Botha, Wife Visit 1 of Black Squatter Camps Threatened by New Bill

A yellow police helicopter crisscrossed the skies over this notorious black squatter camp Friday; police officers stood guard on the streets and in the bushes, and hundreds of curious people emerged from their tin shacks to take a look at the white leader.

President Pieter W. Botha and his wife, venturing into a squatter area for the first time, were greeted by several hundred cheering children, ululating women and singing choirs.

But a few miles from these forlorn flats, Parliament was preparing--at Botha’s behest--the biggest crackdown on squatters in years. A bill under consideration would threaten nearly a third of the million people living in the crowded, sprawling squatter area that includes Crossroads.

The bill would increase penalties for illegally occupying land and make it easier to evict squatters and destroy their homes. It would also put the burden of proof on the squatters to convince the courts that they are not violating the law.

South Africa has a critical shortage of housing in black-designated areas, and anti-apartheid groups have estimated that as many as 7 million blacks living in squatter shacks in urban and rural areas are threatened by the proposed law.

The Prevention of Illegal Squatting Amendment, as the bill is known, has been sharply criticized by human rights activists as “monstrous and inhuman.” Roger Burrows, a liberal white member of Parliament, says it could lead to mass evictions and become a “recipe for revolution.”

Certain to Be Law

The government says the measure is designed to stop the “unorderly urbanization” that has occurred in the two years since abolition of the notorious pass laws that controlled the movement of blacks from rural to urban areas.

The bill is regarded as virtually certain to become law.

Botha’s visit Friday, his first to a black area in more than a year, created a stir in Crossroads, once a center of resistance to the white minority-led government.

Over the years, hundreds of families have been evicted by the government, and in 1986 much of this area was destroyed by fighting between radicals of the anti-apartheid United Democratic Front (UDF) and conservative black vigilantes known as witdoeke who support the government.

About 100 people died in two months of violence and 70,000 people were driven from their homes. Hundreds of UDF leaders were detained under state-of-emergency regulations.

Information Minister Stoffel van der Merwe described Crossroads in those days as “a spear-point of the revolution.”

The government has undertaken a development project for part of the area, under the guidance of Johnson Ngxonbongwana, who led the vigilantes that attacked and drove out the anti-apartheid forces. Many believe that the witdoeke --the word is Afrikaans and means “white cloths,” a reference to the headbands they wear--were supported by the police.

On Friday, Botha praised Ngxonbongwana as an “able leader” of Crossroads, and Ngxonbongwana called Botha’s visit “a great day for all residents of Crossroads.”

Botha said that a center set up here to train squatters in building and carpentry trades was an example of the government’s efforts to reduce black unemployment and improve conditions in Crossroads.

“I hope those who are only trying to belittle our country will come and see what can be done if they leave us alone,” he said.

At the opening ceremony, Botha and his wife, Elize, were serenaded by a chorus of Xhosa-speaking black youngsters.

“P.W. Botha, you are our leader, and we will follow you,” the chorus sang as the Bothas smiled and tapped their toes to the music. “Let’s get together. We are all one family.”

After touring the center, the Bothas took turns playing the choral group’s marimbas, then sat down to a lunch of lobster and smoked salmon. Afterward, Botha and his entourage set out on a half-hour tour to inspect the government’s building projects.

As his Mercedes-Benz moved past the shacks and wood fires, dozens of small children broke through the police barricades and ran alongside. Botha and his wife waved to onlookers, mostly young children or older men and women.

“We love him because he is our president,” said Socrats Nyangont, who had been excused from school for the event. “It’s nice to finally see what he looks like.”

But not far from the fruits of the government’s development projects stood the slums that Botha’s legislation is designed to eradicate.

Ellen Ngxande is typical of many people here. She was born a squatter and grew up a squatter. Now a 36-year-old mother of seven, she has a thriving business selling grilled sheep heads and home brew. And she is still a squatter.

“The government says this place is not ours and that they could move us at anytime,” Ngxande said in an interview. “We are worried. We don’t want to move.”

She lives in a ramshackle settlement of 3,000 people known as Tambo Square, named for Oliver Tambo, president of the outlawed African National Congress. She tore down her house in another part of Crossroads earlier this year when vigilantes began attacking residents there and burning homes.

Residents say the harassment is aimed at persuading illegal squatters to move to Khayelitsha, a township built on soft sand about 10 miles away. The squatters have resisted because Khayelitsha is farther from Cape Town, where many of them work. The bus fare to Cape Town is about twice what it is from Crossroads.

Under the proposed legislation, the squatters face eviction as well as fines of about $1,000 and a year in jail. Landowners who allow squatters to live on their property face fines of $5,000 and five years in prison.

The measure also would require judges to evict people found to be occupying land illegally and to order their homes demolished. At present, judges may use their discretion and take into account such things as whether alternative accommodations can be found. The government says it does not intend to evict all or even most of the squatters before more humane living areas can be found for them.

But the government remains committed to stopping the growth of squatter camps, particularly in urban areas where millions of blacks have come seeking work.