Word: township
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...news conference and in separate interviews, freed prisoners spoke of assault and deprivation, tear gas and water-hosings. One of them, 24-year-old Sidney Molekane from Johannesburg's Black township of Soweto, said he was suspended from a broomstick with his hands and feet cuffed together and spun around...
...throng packed a soccer stadium in Alexandra, a squalid Black township wedged among the richest white suburbs of Johannesburg. In the crowd were Black activist Winnie Manela and diplomats from seven Western nations, including the United States...
Because they were barred from the area, journalists had to rely on casualty figures released by South African officials and township leaders. At week's end, officials said that 23 people had died in the unrest, while Alexandra leaders cited 46 deaths. Although only sporadic disturbances continued, by Tuesday the police effort in Alexandra had gained all the trappings of a large-scale military operation. Security forces sealed off the township borders, army troops were stationed on every access road, and armed forces patrolled the township's streets. Overhead, police and army helicopters hovered protectively. At the approaches to neighboring...
...Township leaders, appalled by the display of military muscle, called on the government to guarantee that the forces were supervised by experienced officers. "Obviously, give any youngster a gun," warned Michael Beea of the Alexandra Civic Association, "and he will enjoy shooting at people, particularly when he has satisfied himself that the law will be on his side." Snapped a police spokesman: "Our men are well trained and don't just patrol the streets at their own discretion...
Such reassurances did not calm the fears of black leaders. The civic association called a rally in the local sports stadium, attracting more than 30,000 of the township's 100,000 residents. The crowd demanded the withdrawal of the security forces. The police commander agreed to remove patrols from the township streets and to permit Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace prizewinner, to speak in the stadium. "I know we all want freedom," Tutu told the crowd, "but we must get it in a disciplined manner." The throng returned to their homes peacefully. Later in the week, however, Tutu...