South African Police Rout 47 in ‘Commotion’ at Courthouse : Blacks Fight Charges Over Singing on a Train

When 47 blacks gathered outside the courthouse here Thursday to fight citations for singing on a commuter train, police ordered them and dozens of their supporters to disperse and chased them as they fled, beating them with whips.

That “commotion,” attorney Azhar Cachalia explained to the judge an hour later, was why his clients were not present to face the charge--the misdemeanor of “objectionable behavior” for singing freedom songs on the 6:05 a.m. train from Tembisa township to Johannesburg.

Just to be sure, though, bailiffs leaned outside the courtroom to shout each defendant’s name three times in the empty corridor. There was no reply.

The arrest of 460 singing commuters in the last two months reflects a renewed crackdown on even the most fundamental levels of black protest as the government prepares for Sept. 6 parliamentary elections, in which blacks have no vote.

A New ‘Defiance Campaign’

But the willingness of blacks to fight the minor charges--and risk confrontation with the police--is an outgrowth of a new “defiance campaign” of civil disobedience mounted by leading anti-apartheid organizations.

Unrest and clashes with the police have increased sharply in recent days, and law-and-order officials have vowed to move swiftly against activists who “act defiantly and openly ignore police warnings.”

Thursday’s trouble in the white Johannesburg suburb of Kempton Park had its roots in an incident that occurred last month, when police arrested 47 people on the train. The authorities have frequently arrested large groups of commuters since early June, although blacks have been singing liberation songs on the trains for more than three years.

“We were just singing our songs, like church people sing,” said Yoliswa Pokela, a 45-year-old secretary. “It was a peaceful act.”

Each of the defendants could have avoided a court appearance by paying fines of less than $20 that would have been an admission of guilt. But they decided to force the government to prove its case.

“I can’t just pay a fine,” said Phineas Rambidi, 37, a factory mechanic. “I didn’t disturb anyone on that train.”

Most of the arrested singers belong to unions affiliated with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the giant, predominantly black labor federation and anti-apartheid leader.

An anti-apartheid coalition led by COSATU and other organizations launched the nationwide defiance campaign last week, and COSATU has exchanged heated words in recent days with Adriaan Vlok, law-and-order chief in the white minority-led government.

“It’s just harassment,” Khalik Mayet, one of the defendants’ attorneys, said of the charges. “Songs are a very effective way of spreading ideas and culture, and the government thinks if it can stop the singing, it can stop the spread of ideas.”

Of the 460 blacks arrested on the trains, some have paid their fines while 362 are fighting formal charges, which range from committing acts that “endanger other passengers” to using obscene language. Thursday’s case was postponed until November.

Pokela was headed for work from her home in Tembisa on July 6 when police arrested her and several dozen others and issued them summonses, the equivalent of a traffic ticket.

While the defendants and about 200 singing supporters were waiting outside the doors of the courthouse here Thursday, the police declared it an illegal gathering and, in the melee that followed, at least 18 people were injured.

A black woman with her son, accused of theft in another court case, had a large bloodstain on her dress and tears in her eyes. She said she had been whipped twice by police officers and then trampled by fleeing protesters.

Policemen chased activists across four lanes of traffic into nearby neighborhoods. About two blocks away, they ordered about 60 blacks to disperse and, as the group turned to leave, charged them with sjamboks --whips. About 20 activists were arrested, a police spokesman said.

“What breaks my heart is that the people who are being harassed don’t even know what’s going on,” said Pokela, who huddled against a fence to avoid the charging police. “We tell the people, ‘You will not be beaten because of politics, but because of the color of your skin.’ ”

Black commuters use railway coaches to discuss anti-apartheid politics because under the state of emergency, outdoor political meetings are prohibited. Labor researchers say the trains have become one of the main ways that black political organizations and political culture have been kept alive in the face of the government’s restrictions.

The train meetings continue, despite the recent arrests, “but I must admit the system is beginning to break our spirit,” Pokela said.

In recent weeks, the government has filed more serious charges of public violence against the train singers, and several dozen have had to post bond of about $150 while they await trial.

Defense attorneys say they doubt that the state can prove that singing constitutes public violence.

“It’s not what they’re singing that’s at issue,” attorney Mayet said. “It’s who’s doing the singing. But they can’t prosecute people for singing on trains. It happens all over the world.”