Incident
South Africa bans The World and Weekend World newspapers and detains editor Percy Qoboza
On October 19, 1977, a day South Africans came to call Black Wednesday, the government banned the newspapers The World and Weekend World and had the Special Branch police arrest editor Percy Qoboza and deputy editor Aggrey Klaaste. Qoboza was detained without charge under the Internal Security Act until his release in March 1978, and The World did not resume publication.12
What happened
Percy Qoboza had edited The World, then South Africa's most widely read Black newspaper, since 1974, and the paper had covered the 1976 Soweto uprising and its aftermath. On October 19, 1977, the Special Branch of the South African Police arrested Qoboza and Aggrey Klaaste, the news editor of the affiliated Weekend World, in an operation South African History Online describes as a mission to shut down the two Black publications. The government banned The World and Weekend World the same day and detained Qoboza under section 10 of the Internal Security Act, holding him without charge at Modderbee Prison, east of Johannesburg; Klaaste was held there as well. The same day, the government banned nineteen Black Consciousness Movement organizations and detained scores of their members, weeks after the death in police custody of Black Consciousness leader Steve Biko. Aggrey Klaaste later wrote that police came to his home in Meadowlands on the morning of the arrests to read him a detention notice. Qoboza was released in March 1978 after international pressure. The World did not reopen; Qoboza went on to edit a different newspaper, the Post.12345
What reason was given
Stated justificationThe government held Qoboza and Klaaste under section 10 of the Internal Security Act, a law that let authorities detain people without charge or trial, without publicly detailing an individual reason for their detention.12345
What changed for reporting
The World and Weekend World stopped publishing after the ban, and Qoboza and Klaaste were held without charge for months at Modderbee Prison, according to South African History Online.34
Timeline
1977
Outlets and journalists
| Name | Kind | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| The World | outlet | affected |
| Weekend World | outlet | affected |
Sources
- Percy Qoboza and his deputy, Aggrey Klaaste are arrested by the Special Branch police
- Black Wednesday, the banning of 19 Black Consciousness Movement Organisations
- Lessons from Black Wednesday, by Jerome Klaaste, 18 October 2019
- Percy Qoboza, editor of the Post, states that it is difficult to see how a credible newspaper for Blacks can be created in South Africa
Claims and evidence
Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.
- The Special Branch police arrested The World's editor, Percy Qoboza, and his deputy, Aggrey Klaaste, in an operation to shut down the two Black publications.
The editor of The World and Weekend World, Percy Qoboza and his deputy, Aggrey Klaaste were arrested by the Special Branch police in a mission to shut down the two Black publications.
Percy Qoboza and his deputy, Aggrey Klaaste are arrested by the Special Branch police, South African History Online, 2013-10-17.Claim 810, checked 2026-09-26. - On October 19, 1977, the government banned the newspapers The World and Weekend World.
On October 19, 1977, The World and Weekend World were banned.
Black Wednesday, the banning of 19 Black Consciousness Movement Organisations, South African History Online, 2019-10-18.Claim 811, checked 2026-09-26. - Qoboza was taken into detention and held for five months under section 10 of the Internal Security Act at Modderbee Prison.
was taken into detention and held for five months under section 10 of the Internal Security Act in Modderbee Prison.
Black Wednesday, the banning of 19 Black Consciousness Movement Organisations, South African History Online, 2019-10-18.Claim 812, checked 2026-09-26. - Aggrey Klaaste recalled that police came to his home in Meadowlands on the morning of October 19, 1977, to read him a notice of his detention.
They came to my home in Meadowlands, the morning of the 19th, complaining bitterly that we had given them, the police, sleepless nights.
Lessons from Black Wednesday, by Jerome Klaaste, 18 October 2019, South African History Online, 2019-10-18.Claim 813, checked 2026-09-26. - Qoboza was detained without charge until his release in March 1978, after international pressure.
the newspaper was banned and Qoboza was detained without a charge until March 1978. International pressure led to his release
Percy Qoboza, editor of the Post, states that it is difficult to see how a credible newspaper for Blacks can be created in South Africa, South African History Online, 2011-03-16.Claim 814, checked 2026-09-26.