Johannesburg
Africans throughout the country have been urged by the former Chief Luthuli, president of the African National Congress, to burn their pass-books Òin an orderly manner.Ó It was resentment against the pass-book system which led to last MondayÕs riots in which some seventy Africans were killed.
The CongressÕs presidentÕs statement was issued after the South African Government had made known a change in its policy: for the present the police have been told not to demand to see the passes or arrest Africans for failing to carry them.
But Mr F.C. Erasmus, the Minister of Justice, made it clear that this move is only temporary, and that Africans will again have to carry the documents when conditions return to normal. The concession, it was stated, was being made by the police to stop law-abiding natives from being threatened with violence if they carried them.
Former Chief Luthuli said the Government had evaded the issue of the passes by Òmerely suspending arrests until further notice.Ó

A last stand

The Congress had always pledged itself to fight for the abolition of these laws, and the Government's decision to ban the Congress Ñ a bill to go to Parliament to-morrow authorises the proscription of the A.N.C. and other Nationalist organisations Ñ obliged Congress Òto take a last stand against the pass system.Ó
Declaring that the people wanted Òthe total abolition of this obnoxious system,Ó he said: ÒI accordingly take the first opportunity of leading the country in burning this system of slavery.Ó
He also urged Africans to stay at home to-morrow, in mourning for the victims of the disturbances at Sharpeville and Langa.
Dr Verwoerd, the Prime Minister, at a mass meeting at Meyerton, near Sharpeville, last night, appealed to the whites not to allow themselves to become prejudiced against Africans or harbour feelings of enmity towards them. ÒThe black masses of South Africa do not deserve it,Ó he said. ÒThey are orderly and peace-loving and loyal to the Government and Administration of this country.Ó
Small groups exploiting mass psychology were the cause of the trouble. ÒDiscretion and goodwillÓ should be used to solve the problem. 
He appealed to the world to understand that everybody in South Africa believed in justice and right and that all acknowledged the rights of the black man. 
ÒWe say, let white govern the white and the black who is in the white area, but let the black find opportunities in his own area,Ó he said. ÒFairness to each, justice to all.Ó
ÒWe intend to do what is just and right as a Christian nation in dealing with the people and fellow-men in this country of ours. We realise there is a common basis of humanity.Ó
He described South AfricaÕs overseas critics as Òthe ducktails (Teddy boys) of the political world,Ó who were playing into the hands of communism. Much of the criticism had come from Opposition groups trying to embarrass their Governments.