LOOKING BACK

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

Pornographic literature is being imported by immigrants on a large scale, according to a report from the Select Committee on the Immorality Amendment Bill published this week. It is also alleged in a report submitted by a police officer this week that immigrants are responsible for the rising incidence of homosexuality in South Africa. The report claims an average of 40,000 immigrants come to South Africa each year, mainly from countries where homosexuality is rife. “They bring literature and pornography with them,” says the report. It claims Cape Town is the centre for homosexual activity in South Africa. The report says: “Homosexuals occupy important positions in life. These men and women number many hundreds.” — September 8 1968

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 25 YEARS AGO

South Africa’s chief justice has warned that the draft bill of rights could wreck the property market. Chief Justice Mick Corbett, on behalf of all the other judges, has sent a memorandum to the World Trade Centre committees dealing with the present draft bill. In their memorandum, the judges point to many flaws in the wording of the bill, saying some clauses are “ambiguous and confusing”, while others will create “serious problems of interpretation and application”. Still others were so inadequately worded that they would open the door to “busybodies” bent on instigating litigation. — September 12 1993