TNAG-0967-FCO40-1186-Employment-of-children-in-Hong-Kong-1980 — Page 20

E/CN.4/Sub.2/434 page 11

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42. The Group also received a paper concerning labour conditions in South Africa prepared by the International University Exchange Fund (IUEF). The study stated that conditions of African workers continued to be extremely repressive and tending towards conditions of forced labour. In particular, the IUEF found that rigid controls still determined the lives, conditions of work and movement of millions of African workers. These conditions had not been altered fundamentally either in fact or in law by recent commissions of inquiry established by the South African Government. study stated that the apartheid system had its roots in the pattern of economic growth that had taken place in South Africa and had been continuously strengthened. Apartheid was the culmination of a legislative system applicable only to the indigenous population designed to channel the bulk of Africans, to be located in the reserves, into. agriculture and industry and to create a permanent and abundant cheap labour force. Apartheid as a system of labour control and exploitation relied on a machinery enforced through repression, and consisting of a combination of measures to control influx of Africans into the areas designed as "white" (87 per cent of the country) with a system of migratory labour administered by an all-embracing network of national labour bureaux. Africans had no rights of residence and movement, no choice of employment, no right to organize, and were increasingly denied their citizenship rights. Millions had been forcibly removed to the "bantustans", and · repression was increasing. The IUEF requested that the United Nations condemn the South African Government for its labour legislation and structures, employment practices and denial of workers' rights as well as its application of forced labour conditions on large numbers of its citizens. It also requested that further investigations be pursued of the economic realities facing the people of South Africa.

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43. A representative of the Minority Rights Group informed the Working Group of a recent report on labour legislation in South Africa prepared by the Director of the Southern Africa Project of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, à United States organization, after a visit to South Africa. The report stated that the situation of black workers in South Africa had not changed subsequent to the recommendations made by the Governmental Commissions of Inquiry headed by Prof. Wiehahn and Dr. Riekert, and the enactment of the Industrial Conciliation Amendment Act in May 1979. The essence of apartheid as a slavery-like system, namely the denial of freedom of residence, movement and employment and the denial of the right to organize in order to change the situation, had remained unaffected by these measures. Although the Wiehahn Commission had proposed certain reforms, the legislation enacted had not established machinery to implement these recommendations. Instead, it provided for more sophisticated forms of repression. The vast majority of African workers would still be denied the right to trade union representation, and in fact most of the present membership of African unions would be eliminated. Inter-racial unions would still be banned in most cases. The right of the few recognized African unions to achieve representation in the Industrial Councils and the National Manpower Commission and to bring grievances to the new Industrial Court would be restricted in a number of ways. For example, while some job reservation clauses had been removed, five still remained and the legislation itself had not been repealed. Thus while the Government wanted to appear to be making concessions, Africans were still denied freedom of association and had still a job colour bar imposed on them. Concerning the Riekert Commission, the report stated that its recommendations followed · the lines of established Government policy on migratory labour, since they would allow African workers to enter urban areas only to the extent that employment and housing were available. In conclusion, the representative of the Minority Rights Group requested the Group to incorporate this information in its report to the Sub-Commission.