Townships continued. Some dodged the draft, others fled the country, some stood-up and faced the consequences for what they believed. None were ever given recognition by either the South African government or the newly elected democracy. Shortening of conscription In 1989, conscription was reduced from two years to one year, and during the negotiations to end apartheid from 1990 to 1994, it was less rigorously enforced. A Kairos campaign against conscription was the 1989 Campaign focussing on the End Conscription Campaign with participation of Alistair Teeling Smith, Rob Watson and Mandy Tailor. Saul Batzofin, 27, a member of the End Conscription Campaign, was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment in 1989 for refusing to serve in the South African Defence Force. After he had completed his sentence he later told the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that he wanted to apply for amnesty to clear his criminal record. Although he was proud to have been a conscientious objector, the record caused difficulties with visa applications for foreign countries. During September 1989, thirty Stellenbosch conscientious objectors joined more than 700 listed COs nationwide by publicly refusing to do military service. The National Registry of Conscientious Objectors was also launched. The organisation was unbanned by the South African government on 2 February 1990, along with 33 other organisations. End of conscription On 24 August 1993, Minister of Defence Kobie Coetsee announced the end of conscription. In 1994, there would be no more call-ups for the one-year initial training. Although conscription was suspended, it was not entirely abandoned. Indeed, in January 1994, there was for the first time no call-up for initial training, but at the same time conscripts who had already undergone training could be subject to "camp" call-ups, as they were technically subject to military law, rather than civilian law. Actually, "camp" call-ups reached record proportions over the period of the April 1994 elections, and for the first time in history, the ECC called on conscripts to consider the call-ups as different from previous call-ups. However, as of 2015, an alliance led by the African National Congress has reportedly begun pushing for the return of military conscription to the country in a bid to contain youth unemployment and to instill discipline, patriotism and volunteerism into young people from the ages of 18. African National Congress Secretary General Gwede Mantashe stated he would support the reintroduction of conscription and said that the country had