Ban to be extended

Press, 1 July 1983, Page 6

Ban to be extended

NZPA-Reuter Johannesburg

Winnie Mandela, the wife of an imprisoned black leader, Nelson Mandela, has been banned by the South Africa Government for five more years, legal and Government sources say. Mrs Mandela, an internationally known figure and much admired by South African blacks, has been under some Government restriction for 20 of the last 21 years.

Someone who is banned cannot be quoted publicly, or attend public meetings, or be with more than one person at a time. Mrs Mandela has also been banished from her home in Johannesburg’s black satellite city of Soweto to the remote town of Brandfort, hundreds of kilometres away.

Mrs Mandela’s previous banning order was set to expire this week-end, along with < similar orders for

about 65 others. Government sources said that after an extensive review banning orders for most of the group would be allowed to expire, leaving about a dozen under the restrictions.

A well-placed diplomatic source said that the Government’s decision to ease up on political banning came in part from a desire to mute criticism of its human rights record from Western countries. Early this week British anti-apartheid campaigners alleged that Mr Mandela’s life was in danger because of conditions in the prison where he is serving a life sentence. A spokeswoman said that they had received news from Mrs Mandela that he could die if his conditions were not improved. The spokeswoman alleged that Mr Mandela and five other prisoners were “entombed alive” in Pollsmoor Prison, near Cape Town, where “they are kept in isolation in one damp cell and have not been allowed in the open air for over a year.”