How South Africa locked up YCW

A DOSSIER smuggled out of South Africa and brought to London this week has revealed further details of the arrest and detention of 20 Young Christian Workers.
The dossier, compiled by Fr Gerard de Fleuriot, the YCW's national chaplain, and those members of the executive still at liberty, describes how one girl was arrested on the eve of her wedding, how a father of two young children has been detained and other members of the YCW consistently harassed by the South African security police.
Fr dc Fleuriot, who is not a South African national and expects to be arrested shortly and either detained or deported from the Republic, said he interpreted the arrests as a direct attack on the Catholic Church.
"This persection is an attempt to hit the Church through the YCW," he said.
"Most of those arrested are Catholics, all except one are black, and they are some of the finest youth lay leaders in the country. They are ordinary young Christians — not one of them has a university degree — who in a desperate situation wcrc craving for a decent life and better working conditions. And who does not?"
None of the YCW had ever been involved in violence, said Fr Fleuriot. But they had seen their friends forced to work 12 hours a day seven days a week. They had experienced being paid without pay slips which could explain the unusually large deductions. They had seen others work on notoriously dangerous machines without the safety devices which slowed down production.
"All these things are against South African labour laws. 1 hese young people wanted to sec these laws implemented, but they were victimised because they wanted to solve these injustices using the framework of the labour legislation," said Fr Fleuriot.
"Such victimisation has taken the form of prolonged harassment, arrest and detention. For example, on April 6 a former YCW member, Sydwell Sithole, contacted Simon Phelelo Magane, YCW's National President, and reported that the security police had offered him money to get back into the movement, They wanted him to 'bring information on its activities'."
Both Mr Magane and Mr Sitholc went to Mgr Kelly, Vicar-General of the Johannesburg diocese, who wrote a letter to the head of the East Rand security police informing him that the Church knew that the police were harassing YCW members and wanting them to be informers. Later, several YCW members were visited at their homes in the area and questioned.
Mr Magane was arrested on May 3, when eight security men arrived at the YCW national office in the Catholic presbytery at Springs. They searched the premises and removed documents.
Later in the day two more security men returned with Mr Magane handcuffed, forced their way into the presbytery without a warrant and searched the bedroom of Fr Joseph Falkincr, the YCW Transvaal regional chaplain, who was on overseas leave.
Mr Maganc's parcnts immediately travelled more than 250 miles to see their son but were not allowed to do so as he is being held incommunicado under the Terrorism Act. There has been no contact with Mr Magane since his arrest.
A week later Shadi Mathobela, YCW's regional treasurer in the East Rand, was detained. Her mother has since suffered a nervous breakdown.
In the same week Miss Maureen Goabape was detained on the eve of her wedding. A security police agent in civilian clothes told Miss Goabape to go to a certain meeting point at a railway station, but her parents were suspicious and accompanied her.
On the way to the station Miss Goabape was arrested without a warrant. Her parents pleaded for her release as she was to be married the next day but the security police told them to call off the wedding.
On May 29, Mr Marcus Rodgers, YCW national secretary, father of two children aged three month.s and four years, was arrested in Cathedral Place, Cape Town. Not even the intervention of Cardinal Owen McCann, who was present, could prevent the arrest.
Only two YCW organisers, Joseph Mohlabane and Ben Mthethwa, are still at liberty, and both are hunted by the security police. They are said to have "sought frail refuge on Church property."
In his statement Fr de Fleuriot said that in spite of the present persecution the work of the YCW would continue. "We know that if the State confronts – the Church, the Church will not lose," he said.