Ineffectual Protest

The most influential Negro in South Africa, Dr. John S. Moroka, had warned Prime Minister Malan that the Union's 8,000,000 Negroes would see "the end of black slavery" on April 6, South Africa's tercentenary. The African National Congress, which Moroka heads, would start a civil disobedience campaign on that day.

Last week, when the day came, a steady stream of well-armed cops, backed by armored cars, moved into the teeming native slums of South Africa's main cities. Army reinforcements stood ready at strategic points. But no trouble came. In Johannesburg's "Freedom Square," a dilapidated vacant lot in the Indian-African slum of Fordsburg, only 4,000 blacks showed up, instead of the 100,000 predicted. In & out among them flitted white Communist agitators, jangling collection boxes and spouting pat phrases about "U.S. imperialism in Asia." Sturdy Dr. Moroka (who is not a Communist) climbed up on a platform built of empty beer boxes. By the time he finished speaking, half of his audience had drifted away.

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