The South African Special Branch v The New African 1962–64: censorship by harassment of a radical journal

Abstract

ABSTRACT This is the story of a duel between a small magazine and the South African police Special Branch. The South African government maintained they had a free press. They therefore wanted to avoid outright censorship. They hoped that they could make The New African give up and shut up. The Ministry of Justice used the Special Branch to censor by harassment – police raids, confiscation of equipment, destruction of copies of the magazine, intimidation of printers, and a verdict of obscenity, which was turned down on appeal. One editor enabled the other editor to escape on a Norwegian cargo boat to Canada by jumping over the side of the boat to escape going to Canada as well. They then restarted the journal in Britain and slipped free copies into South Africa.