Botha OKs New Powers to Curb School Unrest

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — The government today issued sweeping new state-of-emergency powers that allow education officials to clamp down on unrest in South Africa’s troubled black schools when they reopen Jan. 7.

In Pretoria, the government confirmed that it is considering plans to build a landing strip on a remote southern Indian Ocean island but refused to comment on reports that the plan is linked to nuclear testing with possible Israeli help.

The Observer newspaper in London reported Sunday that a mile-long runway would be built on Marion Island, about 1,200 miles southeast of Cape Town and halfway to Antarctica, where South Africa maintains a weather station. The newspaper said Israeli and South African officials visited the island, fueling speculation of a joint nuclear testing facility.

President Pieter W. Botha issued the new school regulations in a special edition of the Government Gazette, the official newspaper where new laws are announced.

Powers Broadened

The regulations give broad powers to education officials to take measures to maintain order in the country’s 7,000 black schools.

The new powers authorize school officials to bar anyone from school grounds and to outlaw anti-government slogans, T-shirts, pamphlets, flags, badges and posters.

Under the new regulations, Braam Fourie, the director-general of education, is also authorized to forbid any classes not specifically approved by the government. Pupils in some schools last year set up alternative education programs focusing on black political history.

During the last school year, nearly 300,000 black students took part in boycotts at about 250 black schools to protest apartheid.

About 80 schools in the Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth areas were shut down “because it had become impossible to carry on any regular schooling,” said Education Department spokesman Job Schoeman.