HART Conference

Mana (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 6, 15 September 1977, Page 12

HART Conference

HART Auckland's regional conference covered a wide range of topics related to South Africa and apartheid. Barney Mokgatle opened the morning session; describing the way in which the peaceful demonstration of the Soweto students against the use of afrikaans in their schooling was changed into a riot by the action of the South African police. It was seeing their friends bleeding and dying that kindled the anger that has not died down in the fourteen months since that day. Dave Cuthbert of National

Anti-Apartheid Committee spoke of the trade between South Africa and N.Z. People can help by refusing to buy South African products. Jane Swan spoke of ASA (Aid for Southern Africa) a group that is seeking to provide practical help for the people of those troubled countries. Auckland contact with this group is: c/o Auckland Anti-Apartheid Committee, P.O. Box 2436, Auckland. Sporting contact is likely to follow the pattern set by the recent World XV when N.Z. was represented byha substantial part of “individuals”. Contact with South Africa will be through participation in international tournaments

and individualistic sports. The final discussion concerned domestic racism. In this country the institutions like schools and courts, work according to pakeha values and practices; making life unnecessarily hard for those who are not pakeha. A good example was provided by the experience of the Bastion Point Group. Just as Maori Land was alienated by “legal” means provided by the pakeha parliament and the pakeha established Maori Land Court, they have experienced efforts to divide them, harrassment by police, and obstruction in preparing their case.