Natal court quashed several censorship regulations promulgated last December and used by the police to bar cameramen from so-called areas of unrest in black townships.

‘Subversive’ Ruling Voided

It overturned a ban on all first-hand reporting of security force operations against black protesters and stripped Police Commissioner Johan Coetzee of the power to outlaw anything he decreed to be “subversive.”

It also struck down powers given to police to bar reporters from “restricted gatherings” of government opponents and trade union meetings.

The case was brought by the 2-million-member United Democratic Front, the country’s biggest anti-apartheid grouping, and the Release Mandela Campaign, which is pressing for freedom for jailed black leader Nelson Mandela.

“The main body of the regulations curtailing news coverage has been smashed,” UDF Treasurer Azhar Cachalia told reporters.

Quashed on Technicalities

Lawyers said the court quashed some of the regulations on technicalities and they could be quickly reintroduced if redrafted by the government. Others, such as a clause giving major powers to the police commissioner, were rejected on principle.

This month, Coetzee banned campaigns and statements for the release of the estimated 25,000 people detained at various stages under the emergency.

His ban, denounced by civil rights movements and foreign governments, was challenged today by the opposition Progressive Federal Party in another Supreme Court in Cape Town.

A police affidavit submitted to the court disclosed that the number of children being held without trial under the emergency is far higher than previous unofficial estimates.