January 4, 1960
UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA: Johannesburg, 31 – Tension remains high throughout the Union of South Africa following the declaration of martial law in Pretoria, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Simon’s Town, East London, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Pietermaritzburg and other towns. Emergency measures have been introduced to maintain order and arrests are being made without warrants having been issued. The judicial authorities, however, appear unwilling to implement further measures that run contrary to the fundamental rights of personal freedom. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council has convened to examine the situation. At 5 a.m., Parliament debated a bill giving the governor-general the right to outlaw the two main parties – the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress. European deputies representing Africans in parliament said that if the bill is passed «the whites will be digging their own graves» and that the Africans will resort to guerrilla warfare and acts of sabotage. Bloodshed is continuing and police are trying to quell the riots. In Cape Town this morning, 300 soldiers from the army and navy surrounded and blocked the exits from two districts.
