S. Africa Bans Key Opposition Paper 4 Weeks

The country’s best-known opposition newspaper, the Weekly Mail, was banned today by the government for four weeks.

The ban, imposed by Home Affairs Minister Stoffel Botha under emergency powers, was published in a special edition of the Government Gazette.

It was the most serious move Pretoria has taken to quell the anti-apartheid press since introducing sweeping media controls in June, 1986.

Botha issued a statement accusing the Mail of repeatedly publishing articles that threatened public safety and order.

The left-wing Johannesburg-based weekly, which has an influence far beyond its 23,000 circulation, has been an outspoken government critic and has focused on alleged police brutality and black township grievances.

Third Paper Banned

Most of its readers are white liberals.

The Mail is the third publication to be banned by Botha. The weekly New Nation and magazine South were each temporarily suspended earlier this year.

Under emergency powers, Botha can suspend for up to three months any publication he deems to be subversive. Botha gave no indication why he did not impose the maximum penalty.

Mail Co-Editor Irwin Manoim said the newspaper had been bracing for a three-month suspension after a series of warnings from Botha.

“We are pretty sure we can survive this. We have had 13 months to mull over this possibility,” he told Reuters.

U.S. Ambassador Edward Joseph Perkins issued a statement saying the United States “deplores any attempt to censor the press, for its end result is to rob all citizens of the right to be informed.”