The White South African: An endangered species 0869781286, 9780869781289

Citation preview

' an endangeredspecies JOSEPH ANDRIOLA

THE WHITE SDUTH AFMCAN

J OSEPH ANDR I O L A BM, M.S.W., Phd.

Vive Wi,ite South A 'can AN ENDANGERED SPECIES

CAPE TOWN

HOWARD T IMMI NS 1976

TNs book is coppnght under the Berne Convention. JVo portion may be

reproducedbp any processwithout ueittenpermission.Enquiriesshould be made tothe publishers.

Copyright. © by Joseph Angola

ISBN 0 86978 128 6

Printed by Printpak (Cape) Ltd., DacresAvenue, Epping, Cape

This book is dedicated to Audi, my "ad'oPted" son— a chunky, blond, blue-e y ed,m ischievous, four year-old, White Afrikaner boy u!ithuhom I have had a love a+air since uegrst met when he was less than one year old.

CONTENTS I'age

I II Ill

Preface 1X Intro duct1on 1 General information .. 21 The A&ikaner, the KngHshman and the Jew 25 Major organizations working in the Geld of race relations (agents of social chmge): The South African Institute of Race Relations, The South A&ican Bu-

reau of Racial Affairs, The Christian Institute, The National Union of South A&ican Students .. 49 IV The National Party and Apartheid 63 V Other White political parties: The United, Party,

VI VII VIII IX X

The Progressive Party, Th e P rogressive Reform Party, Die Herstigte Easionale Party (Reconstituted National. Party ), The Democratic Party, The Alliance for Radical Change 75 Some Black African Leaders 87 South West A&ica — not "Namibia" 95 Th e L eague of Nations, The United Nations and South West A&ica . . .. 123 A l o ok at the future .. .. 143 A s t r a tegy for White survival: mass fertility control for non-Whites .. 151

Epilogue

..

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.. 171

For more than forty years, beginning about 1880 millions of hardy, bitter, iHiterate and famished South Italian peasants left Italy for the promised land. This Bool came to an abrupt halt in 1924 when American immigration policy discriminated against Italians and certain other "dark-complexioned" Europeans. But those who had arrived had come not necessarily to better themselves — most were fa~ and h a d no great aspirations — they came in a desperate move for mere survival. Both of my parents came &om Southern Italy and I was their first born child. Since my father had completed elementary school at the top ofhis class in the smaH town where he had been b orn, he was not as "disadvantag&" as the usual I~ imm igrant who had had, little or no formal schooling. When he 6rst arrived in New York at the age of seventeen, although he was penniless, he had another signi6cant advantage compared to most Italian immigrants. Besides being quite literate he had already served a 6ve-year, unpaid apprenticeship to learn a trade. Consequently, as a skiHed worker he had no dHEculty 6nding a job — a job at which he worked twelve hours per day six days per week for three dollars per week. He also studied English, read Karl Marx and 77ie JAui f'ork Timos.Later Tjio Timesbecame his "Sible" and he read it carefully every day including Sunday. At the age of twenty-f ive he had saved. enough money to enable him to return to his home town of Santeramo-in-CoHe, located between Taranto and Sari, to marry my mother. She came &om a somewhat "genteel" petty bourgeois family of small landowners who were suspicious of books — "too much reading softens the brain!" When at the age of six I started attending Public School 45 in a working class neighbourhood known as the Fordham District of the Bronx Borough of New York, I could not speak English. And the teachers could not speak Italian nor, for that matter, Finnish, Greek, Polish, Chinese nor any of the many other

tongues whichwere heard in the New York of my childhood.' I recall, however, that I felt acutely and painfuHy "diferent" and therefore "inferior" because I could not understand English. But I was fortunate to Snd myself in a remarkable and unusual school where the Principal was Mr. Angelo Patri, a kind, white-haired gentleman- a pioneer in progressive education before it degenerated to permissive non-education — who was destined to become a world-renowned educator. And so the teachers I had followed his example and most of them were sympathetic and patient and kind,. They encouraged me to learn — not only to speak proper English and the traditional three R's — but to learn about painting and music and poetry, and to try to practice those arts. More than that they helped me to move ahead as fast as I could. I was not ground down "democratically" into the level of the lowest common denomumtor of the rest of the class as is so often the case in American public school education today with its pathological emphasis on so-called egahtarianism. AAer I completed the first year of school, not only was I fairly proficient in English but my teachers felt I had made so much progress in other areas that it was not necessary for me to go to the second grade. I was "jumpai" one grade and promoted to the third grade. Later I also skipped another year so that I was able to complete eight years of elementary schooling in six. As the late Hmvy Golden would say, "Only in America!" "Only in America," he would >mite in some of his wonderful Httle essays against racial discrimination in h is weekly, Tlirt Caroline Israelite, can a poor, immigrant Je~~mh boy, escaping

R om the pogromsof Europe, become a professor,a greatscientist . . . w i n a Nobel Prize!" But the America of my youth — the New York of my childhood as the America and the New York of today — had its share of both covert and overt hostility toward minorities. Some of my earliest recollections were of words I heard in the streets of New York such as "kike" and "Christ-killer." And when I used one of these epithets within h ~ of my f a t h er, he gave me the only beating that I remember, followed by a long lecture on racial and ethnic justice. And there were also other words — hurtful words. There were

woah hke "Hunky" and "Spik" and "Nigger." Of course, for me there was always the ubiquitous "Wop" usually preceded by the adjective "Dirty" — the derogatory term for all things Italianwhich used to enrage me and leave me impotent and ashamei. Most of these memories are related to the period aiter I left that wonderlul elementary school where I had been nurtured and taught to study and to love books. I felt the sting and the humiliation and the pain oMiscrimmation (perhaps I was overly sensitive; my brother who was hvo years my junior did not seem to feel this way), so much so that when I was in high school I considered changing my name. I thought of names like "Andrews" or "Anderson" or even an anonymous "Smith" or "Johnson" which to my ears sounded more American. By so doing, I reasoned, I could blend more easily into the mainstream of America. I might "pass"; I might have a better chance of being admitted to a good university. Like many erst and second generation Americans I have a long history of being confused and angry about discrimination against minorities, but almost as long a history of being active in the Sght for their rights. And I am still at it! This book is about a well-known minority. It is an attempt to tell the truth — sympathetically, I must admit, but the truth nevertheless as I have seen it and experienced it — about the 4,2 milEon "White" people in the Republic of South A&ica, the most despised and discriminated minority in the so-caHed community of nations. With minor exceptions, virtually I have read about this minority has been skewed against it and especially against its government. The criticisms, &equently based upon ignorance and/or political chicanery, appear regularly in the South African press as well as in the American and, British newspapers which I read. Given the international pohtical chmate since the end of World War Two plus some serious bungling by the political establishments of White South A&ica, this is not surprising. Nor is it surprising that the bungling, the hypocrisy, the deceit, the irrationality and the fascist manifestations of certain Black political establishments in the rest of Southern A&ica as well as in South A&ica, are blithely ignored or excused or ratio nal1zed.

evening

But what is surprising is the dreary and inexorable regularity with which vicious criticisms of %Rite South A&ica based on

misinformation, distortions offacts and even falsehoods appear i n American and British scienti6c and scholarly jo~ as w e H as in allegedly objective and authoritative books published in English. I fmd this pernicious inteHectual dishonesty both incomprehensible and disheartemng. Many times I have checked such criticisms against the actual facts which I have observed at erst hand or obtained by consulting primary sources such as oKcial and other documents. In criticising the critics, at times I may have leaned over backwards not only to correct the distortions and falsehoods but also to provide a balance — to put things in proper perspective. Furtherrnore, although my training and experience in the social sciences are supposed to have equipped me to be a dispassionate and rigorous investigator, by being a participant observer," as any social scientist knows only too weH, there is always the danger of some loss of objectivity. I have tried hard to avoid this as much as possible but I am sure that some biases may have slipped through the "scien66c net." In South Africa, as ind,eed, in aH of Southern Africa, history is unfolding at a &cued pace. Consequently, a carefully documented fact presented in an earlier draft of this book prepared only three or four months ago, may already be outdated. Some items rechecked and updated even aweek ago are already no longer accurate or at least not entirely so. But a cut off point had to be established or the book would never be ready for publication. That cut o8'point was set at 1 September 1975. By the time the book is pubEshed some of it will be obsolete. My vain hope is that its obsolescenceswiH be few and minor ones — at least until the printer's ink is dry. Although a number of well-informed persons — particularly in the A&ikaner and Jewish communities — have read criticaHy parts of the manuscript and made some corrections or suggestions, any errors or biases which may stiH be present are entirely my responsibility. I am grateful however, for their assistance. I am even more grateful for the help I received from Black and Brown South Africans and South West Africans whom I interviewed, some of whom took me into their homes and who did

not hesitate to express their political and other views. In every instance I came away with a httle more understanding, a little more appreciation of their position and occasionally with a greater sense of futility. Furthermore, even when we disagreed I could not help them and wishing I could get to know them better. Thanks are due to Sam Davis, the Editor of the

like

SouthAtra AJ'rktt Annot/ for kindly consenting to read critically Chapters VII and VIII . H ere, again, any inacuracies are my responsibility. And 6naily, special thanks are due to the staas of the Jagger Library of the Univetsity of Cape Town and of the Library ofParhament. If certain individuals or groups are offended by what I say I am sorry as that is not my intention. HoN ever, although they may be oHended and although they may resentor disapprove of what they read, I trust that they will not resort to theglib use of invective. I trust, instead, that they will be moved to examine my facts and opinions and rebut them with other, more accurate facts and opinions of their own — if they can.

J.A. Cape Town October 1975 l. In 1680 VfiHiam Kieit, the Dutch governor of New Netherland, remarked to the FrenchJesuit Isaac Jogues that there were eighteen Languages spoken at the tip of Manhattan island. There still are: not necessarily the sasne languages, but at least as many; nor has the number ever declined in the intervening three centuries... The Srst shipload of settlers sent out by the Dutch was made up largely of French-speaking Protestants. British, Germans, Firms, Jews, Swedes, Africans, Italians, Irish followed, beginning a stream that has never yet stopped.(Nathan Glazer and Daniel P. Moynihan, Bsyond ths3fdting Pot - 'Ar Regress, Erurta Eisans,fels, Itetians, and IrisIt oJ'Ritual Ymk City,Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. ~ an dH arvard Univ. Press, 1963, p. I).

INTRODUCT ION • .. if you roant certainties, I refer you to the rentings and pronouncementsof those ruho have not been there; or urho having been there for a duy, or tmo, or possibly three or four, have come osoay toith thc samep Ruth mhichthey arrived. ALLEN DRURV

reco nceptions

"3 Very Strange Society" -A goutyto the Heart o f SouthAfrica. This book is about the major surviving White Tribe of A&ica. Like the Zulus of Natal and the Owambos of Ovambo, which are collective terms for several tribal groups, the "White South A&ican Tribe" under consideration is a collective term for several tribal entities within the White "nation." There are two major tribal groups — the A&ikaner and the socalled English. The former primarily speak b a n n s are usually members of one of South A&ica's Dutch Reformed Churches and are generally descendents of Dutch, I"rench and later, German ancestors. The latter are English-speaking South A&icans whose ancestors came &om Britain or who, themselves, emigrated &om the British Isles or &om Commonwealth countries such as Canada or Australia. There are, of course, several smaller groups such as the Jews,

mostly living in the metropolitan areas of Cape Town andJohannesburg, and the Germans, most of whom are concentrated in central South West A&ica. These major and minor groups plus other sub-groups such as the Greek, Italian and Portuguese communities make up the overall White South A&ican Tribe.

How do they adapt to their environments What about their triM wars, religions, pohtics, traditions and other customs' And what about their futureP Are they on the road to extinction like their neighbours the hmdy pre-historic Bushmen P Are there any international bodies dedicated to the pre-

servation of this unique and great Mxite Tribe P Are any resolutions being passed by the 141 members of the General Assembly of the United Nations or by the 15 members of its Security Council condemning the threatened extinction of this rare and productive species P These are some of the questions which uW be explored. The last chapter discusses a model — a plan if you,

wiH —which if implemented noway have a chance of insuring the

survival of the VAite Tribe. There are more than four million White South A&icans (or non-Blacks — pick your own label) who run the Republic of South A&ica. Only White South A&icans sit in Parliament and they hold aH the Cabinet posts. Wbite South A&icans also own most of the land; most of the department stores and the supermarkets; aH of the skyscrapers; aH of the coal, diamond, gold, and, uranium mines; most of the banks and most of the factories — at leastthose of any consequence.

They hold almost aH of the highly skiHed professional and, ~e ria ljo bs and as a consequence their per capita income is much higher than that of any other racial or ethnic group. In virtuaHy every other respect they are better oKthan non-Whites in South A&ica — exceptfor beHy-laughs. They're rare; even genuine smiles are not too common. However, although they comprise only 17% of the population, White South A&icans pay 97% of the income taxes and the greatest proportion of aH other taxes. These are the facts. Perhaps they are not justi6ed andperhaps they urs.However, no self-respecting liberal can be expected to even consider the latter possibility. Actually there are many complex historical, cultural, genetic and other reasons for this

state of affairs but no lack of simplistic, polemical and naive explanations of why this is so. For purposes of this report such explanations — irrespective of whether or not they be honest or venal, simplistic or sunple-minded, objective or biased are not relevant. But let us hsten to what an articulate, inteHigent and miTitant Black South A&ican has to say about it. His name is Barney Pityana. He was the President of the South A&ican Students

Organization(SASO), an ora

tio n of Black South A&ican

which excludes Whites when he wrote the foHowing:

The South A&ican population consists of some 21 million people. Of these about 5 million are White. Yet a!1 political and economic pow'er is in the hands of the White minority. They have the right to vote for, and to be voted on to, all eHective legislative bodies. They monopohze all key positions and centres of power and preferred occupations. Whites are protected by m competition with Blacks in spheres of employment, sport and politics. They appropriate more than their fair share in educational, welfare and other social services, and they maintain a wide gap between themsdves and other races in terms of technical skills, and consequently the wealth of the land. He goes on to tell us that the "so-called non-White people are kept in total subjection by the White authority" and that it is governmental poHcy to keep the diH'erent racial groups in complete separation from one another. This, he adds, has resulted in the mutual development of prejudices, complexes and suspicions. It has also led the various non-White groups to compete for favors &om the powers that be bu t t h ere continues to be a ~ e r entiation in living conditions, social amenities and salary scales.~ Pityana ridicules the notion of a multi-racial society for South A&ica. The Black man, he tells us, does not need nor does he want any deahugs with the White liberal or the Black or White ideaHst. The Black man must realize that he is on his or~. "The way to the future is not through a directionless and, arrogant multi-raciaHsm but through a purposeM and positive unilateral approach.*' (p. 189). The Black man, in other words, must take over — by force, if necessary. Thnt is 6k real message! Let us listen to another articulate Black voice — this one belonging to Steve Biko, a past President of SASO. Who are the Eberals in South A&ica, he asks and then he proceeds to tell us. It is that curious bunch of non-conformists who explain their participation in negative terms; that bunch of dogooders that goes under all sorts of names — Hberals, idtists, etc. These are the people who argue that they are not responsible for white racism and the country's 'inhumanity to the Black man' these are the people who claim that they too feel the oppression just as acutely as the Blacks and

lalla tion&o

therefore should be jointly involved in the Black man' s struggle for a place under the sun; in short, these are the

people who say they have black souls wrapped up in white

s He adds that there is no doubt that the Black-White power struggle in South A&ica is a microcosm of the global coxx&ontation between the Third World and the rich White nations. He predicts that the Blacks and other members of the Third World

all win. Gr listen to what Anthony Sampson reports in his compassionate, sympathetic and convincing account of urban Blacks in Johannesburg whom he knew intimately — as intimately as any White xnan can get to know a Slack one — during the three years he was the editor of Dxxxm. "I' ll tell you the whites that reaHy annoy me," someone said one night at the Back o' the Moon. "The missionaries and liberals," pronouncing the syllables with xnocking gentility. "Thank goodness Idon't owe an~ to th e m issionaries," said another, who had been educated, subsidised and employed by missionaries' In South A&ica practically everybody in the urban areas, regardless of skin pigmentation, is concerned verbally — at leastwith racial matters. It is impossible to attend a business meeting, a professional conference or dinner party without sooner or later — mostly sooner — discussing race relations. At the many social gatherings I have attended in the White afBuent suburbs of Cape Town, I have yet to sit down and enjoy the invariably suxnptuous meal, served with the marvelous South A&ican ~~~es, without RACE rearing its disxluieting head. More often than not, as will be indicated, below, it poisons the atmos-

phere.

Race and racial problems always intrude. Most of the discussions — given the circle in which I move of White academics, intellectuals, members of the professions and well-heeled businessmen usually centre around, the need for change — that is, for more rapid change. It is emplmsized that there is an urgent necessity for more and better low-cost housing for non-Whites, for higher wages, for the e~ tio n of aH forms of discrimination, and the like. "Time is running out," I have been told re-

peated!y. "The South A&ican clock is ticking at 6ve minutes to midnight!" However, no one seems able or wiHing to discuss intelligently the fact that as long as the non-Whites continue to have one of the highest birth rates in the world, they will always be poor and there will never be enough housing or proper schools, no matter how much money the White taxpayers are ~~ to s h ell out for such necessities. White liberals in South Africa are similar to their counterparts in the United States of America. They are notorious for wallowing in their accumulated "guilt" of over 300 years of living on the tip of A&ica as so-caHed, privileged individuals. Furthermore, their minds are as hermeticaHy sealed as any I have met in America and woe betide anyone who disagrees with them. One major difference between South African and American liberals is that the former, although just as vociferous, rarely contribute money to liberal causes. They depend upon 6xnds from abroad, especially &om England and America, to carry out their campaigns. The foHowing two anecdotes may help to illustrate what I mean when I refer to their similarities. In September 1973 while w~ up t h e steps of the Jameson Hall at the University of Cape Town, I ran into bvo senior faculty members I knew. I asked them if they had heard the brief news item which had come over the radio about an hour earlier regarding a disturbance at a gold mine in CarltonviHe in which several miners had. been kiHed. One of them intoned, "Yes, there has been a massacre at CarltonviHe." I was startled by this comment and asked if he had additional information which I did not have. When he replied in the negative I wondered how, in the absence of more facts, he could come to such a terrible conclusion. Both of them looked at me wide a mixture of scorn and pity and one of them said, "You don't know South Africa; you haven't been here long enough. The facts are that Mute pohcemen shot and kiHed Black miners; of course there's been a massacre!" It is experiences such as this — and I have had many of themwhich make me wonder when the South A&ican public, which pays the salaries of this type of academic, wiH realize that they are taking money under false pretenses. Instead of engaging in

honest teaching, instead ofcarrying out responsible research and instead of helping students to become well-informed citizens, they seem to be primarily engaged in trying to indoctrinate them with their own prejudices. But what are the facts about the CarltonviHe "massacre P" A thorough investigation revealed the following: (a) About eighty mine workers out of more than 8 000 who were employed at the W'estern Deep Levels mine engaged in a demonstration over a wage dispute. Before long their demonstration had escalated into a serious disturbance because another group of miners objected to the demonstration. Soon Sghting broke out between members of cMerent tribal groups. A few hours later, those involved in the Sghts and counter demonstrations had grown to several hundred. Armed with clubs, knives and rocks they went on a rampage, smashing everything in their paths including each other. One group grabbed a straggler, bludgeoned him to a pulp and then literally hacked him to pieces. (b) The security force at the mine could not contain the disturbance so the mine management called the police. By the time a small, well-armed contingent of twentywne policemen arrived, the situation appeared to be out of hand. The police tried aH methods at their disposal to stop the Sghting but to no avail. AVhen a heavy barrage of tear gas failed and the mob turned on the police, they Sred a voHey into the rioters. The inquiry revealed that after the Srst voHey was Sred the mob kept coming at the police and they had to Sre two more voHeys to save their lives. (e) Eleven miners were killed in addition to the one who had been beaten to death and dismembered by other miners, and twelve others were wounded by the police. Ten miners were seriously injured by other miners. The other anecdote is about a dinner party my wife and I attended in 1974 in the predominately Jewish Cape Town suburb of Sea Point. The lovely home where the party was held also had the largest and best private collection of South A&ican paintings I had ever seen. About twelve people were present including the editor of one of the English-language newspapers in Cape Town and his wife.

The other guests included an assorted group of highly articulate, highly intelligent businessmen and professional persons. Towards the end of the evening, after most of us had imbibed quite a bit of wine, I mentioned that I was intrigued and concerned about the future of South A&ica's minorities — Asian, Coloured and White. I further indicated that in a small way I was trying to bring about political equality among them. A 60-year-old physician, who has a reputation of being a gru8'but very competent general practitioner, turned on me and demanded truculently, "What are you doing for the Bantu P" "Not a damned thing," I replied testily and then added, "and if you reaHy want to know, since everybody I meet seems to be terribly concerned about the Blacks, I'm not interested in doing anything for the Black majority. I'm interested in the future of South ~ c a's Brown and. White minorities." The roof fell in. The doctor became apoplectic; an obese, grey-haired, cultured lady — a world travelled patron of one of the performing arts — turned on me savagely and screamed, "You' re an American fascist!" I yelled back at her that I didn't have to come to South A&ica to be vili6ed by fuzzy-headed liberals like her — professional boetisswho didn't knowwhat the heH was really going on and who would be the erst to get their throats cut if the Blacks took over.. . At this point the wife of the newspaper editor, with what can best be described as a triumphant leer, hissed at me, "Well, whether you like it or not, the A&icans are going to take over... we' re going to have Black majority rule sooner than you think." After a few more intemperate remarks on everybody's part, the

karen -

~

br o ke up in a sa b les.

Although some aspects of race relations will continue to be considered throughout the book, no attempt wiQ be made to analyse the racial situation in depth because:

(u) It is a unique and highly complicated, set of problems calling for a separate book on South Africa which would have to be at least as long as this one. (b) At this point I do not feel well-enough quali6% to even attempt such a task.

(s) There are already many reports, books, documents and

"research endings" on one or more aspects of South African race relations available written with varying degrees of intensity, objectivity and accuracy. Many, however, although quite intense, are far from accurate and somewhat less than objective. This is especially true of those which emanate &om the pen of Slack or Brown or White South A&ican expatriates. Among those published in South A&ica are the publications of the South A&ican Institute of Race Relations. These are generally quite reliable especially the weH-documented annal volume,A of Race &lations in South A J iica. For many years the compilation of this useful document has been under the capable editorship of Muriel HorreH. On the other hand pubHcations of the Christian Institute of South A&ica, of the South A&ican Council of Churches and of the National Union of South A&ican Students (NUSAS) are somewhat less than accurate and rarely &ee of anti~overnment bias. I shall not dwell on the racist fulminations of Congressman Charles Diggs, the Negro millionaire mortician from Detroit, nor on the published statements of weH-intentioned politicians like Senator Hubert Humphrey whom I have met and whom I have admiredformany years.However, Iwould Hke to add that the volume of their criticisms and their decibel levels are inversely related to the degree of knowloige that they possess about South A&ica. Some stiH blithely refer to it as the "Union of South A&ica" despite the fact that it became an independent

Saro ng

republic on 31 May 1961. There is, of coume, no shortage of reports, documents and resolutions about South A&ica and South West A&ica pubbshed by the United Nations. AH of them follow a dreary and entirely predictable pattern: they are totaHy biased and invariably completely anti-White South A&ican. One of the better known reports is that of the Committee on Apartheid which issued a document called,Apartheid: its Egecteon Edncukon, Science, Cnltnre and Information (Pcs: UNESCO, 2nd edition, 1972). Unlike most of the other U.N. pubHcations I have read dealing with South A&ica and South W'est A&ica, this one has a good deal of truth in it. However, it loses much of its credi-

bility because it also has many untruths or distortions of the truth. A more recent U.N. pronouncement is the Security Council Resolution No. 366 (17 December 1974) dealing with "Naxxubia" — that is, with South West A&ica. Although Chapters VII and VIII go into considerable detaH regarding the question of

South West A&ica, this resolution is being reproduced here in fuH because it is a prime example of the unrdenting assaults t South A&ica, replete with the usual irresponsible and intemperate exaggerations, distortions, lies and threats. Like Hitler's big lie about the Jm~s and his other "enemies," when

repeated long enough and loudly enough, with the messianic fervor and righteous vmath ~ hich has taten the place of reason and objectivity at the United Nations, they come to be believed — even by those who invent the lies. The following is an exact quotation of the resolution:

Reordling General Assembly resolution 2145 (XXI) of 27 Oct~ ber 1966, which terminated South A&ica's Mandate over the Territory of Namibia, and resolution 2248 (S-V) of 1967, which established a United Nations Council for Namibia, as wdl as ail other subsequent resolutions on Namibia, in particular resolution 3295 (XXIX ) of 13 December 1974. Jhcallixxg Sxxurity Council resolutions 245 (1968) of 25 Jm-

uary and 246 (1968) of 12 August (1969) 276 (1970) of 30 January 282 (1970) of 23 July 283 (1970) and 284 (1970) of 29 July1970, 300 (1972) of4 February 1972,which coa&med General Assembly decisions, Emdling the Advisory Opinion of the International Court « Justiceof 21 June 1971 that South Africa is under obligation to withdraw its presence &om the Territory, Coaoorlod about South A&ica'scontinued illegal occupation of Namibia and of its persistent re61sal to comply with resolutxons and decisions of the General Assembly and the Security Council, as well as the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 21 June 1971, Gmodyoonaxnoda t South A&ica's brutal repression of «N a mibian people and its persistent violation of their human rights> as well as xts efforts to destroy the national unity aud territorial

integrity of Namibia,

1. Condemns the continued illegal occupation of the Territory of Namibia by South A&ica; 2. Corukmnsthe illegal and arbitrary application by South A&ica of racially discriminatory and repressive laws and practices in Naxnibia; 3. Dnnnndsthat South A&ica make a solemn declaration tha,t it »ill comply with the resolutions and decisions of the United Nations and the Advisory Opinion of the International Couxt of Justice of 21 June 1971 in regard to Namibia and that it recogxuzes the territorial integrity and unity of Namibia as a nation, such declaration to be addressed to the Security Council of the United Nations; 4. Dsxnasds that South A&ica take the necessary steps to eRect the withdrawal, in accordance with resolutions 264 (1969) anti 269 (1969), of its illegal administration maintained in Namibia and to transfer po» er to the people of Namibia with the @distance of the United Nations; 5. Dnnaxxdsfurther that South A&ica, pendmg the transfer of powers provided for in the preceding paragraph: (u) Comply iuily in spirit and m practxce wxth the provxsions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights' isoner including (b) Release all Namibian p those imprisoned or detamed in connection with o8ences under so-called internal security laws, whether such Namibians have been c~ e d o r tried or are held without charge and whether held in Namibia or South A&ica;

olitical pr

(s) Abolish the application in Namibia of all racially discfxlIBQatory and polltlcaiiy regressive laws and practxcesppar ticularly bantustans and homelands; (d) Accord unconditionally to all Namibians currently in edle for political reasons full faciTities for return to their country without risk of arrest, detention, intimidation or impxxsonment; 6. Dssxdssto remain seized of the matter and to meet on or before 30 May 1975 for the purpose of revie»ing South Africa's compliance with the terms of this resolution and, in the event of non-compliance by South A&ica, for the purpose of considering the approprxate measures to be taken under the Charter. Apparently there was no debate on this resolution. It was a

10

fait I;compliprior to the farce of the unanimous afBrmative vote. Nevertheless, I would like to address a few questions to some of those who made inBammatory statements attacking South A&ica and in support of the resolution. I would like to ask Mr. Telesphore Yangubou of Upper Volta, who is listed as Chairman of the A&ican Group — I would Eke to ask this gentleman whose country has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world and where the majority of its inhabitants sufkr &om malnutrition and starvation: Have you ever lived in South West Africa, the Territory you insist on calling "Namibia" ?' And if so, for how long? The reason I ask such an impertinent question is because in your statement you give the impression that you have intimate, Srst hand knowledge about what goes on there. However, the allegations you make about South West A&ica do not seem to square with the facts as I saw them, nor with the information I received &om Blacks, Coloureds and, Whites while I was on a research expedition in the Territory in j'une 1975. And what about his excellency, Edwin Ogebu of the military dictatorship of Nigeria who is listed as Chairman of the Special Committee Against Apartheid. I would like to ask: Have you ever paid a visit to South West A&ica? Vihat makes you so concerned about aland you *have never seen and about which you know so little when milli ons of your own countrymen, not to mention those of your Black neighbours in Upper Volta, Niger, Chad and the rest of the Sahel are suKering from disease, incredible poverty, untold miseries and death by starvation? Why this pathological obsession about South A&ica and South AVest A&ica? Are you enraged, because the Blacks there are not su8ering the same fate? I would l ike to ask 'iMohamed Saleh Zaimi of th e " e nhghtened" Arab State of Morocco, Abdirizak Haji Hussein of the "peace-loving and stable" r~ e of S o m alia and Michel Njine of the "progressive democracy" of Gamaroon and others who made blatantly racist statements about Mme South A&icans: Where did you get your information? Did you obtain it &om such reliable sources as the garbled marxist sputterings of Peter Mushihanga of the South West A&ica People's Organiza-

tion (SWAPO)? And, did, you take the trouble to ask Mr.

Mushihanga, how many Blacks SWAPO actually represents in South West A&ica P Or did you obtam your facts &om Sam Nujoma who left South West A&ica many years ago and who has never been back P Do you know that he is considered to be a renegade and a &aud by many Blacks in South West — that is by those who even know he exists — and that he makes a lhmdsomeliving as a professional White South A&ica hater P The kindest words I heart about Nujoma came &om Clemens Kapuuo, the Herero Chid; who told me that "Nujoma has been in exile for more than Sfteen years... He's not in touch with the people, he's not experiencing the problems — the day-to-day problems which we have inside the country. He lives on the funds provided by the United Nations.. . H e has no right to say that he represents South West A&ica's Blacks." When Chuang Yen of the Communist Peoples Republic of China says that the "South A&ican racist regime had suddenly chantedthe peace tune... propaganda had been conducted by the racist regime under the impact of the rapidly developing revoludonmy situation in Southern A&ica to extricate itself from isolation and to preserve its illegal rule in Namibia by resorting to counter-revolutionary dual policies of repression and deception," I wonder where I heard, that type of double talk before. And then I would remember: it reminds me of the jargon of the Communist Pmtyy Line I used to listen to on the campus of the University of Michigan when I was a young student there many years ago. The words have changed but the tune is the And, so, I would have to ask: Please Comrade Chuang Yen, please tell me in plain English, what do you reaHy mean P And where did you get your "facts P" However, I feel compelled to make other kinds of comments when I read the following:

The South A&ican racistrhyme had acted so truculently because it had the aliment political support of imperialism. To strangle the national liberation movements and preserve its enormous economic and political interests in Southern A&ica, imperiahsm had tried by all means to sustain the fascist rule of the South A&lean authorities. As I read these words I feel compelled to say to Chuang Yen

12

that I resent your vicious remarks about a sovereign nation which is a charter member of the United Nations, which is still in good standing, and which has supported the U.N. morally and 6nanciaHy since its inception. I would add that I esptxiaHy deplore your outrageous and irresponsible use of denigrating epithets such as "fascist" and "racist" when referring to that country. But more than that, I Snd your sneering remarks about "imperialists," by which you were obviously aHuding primarHy to my much-maligned country — the United States of AmericaespeciaGy offensive. May I remind you that for several decades the citizens of the United States have poured biHions of doHars into backward, countries aH over the world, in an e6ort to keep them &om starving, to help them learn how to become selfmdBcient and to help them survive as national entities. And the thanks that the American taxpayer gets, more oAen than not, is a barrageof verbal abuse. The fact that these backward "countries" keep going further backward no matter how much money and technical help the United States and other "rich" countries provide, may very well be due to their collective stupidity, corruption and incompetence. Sy the way, I use the term, "backward" deliberately because of its rather than ridiculous euphe~ su c h as "developing" or "underdeveloped." If I wished to be completely accurate the proper descriptive term for many of them ~ouM have to be the "never-to-be-developed," countries. Before I leave this point, I must warn you that one of these days the generous citizens of the United States of America are going to wake up and say: Vfe will no longer give of our largesse — earned with the sweat of our brows — to help our unfortunate "brother" in other parts of the world. Said "brother," we have 6naHy realized, is &equently slothful, arrogant, illiterate and vicious. Furthermore, corruption is his way of life. Since he seems to delight in biting the generous hand that stufB his everexpanding mouth, why should we continue to feed him P

accuracy,

But let us listen to Comrade Richard Ovine*lov ofthat great bastion of &eedom, the USSR, who intoned: The just struggle of the Namibians for &eedom and independence was an integral component of the struggle of

the ASican peoples against the racist and colonialist regimes in southern A&ica and against coloniahsm and aggression as a whole. . . T h e s ituation was against the efforts of all the peace-loving countries which were aimed at deepening and Rrther expansion of the easing of international tensions.. . When I readsuch old, hackneyed phrases I feellike yaw ning. But if I suppress a yawn then I must ask: M uch peacecountries are you talking about? The Soviet Union which brought "peace" to Hungary, Poland and other countries it subjugated with massive military might? I et us not forget that the Russian colossus continues to stockpile military hardware, its warships are nosing around the Indian Ocean and it is providing large quantities of armaments to the Marxist MPLA in Angola as I write these hnes? Are you referringto the Arab states,many of whom are determined to destroy every man, woman and child in Israel and grab what the hard-working and industrious Israelis have built there'? Are you referring to the Irish, the Cypriots, the Pakistanis? Perhaps you have in mind countries like Chad, Uganda, Burundi, Zaire and the newly "liberated" Portuguese colonies in A&ica? Or couldyou be referring to India — perpetually ravaged by

long

misery, famine and disease? While over 100 million "Untouch-

ables" suHer the most inhuman type of racial discrimination, while additional untold millions exist under incredible conditions of poverty and 61th, "peace-loving" India pours billions of dollars into building a massive mihtary establishment complete with a large stockpile of nuclear weapons. India, it may be recalled, is the country which Srst led the attack against South A&ica at the United Nations in 1946 and which has continued its drumbeat a~ t S o u t h A&ica because

of its "racist policy of ap h i d . " And yet isn't this the &eedomloving country wheregorcible aPmfheidbetween its Moslem and Hindu populations resulted in a balkanized Pakistan in 1947? Under hhs. Indira Ghandi, the Indian Government ruthlessly imprisons or "detains" without trial hundreds of its citizens (and perhaps thousands if the facts could be known ) who

are members of opposition parties or who are otherwise disenchanted with the way things are. Among other things, its most recent "state of emergency" starting on 26 June 1975 it s followed by strict censorship of the press in July. And this is the country which advertises itself as "The world's Largest DemocrRcy. As indicated earlier the United Nations publishes a vast amount of material which attacks South Africa If the interested reader does not wish to hmit himself to this cornucopia I would advise looking into the writings of a true South A&ican liberal and an honest critic of the South A&ican Government. Here I refer to the late Leo Marquard (1897 — 1974) whose father served against the British in the second Anglo-Boer AVar. He, in turn, served with the British and her allies in both world Wars. This A&ikauer, with whom it was my privilege to spend an afternoon shortly before he died, was an honest, scholarly and compassionate man who did not hesitate to criticize his fellow-A&ikaners when he thought they deserved it. I can recommend highly 4vo of his books, The Story foSouth Afnca (London: Faber and

Faber, 1955) and 17u Peop/es mul Policies of South Africa (London:

Oxford University Press, 1969, 4th edition ). Another well-informed and objective writer on South A&ica is Prof. Edwin S. Munger of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. Munger has visited South A&ica many times during the past ovo decades, his last visit being in March 1974. At that time he attended a conference on "The A~ er T od a y " s ponsored by th e Centre for I n t e q r oup Studies and heM on the campus of the University of Cape Tow . He is also one of the few Americans who understands and reRds A&ikaaxLs. Books and articles by the following persons, among others, should also prove interesting: Heribert Adam, Edgar Brookes, Brian Bunting, Gwendolen Carter, C. W. de Kiewiet, Patrick Duncan, Ruth First, Peter Hain, Alex Hepple, Leo Kuper, Colin Legum, E. S. Sachs, Ronald Segal, Leonard Thompson and, last but not least,John Gunther. All of them are critical of the White South A&ican Government, ranging &om. such generally objective writers such as former South A&ican Senator Brookes and Professors Adam, Carter, de Kiewiet, Kuper Rnd

Thompson, to vitriolic and hateful writers such as Bunting, Duncan and HalxL Although Carter's early writings about South A&ica, which appeared in the 1950s, were Ml y objective even though she was strongly opposed to the South African Government, her subsequent publications have little to do with what is actually going on there and yet her credibility in the United States regarding South A&ica appears to be undiminished. Gunther's four chapters on the then "Union of South A&ica" in his weHknown book, Inside Agrku, despite being as out of date as Carter's early work and despite his anti-AVhite South A&ican bias, contains some solid facts and shows a remarkable degree of insight regarding the problems facing XVhite South A&icans twenty6ve years ago. But aside from the professional South A&ican hate-mongers or the more moderate liberals who attack South A&ica in the world press, it is unfortunate when Eoreiga A airs, a highly respected American quarterly with a world-wide readership, does not hesitate to open its pages to South A&ica baiters. During the past quarter of a, century it has published more than one article which could hardly be called, unbiased or even truth6d. The most distorted one in recent years was written by NeviHe Curtis and was caHed, South A&lca: The POHtlcs of Fragmentation,

+

(Foreign A +airs,January, 1972).

At the time the article was published Curtis was the President of the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS). In 1973 he was banned for alleged subversive activities. In 1974 he slipped out of the country by using the passport of an American friend and now he basks in Australia. I am con6dent that many Australians, starting with Gough Whitlam, the ex-Australian Prime Minister, will be only too happy to believe anything Curtis says about South A&ica just so long as it is anti-Vfhite and ann-government. I am going to use Curtis's article to illustrate what I consider to be a distorted presentation of the South African scene.It must be pointed out that many examples of this type of wriung can be found in other scholarly and scientific journa)s in America as weH as in the American and British press. On page 287 Curtis purports to iHustrate the great disparity

in income between Blacks and Whites. That there is such a gap is beyond question but he fails to mention that it ha s been narrounng, although not as fast as the alleged, narrowing of the gap between "Blacks" and "Whites" in the United States. He also fails to mention that many Black migratory workers also are provided with subsidized housing or with &ee room and board, free medical care and ~ , f re e transportation to and &om their respective Homelands or countries like Malawi, Mozambique and Lesotho. He also fails to mention that the reason that Black lmgratory workers come to Wtute South A&xca 18 becausethey can earn much more than they can at home or in any other Black A&ican country. Furthermore, Curtis makes no mention of serious efforts being made by the government and industry to assure higher wages and better working conditions for Blacks. Another example of his dishonest or sloppy writing is the following statement on page 290: An investigation by Jaycees in Cape Town in 1970 found an association of violence and social disord,er with 'poverty and prolonged, socio-economic frustration. These experiences do massive violence to one's identity and cripples one's capacity for relatively lull self-realisation. As usual he does not cite his "authority" except to mention that theJunior Chamber of Commerce carried out a "sociological" study. There is only one little thing wrong with the above statement: it is totally false — that is, it does not derive from the alleged research as claimed. Curtis is referring to a report v hich I have before me as I ~mite by Gerald L. Stone and others called, Fktims of Violence —3 of the Charaeteristies fo 2 000 Assault Victims, and the Cireumstauees and Consequencesof Assauits in Greater Cape Tmen, December 196'7-july IN 8 . It a p peared in 1969 in Cape Town and the publisher is listed as " Jaycees." In an elementary research coume I taught in 1974 at the University of Cape Town I used this report as a prime example of .

.

'

Sludg e

incredibly bad social science research. Although this was an exceptionally bad piece of work, this sort of nonsense is not unconunon in South A&ica where many so~ e d social scientists seem to be highly competent polemicists but are considerably lacking in either research skills or objectivity. The investigation

referred to by Curtis is typical of the thinly-veiled polemic masquerading as a "scienti6c inquiry." Prof. Munger mentioned above also indicates that the phenomenon under discussion is not an isolated one. He states: South Africa has produced relatively little overall political analysis. The author once chaired a session of a Natal University social science research conference where none of the hundred-odd South ~ c a n p a r ticipants classified himself as a political analyst. Both Afrikmm end AJri'euxx writm tend to drown in their oryx polemics, although neither group lacks intensely politically conscious individuals.s But to get back to Curtis's "authoritative q uotation regarding the evils of governmental policies and their relationship to crime and violence, the "research" to which he alludes was badly conceivedand badly executVhy do you keep buying more tickets P" Van der Merwe replied irritably, "It's that man at the doorhe keeps tearing my tickets. But if he does it just once more, sul ek hmn opdender!" — I'm gonna knock the heH out of him! 2. Van der Merwe is in Paris and, meets a girl. She doesn' t speak English and she certainly never heard of ~ aan s ; he cannot speak French. So he draws a bottle and two glames on the back of his cigarette box and she says, "Oui," and o8' they go to have a few drinks. Then Van der Merwe draws a plate with food on it and again she says, "Oui." After an expensive and delightful supper the girl picks up a pencil and draws a bed; room with a double bed, wardrobe, easy chair and wall-to wall carpeting. Van der Merwe is absolutely delighted. "This is

amazing — must be mental telepathy. Hoe kon sp gemut kt d'utek 'a mmbdkoperisP '- How else could she know that I'm a furniture salesman? S. ViMe Van der Merwe was in Moscow to see the sights he got a heart attack and by the time he was brought to a hospital he was dead.A young heart surgeon on the staH'decided to try to resuscitate him. He carried out all the heroic measures with the aid of the most up-to-date equipment in the intensive treatment unit of the hospital. Van der Merwe stayed dead. But the surgeon wouldn't give up and after a few hours van der Merwe began to show faint signs of life and by the next day although still unconscious he was ahve again. Two weeks later while convalescing the R ussian Prime Minister paid him a visit and congratulated him on being alive — a truly modern miracle. The P.M. said, "AVhen you get back to South A&ica I hope you will tell them that we' re not all a bunch of backward savages here. Of course," he continued, "we don't havesuch a man like your Br. Barnard but our young heart specialist who took care of you is uot so bad either." Then the Russian said that although Communists do not believe any of that nonsense about God "I am curious to know what it was like when you were dead. Well, for me this is a silly question but I' ll ask it anyway: Did you see anything that could

defi nitely

be called, God P" Van der Merwe replied slowly but seriously, "Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, I did. As a matter of fact I talked to God — it was a most experience which I will never forget as long as I hve." The Russian leader was visibly shaken and begged Van der Merwe not to breathe a word of this to anyone — certainly not to the newspapers or television reporters. In return he would see to it that Van der Merwe would have anything he wanted. To which Van der M~ve repHed thathe would likeno~ better than a well-stocked 5 000 morgen farm in The Orange Free State. The Russian told him that such a farm, the best that rubies could buy, would be waiting for him when he returned home. A week later Van der Merwe was discharged from the hospital and took a plane for Johannesburg via Rome where he had

trill ing

a six hour stopover. He was escorted o6' the plane by Italian security oKcas who took him to a waiting limousine. In the car there was a priest who introduced himself as the Pope's secretary and. added, that he had come to take him to the Vatican as the Pope wanted to meet him. Van der Merwe was delighted. "N'ait till I tell the folks back home in Bloemfontein," he said to himself. During the visit the Pope asked him if he saw God and what was he reaHy like. Van der Merwe looked the Pope straight in the eye and said regretfully that as a devout Christian he was shocked to Gnd out that there wasn't any God — there was nothing. The Pope became agitated and begged good old Koos not to say a word about it to anyone and then promised him anything he wanted. Once more Koos asked for a well-stocked 5 000 morgen farm in The Orange Free State. WVhen he got ofF the plane in j'o~ es b u r g half a dozen tall, rawboned South A&ican policemen in grey safari suits shield,ed him from a huge welco~ cro w d and hustled him into a waiting limousine where one of the occupants identified himself as hh. Vorster's secretary. He told Van der Merwe that the Prime Minister had hoped to welcome him back in person but only the pressure of urgent government business kept him away. Then they drove him to Bloemfontein. On the way there the secretary told Van der Merwe that after he had seen his hundreds of relatives and friends and had a chance to rest up — say a couple of weeks — he would be back to take him to Pretoria as Mr. Vorster would like to have a chat with him. "In the meantime, please, under no circumstances are you to talk to the press about what happened before you came back to life." After Van dcr Merwe got home and after the tremendous welcome by what seemed to be the entire city of Bloemfontein and after everybody 6nally left and he was in bed with his wife, she told him that the most amazing ~ happ e ned while he was away. The Provincial Administrator himself had come to the house and, presented her with the deeds to two fabulous farms of 15 000 morgen each. Koos smiled in the cork and hinted broadly that he had had something to do with getting those

farms. ~ w i f e said that was all well and good but did he forget that they have three sons and now they only have two farms ~ Don't worry he told her, in two weeks I am meeting with the Prime ~ ter a n d when he asks me if I saw God while I was dead I'm going to tell him, "jn, ek hef m hy seas stuart 1" —Yes, I have and he was Black l Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (1825-1904) is a revered prototype of a not-too-distant ancestor of the present day A&ikaner. Kruger, also known as Paul Kruger or Oom Puul — Uncle Paul — was the President of the Transvaal Republic at the time of the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 — 1902. This strong, intransigent, bitter man died in exile in Switzerland rather than submit to the rule of Queen Victoria and her agents a&er the Boers lost the war. One of the best insights into the character and beliefs of President ~ er i scontained in a book by Stuart Cloete who, with Alan Paton, is South A&ica's best known weiter. In one of his novels, Rugs o f Glory, which deals with the war, we find this

passage: This was Oom-Paul . . . The hu sband of two wives, father of sixteen children, grandfather of a hundred and twenty. His Bible was always with him. It was not a book to Him, not even a holy book. It was bis life's guide. Still the farmer, he rose at day-break. His 6rst action was to go to his study and read a chapter ofthe Bible. Then he had a cup of coKee. After that he sat on the stoep staring across Church Street at the little Dopper Church, where he preached every Sunday and waited for those who wished to see him. H e received all comers.. . Ugly, hideous, tmrible, liis looks were at once forgotten, so great was the strength of his personality. An old man utterly set in his ways, rooted in his religion, in his belief in the Old Testament God. In his land and his people. He epitomized the Boers' character, which may have accounted for his power as a leader. He had ail their virtues and all their faults. Brave, inured to hardship, a farmer, hunter, and citizen-soldier since boyhood, generous and hospitable, a good &iend and a dangerous eneiny.

He w as like his fellow~, obstinate and opinionated, bigoted and mule stubborn. Anything that was not in the Bible was untrue. Gira8es were camds, because there were no es mentioned in the Holy Writ. The world was Hat. The Garden of Eden a re p l ace. For the Boers there was no myth, no allegory. All was true — the Tower of Babd, the Flood, the Fiery Tablets, Jonah and the Whale. The Bible was their book of law, their m,tural history book. It was &om it they got their science and astronomy. It was upon it they based their lives — an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; increase and the belief that the black children of Ham condemned to hew wood and. draw water forever. Oom Paul saw the Boers as Israehtes, the Transvaal as Canaan, the English as Philistines, and Johannesburg as Sodom and Gomorrah roll& into one.'

multpily;

The English-rnediusn or English-speaking South A Jriean The British occupied The Cape &om 1795 to 1803 when they handed it back to the Dutch Batavian Republic. They re-occup ied it in 1806 ostensibly to keep the French &om ge~ it a n d this time they stayed for good.

In 1814The Cape was ceded by Holland to England and a few years later the most momentous impact of the British upon

The Cape Colony was the arrival of some 5 000 English immigrants in Port Elizabeth. These were the 1820 Settlers — people who were escaping &om poverty and the British economic depression of that time. Their passage was paid for by the British Gov~ ent b u t once they arrived in South A&ica and were settled on "farms" raw land — in the Eastern Cape, they were on their own. They fared badly and for many it seemed that they had exchanged one type of misery for another. The harshness of &ontier life, the failure of crops, the diseases aSicting both man and beast, led many of them to abandon the land and dry to the towns in search of a livelihood. Thus began a duality which continues to this day of the Dutch South A&ican (later, the A&ikaner ) being primarily rural or having strong ties to the land, and the British South A&ican

mostly

being primarily urban. Furthermore, it was the predominately Dutch settlers and their descendents who opened up the interior, who lost or severed their ties with Europe and who became the "true" White South Africans. %Pith the infusion of a remarkablv sturdy and p roup of about 200 French Huguenots in 1688 and subsequent intermarriage with the Dutch settlers, they formed the beginnings of the Afrikuner Volk. Also included were some Germans and those English and their descendents who "went over to the Dutch side." With the exception of those English men and women who became assimilated into the Afrikaner society, the English and their descendents remained British, maintaining many of the ties, aHegiencies and customs of the Enghshman. Those who could afford it, sent their children to study in England. Even to this day, some English-speaking South A&icans may, under certain conditions, hold both British and South A&ican passports. Some South A&icans believe that if things get really tough tnany of those with British passports would leave. Some may but I doubt that many would. Until a couple of decades ago, White EngHshouth A&icans controlled most of the manufacturing, commercial and banking institutions as well as the heavy construction industry. This is no longer true although many of the country's larger corporations are stiH under their control. Furthermore, since South Africa is the largest importer of British products on the A&ican Continent, the import-export business is largely in the hands of English South Africans. The inBuence of the Enghsh-speaking South African, especiaHy in The Cape and Natal — "the last bastion of British imperialism in A&ica" as some wags hke to call it — is ~ takable and indelible both for good and bad but, on balance, mostly for good. Of course, one can stiH run into English South ~c a n s who have the kind of arrogance best described as the "colonial mentality" and whose underly~ c o n t empt for aH things non-British is not far &om the surface. But I suspect that this is a dying breed. On the positive side, among other things, the British bequeathed to South Africa a parliamentary system as weH as the English traditions of a free press and of fair play. However, as I

roli ficg

sprig S

read the almost daily snide and not-so-snide attacks on the A&ikaner and his politics or his traditions and religion in the English press, especially in Th e Cge 7imes,I wonder what ever happened to that cherished and zealously-guarded tradition of fair play.' English South A&icans still have their cricket matches and their rugby- currency played by aH ethnic and racial groups although not as racially mixed. teams — and their bowls. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, one can see middle-aged and eklerly men and, women dressed completely in white playing bowls on wellmanicured lawns. There are many private schools for boys and girls patterned its distinctive school uniafter those in England, each form which must be worn by all pupils. There are no such schools for A&ikaner children although some of the more liberal A&ikauers send their children to th e English schools even though it is against government policy. One curious phenomenon which never fails to intrigue me is the fact that a signi6cant minority of English South A&icans as well as some A&ikaners, seem to speak English with a pronunciation that is more British than that of any cultured Londoner. One s~ e xamp l e of this is Sir Richard Luyt, the handsome, liberal M n cipal of the University of Cape Town. He speaks a

leaving

flawless and, to my ears, very British English. I have not quite 6gured out what this ultra-British speech means. On the surface, at least, it suggests a type of snobbery coupled, with a rejection of the A&ikaner's "uncouth" ances~. On the other hand, as indicated earlier, trying to understand what makes the A&lkRxler and other members of the South A&ican Vfhite tribes behave the way they do is no easy task so Qmt I may be completely off the track.

Jews were among the earliest immigrants to South A&ica. Their history goes back to the latter part of the Seventeenth Century. However, it wasn't until about two hundred years later that they became a significant and easily identi6able minority. Most of the Jews I have met in Cape Town have grandparents who

immigrated &om Lithuania which, with Latvia and Estonia, was swallowed up by the Soviet Union. Many others have British or European antecedants as weH as ancestors &om North AfThere is also a small but interesting colony of SephardicJews from the former Italian island of Rhodes living in South A&ica and Rhodesia. When Mussolini propounded his "Httle Nuremburg laws" in 1938, these Italian Jews went to the Congo. Thirty years later they had to flee again and many found a refuge in South A&ica. Although they were robbed of aH their pow sessions by the "liberated" Black countries now known as Zaire and the so~Hed independent Democratic Republic of the Congo, they feel lucky to have gotten out alive. I hke to advise young liberal or leftist South A&ican Jews who spout slogans such as "Black majority rule now" or "One man, one vote" to talk to these tired. old Jews and ask their opinion. Perhaps the most famous South A&icanJew was Barnett Barnato (1852-1897), onynaHy named Barney Isaacs, who imam horn in London but made his mark in South A&ica. He arrived in Kimberley in 1873 and by shrewd buying and selling and by many gambles which paid off, managed to control or have a substantial interest in various diamond mines. By the time he was thirty he had amassed a fortune. He was a contemporary and erstwhile partner of another Enghsh-born South A&ican, the legendary Cecil Rhodes (1853-1902). In 1975 there were about 125 000 Jews in South A&ica and they constituted a distinct minority within a minority — a de6nite tribal group within the larger %Rite South A&ican Tribe. Virtually aH of them ~ish to be identi6ed asJews, some with a passion that borders on the fanatic. For example, some of my students at the Univemty of Cape Town insisted on wearing yarmulkes in the classroom; they also wear these skuHcaps when they get capped at university graduation exercises.' In addition, many South A&ican Jevs, both young and old, seem to shuttle back and forthbetween South Africa and Israel and a large number have also visited the United States at least once. AH tins costs money UnhkeJews m the Umted States a substantial minority of whom are poverty-stricken especiaHy in old age, there do not appear to be any poorJem in South A&ica.

40

On the other hand there are few, if any, who are comparable to some of America's extremely wealthy Jews. Their "home ~ ge" i sEnghsh but JCI~ish school children like all other White chIidren are required to learn ~ ans. However, aker they graduate &om high school, with rare exceptions, they soon forget their ~ aan s . Some simply rekse to use it as an indication of their liberal protest against the policies of the "oppressive Afrikaner government." Nevertheless, there is a muted but quite real mutual admiration between A&ikaner and Jew, especially among the older generations, even though they may disagree politically. But here again, there are marked IMerences. Many older JCNv I have met, who were born and reared on farms or in rural areas, are di8erent &om those reared in the cities. For one thing they seem to have a much better sense of humour and, most of them understand Yiddish. Furthermore, they have many A&ik aner &lends, speak Suent A&ikaans and for some ~ ans i s literally their "home language." On the other hand, most A&ikaners seem to be genuinely sympathetic to Jews. Some seem to feel that the battle for survival of the state of Israel is comparable to their own struggle for survival and n a t ionhood." Although I have heard some Jn~x, especially young Jewish radicah, and, many English-speaking South Africans of all ages make derogatory remarks about A&ikaners, I have necer heard an Afrikaner utter a singk anti-Semiticremark. I should add that as a long-time liberal who fought anti-Semitism most of my life in the United States, my ears are still well-tuned to pick up antiSemitic nuances whether spoken or implied.

However, anti-Semitism and strenuous cohorts to rcstnct Jewish immigration, particularly in the late 1930s were not unknown. Anti-Jewish virulence was drummed up by men like LQUls T. WCIchardt who wo1'c thc 5 azI swastIka RI1dwho form

ed the short-lived South A&ican National Party (not to be confused with the National Party of its day). One of his typical statelncnts follows: The raisan d' etreof the South A&ican National Party lies in the conditions which at present prevail in South A&ica. Though outs is one of the richest territories in

aping

the world, our people are becoming more and more impoverished and the wealth of the country is rapidly becoming more and more monopohzed by bands of alien parasites and exploiters. These ahens have complete domination over South A&ica, both politically and economically. South A&ican politicians are notoriusly corrupt and venal. Our pseudo-democratic system of parliamentary government and party politics is simply a tool in the hands of theJewish money-power, whereby the latter succeeds in achieving its own ends in t ightening its death-grip on the people. . . It all amounts to this. The South ~ c a n people are no longer masters in their own house. The whole country is now being run by aliens for the bene6t of aliens. Furthermore, these aliens... are de6nitely out to subvert the South A&icmx Nation and State, and* to destroy our national Christian Aryan-European civ ihsation thxough the introduction of a regime of denationalizexl, godless Communism (an essentiallyJewish conception) of which they themselves will be the directors and bene6ciaries and the South A&ican people the helpless victims and slaves. (From the "Foreword" to the Constitution of the South A&ican National

Party, July, 1937). Anti-Semitism reached its peak just prior to and during the early part of World War Two. At that time Jews were assaulted by some A&ikanexs who expressed Nazi sentiments. A more careful scrutiny reveals that some were not so much anti-Semitic (which they were in varying degrees) as they were violently anti-British and blindly tended to support anything or anyone that was against the British It was a case of the "enemy of xny enemy is my &iend." Others were simply isolationists or thinlyveiled hoodlums and bullies who beat up A&ikaans and English ahke ifthey caught them wearing the orange ribbon of the volunteer in the lapel of their civilian clothes. Some volunteers in uniform were also jeered or even assaulted. Aside &om the buHies and those with clear Nazi sentiments, Worrall states that: Many A&ikaners believed that a German victory, which many of them r ~ d e d a s i m minent in the early 1940s,

spiders

would bring about the repubHc Or. Malan and his followers wanted. This republic was to be a purely Afrikaner one which would include EngHsh-speaking South Africans in a subordinate status buttwuld eutude jnes... Va r ious constitutional and political programs circulated among Afrikaners during 1941 and 1942; they favoured a Christian national republic, the denial of citi~ hip to /mrs,and, the aboHtion of the British parliamentary system.m But in time, with a new perspectiveafter the defeat of Nazism for which many A&ikaner and other Mute South A&ican soldiers lost their lives, and with the establishment of the State of Israel, A&ikaners began to rid themselves of their more blatant anti-Semitism. By the time I arrived in South A&ica in 1972 there did not seem to be any evidence of it although I would not be surprised if a smaH amount of anti-Semitism still exists in some rural areas. Prof. Edwin Munger of the California Institute of TechnoloiieIcI lteports: gy, mentioned earlier, points out in his 19$2-1961 that anti-Semitism among English-speaking Whites has always been more subtle. I would be inchned to add that it has been and still is, more degrading. Bearing on thisview is a comment I heard &om a retired German-Jewish businessm an

Africa I

when I Grst arrived in Cape Town: "Scratch an craner and

you Sad one anti-Simit; scratch an Englishman and you 6ad two anti-Simits!" During the last century and the early part of this century many South A&i~ J ews lived in rural areas. Except for the few rabbis and lawyers there were virtually noJews belonging to the professions. Some were farmers, others were itinerant peddlers known as Smouse, while the rest were small shopkeepers and tradesmen. For many A&ikaner farmers the Spousewas welcome on many counts: (o) he helped break the monotony of the lonely homestead, (b) since he was usuaHy a simple, hardworking creature like them, they tend,ed to id,entify with him, (c) he usually provided their only contact with the outside world and (d) he supplied them with virtuaHy aH the things they needed which could notbe grown or made on the farm.n

In recent decades, as in the case of the craner, many mi-

grated to the cities and newJewish immigrants also settled mostly in urban areas. The great majority live in large citiessuch as Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town where they are usuaHy members of orthodox synagogues. As could be expected, a significant number are genuinely liberal, albeit misguided when it comes to the racial question. They are also guilt-laden and have a propensity to indulge in wishful thuCking. Such iiberah are to be distinguished &om the kind of White "libeIal" one finds among many Engbsh-sp~ pers ons as wdl as among some vote for the Jews who, as the saying goes, "talk United Party and pray that National Party candidates will win." Today a disproportionate number of South A&icanJews are productively engaged in the sciences, business and the professions with the exceptions of social work, nursing and teaching. The relatively few who teach are employed by Je~~mh day schools and by the EngEsh-medium universities. Their conspicuous absence &om teaching and social work is in marked contrast to the United States where they play important and &equently stratey'c roles both quantitatively and qualitatively in those professions. For example, in the United States at least twenty-Sve of the deans of the eighty post-graduate schools of social work are Jews and in many social work faculties, Jews constitute a substantial minority or a majority. By contrast, in the sixteen South A&i' u n i versitites, all of which have schools or departments of social work, not a single Jew can be found in a senior teaching post, let alone as a dean or a department head. In 1974 there were only threeJewish faculty members and they were eitherJunior Lecturers or Lecturers and all were females. There was also an occasional teaching assistant — also female. As a group Jews tend to maintain a low political profile when compared to the United States with a few notable exceptions. The most notable of these exceptions is Mrs. Helen Suzman, the Progressive M.P. &om After the 1960 election and, until the 1974 general election, she was theonly Progressive Party member of Parliament. The other is Harry Schwartz, the leader of the United Party in the Transvaal who very early in

Prog ressive,

Hough ton.

1974 was being dubbed a "Young Turk" by the press. In April of that year he was elected to Parliament and early in 1975he

broke away &om his party and with three other United Party M.P.'s spearheaded the formation of the Reform Party. Besides their religious practices, the Jews have other tribal ritua1s in South A&ica. An interesting one took place in July 1975 when I attended a lecture where the speaker was Elie Wiesel, the Jewish writer and teacher who lives in New York. We were told that he is the author of thirteen books and a play caHed, "Zabnan" which has been produced on nation-wide American television. He was also billed as the outstanding interpreter of the Holacaust and as one of two or three best post-war writers — an enconium which, incidentally, is highly debateable. Weixmann Hall i n th e Cape Town suburb of Sea Point, where the lecture was scheduled, was packed. As I had not booked a ticket in advance I went there early but was told that they were completely sold out and that there was no possibility of getting a ticket as many others had preceded me, hoping for a cancellation. The meeting started late and I waited for about an hour until all ticket holders were seated. Finally about twenty-Sve people, myself included, were grudgingly permitted to buy tickets and stand, in. the rear of the large auditorium for almost two hours while this great man droned. on. He recounted some of the suRering of theJews through the ages, he told li&e stories and anecdotes some of which had punch lines which were rendered in Hebrew, not in Yiddish. And he kept dropping names: Levi Eshkohl, Golda Meir and others — but especially 'its. M eir, the former Prime Mnister of Israel, to whom he kept referring as "Golda," the niceJewish mama with whom, he let it be known, he had been quite chummy. At one point he declaimed a~ t s e ntimentality — he said he "despised" it — and then continued with his long sentimental litany. He q about the "brave 6ghters" of the Stmn Gang and the ~ —o f course, these had not been "terrorists." He laced his remarks with comments about Jewish forgiveness and JewM compassion and Jewish dedication to justice. But he also kept reminding his audience, in more ways than one, that the

Jewish

Jewish

uake

Jew who forgets the suH'ering of his ancestors, who does not suffer at least vicariously and who forgets the plight of theJewish people — the "Jewish Nation" — is not a realJew. He wallow-

ed in the most s'entimental "schmalz" I have heard in many years and his audience of intelligent, weH-fed, weH-groomed and, on the whole, very decent people, lapped it up. When he Snished the audience gave him a standing ovation (but then, almost any outsider gets a standing ovation in South A&ica) and suddenly, as if on cue, most of the audience broke into song. And what did they sing — these privileged, well-to-do citizens of South A&ica P "Hatikvah" — the Israeli national anthem!" On the way out I kidded some of my &iends and said I was surprised — I thought that if they were going to smg anything it would be Die SAm van Said-Afnka. They were shocked. One of them, who is a close&iend, lashed out at me, "What the hell are you talking about? I don't think that's funny." As indicated earlier, most South A&ican Jews do not seem to have a sense of humour — that marvelous and almost universalJewish tribal trait which I would like to see developed in South A&ica. Although South A&ican Jews have a strong sense ofJewish identity and although they appear to be much more clannish than American Jews, they are far &om being a monolithic bloc. For example, Cape Town and its suburbs has only one Reformed Synagogue but it also has seven Orthodox Synagogues. I have beentold by well-informedJews that until a fewyears ago orthodox rabbis would have nothing to do with reformed rabbis and even today, some orthodoxJews shun reformed ones. Although

segregation and social stratification at many levels seem to be w oven into the fabric of the South A&ican way of life, it is more than a bit disconcerting for an American when they turn up in such unexpected, places. In Cape Town and Johannesburg Jews are the mainstays of the arts. More than any other "tribal" group they run art galleries and they buy p and sculptures. Despite their relatively small numbers, they are among the greatest patrons of the theatre and of the private 61m s ocieties. Not ~u entl y audiences at concerts for both classical and modern music are

artings

largely Jewish. One more point needs to be made. The overall per capita contribution to Israel and to Zionist causes by South African Jews is greater than that of AmericanJews. Some say that they

consider such donations to be "insurance" for an honoured place in Israel in the event that "things blas up here and I have to emigrate to Israel." 1. Daniel Francois du Toit ("Oom Lokomotief"), Daniel Frauuis du Toit ("Doktor"), S. G. D. du Toit, Stefanus Jacobus du Toit, August Ahrbeck, Caspar Pieter Hoogenhout, GideonJ. Malherbe and P. J. Malherbe. 2. The Rnr. M. L. de ViHiers wrote the music in 1919. By 19$6, Dxs Stsxn was accepted by many as the national anthem. However, it wasn't until 1957 that the South A&ican Government fmaHy accepted it as such. But as late as 1965, xnany EngHsh-~ g So u th A&icans still persisted in singing "God Save the Queen." 3. It may be of ~ inte r est to note that in the U.S.A., "Red-neck" is a disparaging tenn that refers to a White rural working~ pe r son in the South wbo is considered to be bigoted and narrow-minded. As a child I recaH that it also referred to Irish ~ ant l a bourers (they sun-bum(xi easilyand got red necks) with special reference to those who worked on the railroads. 4. The arm around SteHenboschand nearby Paarl remind me of California's Napa Valley, located about 6&y miles northeast of San Francisco, which boasts of some of the Snest vineyards in the world. 5. This does not mean xbat they are reaHy Licking in huxnor but, when aH factors are considered, I believe that the A&ikaner's earthy and scatalogical humor deriving froxn his rural culture, is more prevalent and funniex' than the "cerebral" English South A&ican's humor. 6. While traveHing by freighter &om Los Angeles to Cape Town in 1972 I met a dehghtful 74-yearold A&ikaner widow who was traveHing around the world. Almost daily she regaled me with stories about South A&ica and she also told me a number of Van der Merwe jokes. At the end of each one she would translate the punch line for me. I did not think any of them very funny but I do now. At one point I asked this lady if there were any people in South Africa whose naxnes were actuaHy Van der Merwe and she roared with laughter. When she caught her breath she said, certainly — Van der Merwe was a very proper Afrikaner name. I have since learned that not only is it a "proper" ~ er na m e, it is alxnost as common in South A&ica as Smith andJones are in the U.S.A. 7. If this sounds incredible or anti-deluvian I would like to mendon that as late as 1956 whHe I was a Professor at the University of Oklahoxna, I heard similar vima esxpressed by Mute, Bible-toting Oldahoxna Christians. Furthermore, one afternoon after I had been teaching there for several months my young son caxne home &om school quite upset. When I asked what was troubling him he said he found out that Negroes wxne not allowed to remain in Norman (the town where the university is located) after sundown and "that's not fair!" Oklahoma, I must point out, was not even a Southern state.

8. If anyone is interested I have a Sle full of chppings &omThe CageTiszsa paper which I read religiouslyeve morning — tosupport this contention. 9. Cape Town University students are known mMectively as "lkeys"; their arch-rivals at Stellenbosch University are known as"Maties." l0. Deuis Worrall, "~ er Na t ionalism: A Contemporary Analysis," in Christian P. Potholm and Richard Dale, eds., Esses iaRegiona/Poh'ties„ N.Y.: Free Press, l972, pp. 27, 28. (Italics added). I l. Gustav Saron and Louis Hots, eds, %is jesus iaSouthAPicu — 3 Hi Cape Town and London: Oxford University Pnus, l955, passim. See also ~n Feldberg (Ed.), $0sshAJikan jmry, JohMmesburg t Pieldhiii Publishing Co., 2nd Ed., l968. l2. The sentiments expressed and the psychological crate were remarkably similar to those at a tribal gathering of A&ikaners on the sixteenth of December when they celebrate the "Day of the Covenant" formerly known as "Dingaan's Day" or "Blood River Day."

story,

ORGA'.GZATIONS WOR K D IG LX THE FIELD OF RACE RELATIONS Blacks are saying that racism and oppression are constituent parfs of all white society and not only of the government and its supporters. fAife etumoinism, white Paferndisrn, rojnfe densions andmhite control are the paffern repeated by ruhife liberalsin the organizations and functions they are concerned w ith. . . In this publication we have tried to describe the repressive nature oj' fhe foliite liberal institutionsas they appear to a "new white," as well as how these institutions are seen by a black.~ There arefour major organizations concerned with one or more aspects of race relations: The South A&ican Institue of Race Relations (S.I.R.R.) founded in 1929, The South American Bureau of Racial AfFairs (SABRA) founded in 1947, TheChristian Institute (C.I.) founded in 1963 and the National Union of South A&ican Students (NUSAS) founded in 1924. Each of these major organizations will be discussed below. However, afew words are in order regarding several other groups involved in the 6eld of race relations and civil liberties. They are the Abe Bailey Institue of Inter-Racial Studies, The Black Sash, The Civil Rights League and The South African Council of Churches. The Abe Bailey Institute recently changed its name to the Centre for Intergroup Studies. Its Seventh Annual Report which appeared in 1974 states that "The primary purpose of the Centre is to promote and conduct research into intergroup relations in South A&ica, especially into relations between race and language groups." Located on the campus of the University of Cape Town, it is Snanced largely by the Abe Bailey Trust although some Gnancial help is forthcoming &om the United States &om time to time. The Black Sash literature states that it "is a body of women

which acts today and every day for what it believes to be right and just." The organization was started in 1955 as a protest against the removal of the Coloured people in The Cape from the Common Roll. The Black Sash is composed primarily of dedicated White rniddle-class, generally liberal women, whose interests and activities have grown during the past twenty years. In recent years their major emphasis seems to be on the welfare of Black ASricans and the problems which arise in connection with migratory workers. At present it concerns itself with the pass laws and infiux control, the farm labour scheme, the Group Areas Act, "indefinite detention without trial, all punishment without trial such as b~ s, ba n i shments, house-arrests, refusals of passports, deportations [and] any law that diminishes the rights and &eedoms of the individual." (See Cherry )4ichelman, ?he BlackSask of South Africa, London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1975. Although this is a carelessly written book, it has the essential facts about the Black Sash). Although open to men and women of all races the Civil Rights League is also primarily a Mute organization. It lists itself as a "non-party political organization whose aim is to protect existing civil rights; extend such rights to all people, irrespectiveof race, colour or creed [and] inform the public what these rights me." The South African Council of C h urches includes many Christian Churches but it does not include the %Aute Dutch Reformed Churches. Virtually all of the leaders of the abovementioned are members of churches belonging to the Council. The Council is dedicated to racial equality and racial integration but it is not primarily an activist organization. All of the eight organizations listed above consider themselves to be agents of social change. All claim to be dedicated to the elimination of racial injustice in South A&ica. With the exception of the South A&ican Bureau of Racial ARairs, all of them want radical changes in the government and the removal of all racial barriers. In most cases their members expect or even demand "Black Majority Rule" — the sooner, the better. At least that is what they proclaim. With the exception of the Black Africans who are members of some of these organizations I very much doubt that this is what the White members really want.

ovations

50

The reason for this is because if the Black majority actually obtained power, aH the minorities would su8er and perhaps the Coloureds and the Asians even, more than the Whites.' I7ie South A frican Instt'tute foEau Relations

This orat

ion i s knownworld-wide for its long and continuous promotion of inter-racial dialogue, for its generally objective publications and for the many distinguished V%ite South A&icans who have been or are currently members or once bearers. For many years it has received most of its 6nancial support &om outside of South A&ica including substantial sums &om the Ford Foundation of the United States of AmeriAmong other things it publishes a monthly tabloid-sized paper caHed Haec Relations Epws. It also publishes a book every year full of facts and figures called 8 sumegfoItaee Relations in South Africa. The 1974 edition runs to more than 400 pages. The national director of the orat ion i s Fred van Wyk, a liberal, &iendly, out-going ~ ner w h o impresses me as being totally committed to the cause of racial equality. Tlie Christian Institute This is an activist organization under the capable leadership of the Rev. C. F. Beyers Naut. It has interlocking and overlapping boards and memberships with the South A&ican Institute of Race Relations and other anti-apartheid groups. Naudd, who is sixty years old and who could, passfor forty-6ve, is also an A&ikaner. He is a former moderator of the 3rederduits Gere fornieerde ICerkin the Transvaal, a former staunch Nationalist and. a former member of the A&ikaner Broederbond. Dr. Naudd and other members of the Institute were brought to trial during 1973 for refusal to testi&j before The Schlebusch Commission of Parhament. He was aquitted in 1974. The case of Rev. Theo Kotze, the Cape Regional Director of the Institute and others are still pending. Many White South A&ican liberals and some segnents of the Enghsh press compared this comniission to the unlamented McCarthy Senate Committee in, the United States which rode rough shod over an incredible number of innocent Americans

accused of being "Communists" and "subversives" during the 1950s. As an American who lived through that &ightening and incredible period and who fought against McCarthyism and what it stood for, I 6nd such comments completely unfau and irresponsible.

In talking to Naut, in listening to him make speeches and in reading what he publishes, I get the impression of another truly d edicated and honest man of God turned politician. At t h e Annual Meeting of the Institute on 5 September 1975 in Cape Town I told him that sooner or later he may still go to jail because the things he does and says could lead to violent radical change in South A&ica. Although he is opposed to violence he told me that he is well aware of the fact that he may go to prison but that he had to do what he believed was right. Whether or not one agrees with such a man one cannot help but admire him because he has the courage of his convictions and the guts to put them on the line and take the consequences. This is a far cry &om the usual White South A&ican liberal so contemptuously portrayed in the INTRODU CT ION by Steve Siko, the former President of the South A&ican Students Or-

ganization (SASO). The Constitution of the Christian Institute states in part: The aim of the Institute shall be to serve the Church of Christ in every p w ay. . . In order to realise its aims the Christian Institue may:

otable

(u) by means of study circles and discussion groups give Christians a deeper insight into the will of Christ and into the nature of Christian brotherhood; (b) by means of courses and conferences strengthen the witness of the Church of Christ in the world; (Vorrail, Professor of Political Science at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. Since 1974 he has been a National Party Senator. Worrall, who has a Ph.D. in political science &om Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, is part of the Nationalist Party brain trust and the former editor of Ewe Xution.Not only is he a conservative but he is also a most enlightened and open-minded one. In addition, four of the commissions had hvo or more consultants for a total of seventeen who were chosen on the "basis of their intellectual and practical ability and their acceptance of the need for change in South Africa in the direction of reconciliation and love." Two of the consultants, both of whom served on the Political Commimon, were J. P. du P. Basson and Dr. Q. F. Jacobs. Both are leading members of the United Party and both hold seats in the House of As ~ b e e xpected &om such an endeavor, the books and other documents published by SPRO-CAS range from excellent — manifesting good scholarship and objectivity — to naive, mediocre and biased. As so often happens in South A&ica, a group of people may start out with good intentions. They may even make sincere eHorts to dig for hard facts on which they can base sound decisions, but then their ideology gets in the way. More oAen than not they end up with incomplete data or with "facts" which on closer scrutiny turn out to be spurious or useless. They offer "scientific proof" which derives &om such questionable material, or they exaggerate their findings to have them coincide with their own biases, or they deliberately distort facts to suit themselves. I us@i to think that such distortions, exaggerations and occasionally, deliberate falsehoods, were exercises in f utility. During my first two years in South A&ica I also believed that the perpetrators of such intellectual outrages would simply lose their credibility. I am a&aid that I was wrong. Actually the writings of these supposedly well-meaning but bemused liberals are

Assem bly.

quoted as gospel truth all over the world and do much to fan the Sres of hatred against South A&ica. They also provide ammunition for Black miEtants and other malcontents within South A&ica and spur them on to dreams of violence and of the overthrow of the South A&ican Government. However, if one looks at the SPRO-CAS publications as a whole, and bearing in mind the anti-government bias of virtually all of its contributors, I believe that they have added a considerable body of knowledge about socio-economic conditions in South A&ica. Furthermore, they have done it in a relatively more dispassionate way than is usually the case among White South A&ican liberals. In 1975, based on a report of the Le Grange Commission (same as the Schlebusch Commission but under a new chairman), the Christian Institute was found to be an "aRected organization." What this means is that if this 6nding is upheld, The Christian Institute will no longer be able to receive or use lunds from abroad.4 This Parliamentary Commission also investigated the National Union of South A&ican Students, the South A&ican Institute of Race Relations and the now defunct University Christian Movement. The Schlebusch-La Grange Commission's report alleged that some activities of the Christian Institute constituted a danger to the State. The report was signed by ten members of Parliament — seven Nationalists and three members of the United Partyand it was tabled in the House of Assembly on 28 May 1975. the report stated that: 1. The Christian Institute operates mainly, if not exclusively, in the political, economic and social spheres, and receives most of its funds &om abroad. 2. Its objectives include the replacement of the present order by a "Black-dominated Socialist system" through revolution and related, activities. 3. It promotes the aims of the World Council of Churches which supports violent action against South Africa in the form of assistance to terrorists. Both the Director of the Institute C. F. Beyers Naudd and Fred van Wyk, the Chairman of its Board of Trustees (as well as being Director of th e South A f rican Institute of R a ce

Spec ifically,

Relations ), promptly rejected all the charges. In addition, all hberal organizations, most of the English language press, some of the Alriltaans press and many religious bodies came to the defense of the C.I. I'or example, The Catholic Bishops' Conference issued a statement which pointed out that nearly all churches in South Africa stood for radical change &om apartheid or separate dw velopment as did the Institute.s It added: radical change is what the rest of A&ica and most of the world consider basic to d etente. VAthout it no detente is possible — only violence... [ the report] uses the Marxist smear to discra6t this radical change." Furthermore, His Eminence Owen Cardinal Mc cann, Archbishop of Cape To~w, in a letter he directed to be read in aH Catholic churches, urged all Cathohcs to provide fmancial support for The Christian Institute. Another typical reaction follows: The Snal report of the l.e Grange Commission on the Christian Institute. .. abounds with non-sequiturs and the methods employed are characteristic of a commission that all has set out with the implacable intention of opposition to the government . . . T h e fact that executive action can be thus employed to erode still further cited hberties, and that the process of law can be replaced by a non-judicial commission in the best McCarthy tradition shows just how far this government has gone in abrogating the rule of law e In the interests of the freedom of expression, this is all weH and good.But as one ofthefew people who has actuaHy read the report and who has ~t hand knowledge of the programme and activities of the Christian Institute, I am surprised at the turor since the essence of what the report says happens to be true. Al«u g h one may admire the leaders of the C.I. such as the Rev. Theo Kotae (in charge of the Cape Town regional once) and Rev. Naudd for the courage of their convictions, which include overthrow of the present gov~ ent i t h a rdly seems to call for a coHective temper tantrum and direct or obhque denials by much of the press and by several top-level clergymen such as Cardinal zlfcCmm and the Rev. Bill Burnett,

crying

the A nglicanArchbishop of Cape Town. Bishop Burnett, whom

I happen to know personally, is a man whom I both respect and admire but I believe he is blinded by his own ideahsm.

The South African Bureauof Raid A+airs The South A&ican Bureau of Racial Aaairs (SABRA) was founded in 1947 in Stellenbosch, the university town in the Cape Peninsula. Among other things it arranges meetings with 4'hite high schools students at which government oScials, most of whom are Afrikaners, or Afrikaner academics, give lectures on various aspects of race relations, almost invariably re8ecting governmental policy of separate or "paralleV' development. SABRA publishes a monthly magazine, written mostly in

A&ikaans, called Tydskrif oir chasse-Aangeleenthede —gournul of Racial A/airs. Although the Institute of Race Relations is dominated by English-speaking persons, it has a broad spectrum of members. Its speakers include persons of all races as well as A&ikaners. The Bureau of Racial AHairs, on the other hand, not only is dominated by A&ikaners, its speakers are almost exclusively A&ikaners. In 1974; Prof. C. W. H. Boshoff, the Chairman of SABRA, went on a seven-week tour of the United States. That experience convinced him that it reas irnPossiblefor PeoPletoith such dioergent origins and cultures as %kite and Black South A fricans to be pressedtogether irdo one integrated socio/. Domination of one people by another could not be a basis for peace — not whenlh,'bites dominated Black A&icans technicaHy, economically and politicallyand also not when Blacks dominated the Mdtes with a majority government. Economic interdependence which would always exist behveen Blacks ~d 4'whites was something quite dia'erent from economic integration. He summarized his position by stating, "In my view the choice before South A&ica is decidedly not be@veen integration and division but besveen division or elimination of the WVhites." (?7ie CaPeVirnes, 27 June 1974, p. 2). JYationul Union foSouth African Students As of 1975 The Preamble of the Constitution of the National Union of South A&ican Students (NUSAS) read as follows:

We Students at universities, colleges and other institutions of higher learning in South A&ica, AcuPling that the national union has the dual obligation of serving students and serving society Believing that students as a group in society have duties and obligations to their fellow students, the academic community and society as a whole; that these are inter alia To pursue truth through study and the acquisition of

knowledge To disseminate this knowledge in society and To employ and act on such knowledge Belieoing that academic &eedom is essential to the full unfettered pursuit of truth — that academic freedom can be a freedom, only among other societal freedoms, and hke them, is based upon a recognition by the society, of the equal and unalienable rights of all inen, to justice, freedom and opportunity Accordingly

Adopt for our guidance the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Believethat we are hindered in the ~e nt of o u r d uties and obligations as students because academic and other human &eedoms are not properly recognized in South A&iCommit ourselves to work towards the realisation of academic and human &eedoms, and the discharge of our duties and obligations as students to the greater good of the students and all the peoples of South A&ica. Founded in 1924 by I.eo Marquard, this organization has undergone many changes since then. In 1933, the Afrikaans universities withdrew and later formed their own student organization. From 1933 to 1939 ÃUSAS was an aH-%'hite all-English organization devoted to matters of "students as such," with no real expressed interest in society as a whole although it carried out a number of welfare projects for the bene6t of non-Whites. In 1939 it took a pro-British stand regarding World War Two. This w'as its Srst significant move into political action. In 1945, a Black African college, now the University of Fort

60

Hare at Alice, was admitted. The NUSAS constitution was modised and broadened to include objectives such as the defence ofdemocracy and "to encourage the promotion of educational and economic opportunity for all in South A&ica with special attention to the under-privileged." But it wasn't until 1958-59 when it took strong action to protest against the Extension of University of Education Bill, that its present political and anti-government position was clearly establishal. This bill was passed, in 1959 and provided for separate universities to be developed or established for non-@'hites: one for Colour~ one for Asians and three for Black A&icans. Meanwhile, NUSAS had been responsible for a massive mobilisation of overseas protest. Support was received &om Europe, Scandinavia, Britain, America, Latin America, Asia and A&ica. Massive petitions were circulated among students and staH' members, particularly in the U.S.A. This was probably the first major demonstration of external opposition to the policies of the South African Government... NUSAS became probably the most important eHective and legal left-wing organisation in South Africa.' 1. From, I n troduction," in H . K l einschmidt (ed), N%zz Libzmfioa, Johannesburg: SPRO-CAS, 1972 (Italics added). 2. As these lines are being written in August 1975 thousands of "nonBlacks" have already Red newly "liberated" Mozambique. Furthermore, some 100 000 out of a total of 500 000 White Angolans have managed to escape from that strife-tom land to Portugal, Brazil and elsewhere. Another 200 000 are clamouring to get out before Angola becoines oSciaily "liberated" on November 11th. About 15 000 refugees have made their way into South West Africa on foot, by car, truck and in unseaworthy boats down the treacherous Skeleton Coast to Walvis Bay. Many have lost their hves in the process. At present the White South A&ican Government and the White South Akican citizens ate providing food, shelter and medical care for these refugees, Not one non-White group has Med a Snger to help them. 3. Manas Buthelezi, "The Significance of The Christian Institute for Black South A&ica," — an address delivered at a Christian Institute Rally at St. George's Cathedral, Church House, Cape Town, 26 October 1974, xnimeographed (Itahcs added). 4. I was amazed to discover that the extremely vocal %Rite South African Liberals are quite stingy. They proclaim loudly their deep devotion to organizations such as The Chrisdan Institute, for example, but usually

they donot contribute any money to support it. As a member of The C.I. > know that ahnost ail of its budgeted funds have come &om ousnde of South A&ica. 5. The fact that this is a false statement or, at best, a misleading one, and that it went unchallengml in the English-language press, is just one more of many indications of the moral sickness when referring to the White South Akican Government, not only outside of the Republic but aho within its borders. The fact of the matter is that "nearly aH churches" fail to take into consideration more than half the White Christian church membership in South A&ica. 6. Front page editorial in Varsi@(student newspaper of the Umve Cape Town), VoL 34, 18 June1975. >. ~stisaet Uala ogSosthAPknn Stmkatt 1974, CapeTown: NUSAS, 1N'o).

Commen ting

on the same subject, Martin Spring indicates that the Republic of South Africa is making a massive eHort to expand educational facilities for its Black citizens — an eHort, he points out, which receives little or no recognition abroad. During the past three years, the Central Government has almost doubled its expenditures on Black education, and most of the additional money has come out of the pockets of White taxpayers. (M. Spring, "The South A&ican Kaleidoscope," South Afiiean Enternatiorud, January, 1974).

?hePoli@ og Detenu During 1974-75, the South A&ican Government, particularly through the dogged eHorts of its remarkable Prime Minister, has been making sincere and tangible overtures to other A&ican governments for the establishment of better relations which could prove mutually advantageous. Aside &om the economic advantages which would accrue to th e i mpoverished Black States, detente is also aimed at defusing the political climate in Southern A&ica which if allowed to heat up might very well Bare into armed con6agration which Mr. Vorster said would be "too ghastly to contemplate." He has ~ add e d t o h i s stature as a world statesman by steering a course of strict non-interferencein Angola and Mozambique. In general, positive responses have been forthcoming &om neighbouring states such as Zambia, Malawi and Botswana. Liberia, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast and to a lesser extent Tanzania have also expressed interest and some have even evinced a desire to help the policy succeed. Two other concrete indications of the policy of detente with neutrality towards Rhodesia and Black A&ica are the the signi6cant steps taken to help South W'est A&ica become independent. (This latter item will be discussed in some detail

increasing

later).

However, even some quite level-headed and truly l i beral S outh A&icans (not all of them M u t e ) are beginning to have some second thoughts regarding South A&ica's attitude toward Angola and Mozambique, especially in view of what has been happening to the people in those lands.

70

Since "hberation" many Blacks who ~ ee w i t h t heir "saviours" have been slaughtered. Thousands of others have Qed. A lthough not many Whites have been kiHed, certain " u npleasant" ~ h ave h a p pened to them. Most of these unpleasantries have i n cluded bl atant d i scrimination, p u blic humiliation, assault, arrest without reason, bea~ , c o n f iscation of property, loss of job — the list is a long one — and, anally, for those who could manage it, by the tens of thousands, emigration and exile &om the land of their birth. As of July 1975 some 100 000 Angolans, for example, out of a total Mute population there of500 000 had already Idt and at least 200 000 more are clamouring to get out. These little discomforts have also been experienced by those liberal %'hite Angolans and Mozambiquans who fought for "liberation" &om Portugal and who supported Frelimo for many years. It will be interesting to see if any Communist-bloc or A&o-Asian states or, for that matter those great bastions of Western democracy like the United, States, France, England and Australia, will introduce resolutions at the United Nations when the new sessions start in September 1975, condemning

racism againstWhites in Angola and Mazamhiqne or the brntal suppression ofBlacks by other Blacksin those conntnes. But the tenacious and realistic Mr. Vorster, keeps working ceaselessly at detente despite the disastexs to Whites just beyond South A&ica's borders and despite some vicious attacks on him at home. The strident criticisms emanating &om the vocal right and the larger, more in8uential and more vocal le&, would make any dispassionate observer seriously wonder if there can ever be any humane solution in South A&ica.

Leaders of Die Hersngte Easionale Party (which will be discussed in the next chapter ) have accused Vorster of sells~ Rhodesian Whites down the Zambesi River. They have also accused him of giving tacit support to Black terrorists north of South A&ica's borders and of promoting racial integration and mongrelization. S. E. D. Brown, the right-wing editor of TheSontk Afrt'can Observer, puts it even more strongly when he states: Everywhere one sees Western man guilt-ridden and

stampeded by the smear techniques of the LeA...

'Racist' and 'racial discrimination' are two of the worst smears. These are not defined so that the victim may disagree and defend himseK They are so hurled, as accusations of some vicious crime, that they presume automatic condemnation without trial. Correctly, a racist means a person who approves his own race, maintains his racial self-respect, and prefers to live in the society of his own people, according to his own culture and way of life — all of which implies no hostitity to any other race. Millions of human beings of all races, in fact most of humanity, are racist by that definition (including the vast majority of American Blacks). Yet what do we find today P The true racist is being smeared and persecuted by the propaganda of the Left, for no other reason than that he stiO has the courage openly to approve his own race and is determined to maintain his own racial and national integrity, in the face of collectiwmt assault &om all the forces of the

Leh:. And so successfiil has been their assault on the racial backbone of White South A&ica that we today see our present leaders in headlong retreat &om 'racial discrimination.' This they are doing in the name of 'detente,' 'diKerentiation' and 'multinationdism,' the professed, aim and goal of * all of which is the oliminution of ural rural dis~ ution in 4 Sordh APieaund in S. WA. Some of the anti-government newspapers — and that includes most of the English-language preM — have been shooting from the hip and letting go with both barrels. Their argument is that detente with Black A&ican countries will never work unless there is first detente at home — namely, the elimination of ail vestiges of "racism" in South A&ica. Every liberal organization as well as some prominent church leaders, not to mention the muscleSexing Progressive Party (as of July 1975 combined with the Reform Party to form th e Progressive Reform Party ) have joined in the attack. Furthermore, what President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia — who blows hot and cold — said when he made a spectacle of himself at a state dinner in his honour at the White House in April 1975 was almost a verbatim repetition of

these attachs. The only difference was that he was more malevolent.' 1. In 1915 Dic Bnrgsrwas estabhshed and Malan became its Srst editor. 2. While working on this chapter, the following item appeared in a Cape Town newspaper. It is being quoted in full without comment: Aftknns, Arabs brawl in Paris Pohced used tear gas on Bastille National Day yesterday in the worst riot ever seen here. About 150 Arab and 150 A&icanimmig rantworkers sharing a modern all-male hostel in the suburb of Villejuif were involved. Two were beaten to death and 30 badly injured, The two races hated each other, but the local communist council thought that as they were all Moslems and workers they would be able to live together. Gn Friday, an Algerian threw a glass of water over an A&ican &om the French-~ g st a te of Mali and the hosM erupted like a volcano. The Malians, described by French neighbours as usually peaceable, went beserk: they smashed every item of furniture in the hostel — tables, chairs, beds and even gas and water Qtings — to make weapons, and battled the Algerians who had knives and clubs. French people saw one Alg~ k i c ked to death by a dozen Malians and another almost cut to pieces and mutilated. Finally police had to part them with tear gas. There am about 100 000 A&ican immigrant workers in France, mainly in the Paris region, working as street sweepers or dustmen. (Zb Cape Times,16 July 1975, p. 3). 3. The eight Homelands and major tribal groups in parenthesis are: Transkei (Xhosa), Ciskei (Xhosa), KwaZulu (Zulu), Lebowa (Pedi and North Ndebele), Venda (Venda), Gazankulu (Shangan), BuphuthaTswana (Tswana) and Basotho Qwaqwa(Shoeshoe). For a concise and quite up-~ te sununary on the Homelands see Muriel HorreI,The Afrisan Homskmds of South APisa, Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations, 1973, pp. 176. 4. S. E. D. Brown, "The Road to National Suicide — Vorster's Retreat From 'Racial Discrunination,'~" 77uSanshApiam Obsrrssr — AjonrnaI Jar Beafisss,(August, 1975) p. 1. 5. Seeforexample, Michael Wright, Zambia-IChangsdMy befind,London: Johnson, 1971. This is the report of an enthusiastic, liberal British educator who went to Zambia to do his bit in the cause of democracy for a "developing country;" During the three years that he worked there not only did his enthusiasm for Kaunda's brand of "hummusm" grow dim, he became appalled at Kaunda's hypocrisy and machinations in what is essentially a police state. The author was also shocked and angered by the anti-White and pro-Black political stance of the Anglican Church.

O~

R WHI T E P OLITICAL PARTIES

CHANGE FOR A FIRM FUTURE — Fight Terrorism, Fight Communism VOTE UP (words on United Party poster in 1974 campaign) The once mighty party of General Smuts has been struggling, quite ine8ectively it seems, to regain the power it lost over a quarter of a century ago when it became the oScial opposition party. Except for a few gains made in 1970- loudly heralded by some ~isldul-thinking newspapermen and most of the handful of would-be politiml scientists and sociologists in South A&ica, this party has been on the skids since 1948 — if not earlier. But with the 1974 election and subsequent setbacks since then, its

cbees appear even more remote than they ever have since 1948. Its rich and charming leader, Sir de Villiers Graf of Cape Town, who distinguished himself in World War Two, has held the reins of the party since assuming leadership in 1958. I suspect that it has been personal loyalty and admiration rather than policies or principles which have kept him in such a position. Gerald Shaw of 1he Cape Times,one of a rare species in South A&ica, an inteHigent political observer who tries to be fair and objective, wonders about the future of the party and of GraaH' when he says: Where does Sir De Villiers Graaff go &om hereP His style of leadership, learnt in a prisoner-of-war camp, is rooted in courage in adversity, a profound sense of duty and a gift for inspiring men to pull together. His own cast of mind is moderately conservative, in the non-pejorative sense of the word, and his temperament does not encourage dramatic initiative. (G. Shaw, TlieCupsTimes, 9 August

1975, p. 6).

Although the Unitml Party daims that it is more liberal than the National Party and that it wiH provide a fair deal for non%i'hites with its scheme of "federated states" many knowledgeable South A&icans of all pigmentation seem to thmk otherwise. Such persons will teil you that the U.P. leadership is only interested in maintaining buasskap(derogatory word for %'hite supremacy) at all costs, just the same as the National Party, but that it lacks some of the latter's integrity and other VITtlles.

Slack A&ican leaders seem to be especially wary of the United Party and are generally more inclined to respect and be w~ to deal with the Afrikaners in the National Party even when they may disagree with them which is most of the time. In 1973-74 there developed one of those perennial riAs in South A&ican political parties — this one being in the United Party — which to an outsider are bewildering to say the least. First S. J. Marais Steyn, a powerful, bull-necked, party warhorse and the right hand man of Sir de Viuiers GraaR; who had s pent most of his political life vilifying the National P~ , d e fected to it. Then some liberal members of the U.P- led by Harry Schwartz, the party's leader in The Transvaal, labdled "Young Turks" by the press, seemed to challenge Graall s control. Very early in 1974 it appeared that not only did the "rebeh" make no inroads but that they were on the verge of being

purged. However, a&er the general election in April, although the U.P. as a whole did badly, both the reformist wing withjtn the U.P. as well as the Progressive Party improved their posit ions. Furthermore, the gains by the National Party in t h e the election were widely interpreted as a strong vote of con6dence in Prime Minister Vorster. Since then intra-party squabbles in the U.P. have led to expulsions, resignations and intermittent threats of more &agmen-

tation in rapid succession. Finally, early in 1975 Harry Schwarz and nine or ten other important members of the United Party

(four of them being M.P.s) split o8' &om the U.P. and formed the Reform Party. In July 1975 the Reform Party and the Progressive Party merged, to form the Progressive Reform Party with a total of eleven members in the House of

Assembly.

FOR CHLA'GE VOTE PEOG(Poster for the 1974 election) This party started in 1959 when eleven of the forty-four United Party members of Parliament broke away and founded their own party with a much more liberal cast. In the general election of 1961 all but one of the Progremve members, including Coljn Kglin, its present leader, lost their seats. The exception was Mrs. Helen Suzman who has managed to retain her parliamentary seat in every election since then. The Progressive Party had been considerably to the left of both major parties. It regarded all the inhabitants of South A&ica as constituting one people or one "nation" instead of separate "nations" as the National Party claims and, to a lesser extent, as does the United Party. In the 1974 political campaign its policy provided for a qualiSed common franchisebased upon ce~ educational and economic criteria. Theoretically, this could mean that a better educated non-White with a certain level of income, would get the vote and that a semi-literate, poor White could lose his &anchise. It also provided for a rigid, constitution with safeguards for the protection of minorities and an entrenched Bill of Rights designed to ~ nt ee such basic rights as "&eedom of speech and assembly, &eedom from arbitrary arrest, and the right of access to the courts and equal protection under the law." It advocated the repeal of all discriminatory laws and the proision of educational and economic opportunities to enable people of all racial groups to develop their potential skills for their own bene6t and for the bene6t of the country as a whole. It stated that South A&ica's four provinces should be abolished and that a federation of ten or more largely autonomous provinces should be established whose boundaries would take into account demographic, racial, economic and other factors. A s indicated, earlier, before the election called for by th e Prime Minister for 24 April 1974, Helen Suzman was the only "Prog" in the House of Assembly. On that date five other Progs were elected. Shortly thereafter a sixth, Dr. Alex Boraine, who

holds a Ph.D. &om Drew University, an American university in New Jersey, who is a leader in the Methodist Church and who was on the labour relations stafF of the Anglo-American Corporation, won the by-election in the Pinelands constituency near Cape Town. This gave the Progressives a total of seven members in the House of Assembly, including two who are A&ikauersRene de Villiers and Frederik van Zyl Slabbert — but there are none in the Senate. A few more words should be written about Mrs. Suzman who, next to Dr. Chris Barnard, the world-renowned heart surgeon, is the best known South A&ican outside of South A&ica. She is a small but doughty and outspoken 6ghter for civil rights for Blacks who seems to be respected by the leaders of both major parties even though she is highly vocal in her criticism of them and their parties. She belongs to a wealthy family, is the darling of White liberals in England and South A&ica and to a lesser extent in my country, but sometimes she sounds like a radical chic American who is playing to the galleries. Given South A&ica's whipping-boy position in world aHairs, this kind of fun and games may be a luxury the country can ill afFord. I shall cite only one example of what I have in mind. It is a remark she made during the debate in the House of Assembly on the defence budget early in 1975. It is the kind of observation that on the surface appears well-intentioned and humanitarian. It is also the sort of "crack" that is guaranteed to make headlines, especially in the opposition press. Finally, it is just the sort of observation which is picked up and glee6dly reproduced in other countries. Not in&equently, such re-publication is accompanied by editorial fulminations denouncing South A&ica's racism. The remark was made as P.W. Botha, the Minister of Defence was explaining why he was asking for a sizeable increase in his budget: South A&ica's increased vulnerability &om the north, the need to replace worn out equipment with newer and more sophisticated weapons, the increased, costs of maintaunng an adequate defence force due to in8ation and similar matters. Mrs. Suzman's clever interjection was: Why don't we take the money forthe proposed increase in the defence budget and use it to "buy school books for A&ican children."

78

Colin Eghn, the leader of the former Progressive Party (see below) is a handsome, intelligent, somewhat pompous, middleaging gentleman with a corpulent, well-fed and well-groomed appearance. He has a great deal of energy, seems to be in perpetual motion and his speeches sound like the rattling of a weHoiled machine gun. However, bearing in mind his particular kame of reference, unlike many other politicians I have known in America as well as in South Africa, he usually has his facts straight. The way he interprets them is another matter. SVhen I have talked to him and, listened to his speeches he has impressed me as being well-informed about the United States and with what is going on elsewhere in A&ica as well as in South A&ica. Since July 1975 he has been the leader of the combined Progressive Reform Party and Harry Schwartz, the former leader of the United Party in the Transvaal and later the leader of the short-lived Reform Party, is the third in command

as Chairman of its Federal Executive. Ray Swart, the former National Chairman of the Progressive Party holds the same position in the Progressive Reform Party and as such occupies the second highest post in the Party.

This newest South African party lists its principles as follows: 1. The recognition of the dignity and worth of the individual

human being. 2. The elimination of discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of race, religion, language or sm, and the creation of conditions in which equality of opportunity can be exercised. 3. The protection of the religious, language and cultural heritages of the various groups forming the South A&ican nation. 4. The improvement of the quality of life and the standard of living of all citizens through the energetic development of a modern economy utilising to the fuB our national resources. 5. The equitable sharing of political power by all citizens of our country, with safeguards against domination and oppression of any race by another.

6. The restoration and maintenance of the Rule of Law and the protection of civil liberties. 7. The upholding of our status as a sovereign A&ican state, the fostering of understanding and co-operation on the continent, and the promotion of the social and economic progress of

its people. The party's platform can be summarized as follows: l. An open society. People will be entitled to associate with whom they wish, use whatever public facilities they like and live wherever they wish. 2. The State shall not interfere with the right of admission to

private premises: private individuals, universities, cultural societies, private clubs and trade unions shall have the right to decide for themselves whom to admit. 3. Parents who decide to send their children to church-sponsored schools or to non-sectarian private schools shaH be entitled ts do so and the government must help foot the biB. 4. The colour bar in employment and in promotions shall be eliminated. Furthermore, there shall be equal pay for equal work and the migrant labour system shall be phased out as soon as possible. 5. The racial basis for inBux control shall be removed. 6. The quali6ed franchise of the former Progressive P~ shall be replaced by a uniform educational requirement. 7. There shaH be a federal system of government with the following salient components: (e) A high degree of decentralization of power from the Federal Government in favour of the State Governments. The States shaH have maximum legislative, executive and judicial powers; the Federal Government to have only such powers as are essentially national in character. (1) The federation shaB consist of self-governing States and, will include such Homelands as have not chosen independence. (c) The boundaries of the self-governing States will be redrawn t~ g i n t o account group and other interests. (d) The &anchise in the States and the system of election will have to take into account any system which might al-

80

ready be 6mctioning and will be negotiated on the basis that no citizen who quali6es by virtue of permanent residence in a particular State may be denied the &ancbise on the ground of race alone. 8. The Federal Parliament shall consist of a House of Assembly and a Senate with equal and co-ordiuate powers. 9. Members of the Senate shall be elected on a proportional basis by the State legislatures. Those of the House of Assembly shaH be elected directly by the voters in each State through a combination of proportional representation and constituency systems so as to insure both the widest possible participation of citizens in the election and the orderly transition to responsible multi-racial government. Speci6cally, persons who possess "basic literacy" shall be able to vote for half of the seats in the House. The other half shaH be 611ed by persons who are elected by voters who have at least a high school education or equivalent. Hence voters with such a level of education will be eligible to vote twice: once with all voters who can barely read and again with those who have the higher educational leveL 10. Entrenched in the Constitution will be a Bill of Rights and an independent judiciary. The Constitution may only be amended by three quarters of the members of both the House and the Senate. Dee Herstigte Pf~nule Party This party has no English title; it is the only political party which is not Aoeetulig.The closest English translation is "The Reconstituted National Party" also known as the HNP. Its leader is Dr. Albert Hertzog, a seventy-six-yea old A&ikaner, who studied at Oxford and married an English girl. He had been a life-long member of the National Parp and one of its Cabinet OKcers. In 1969 he was unceremoniously expelled &om his post and tom the party by the Prime Minister for his reactionary stance. Later that year he formed the HNP. Hertzog is the son of the late Gen. J. B. M. Hertzog (18661942), one of South A&ica's more illustrious Sgzres who in 1914, shortly after Union, was the founder of the original National Party. In 1934 he joined with another distinguished

South A&ican, the legendary Gen. Jan Christiaan Smuts (187& 1950), who was the leader of the South A&ica Party, to establish the present United Party. Lest we forget, Smuts was one of the founders of the League of Nations as well as of the United Nations — the organization which virtually since the day it was born has been badgering and vilifying South A&ica. Another of South A&ica's many interesting paradoxes is that quite a few A&ikaners today, more than two decades after his death, still revile him as a "jingo" — a traitor to the A&ikaner cause because of his accommodation with the British. In a less critical vein he is known as Slim fannie —Cunning Johnny! Members of the HNP believe that A&ikaners should be the paramount group, that all other segments of the population should be controlled by and be subservient to the "Pure ~ aner Race," and that A & i kaans should be the only oKcial language. They advocate that Black A&icans must not be given any expectations of any form of equality with AVhites. Although they strongly support apartheid they do not think it goes far enough. In their view it should hey opportunities for maximizing the potential — in other words, of separate developmentof all non-%Rites. Among other ~ , its e l ection malllfesto of 1974 called for a reduction in the "enormous" amounts of money spent by the government on South Africa's Blacks. It also opposed the "unnecessary" concept of Homeland consolidation which it claimed will only be used as a lever to gain more land for the Blacks. It urged that no territory should be given to the Black Homelands over and above the land provided in the 1918 and 1936 Land Acts. On the question of the vast sums spent on Blacks, the manifesto referred to the R2 000 million (about $3 billion) for Homeland development which is to be spent during the next five years, the Rl 400 million ($2,1 billion) for land purchase in the next ten years to be used to enlarge and consolidate the Homelands, and the R109 million ($164 million) spent on Bantu education in 1973. It opposed the growth of South A&ican conglomerates and other large business mergers as they brought about an unhealthy economic situation and inhibited &ee enterprise. It also urged

82

that the in8ow of investment capital into South Africa be sharply curtailed.~ Furthermore, it recommended that the annual South A&ican economic growth rate of 5,5% should be cut back to bring it in line with the availab iTity of internal White labour and the internal supply of investment capital. And 6nally, it recommended that South Africa pull out of the United Nations as it could not maintain its membership under the present humiliating conditions. I have heard more than one A&ikaner say that although he disagrees completely with the HNP and although he thm organlzatton ls trymg to turn back the clock he can understand why this smaH band of die-hard reactionaries feel the way they do. They represent, I am told, the extremes of "The A&ikaner pursuing his impossible dream." Die Hestigte Easionele Party does not hold any seats in the House of Assembly and, of course, it has none in the Senate. In the general election of 1974 it contested 42 of the 171 seats but made such a poor showing that all the candidates lost their deposits. Although it has no intention of going out of business it is highly unlikely that it will obtain any seats in either the House or the Senate in the forseeable future. But a demurer seems to be in order, not merely to hedge one' s bets, although that is a good, idea when discussing politics anywhere in Africa, but because the rapidly chanyng political scenario demands it. There is no question that the HWP is bucking the tides of history — that it is 6ghting former British Prime Minister Mach%lian's "winds of change." De-colonialization and "liberation", not to mention "Africanization", are not only taking place in much of Southern A&ica but they are also gaining momentum. That "liberation" has been reversed in many Black A&ican states "liberated" during the past twenty years or so is another matter. Most Black and %hite liberals consider it irrelevant when, for example, Chief Leabua Jonathan, the lifetime "president" of Lesotho, (formerly the British Protectorate of Basutoland) a small, impoverished, mountainous nation located within South A&ica's borders, intimidates, imprisons without trial, tortures and murders Black "citizens" who disagree with him. Nor do such liberals engage in protest marches and rage against in-

justice when the W'atusis of Burundi carry out a systematic program of genocide against the Hutus of Burundi But the rapidly changing situation during 1974-75 in Angola, Rhodesia and Mozambique, may result in a conservative White backlash against Prime AGnister Vorster's policy of detente and against his increasingly liberal position. These events, added to the imminent loss of South Nest A&ica, also being encouraged by Mr. Vorster, may result in a strengthening of the idealistic

but right-wing HNP. The Ailntnce for Radical Chunge BLACK MAJOMT J'RULE JHOW(Major poster of the A.R.C.) In marked contrast to the HNP was the new party which sprang up just before the general election of 1974. It called itself the Alliance for Radical Change (A.R.C.) It claimed that

"apartheid creates racial problems" that it "hides the real problems" and that "Socialism solves the real problems." One of its lea8ets stated in part: The real problem is that White people are too rich, too greedy, and too se16sh. The real problem is that Apartheid allows rich people to get richer — and keeps poor people poor. The real problem is that Apartheid is a %lute lie created by White people to divide South A&icans on the basis of skin colour and keep White people rich and powerful. APurtheid ir White Arcism and White Eansm means Black

Poverty... Sociulism Will End Baalim. Socialism Will End Poverty.. . Sonalism Can be the Basis fothe JYne Society in Sonth Afrku and?hronghont the World. Besides its major slogan about Black majority rule which appeared on posters attached to lamp-posts in Cape Town, it had a number of others including a poster which stated, VORSTKR IS UN-SOUTH AFRIC AN. Most of its members were radical students &om the University of Cape Town, including some of

my students. It had only one candidate running for a seat in the House of Assembly, a former university student by the name of

hris /good who had been banned. He received, a handful of votes and aller the election the party seemed to die a quick and quiet death, But although this Sy-by-night party is dead, the ideas it espoused are very much alive among many White and Slack militants in South A&ica.

A pER SOUTH AFRICA (From the cover of its major pamphlet) This was another new party, established in November 19pg der the able leadership of Theo Gerdener, a for ~ h igh ~ ~ member of the National Party. Among other thm@ he had been an unusually comp«e« a d m i nistrator of Natal Province, a member of Parliament and a Cabinet OScer where he held the portfolio of Minister of the Interior. the 1974 campaign this party attracted a f~ Although d

ung

amount of attention in some sections of the press I do not behave tt was given a fan' shake m Tho Capo Tjmos a newspaper ~ho~~ Edttor states he m deeply concerned with "&eedom of the press» The party faded to ~~n any seats in the House of Assembly losing one in Natal by a mere handful of votes. In 1975 it wl stB1 very much alive and planning to continue as an ~nve par~ Its platform and aims were billed as "A N e Co n cept m S outh A&ican Pohtics." They included "A Twin Str~ Po l i ~ for allracial groups, a new era for urban Bantu, complete cons olidation of the Homelands, a brighter future for Ind;~ a n d Coloureds, and a Commonwealth not a Federation." It proposed • • - tho g"~n~< Po«««a~ ooonomt'o assimilation of tho Cohmreds ued tho Mans into theWhite community, even if the pro cess should take a decade or more to complete." It added th t social and biological integration is highly improbable as each group has, to a large extent already developed its own identity Furthermore, its platform stated: The assimilation of Coloureds and Asians into the White group cannot in any way be regarded as discrimination t the A&icans. In the use of both the homelands and the urban areas, the D emocratic Party believes that so-

vereign independent states should be created where the A&ican will be granted aH the basic rights that the Whites, Coloureds and Asians enjoy in the "Mute" state. l. It is interesting to note that this reactionary objective is exactly the same as tbe one propounded by the World Council of Churches and other liberal anti-South African organizations.

SOME BLACK AFRICAN LEADERS Self-righteousness does not Sl bellies.. . [ b ut] as long as underdeveloped, over-populated homelands exist, white South African's security is in question. Gatsha Buthelezi (Cliief Minister, Nuagulx) Although this is a book about the large white South A&ican Tribe, a few words seem to be in order regarding some of the views of at least a few Black South African leaders. They also happen to be the recognized chief pohtical o8icers of their respective Homelands or Bantustans. Those who held such positions in July 1975 are listed below: Chief M. Gatsha Buthelezi, Chief Executive Councillor of KwaZulu. Chief Lucas M. Mangope, Chief 3vlinister of BophuthaTswana. Paramount Chief Kaiser D. Matanzima, Chief Minister of the Transkei. Chief T. K. Mopeli, Chief Minister of Basotho Qwaqwa. Chief P. R. Mphephu, Chief Minister of Venda. Prof. N. W. E. Ntsanwisi, Chief Minister of Gazankulu. Dr. Cedric M. N. Phatudi, Chief Minister of Lebowe. Mr. L. L. Sebe, Chief ~hfinister of the Ciskei. The three leaders who receive the greatest attention in the Enghsh language newspapers which, incidentally, are the ones usually read by Black African intellectuals and politicians, are Buthelezi, Mangope and Matanzima with Ntsanwisi and Phatudi being close runners-up. At least on the surface, Buthelezi appears to be the most persuasive and the most reasonable. He has the kind of charisma which appeals to whites as well as to Blacks. He i s a s hort, good-looking, cherubic, pot-bellied, charming, shrewd, intelligent and articulate spokesman, not only for the more than four million Zulus but also for many other non-whites. Some anxious and fearfulVAites are con-

vinced that he cannot be trusted. They believe that if a Buthelezi and other "reasonable" Blacks obtain power they would

suer the same fate that other Whites have suHered all over Black A&ica. They feel sure that once he and his kind gain power they ~% become just as ruthless as any other Blacks. Some militants — Black, Brown and White — think otherwise: they believe Buthelezi is, in fact, a "seH-out" and a "stooge" for the South A&ican Government. At best, they claim that he is too accommodating to the White man and therefore he is expendable. Buthelezi seems to be firmly in control of the Zulu nation and seems to speak with authority about its a8airs. He always gets a sympathetic ear &om White audiences and no matter what he tells them, he receives a standing ovation. Even when he informs his White "brothers" that unless they y've the Black man his due - and damned soon — no one will be able to stem the inexorable forces of Blacks activists and the resulting carnage~ they cheer him and clap vigorously. Although he always seems to be in control of a situation, he certainly lost his composure with me one afternoon m January 1974 at the end of the 44th annual conference of the South A&ican Institute of Race Relations. As we were shaking hands to say goodbye I told him that granted he was a fair and reasonable man and that if and when Black majority rule came to South A&ica he would want to live in, peace with the % hite man, there are militant Blacks both in South Africa and elsewhere who seem to have other ideas. They tell me that people like himself and like Chief Matanzima will be the Srst to be liquidated because they are traitors to the Black hberation movements. He stepped back &om me, opened his jacket, stuck out his chest in a dramatic gesture and jn a strident, staccato voice cried, "I don't care if they kiH me — I'm not a&aid. . . I ' m just trying to do what s right!" In trying to understand Chief Buthelezi's role one must also know that he is the favourite chief of the liberal English language press, especially of The Cape Times, which gives him &out page coverage or a large spread on the editorial page everY tun sneezes. Although he usually makes a good case for his causes he also comes out with some ridiculous or outrageous statements or

with just plain falsehoods. Yet he is never seriously challenged or caHed to task by any Whites although &om time to time he has to do some fancy political manoeuvering to oubvit his Zulu critics. I have learned, however, that even if one tries to use the popular and, widespread device of writing a letter to the editor, in an eHort to challenge Buthelezi, such letters are rarely published. I know as I have a Se full of them which the "liberal" editor of ?lis Cape Times refused to publish. As an example of what I mean by the nonsense spouted by Buthelezi Sum time to time, I reproduce only one of my unpublished letters. 29 December 1974 To the Editor The Cape Times 77 Burg Street Cape Town 8001

I see that Chief Gatsha Suthelezi, the past master of oversimpliScation and sloganeering is at it again. In the 27 December issue of The Cups?'imesit is reported that he lamented the lack of doctors in the African conununity anti said that salary discrimination was the primary barrier for Slack doctors. He adds that only idealists and, dedicated Christians were prepared to work in KwaZulu's medical backwaters. Suthelezi has travelled extensively in my country — the U.S.A. and, hke other Black leaders, frequently at the expense of the American taxpayer. I would hate to think that American funds expended on Suthelezihave been wasted. I would hope, for example, that he had learned that even in the U.S.A., irrespective of skin colour, physicians are most reluctant to practice in its "backwaters" and that "salary discrimination" has nothing to do with it. Or is Buthelezi indulging in his ubiquitous game of 6shmg in troubled waters 7 -

Sincerely

89

In all fairn ess it must be pointed out that whatever their true

motives, South A&ica's Black leaders are forced to walk atightrope: in order to retain power they must try to appease their own people by attacking the White man. At the same time they cannot become too offensive towards the White South A&ican Government. In addition, much of what they say and do is for the bene6t and "enlightenment" of the press outside of South A&ica — namely, to get support for their aspirations and to further damage White South A&ica's image. One does not have to trust a man like Suthelezi but on the other hand one can.'t help liking him. As an A&ikaner would say, Hp is baie shm — He is damned clever. Sut when all is said and done, for a White man to try to understand a Gatsha Suthelezi, as so many deluded White South A&ican liberals think they do, is no easy matter. It may even be impossible. And if it is impossible with an urbane Buthelezi, it is totally out of the question with 99% of other Slack South Africans. Most Zulus are not Christians and by Western standards are considered to be quite primitive. Buthelezi, however, lets it be known repeatedly that he is a practicing Christian. One of his relatives, whom I have also met, is a prominent Christian clergyman. He is Manas Suthelezi, the former Regional Director of the Natal Once of the Christian Institute in Pietermaritzburg. Among other things Rev. Buthelezi has been invited to lecture at American universities — and not just on theology which is supposed to be his specialty. Gatsha Buthelezi has travelled widely outside of A&ica as well as on the African Continent. Typical of his more reasoned statements are the remarks he made in an address delivered before a large audience of students and faculty at the University of Cape Town in June 1973 — a speech which received wide press coverage. The title of his speech was, "The Boer-Briton Political Marriage of Convenience &om 1910 to 1973: What Next P" Selected but representative quotations &om this speech are presented below: I must emphasize that I am not coming here to talk in favour of any White political party. AH I am t nt to show is that the majority of White South A&ica have never taken Blacks into their conadence. Hardly any has sat down and

90

formulated policies with the Black man, as distinct &om trying to sell a policy to Slacks already worked out by them in the absence of the Black man. From all this history it is clear that no real solution can be found to our problem unless and until the white man reahses that we must have an equal voice in the 6nding of such solutions. We no longer regard the White man as a foreigner. %'e regard him as having become also a Native of South Africa dier three centuries. Can we be more gracious and realistic than thatP Is it too much for W hi te South A&ica to appreciate that although we are indigenous people of this land, we realize that they have also be come as indigenous as e e are, in the same way that Americans, Canadians and Australians have become indigenous to America, Canada and Australia, respectively P At this point there was a good deal of applause. After W, here was an intelligent, reasonable Black leader — the leader of the Zulu Nation — saying some obviously intelligent and reasonable things. It is quite likely that he even believed them — at least while he was saying them. Then he added: Most Black people do not wish to see any violent con&ontation in South Africa. It would be tragic if our aspira-

tions and meshes continue to be ignored and so disregarded by %(hite South A&ica, that we also lose hope of any peaceful solution being found. In this spirit, I appeal to white South A&ica to conduct a heart-search after 6$ years of Boer-Briton marriage of convenience, plus a quarter-century of talk about separate development without it shaping up in any way. He closed his speech by stating that he was speaking in the spirit of conciliation. Then he added that Blacks have no physical power to enforce their stand but "We think it is time to say to 9'hite South A&ica that we have gone far enough and that we are notprepared to be pushed by you any further." It was interesting to see all my lily-white, overfed, pampered, m ostly middle class or upper class students and their eq~ y privileged liberal professors and lecturers rise up, as if propelled by some secret power, to cheer Buthelezi and to give him a standing ovation.

Without questioning his honesty or good intentions, it must be pointed out that although he and others like him may not consider the White man to be a foreigner, milhons of Blacks represented by the Or at ion o f A&ican Unity, as well as many White and Black South A&ico s disagree with him. Furthermore, millions of well-meaning Americans and Englishmen and Scandinavians and H ollanders, for example, although they haven't the foggiest notion of what really goes on in South A&ica, aho think otherwise. What, exactly, one may ask was the major agenda, both hidden and open, at the Commonwealth Conference in Kingston, Jamaica in May 1975, if not that South Africa must get out of South West A&ica and that White South A&ica must ultimately be destroyed? Even though some of the Western prrxs tried to play down the "H ate-Nhite-South-A&ica Syndrome," it was pretty obvious that that was the name of the game. Even Chief Clemens Kapuuo, the leader of the Hereros in South West A&ica, a dignified and competent lighter for his people, was viciously condemned as being " st o n W h i tey." He was branded a "stooge" because he had been trying to ~ per a t e with the Whites in South West Africa to Gad a p solution for that Territory. When I mentioned this to Kapuuo he told me quite convincingly that he has never been anybody's "stooge" and has no intention of becoming one. He added, "I did not run away from the situation. I am stiQ in South West A&ica battling against the South A&ican Government here." The rejection of the "vicious, capitalistic, colonialistic, racialis6c White man," is expressed, among other ways, in the battle cry of Blacks in A&ica and elswhere in the world: "A&ica is for A&icans only. The White oppressor must get out of South Africa [and Rhodesia which they call "Zimbabwe"]. If he does not leave peaceably, when we get the weapons we will drive him into the sea." And what if the White South A&ican does not want to be driven into the sea I have asked innumerable times. "If he resists, we will have to kill him," is the invariable answer. Now I did not make up these words to use them as straw men. I have heard them or similar words many times and I have a1so s~ t h em in writing in Southern A&ica almost as many times. I have a1so heard some passionately "liberal" White South A&i-

eace'

express SBllllar views. An@ lllcldentaHyq the comments

above are an exact quotation &om an idealistic 22-year-oM Black A6ican student, and not a particularly militant one, who hitched a ride in my car for six hours &om Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, to Johannesburg early in July 1973. $V'ith a great deal of feeling he also made another interesting remark: ' The Black man wiH never be reaQy free," he said, "until the Black woman is free. The Black ivoman is nothing but a chattel — a piece of property to make babies and grow mealies." i Chief Kaiser Matanzima, of the soon to be independent Transkei, supports the major tenets of Apartheid or Separate Development. On the other hand, he continues to 6ght for a better deal for his people within the &arne work of the Homelands policy and he can be quite truculent about it. a blunt speech at Duncan Village near East London, he warned the South African Government that South Africa had to choose between two a1ternatives: the division of South A&ica, Bbick and Volte> in sllch a way that Blacks, who were m the ma; jority, would have a bigger share of the land, or a multi-racial

policy where Black andwhite wouldhave equal rightson a oneman, one-vote basis. Then he added, "The VAite Government is advised to give satisfaction to us today otherwise there will be a

blood bath in South Airica." (~ Cape Times,7 May, 1973, p. 1). At the 44th Annual Meetmg of the South African Institute of Race Relations held on the campus of the University of Cape Town in January 1974, ChiefLucas Mangope of BophuthaTswana read a paper entitled, "The Political Future of the Homelands" in which he stated, among other things: gg'e embrace in one single citizenry, or expanded 'poHs' a multiplicity of culture and, groups, with problems of so

many facets and such complex inter' ~

i mpl i cations,

as have never before in history been thrown together in one pot. In this our situation has to 6nd and steer a safe course. But such acourse has never been mapped for him before. And no chart is available which indicates the rocks and dangerous currents ahead of him, and, there are plenty..Ãountk our unique situabodpgrIN has not lined and forrn an adequate and rel iablenotion aboutits tionean coen remotel p ooenohelmimgeornPkxity.

identified himself

Men like Buthelezi, Matanzima and Mangope are neither South A&ican "Uncle Toms" nor are they afnicted with the widespread disease so prevalent inmany parts of the world which for want of a better term I caH the "Anti-White South A&ican Knee-Jerk, Syndrome." The next time that would-be "liberators" of Slacks mount thier perennial campaigns in London, iVew York or Moscow, or in the World Council of Churches — the next time they decide to give 6nancial aid and moral support to termrists who are supposed, to "&ee the Slack man in South A&ica," it might behove them to consult a few responsible and respected Black men like Suthelezi, Matanzima and Mangope. There is another kintl of outspoken criticism of the White power structure and that is embodied in the Slack Consciousness Movement. One weH-known critic symbolising thisview is Father Clive McSride, a big, burly and very light-skinned Coloured Anglican Priest in Cape Tot~a. Mlhen I Srst met him I thought he was a former wrestler or prize Sghter. Typical of

his public statements is the folio>i': I as a Slack man have a high stake in life which is to remove the incarceration completely and absolutely which has been our lot since the arrival of the Mu te man Van Riebeeck. The exclusive %lute power that has the reins of government has no relevance to me — the degree and method diR'ers —but the fetters are the same. I can see no way in which our lot has changed since 1948

or 16M. ('IheCaPeArgus, 26 May 1973, p. 13). 1. The previous week this young man had attended a conference of Bkackx students from Southern Africa at which representatives of the ultraliberal Rational Association of South Akrican Students had been knvitexL The conference was held on the Roma, Lesotho campus of the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. At that conference, it was unanixnously decided to sever all ties with NLSAS because, it was claimed, the tactics of that organization of "White ixnperialists" were designed to "oppress and divide Bkackx people for the purpose of perpetual subjugation... " (See Cape Timss, 28 June 1973, p. 2), One of the wax White South African students, representing KUSAS, who were expelled kroxn the conference was Geokf Budlender of Cape Town. He is a personable, sincere, hard-worktkng — but in xny opinion, misguided — young liberal who in k975 was the Regional Chairxaan of the Cape Western Region of the South Akrkcan Institute of Race Relations.

CHAPTER SEVEN

SOUTH WEST AFRICA South West A&ica is a strange land, engendering a love that goes beyond all logical reasoning. For it is a hard country, and will always remain so; hard and uncompromising; it nevertheless has an inexplicable appeal for all those who live there.' South West A&ica is a large sparsely-populated, mostly for-

bidding land, located on the Southwestern Atlantic seaboard of A&ica. It covers an area of 318 261 square miles which means that it is almost three-quarters the size of South Africa (472 359

square miles), much larger than Texas (162 134 square miles) and more than twice the size of my home state of Cahfornia

(156 361 square miles). Most of it is desert or semi-desert which is periodically aggravated by prolonged droughts. While driving for about 3 000 miles over its well-maintained gravel roads and its excellent two-laned tarred roads, which are among the best in A&ica, at times I felt as though I w as travelling through California's Mojave Desert and into Death Valley. Although the natural scenery x~m similar there were no gas stations(except in widely scattered to~~ and cities), no hamburger stands, no air-cond itioned motels, no multi-laned concrete freeways and vi~ y no trafBc. Sometimes hours would go by without seeing another car or truck. Although most of the Territory of South West A&ica is barren, dry and desolate, it has a unique beauty of its own. Most of the year the sun beats down mercilmly on man and beast alike but during the winter months of June, July and August, the days are warm and pleasant although the nights can be quite cold, especially at the higher altitudes. South West A&ica is located roughly between 1/' South of the Equator at its northernmost point to 28' South of the Equator at its southern border which is formed by the Orange River. This river was one of three in which I saw running water.

Ail the others were dry river beds, similar to those one sees in Southern California and Arizona, but I w a s informed that many of them haverunrUng water underground. "South West," as it is called by many of the people living in the Territory, is Hanked by the huge Kalahari Desert on the east and the South Atlantic Ocean on the west. Along the coast is the great Namib Desert — a sixty to seventy-Gve mile wide strip of land that stretches &om the Angolan border in the north to the Orange River in the south — a distance of abnost 1 000 miles. From its forbidding Kaokoveld and its lifeless Skeleton. Coastm the north to the charming coastal towns ofSwakopmund and I.Gderitz on the central and southern coasts, respectively, South West is one of the few relatively unspoiled areas of the "Western" WorM. In pre-ralonial times the relatively well-watered and, wooded north-eastern part of the Territory became the home of settled tribes of Bantu pastoralists and agriculturalists. These were the Owambo along the Kunene River and other tribes along the Okavango River which runs southeast into Botswana to form the sprawhng Okavango Delta which has an abundance and a great variety of wild life. In some ways this delta reminds me of the Florida Everglades. Besides crocodile, however, other wild creatures include hippopatamus, zebra, elephant, gi and a birds. profusion of tropical and The northern tribes which came migrating south &om the central higbiands, bred cattle, planted crops and fished the rivers. They built relatively substantial houses which reQected their settled mode of life. Ap~ e n tly they were not interested the drier parts of the Territory to the south. Thus before the advent of the White man in the Nineteenth Century, these tribes had little or no contact with the central and southern parts of the Tcmitory. Whatever contacts they had were among themselves or with their kmfolk across the borders «w hat are now Angola, Zambia and Botswana. Their remote ness, large numbers and organized mode of living also may have protected them against raids by nomadic tribes of the central and southern parts of what is now known as South West A&ica. In 1975 besides the 409;000 Owambos and the approximately 100 000 Whites living in the Territory, there were a number of

subtro pical

raffe

other distinct tribal or ethnic groups which brought the total population to almost 900 000. As is true with some of the other tribes, the Owambo Nation can be broken down into several "sub-tribes" or community groups. (For a list of the major tribes or ethnic groups, see Table 1).

Popu(ation of South 8'est APiea by racial/ethnic classification,

1970and l974o Classi6cation

Owambos .

whites

Damaras Herefos Kavangos . Namas Coloureds . East Capriviam Bushmen Rehoboth Basters. Kaokolanders Other . TOTAL

1970

1974

352 640 90 583 66 291

396 000 99 000

50 589

56 000 56 000 37 000 32 000 29 000 26 000

75 000

46,3

46,5

11,9 8,7

11,6 6,6 6,6 4,3 3,8 3,4 3,0 22 0,8 2,4 100,0

19 496

7 000 20 000

6,6 6,5 4,3 37 33 3,0 22 0,9 2,6

762 184

852 000

100,0

49 512 32 935 28 512

25 580 22 830 16 649 6 567

19 000

8,8

~Republic of South A&ica, Dept. of Statistics. Among the earliest inhabitants of the Territory were the Bushmen, the Namas and the Damas or Damaras. The bushmen were a nomadic people who subsisted entirely by hunting game, digging certain roots and gathering wild knits of the veld. They lived in c o ntinual enmity w it h o ther more powerful peoples who deprived them of the best hunting grounds. Because other groups destroyed the game which to the Bush-

man was his "cattle*' he, in turn, raided the domesticated h~ds of his enemies. For this and for other reasons, or just for sport fmm time to time in the early days both in South A&ica and South AVest Africa, Bushmen were hunted down by Blacks as well as 1%'hites the way one hunts a» old ~ But these Stone Age people have managed to survive with their way of life virtuaHy unchanged for thousands of years. Even though they have been driven into the most inhospitable parts of Southern Africa they still have an incredible aMity, not «y t o survive, but in recent decades to increase their numbers. No other human bemgs on the A&lean Contment not the Bantu nor the Hottentot and certainly not the 'A'hite mancan live for very long in such areas armed only with the prinutive tools of this amazing race of little people with their yeHowish»Tinkled skin and peppercorn hair. But with the inexor »ie growth of the population of other races, both Black and '>%hite, who wiH invariably continue to encroach upon his miserabl~ domain, hiis days as a primitive Bushman appear to be numbered. This may be avoided, however, if South A&ica's poHcy that Bushmen have their own Homeland (with Tsumke as its headciuartets) is adhered to after South West A&ica becomes independent. The Namas and Hottentots resemble the Bushmen in appearance, being short, y ellowish or r eddish-bro»m-skjnn people. They were nomadic cattle herders who kept sheep and goats and supplemented their diet by hunting game. Late in the Eighteenth Century the various Nama tribes in the southern part of the Tetritory had enslaved, exterminated or driven out the other population groups — primarjly the very dark-skinned Damaras and the Bushmen. But about one hundred hears later they, in turn, were beaten and decimated by the warlike Hereros — a Bantu "nation" » h ich had migr southward into the areas occupied by the Namas. The name> Herero, means "the people who have decided," »hich »ludes to their decision to remain in the central part of South %'est Africa. After the Germans occupied the Territory in the latter part of the Nineteenth Century, they found that the most "troublesome" group — that is, the toughest and most ruthless 6ghters-

were the Herero. There are various versions of what happened during the attempt on the part of the Germans to "pacify" these hostile Blacks. All of these versions have been evitten by White historians, White missionaries and White traders and hunters. But when I interviewed Chief Clemens Kapuuo, the leader of the great majority of today's Hereros, he told me Batly not once but several times, that the German military commander, General Yon Trotha attempted to exterminate his people~. This accounts for the fact that in order to escape from this extermina tion policy, many Hereros found their way into the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, which is today the independent country of Botswana; others escaped into Kaokoveld. When I visited Botswana I saw many Hereros, both in the former capital in the north, the city of Francisto~m, as well as in the Okavango Delta. Chief Kapuuo informed me that even when South West Akica becomes independent — but he added with great emphasis not with one ournone vote —he doubts if many Hereros will return. Most of them are now second or third generation Botswanas and, quite a f e w h av e p rospered, there. Kapuuo, as do all the Herero men I met, wears western clothes. He is a tail, handsome man who expressed himself &ankiy and spontaneously. Herero women are relatively tall, slender and truly stately. I saw a few fat ones but they seemed to be the exception. All of the ones I saw on the streets and in shops were wearing a gaudier version of European clothes similar to those introduced by the wives of missionaries over one hundred years ago. A Herero woman wears several petticoats under a long-sleeved, ankle length, brightly coloured dress that Hares out like a canopy. Over this dress, which almost covers her body completely, she also wears a large apron of a diH'erent coloured material. The apron covers her bosom and torso and comes down to her knees. Colourful bead necklace,earrings and a high-crowned headress, usually matching the colour of the apron or the dress completes the attire. How H erero women manage to have their dresses Hare out the way they do, even though I was told they do not wear any metal hoops under their petticoats, is a minor mystery which I did not explore.

99

The sigmffcant thing, however, is that the dresses worn by Herero women, except for the diff'erent colours are identical. These tribal dresses are distinctive, traditional and, exclusive. They dearly identify the wearer as a Herero. However, although thebasic shape and outer garments and headcloth are alike, each sub-tribal group has a special colour or a combination of colours for the ceremonial version of their dress. The Rehoboth Sasters is another of the population groups, located in the southern part of the Territory with whom I spent some time. They form a unique community. No approbrium is imphcit in the term, "Baster". A t r anslation in English to "bastard" would be incorrect. Afembers of this community are registered at birth as "Rehoboth Sasters" at their own request. They aredescendents of Slacks and Europeans and are proud of it. Many have a light brown skin and Caucasian features. Their "home" language is Ar i kaans although the better educated ones also speak English ffuently. D~ t he l a tter half of the Eighteenth Century and for some one hundred years thereaAer, their ancestors led a nomadic life outside the jurisdiction of the Cape Colony. The Basters trekked northwestward and about 1868 they crossed the Orange River in order to settle in South West Africa. A few years later they were in possession of an area which became known as Rehoboth Gebiet and which today covers about half a million hectares or slightly more than one million acres. The bitter wars between the Nama and the Herero> where they carried out relentless campaigns of total genocide, continued unabated, in and around the territory occupied by the Basters. And although the Basters usually remained neutral even though they suffered heavy losses from cattle-raids, not only from the wmring factions but also from Bushmen and Bergdamas, they ffnally joined a Nama tribe in 1881 in an attack against the Herero. Today, probably the most prominent cituen in Rehoboth is Dr. Benjamin Africa, a former District Surgeon, who is now in p rivate practice. He received his medical education at t h e University of Cape Town. As I was quite sick and running a fever by the time I got to the town of Rehoboth I was happy to

100

have him examine and treat me. During our discussion I leumd that like almost everybody I talked to in South West, he was completely opposed, to bvo things: uni6cation with South A&ica and "one man, one vote." One more point needs to be made. The Rehoboth Sasters, although considered, non-White are also diferent &om the Cape Coloured in appearance. All I could think of as I saw them on the dusty streets of Rehoboth is that they had the appearance and goodlooks of Lena Horne and Hmvy Sellafonte as Iremember them twenty-Sve years ago. The Coloured population of the Territory, like the Rasters, speak mainly ~ ans .T hey are to be found primarily in cities and towns such as Windhoek, Walvis Say, Luderitz and Keetmanshoop. The Chairman of the Executive Committee of the elected Colored Council of South West A&ica is Andrew J. F. Kloppers. He is a short, stocky, greying politician and. the father of Qteen children. He is also the leader of the Federal Party of South West A&ica — not to be confused or related to the Coloured Federal Party of South A&ica. I am going to quote him at some length because what this intelligent, well-informed and articulate man told me is typical of what virtually everybody ehe told me during my travels in South West. When I mentioned that Dirk M u dge, the leader of South West A&ica's Legislative Assembly said that "all options were open" as faras the future of the Territory was concerned, I asked if he thought this included the possibility of becoming an integral part of the Republic of South A&ica. Like everyone else I talked to, including Mr. Mudge, he replied in the negative. We don't want to be part and parcel of South A&ica; we want to work out our own salvation.. . to be an mdependent country... When Ispeak of independence I mean independence with the help of the Republic of South A&ica. There should be economic ties otherwise economically we will be very very badly oR'. When I asked him to comment on the forthcoming multiracial constitutional tahs he toM me that they cannot be postponed much longer —no more than a month or so. W e have time only to the 30th of September . . . T h e

101

Security Council has extended it to that date . . . i t is very important that we strengthen the hands of the Western Powers who are our &iends. They used their veto in the Security Council. I see no other alternative but that we should try to strengthen theix hands — America, France and

England.' Some time during the interview I asked, hixn who shouM be allowed to vote, a question which I asked everyone to whom I talked. Here, of course, I had in mind the battle cry of the "know-no~ " at th e U n i t ed. Nations:One hfan, OneVote! His immediate reply was: To start oK I want to make it quite clear that we cannot afford the introduction of one man, one vote. If we do that we' ll sign our death warrant because of the fact that the great majority of the inhabitants of this country are underdevelopai. The O w ambos, sptx:ificaily. H ow' are they going to govern us? You must undexstand that a country is not governed by a few intellectuals at the top; a country is governed by the masses. In a discussion about the future of South West A&ica, Mr. Kloppers, like virtually everyone else I met, was generaUy optimistic and like all non-Whites with whom I t alked, even though he was less reproachful, he made it clear that the ball was in the White man's court. Vfe have the determination to see that the constitutional talks are going to be a success. If the talks are successful then, of course, we are ready for a bright future. The Whites have changed a lot — there is a definite change of heart and that is of pl amount importance because they have the political power in their hands and they enjoyed all the rights and privileges in this country and now they are prepar& to share them with us. When I a sked him about " N a mibia," a t erm w h ich the United Nations and the U.S. State Department, among others, insists on using to designate South West A&ica, he laughed. He told me what practically everyone else toM me: that it was something somebody in New York had dreamed up. As far as he

knew, nobo@ in South West Afrxca —Black, Brown or White had been consulted on the nsefothis designation for South West Africa. It must

102

be pointed out, however, that I found two persons who held an entirely difFerent view. One was David Meroro, the Chairman of the South West Africa's People's O~ at ion (SWAPO) and the other was Bishop Leonard Auala, both of whom i~% be discussed later. One more point made by Mr. Kloppers bears repeating verbatim: One thing stands stark and undemable and that is that we should see to it that the interests of the minorities are protected.. . The minorities are all the groups other than the Owambos.. . T h e Coloureds will either sink or swim with the Whites. When I asked him to elaborate on this, he said: I can teil you a story about one of my sons who was a student at the University of Western Cape. He came back with his liberal ideas; he helped the Owambos tremendously and when he left for Cape Town again, they called him in and said, "Listen, you were very kind to us. We liked you a lot but you must understand, Andy, that the day we take over we' ll also kill you." So he said, "Why P" He was very disappointed. And they said, "because8%ite blood is sunning through your veins." The views expressed by some of the other recognized leaders I interviewed, especially when quoted verbatim, may help to throw further light on what the people who live in South West think. Specifically, I will present selected remarks of what I believe to be representative observations by David H. M eroro, Clemens Kapuuo, Filemon Klifas and Leonard Auala — all B lacks, and those of Sam D a vis, Brian O ' L in n an d D i r k Mudge — all Whites. I interviewed Mr. Meroro, the National Chairman of the South West People's Organization in his home in Katatura, an all-Slack township about two nules from downtown Windhoek. At first Meroro did not want to talk to me and failed to keep

an appointment earlier in the day. I had informed him over the telephone that I was a former American professor who was writing a book on South Africa which had a chapter on South West Africa and, that I wanted to get some of his views. When he questioned me I made it clear that the book was primarily

103

about %hite South A&icans but that I needed to have the opinions of some Back leaders like himself. An appointment was made for me to see him at his general store in Katatura early the following afternoon. ~en I arrived he was not there. One of the clerks told me in A&ikaans that»e did not know where he was nor when he would return. 4Vhen I told her that I had an appointment with him and that perhaps I should wait for him she indicated that I would be wastmg my time. After a few minutes another clerk told me that he had gone to %'indhoek on business. So I le&. oxen I returned later that afternoon, he was in his store but he ignored me. I waited and after about ten minutes h«arne out from behindthe counter and asked me what I wanted- Irepeated what I had told, him over the telephone and he suggested that I wait — which I did for about another half hour. Fmaiiy he asked. me to follow him in my car. He got into his Mercedes and shot off in a cloud of dust and dteve at high speeds o«r gra«l and dirt roads, kicking up stones and dust so that I had trouble keeping up with him both b~ use most of the time I co»dn't see through the dust and because my little Fiat could not negotiate the road at high speed. I was also fearful that I might hit some Slack child as I passed many of them along the side of the roads. Meroro made several stops at various houses. YVhen I got out aker the 6rst stop, thinking it was his home, and foHowed him into a small courtyard where he wm talking to several people he told me to wait for him in my car. That was ail — » explanation. After about Sve such stops, we got to his house. It is a small» four-roomed, government-built brick building with dust >om the road in evidence everywhere. It had an outside toilet and no electricity. I noticed that the house was wired for electricity and when I mentioned this he said that the government had failed to provide electric power. His rent is less than $10 per month. The home was poorly furnished and showed signs of neglect. He sat in a worn-out armchair and motioned to me to sit on a dilapidated, couch. Then he began questioning me agam obvious suspicion, so once again I repeated what I was trying do and why I wanted to talk to him. When I told him

104

had also been to Ovamboland and had interviewed Bishop Auah and Chief Elifas, he wanted to know how did I manage to get a pass to go thee as the government does not allow visitors. I told him "I just asked for a pass." I added that I dick not think I could get a balanced picture of the situation if I just talked to White government oKcials like Mr. van der W'alt (the Administrator of South West A&ica). A&er some initial skirmishing, we settled down to a discussion that I found most enlightenixg. Meroro, who is short for an Herero, appears to be convinced of a number of things which are summarized below. Besides being a businessman it was obvious that he is highly politicized and, like many White South African liberals and other militant Slacks, he is addicted to polemics rather than to facts. 1. When, for example, early in the interview, he complained that most Blacks are terribly poor and that the White man is to blame, I asked him how many children he had. When he told me that he had thirteen, I informed him that irrespective of the type of government or the skin colour of those in power, any man with thirteen children, even in a rich country like the United States, and especiMy if he's Black, is bound to be poor. That seemed to be a fact of life and that no amount of placing the blame on others would change it. It was obvious that this notion had neveroccurred to him before. 2. Regarding the forthcoming multi-racial round table conference or "constitutional talks" which were scheduled to start in Windhoek later in the year (subsequently set to start on 1 September 1975), he said, "We do not see any necessity for taking part in them.. . it is only the White man's plan in the same way as the separate homeland policy." 3. He is completely in favour of universal &anchise with "one man, one vote." Although he is a Herero he said he is not a&aid of being dominated by the Owambos. "We are all Namibians.. . all one people — Black people." 4. He has no objections to having the Whites who really belong in Namibia remain "as long as they are ruled by the Black Government." When I inquired about sharing power with the Whites he said he did not understand what I meant. When I elaborated he did not seem to think that I was asking a relevant

105

question. So I persisted, pointing out that at present, Blacks did not share any meaningful power with the Whites. The question was: if the Blacks came to power would they treat the %Rites the way the Whites had treated the Blacks and seek revenge, the way they were doing in Mozambique and Angola, for

example P Or did he etage some kind of multi-racial society

in which aQ ethnic and racial groups would have a say in the government 2 He launched into a polemical monologue, reiterating that Namibia was a Black country and the real people of this country are the Black people but the Black people did not want revenge on the>Qdte people. However, he never answered my question so I went on to another subject 5. When I asked him if the term "Namibia," which he had been using„had been chosen by the people of South West A&ica or if it had been imposed from without, he was vague and went OH on atangent that had no~ t o d ow ith my question. Finally, he said, "I don't have any historical documents, so I can' t say." But he made it clear that he approved of the term, just as he approved the name changes in much of the rest of Africa such as Tanzania for Tanganyika and Zambia for Northern Rhodesia. 6. Meroro was quite enthusiastic about the new confederation of political parties caHed the ~~amibian National Convention (NKC) which he stated represented aH the major Black political groups. When I asked if this induded the Coloured group headed by Mr. Kloppers he replied that it did not because Kloppers was not interested in real change, only in improvement. WVhen I asked if it included the Owambos he said it most certainly did but added that Chief Klifas and his group of Owambm were not included . When I pointed out that Klifas was the recognized leader of all the Owambos, or of most of them as I understood it he said, "Elifas and his Owambo Government is not a ~ember.. . because he is not the chief of the Owambos; he's been appointed by the government. .. he was not elected by the Owambo people. Later he admitted that Elifas did represent some Owambos but only about 25 / an d that they were the most backward ones, mostly those "without ambition " Before I left I asked Meroro if there was anythmg he would

106

hke to ask me and for the next hour or so he pHed me with questions about America. Most of them were not really questions but statements, couched in half-baked Marxian terms such as: America is a big, imperialist, capitalist country which exploits other people and "I w ould l ike to ask which countries it is colonizing now?" Some of his comments sounded hke they had been dreamed up by a naive junior pohtical script writer in Moscow or Peking. At one point he asked, "I want to know how is the standard of education with the Americans and the Black people in your country (I found out that by "Americans" he meant Whites). After I outlined the former inequities in the "separate but equaF* policy prior to the 1954 Supreme Court decision, and even for a long time after that milestone, I told him about the

"afhrmative action program" which was in full su~ when I

le& the United States in 1972. I explained that the last university in wtuch I taught was spending money beating the bllshes to try to Sad Slacks and members of some other minorities whom they could induce to come to study at the university in order to fill real or implied quotes. Meroro's reaction was, "But why the quota? Why were not the majority of the students Slacks?' * I explamed to him that in my country, the so-caHed Blacksmany of whom are lighter-skinned than I am — constituted only about 11/,' of the population and that the Whites were the majority. Yo my amazement, I discovered that this was news to him. His favourite expressions seemed to be White Imperialism" and W h ite Oppression." He also complained that the White man had not done enough to raise the educational level (I heard this repeatedly from many other Blacks) of Black people in South West Africa. He added that when we "become liberated" he expected the Whites of South A&ica to provide them with outright gifts for education, proper housing and "development" because they owe it to the Blacks. After about the fiifth time that he equated the United States with "A%ate I found myself saying, "Well, there has been a great deal of White Imperialism" I f ound myself saying, "Well, there has been a great deal of White Imperialism o n the part of England and F~ c e and HoHand in the past.. .

Impe rialism"

107

md even today there may be some. And then there is Russian imperialism — the most successful imperialism of the last ~ years or so. And 6nally, let us not forget Black imperialism and Black tenor and Black persecution- in Nigeria, Central A&scan Republic, Zaire, Chad, Uganda, Burundi and Lesotho — to name a few Black countries... and whether you know it or not Mr. Meroro, since %world W'ar Two, hardworking American taxpayers have poured billions of dollars into poor, underdeveloped countries and then they insult us and they spit on us. And you want to know something — as an American I And it oH'ensive and I resent it t" As I look back what strikes me is that he wasn't upset or oH'ended by my verbal attack; he just seemed to be puzzled As

I was about to leave, Merero offered to show me the way out. He drove slowly and led me to the paved road that ran to Windhoek. There we both stopped our cars, got out and shook hands warmly as we said goodbye. My overall impression of Merero was that of a tense, serious, basically friendly man who had limited knowledge about matt ers he professed to know about and was completely ~ or m e d about many others. He seemed to have been indoctrinated into believing that anything a White man says or does is, at best, suspect and, at worst, designed to keep the Black man down or destroy him. However, I think he is the kind of man I could learn to respect and even to like because behind his wild, accusations I detected a genuine curiosity and a child-like w~ ess to get at the truth. The pity is that, given the context of Black A&ican pohtics now or in the forseeable Qture, men like him will not be permitted, to know the truth. Militant Blacks and "liberal" Whites will see to that. Besides Meroro, there were two other miEtant Blacks whom I wished to interview. One was Gershon Veii, an anti-Kapuuo Herero and the leader of one of the many tiny splmter groupsthe South West A&ica National Organization (SWM'U) — and Daniel Tjongarero, the young "Publicity Secretary" of the r~ cently-formed Namibian National Convention (NCC). K 1961, p. 9. Besides Levins~'s bpph much of the material in this chapter has been delved from the following other secondary spur&%: South It est AfriereSuroey 1974> Pretoria: Gpv>t printer, 1975; I. Gpldblatt, H ~ o f South IYcst Afrieo from tho 9ogisaisg of the nineteenth Costar+ Cape Tow t Juta, 1971; Murid Horrell, South W'est A frios, Johannesburg: Sp + Akican Institute of Race Rdations, 1967; Sam Davis, South N est A~ Aasrurl 1974 and 797$, Wmdhpeh: South West A&ica Pub4cations> 1 7~ and 1975 as wdl as various U.N. documents and reports. Aho consulted were reports issued by the Sputh West African Admirustratlon particularly South WrestApku A>frsiaistr>stu>a—~ice Paper oa sItoDigerost Broaches for I9M In a d d ition, English-language newspapers and magasines> prunartly m S«th Africa, have ahp been consulted. And fmaQy> da™ gathered by the author during a three.wed', 6 QQQ hilometre car trip tp »uth West Africa in June 1975 are also included whenever indicated. 2. Here he is referring to Von Trotha's notorious order which he issued on 2 October 1%H shortly after he had been sent to South West Irpm Germany tp put down the Hererp rebellion. The test fpllowst I, the great General of the German soldiers send this message to « Herero people, Hererps ate np longer German subjects. They have murdered and robbed and havecut offthe ears and noses and other parts of the body of wounded soldiers, and npw out of cowardice they retuse to 6ght.. . W hoever brings in Samud Maherero will receive 5 QQQ marhs. The Herero people must depart from the country* If they

120

do not, I shall force them to do it, with large cannons. Within the German boundariesevery Herero, whether found armed orunarmed, with or without cattle, will be shot... (Goldblatt p. 131) 3. "Boer"in this content does not mean Afrikaner farmer but is a term of hatred and derision used by some Blacks against any White man. 4. On 12 June 1968 the General ~ bly overwhelmingly adopted Resolution 2372 (XXII) which, among other things, 1. Proclaimsthat in accordance with the desires of its people South West A&ica shall henceforth be kntnvu as "Namibia"; 2. Decides that the United Nations Council for South West A&ica shall be called "United Nations Council for Namibia and that the United Nations Commissioner for South West Africa shall be called United Nations Commissioner for Namibia."Thefact that item(1) isa baQfaccdlic — that thcPcopklioinginSouth 8'cst APicaucrcnot consulted — and that nobody chcdkugedthis lk is only onc of the innumcrabk euampks of the moral sickness uhich has infected the United Rations tohcn dealing with nusttcrs+ aecting SouthAfrica and South West Africa. 5. I doubt if there is any White South A&ican who would have had the temerity to bring up the question of birth control with a Black A&ican Chief, let alone to suggest that Black men should be sterihzed. But as an American who is deeply concerned about the tragedy of overpopulation aud who is not worried about being labelled a "racist" by Blacks (only some White hberals have done so in this context) I have no hesitancy in bringing this up. I hasenotyet found a BEachman or a Cokurcd man toho uas not uilling to listen to me, nor haoe Ifound oneuho took oginsc. 6. On 16 August 1975 Elifas was gunned down outside a &iend's house. Pastor ¹ C. Ndjoma, the former Minister of Education, became the Chief and he told the pram that he and other Owlnbos would attend the round table discussions on the future of South West Africa as planned. 7. This was formerly the United South West Party. It has since severed its ties with the United Party in South A&ica and is known as the Federal Party of South West A&ica, O'Linn has remained as leader of this party.

espe cially

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, ~ UNI T E D N ATIONS AND SOUTH %VEST AFRICA I'm ratherhoPefnl that Ioeuri7l be able to solve our Probkms by peaceful means. From an interview with Kurt Dahlmann, Editor of the Hllgemeine gritnng,

WVindhoek, 9 June 1975 After the end of the First World War, certain states including South A&ica put forth strong claims for the annexation of the conquered territories that they had, occupied during the war. Others wanted some form of international control over such territories and thus arose the idea of a mandate system under which the administering states would act as mandatories on behalf of the League of Nations. A compromise was embodied in Article 22 of the Covenant of the League which a~as incorporated in the Treaty of Versailles. On 17 December 1920 the Council of the League con6rmed the Inandate for South West A&ica and defIned its terms.' The functions of the League of Nations in regard to the mandates were to be exercised by the Council and the Assembly of the League and the Permanent Mandates Commission. It was to the Council speci6cally that the mandatories were to render annual reports and it was to the Council that they were ultimately accountable. The Council alone had the power to make decisions about mandates and to make recommendations to the mandatories. The Covenant of the League provided that, with minor exceptions, any decisions of the Council could only be made by unanimous vote. Vhe practical of these provisionswas that no d'ecision concerning u nnvutate cmdd be mad'e ugainst the Inishes f o themmufat oryconcerned. Supervision of the administration of the various mandates by the Council of the League of Xations, acting with the assistance of the Permanent Mandates Commission, continued Rom the inception of the Mandate System until the outbreak of the

diect

Second World War, which brought an end to the meeting of these bodies. Throughout the war, South A&ica regularly submitted annual reports concerning South West A&ica to the League of Nations regarding its administration of the Territory. The United Nations, although established as World War Two was terminating began to be seriously considered in the Moscow Declaration of 30 October 1943 issued by the United States, Great Britain, China and the Soviet Union when they expressed the need for an international body to replace the virtually defunct League of Nations.' During the San. Francisco Conference (25 April — 26 June 1945), the 50 states represented created the United Nations. The charter of this organization was signed by all the representatives and it became effective on 24 October 1945, by which time the war had been terminated in Asia as well as in Europe. The old League of Nations continued to exist side by side with the United Nations but it was preparing to wind up its aHairs. On 18 April 1946 the Assembly of the League held its final session and adopted its fi~ r e solution which stated that on the following day it would cease to exist.' By 1963, sixty new countries had been admitted to the United Nations making a total of 110 and by 1975 the number had grown to 138. The great majority of the new member states have come &om the so-caHed Third World — primarily &om those countries who, because of the votmg tactics, have become known as the A&o-Asian Bloc. In terms of population these countries have included sparsely inhabited areas such as Botswana with less than one million people to the colossus of Communist China with some 800 000 000 inhabitants. Most of these new or "emerging countries" have high birth rates and falling death rates. The latter is due to the work of organizations such as the Food. and Agricultural Administration and the World Health Organization. With the exception of China these countries have high rates of illiteracy and, except for a small ruling elite in each, widespread poverty. With one or Nvo minor exceptions they can only be viable — if one stretches the use of the term — because of the continued, charity of the Western industrialized nations. In recent years, for less than altruistic reasons, help has also been forthcoming from some

Communist States and this help has induded large quantities of military equipment. As far as South A&ica is concerned, in view of the Communist weapons supplied to Angola and Mozambique, such "help" can hardly be considered academic. Furthnmore, the recent establishment of a Communist Chinese nnbassy in Gabarone, the capital of Botswana, a few miles north of the South A&ican border cannot be viewed with unanimity. Nor can South A&ica alford to shrug off the tens of thousands of Chinese Communists who have been building the recently completed Tanzam Raihvay &om Tanzania to Zambia. The profound changes in the composition of the United Nations has had a dubious eHect on that body and its a%1iated agencies. Some think that by almost any standards such changes can hardly be construed to have been. in the best interests of the United States and in recent years, albeit reluctantly, I have come to share that view. Furthermore, one cannot help but wonder if, in fact, developments in the U.¹ d u r ing the two decades following the spate of newly "liberated" or "de-colonized" states, the world as a whole — including said "liberated" statesis better oH' than it might have been. The cynical political manoeuverings of the T h ird World states, with or without being abetted by the Communist Bloc (as in the case of the disastrous disruption of the 6rst %'orld Population Conference in Bucharest in 1974) have not only been inimical to the United States but these groups of nations have been less than reticent about ganging up on South Africa. And they seemed to have reserved their most vitriolic invectives and threats when attempting to deal with the vexing problems rw lated to South Nest A&ica. It is incumbent upon us to remember that both the United States of America and the Republic of South A&ica (formerly the Union of South Africa) were among the founding nations of the U.¹ B o t h countries have contmued to give moral and 6nancial support to the United Nations since it began operations in 1945. Furthermore, the American taxpayers have repeatedly and almost continuously contributed about 25/ o f t h e total budget of the United Nations while the South A&ican Government, which is constantly viiiaed by most U.N. members, has

scrupulously paid its annual dues. It must also be remembered that many of South A&ica's most vociferous critics either claim that they cannot pay their dues or they refuse to do sp. The thanks that the American taxpayer continues to receive &pm his "less fortunate brothers," particularly those Black A&ican countries, is that he has not done enough: we must give them more because by some strange and insane logic, we owe 1t tp then'. % e A m ~ c a nst I am told m my travels m Africa, must give them more money, more favoured trade agreements, more technical aid, more food and, pf course, mpre armaments. But we must also stop doing business with Rhode sia and with South Africa — probably the only two countries in A&ica which have never held then' hands out and begged pr demanded anything &om the United States. I do not know Rhodesia wdl enough but I do know that as far as South A&ica and

South Quest A&ica are concerfed,the standard of iioing for Blacks man for man — is higher than that of any of the "liberated" black states. The Charter of the United Nations made no provision for the Mandate System devised by the League of Nations. Provision was made, however, by Chapters 12 and 13 of the Charter, for the establishment under the authority of the U.N. pf an Inter natiorml Trusteeship System for the administration and supervision of certain dependent territories. Among the territories which, in terms of the Charter might be placed under the Trusteeship System, were those held under the I.eague man dates. 17iis boasto be purely on a voluntary basis. South Africa made it clear &om the start de i t had no intention of placing South West A&ica under the Trusteeship System. Statements were made to this el&et at the San Francisco Conference in 1 gpss and consistently thereafter at meetings of U.N. bodies. Not only did South A&ica refuse to come under the Trustee ship System but in 1946 it submitted for the approval p f the General Assembly its proposal for the annexation pf South West A&ica. Among the reasons cited for such annexation was the fact that the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants pf the Territory — both Black and White — were in favpur pf be coming incorporated with South A&ica. The on>eral Assembly rejected the proposal because, amon other things, it claimed that the Blacks had not reached a stage

of development enabling them to express an opinion on such an important matter. In other words, they were mostly illiterate, unsophisticated and too backward to be able to come to a rational or intelligent decision regarding their political future.4 Nell, after ~ yea r s, despite prodigious e8'orts and hun-

dredsof millions of doilms spent on Blacks by the White South A&ican Government, by Protestant and Catholic church missions and schools, and by American foundations and other foreign groups, the vast majority of Blacks in South A&ica as well as in South West A&ica, although enjoying a much higher standard of living than other Black A&leans, are still iKterate, unsophisticated and backward. And they haven't the vaguest idea of what we mean by " D emocracy." However, the few clever ones that do are only interested in giving lip service to "democratic ideals" as a means of o h~< pow e r . In this context I 6nd it strange that according to the truculent, vociferous and self-styled South West A&ican experts at the U.¹ a n d i n W a shington, London, Cairo, the H ague, Stockhohn and Moscow — not to mention Lusaka and Kampala — these same indigenous Blacks are supposed to take over the running of South West A&ica because they are the majority. All dds is supposed to be in the name of democracy — a "democracy" which would trample on the rights of the Brown and W hite minorities. If this does not set the stage for an ~ ell i a n nightmare, it certainly does for a scenario called, Insanity —a phenomenon with which I have had many years of professional experience. After South West A&ica must come Rhodesia — or is Rhodesia going to be 6rst on the time table P And Snally, the arm-chair strategists and the bully boys envisage the most coveted prize of

all' The Repubhc of South Afnca < The further away these "experts" and bullies are &om Southern A&ica the more convinced I become that their abysmal ignorance, cloaked i n slogans such as "oppressive whites.. . capitalist imperialism... police state... one man, one vote..." and the most abused of all the catch-words "democracy" — are the kind of double-talk that George Orwell portrayed so cogent-

ly and &ighteningly in his book, 1984. I wouM urge militant, Nhite-hating but Black-loving Whites and those Blacks, who

127

are not iHiterate, to read this prophetic book. And for those American liberals who read it a quarter of a century ago, a rw reading, in the light of recent developments, may have a salutary eKect. It nnght even help to shake them out of their lethargy. AI'ter the refusal of the U.N. to allow the annexation of South West A&ica, the Territory continued to be debated, and argued about until 1949 when the General Assembly decided to ask the International Court of Justice for an Advisory Opinion concerning the international status of South West. Such an opinion was delivered on 11 July 1950. The fourteen members of the Court who participated were unanimously of the view that the mandate for South West A&ica was stiH in force. Among other things, a majority ruled that South A&ica was not under a legal obligation to conclude a trusteeship agreement in respect to South West A&ica. Thee endings were in general accord with the views expressed in 1946 by Gen. Jan Smuts, the then Prime Minister of South A&ica. Over the ensuing years eHorts were made to find a solution to the impasse. These took the form of negotiations between South A&ica and organs or agencies of the United Nations appointed for that purpose. The negotiations show+i, however, that the majority of the members of the U.¹ w o uld not be satis6ed with any arrangement unless its e8'ect was to bring the Territory under the control and supervision of the United Nations. Such a "solution" was understandably totally unacceptable to South

A&ica. In June 1960, at a conference of independent A&ican States, held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia — one of A&ica's more vicious dictatorships — the governments of Ethiopia and Liberia, on the basis of having formerly been members of the of Nations, hit on a new tactic to bring South A&ica to heel. They imhcated their intention of t ahng l egal action against South A&ica in th e I n t ernational Court of Justice. These contentious proceedings started on 4 November 1960 and dragged on until 1966. Commenting on this and other events, Paul S. van der Merwe, the current Deputy Speaker of the South A&ican Parliament, who also happens to be a real audiunp on South West — in contrast to ~ ixl e x p erts like the ex-patriate Sam Nujoma or

Leam

the U.N. "C ommissioner for Namibia", t he celebrated Sean Macbride — stated. in part: Since the opening of the erst plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly more than twenty-three years ago on January 10, 1946, the subject of South West A&ica has occupied much time atul energy of this world organization with monotonous r a rity and persistency, and it has Sled voluminous records — completely out of proportion with its importance, since it is one of the most arid, thinly populated, and ostensibly insigni6cant countries in the world today. During the two decades of acrimonious manoeuvre and intrigue more than seventy resolutions have been passed on this issue by the General Assembly, several ad ho c c ommittees were appointed, many volumes of hearsay and unsubstantiated evidence were collected, more than nine hundred meetings of various committees and sub-committees were called, numerous petitioners were interviewed, and no less than four times were issues rdated to South West A&ica considered by the International Court of J ustice.. . The student of international afFairs is immediately struck by the preoccupation of the United Nations with South West A&ica, especiaHy in view of the inability of this organization to solve any of the real major world problems. One of them is the dire food shortage which threatens modern civilization.' Ethiopia and Liberia wished to obtain declarations &om the World Court that the mandate was still in existence and that the General Assembly of the United Nations had succeeded to the supervisory functions formerly exercised in the case of mandates by the Council of the League of Nations. It must be remembered that rulings in contentious proceedings such as this one, unlike culoisop opisionsfothe Court, tooukl be bi+hug and en forceable. The Applicants — Ethiopia and Liberia — did not limit their to tham aspects of the matter. They also contended that South A&ica had been guilty of a number of violations of the mandate, the most important of which related to Article 2, Paragraph 2 of the mandate which states: The mandatory shaH promote to the utmost the material

129

and moral well-being and the social progress of the inhabitants of the Territory subject to the present Mandate. It was claimed that South A&ica had violated this article by the political, economic, social and educational policies it applied in the Territory.' It was further alleged that South A&ica bad, in contravention of the mandate, established military bases in

the Texxitory and had, pursued a deliberate policy of unilateral

Territory

piecemeal incorporation of the into the then Union of South A&ica. The main issue on the merits revolved around the alleged contraventions of Article 2 (2) of the mandate quoted above. The Applicants further claimed that the political, educational, economic and social policies applied. in the Territoxy — namely, "apartheid" — were oppressive in nature and were designed for the speci6c purpose of subordinating the interests of the indigenous peoples to those of the Whites.' In very comprehensive pleadings, South A&ica sought to correct what were contended to be false or distorted versions of facts presented by the Applicants. It also provided the perspective in which diH'erent pohcies and measures were to be seen, and sought to demonstrate that the policies in question were designed for the bene6t of aH population groups in the Territory. It also o8'ered to call thirty-eight witnmes to testify in court. In addition it invited the Court to visit the1eritop in order to see for itself robotaetmxlly tonk ploce there. Ethiopia and Liberia did not attempt to controvert South A&ica's presentation. As a matter of fact, the course of the oral proceedings they admitted as true aQ of the facts presented by South A&ica. They also amended their formal allegations so as to delete all references to the alleged oppressive intent or effects of South A&ica's policies. However, and this is extremely significant, theyalso vigorously opposedthe proposnl for on inspection by the Court fothe territory and the eo(ling fo Nitnesses. The Applicants then limited themselves to the contention that certain admitted features of the South A&ican policies contravened an alleged international human rights norm of non-discrimination and non-separation. They further claimed that such a rule had been created prunarily by the activities of

dung

impa rtial

130

the United Nations and de it should be applied in interpreting Article 2 {2) of the mandate. South A&ica disputed the existence of such a "rule" or its appHcabilip to A r ticle 2 (2). In support of its denial it presented, among other things, oral testimony of thirteen experts to show such a rule was not observed in the laws and ofEcial practices of at least 6fty states and territories of the world. These included both Liberia and Ethiopia and thirty-eight other members of the United Nations and, furthermore, that in many parts of the world, including South A&ica and South West A&ica, enforcement of such a rule would cause bloodshed and chaos. The Applicants did not attempt to controvert this testimony. Regarding the aHeged establishment of military bases, Gen. * S. L. A. Marshall, the American mili tary expert was called as a witness. Gen. Marshall stated that he had visited the Territory in 1965 on two occasions and that it contained no military bases. He added that South West A&ica "is less militarized and more under-armed than any territory of its size I have ever seen in the world" In Pdp, 1965; the World Court rjcccledall ef the clothesmudcbp Ethiopia hand Liberia This decision was reached by the casting of the vote of the President of the Court after it had divided 7 to 7. Without deciding on whether or not the mandate was still in existence, the Court held that, even if it were, Ethiopia and Liberia had no legal right or interest to question the performance of South A&ica regarding the matters to which their complaints were related. A decision on this antecedent point made it unnessary for the Court to express itself on the merits of the further issues referred to above. FoHowing the Court'sjudgencnt the South West A&ica issue returned to the political arena where it has remained ever since. EVhat foHows is a brief outline, admittedly incomplete, of some of the major developments up to the ultimatum embodied in the Security Council resolution of 17 December 1974. In the debate, which opened on 23 September 1966, it w as proposed that South A&ica's a ~ trati o n o f t h e Territory should be terminated and handed over to the United Nations. The emotional attitudes prevailing were soon apparent from the manner in which the speakers con-

demned the Court as a prelude to condemning South Af'6ca. Cert~ d elegates went to the l~ of at t a cking not only the competence but also the integrity of eminent judges, and of urging major changes in the composition of t he Court. . . Regarding South Africa's policies, there were repeated statements that they were oppressive of the indigenous inhabitants and that they were aimed at keeping the majority under permanent domination by a minority, denying selfdetermination to the former and exploiting them in aH

spheres of life. In other records,all the churgeswhschhud been abandoned in the contentious proceedings werevered o aguin withont ad uttemPt at snbstuntiation. ..s In May 1967, the General Assembly passed a resolution appointing a United Nations Council for South West Africa which, among other things, was to take over the administration of the Territory, with the maximum participation of its inhabitants, until it became independent. The target date for independence was set forJune 1968. Nothing came of this and in 1968 another of the interminable, futile and mostly ludricous resolutions was passed by the General ~e mbly wherein it called on the Security Council to take proper measures to insure the removal of South A&ica &om the Territory and to secure its independence. This was the same resoluin South tion(2372 — XXII) where, without consulting the p West A&ica, its name was capriciously changed to "Namibia." Starting in 1969, however, most U.N. activities relating to South West Africa have taken place in the Security Council. Among this body's spate of resolutions, reprimands and threats have been stern disapproval of any nation doing business with South A&ica or maintaining diplomatic relations with her. But then came a twist in the predominant U.N. "party line." In resolution 309 of February 1972, the Security Council invited Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary-General, to reopen contacts with all parties concerned with a view of bringing about conditions whereby the peoples of "Namibia" could exercise their right of self-determination and independence. So a month later, Dr. Waldheim visited the Republic of South A&ica and the Territory of South West A&ica.

eople

132

During discussions with Mr. Vorster, South A&ica's Prime Minister, the latter reiterated what had already been communicated to the United Nations on more than one occasionnamely, that it was his government's policy to provide for the self-determination of all the peoples of South Nest A&ica — but in a peaceful and orderly fashion. As a result of Gus visit, it was agreed that Naldheim would appoint a personal emissary to gather additional facts and to assist in achieving such an objective. Subsequently, Al&ed M. Escher was appointed for this task and in October 1972 he made an extensive tour of the Territory which brought him into contact with representatives of all population groups. Durmg tny own fact-6RdII1g tour of South West A&lca 1Q June 1975 I talked to a number of people of all skin colours who had met with Dr. Escher. Nithout exception they stated that they thought he was impartial and that he seemed genuinely interested in the truth and in getting all points of view. On 2 November 1972, the South A&ic~ Prime Minister aud Dr. Escher agreed that the substance of their discussions would be recorded as foHomv: 1. Taking into account the debate that took place m curity Council on the report of the Secretary-General, my consultations with the Group of Three as well as with the Aid Memoire, I asked the ~ e M ini s ter of his Government's policy on self-determination and independence with regard to

Namibia (South Nest A&ica). 2. The Prime Minister indicated that, apart &orn what he had already told the Secretary in March 1972 m was not the appropriate stage to go into a detailed discussion of the interpretation of self-determination and independencethis could be done with better results once the necessary conditions are establiished and the inhabitants have had more ad~t rat i ve and political experience. 3. tn the light of this reply, and considering that the man date of the Secretary-General was "to continue his contacts with all parties concerned, with a view of establishing the necessary conditions so asto enable the people of Namibia, freely and with strict regard to the principle of human equality, to exercise their right to self-determination and ixuiependence, in ac-

133

cordance with the Charter of the United Nations," I enquired whether we could discuss practical steps lading to the exercise of selfMetermination. 4. The Prime M i nister believed that experience in selfgovernment was an essential element of eventual self-determination. Searing in mind the circumstances he felt that this could best be achieved on a regional basis. 5. This seemed acceptable to me in principle provided that the necessary conditions for the exercise of seIf-determination were ~ ed, a n d at the same time an authority for the whole territory ~ould be established. 6. The Prime Minister said he would be prepared to establish an advisory council drawn &om representatives of the various regions, regional governments or authorities, and he would assume overall responsibiTity for the territory as a whole — i.e. distinct &om the Ministries now responsible for diferent sectors. 7. I also enquired whether the Government would consider the abolition including the existing legislation on &eedom of movement and &eedom of speech, including the right to hold meetings. 8. The Prime Minister stated. that to a large extent curbs on &eedom of movement were necessitated by the need to exercise inSux control, which was in the interests of all inhabitants of the territory. He would examine the possibiTity of removing restrictions without impairing inBux control. 9. The Prime M i nister further indicated that he was in agreement that there should be legitimate political activity including &eedom of speech and the holding of meetings.~ Upon his retuxn to New York, Dr. Escher recommended to the Secretary-General that in view of the positive elements that had emerged &om his discussion with Mr. Vorster, the United Nations should continue its contacts with South A&ica vis-a-vis the solutions of the problems of South West A&ica. Apparently this did not satisfy the hot heads and the bully boys, not to mention those who make their living as professional

%hite South A&ica haters and who would be out of a job if a peaceful and satisfactory solution took place. These people and some of their feOow-travellers have convinced me that they wiH

n ever be satis6ed with anything less than the blood of th e White man — not only in South A&ica and in South West A&ica, but all over Southern A&ica as the recent events in Angola and Mozambique bern tragic witness- Another indication of this that on 11 December 1973, another resolution was rammed through the Security Council again terminating any formal, legal> civj4zed contacts with South A&lca OB.the question of South %Vest A&ica. From my erst hand observations and investigations, both m South Africa and the Territory, I beheve that m Sve years pr less, the peoples of South West will not only exercise their right to selfMeterminatipn but that they will de6nitely decide to become an independent nation. There is also a good possibility that they will choose to split the Territory into two parts — namely, that the Owambos e% opt for separate independence for Ovamboland (or whatever they decide to call it ) jn the north, and that aH the other groups will stick together to form an independent South West A&ica (or whatever name thy decide to call it) out of the rest of the Territory. On 23 October 1974, in a statement to the South A&ican Senate, the Prime Mnister stated as unequivocally as any rational person can possibly say it that, I am convinced that there is only one solution to this proble~ namely that the peoples of South West A&ica be allowed to decide their own future without being hampered or disturbed. I believe that fi outsiders should be involved, tohoever they mug be, this could kad to greater confusion instead of greater claritp being brought about in regard to this matter. I still believe today, as I put it to both Dr. Waldheim and Dr. Kscher, that one of the top priorities as far as South West A&ica is concerned, is that the peoples of that territory should be a8orded the opportunity, as indeed they are being a8orded now, to gain experience so that they may eventuaHy exercise their r i gh t o f s e l f-determinatjon.

(Italics added) On 16 June 1975, when I interviewed Mr. Dirk Mudge, the Leader of the Legislative Assembly of South West A&ica, he satd: Personally I fe el very optimistic about the future. Of

course there's not going to be any easy solution to our problem as a result of our very complicated situation here and t he population consisting of several groups. ~ mea n s that it's going to be very 11%cult to find a satisfactory solution. But personally, I think that if people are realistic and if we would only be kft alone by the outsid'e world, it may be possible for us to make history in South West. So I'm not pessimistic at all. (Italics added). • La t er that same day, before terminating an interview with Mr. Andrew K l oppers, the leader of South West A&ica's Coloured Community, I asked him if he had any message for the American pubhc — an~ he wou l d hke me to teQ the people of my country, and this is what he mid. Yes, Number one, you can tell the American public that they are on the wrong road poEtically, as far as South West A&ica is concerned, when they accept that SWAPO is the sole representative of the peoples of South West Africa. Number two — that they must give us a chance to work out our own probkms and soke them ourselves.We are in a position to do it. Thirdly, that there is a definite change of heart &om the side of the White man and because of this change of heart, which is changing very rapidly, I quite see a glorious future for us in South West Africa. 0 e have the co-operationfoall the peoples except SN'APO. If they'0 just give us a chance, we' ll soh e our problems to the satisfaction of the outside world.

(Italics added). And then, almost as an afterthought, he added, "We have twelve ethnic groups and out of the twelve ethnic groups we have at least twenty-six political organizations." As a liberal American observer, who has been assiduous in trying to dig for facts, both in the field as well as in libraries and archives, the phenomenon that continues to amaze me is the persistence of the "Anti-N'hite South A&ican Knee Jerk Syndrome" mentioned earlier. It is not an ocassional manifestation, nor is it limited to Communists, militant Blacks, real or phony White liberals, or revolutionaries. It seems to be a worldwide phenomenon and it rears its irrational head regularly,

ubiquitously and tenaciously, not only "overseas" but in South A&ica as well A u d w h en i t c omes to South West A&ica, the hostiEty index, the pulse rate and the decibel level climb even higher. When Margaret Mead, the doyenne of American anthropology, visited South A&ica for the 6rst time in 1974, she made a signi6cant observation at her 6rst meeting in Cape Town. She told us that she was baNed at the reactions of her feliowAmericans when she mentioned her forthcoming trip to South A&ica. "When I told my friends that I planned to visit South Africa, everyone of them had a 6t." I am sure that if she had told. them that she planned to visit South West A&ica, each of them would have had two "6ts." At this same meeting, which was multi-racial, she was asked by a White young lady if, while she was in the northern part of the country, she had visited any of the Black "toimships or locations like Soweto." Dr. Mead replied in the aSrmative. Then the young lady asked, "Have you ever seen such terrible slums anywhere else during your travels 7' Mead's prompt reply was, "Yes — Caracas, Rio, Chicago and New York City — especially Harlem, only they were worse!" As a corollary to Dr. M ead's observattons, I would, hke to sununarize what happens when I write to colleagues and friends — some of whom I have known intimately for decades and who are famiTiar with my long record as an active American liberal. Their reactions seem to fall into the following categories. 1. %'hen they reply they make no comments about the things I write to them about South A&ica or other parts of Southern ~c a — for example, when I explain the pros and cons of apartheid or separate development, or inform them that "Namibia" is a term invented by outsiders and that the people living in South West A&ica were not consulted about it. 2. They write back that they don't believe me and indicate that something must have happened to me — maybe I' ve been "brain-washed.'~o 3. I know what goes on in the "police state" in which I 6nd myself but for some unknown reasons I do not dare to write and teR the truth." 4. I know the truth but I a m i n venting lies about South

137

A&ica and South Vilest A&ica for some ulterior or nefarious 5. And Snally, some simply stop writing. This includes people with whom I have had an interesting and &uitful correspondence for many years. Although these are not the only reactions, it is true of most of them. Since virtually all of my &iends, relatives and colleagues are liberals of various hues, the only conclusion I can draw is that they are the ones who have been conditioned or "programmed." Consequently, they cannot accept or even give some consideration to the truth because it would be in conBict with their cherished beliefs. If this is the case and iT they are representative of liberals in America and other democracies, then it is both a pity and a tragedy as it bodes no good for the future of Vfestern Civilization as will be discussed in detail in the next chapter. Before moving on to the next chapter I would like to reproduce a letter I sent to the United Nations after I had been in South A&ica for about seven months. Some of the information and impressions in this letter are s~ t o t h o se sent to &iends and relatives at that time.

17 May 1973 Mr. M. C.J. Ha~

on

Technical Assistance Raxuitment Service OKce of Personnel United Nations, New York United States of America Dear Mr. Harrington: This is to inform you that last year I accepted a teaching position in South A&ica and that I expect to remain here for a few

years My wive and I never dreamed we would come here as I was seriously considering several teaching posts on the European Continent. As both of our children are grown up, 6nancially independent, and married, we 6nally felt really &ee to go wherever we wished. In February, 1972 I received an unexpected invitation to come

138

here for an interview and fell in love with beautiMi Cape Town. Later when the University ofkmd me the post — even though it was at a salary considerably lower than what I was earnmg in the U.S. — my wife and I decided I shouM accept it. Except for the time when I was studying for my doctor's degree many yeats ago, I have never worked so hard in my life but I am enjoying every minute of it. As you know, like the other countries on thiis continent, this is also a developing country and there is so much to do with relatively few resources available. Besides heavy teaching responsibilities, most of my spare time is spent in studying this complex and fascinating country in which I Snd many parallels with American history, culture, and pxeblems. Among other ~ w e t o ok a 5 000 km trip around the country when we visited sixteen of the eighteen social work ~g cen t res. VEe also visited the Transkei, which reminds me of the Indian reservations in the U.S.A. My wife and I have made and continue to make special efForts t o meet A&ikaners. I have also been studying A&ik~ s i n ce arriving here. But the more I learn, the more convinced I become that if the colossal problems facing this troubled land are

to be solved equitably and humanely, in the 6nal analysis it weal have tobe done by the A&ikaner people and not by some "ex-

perts" in New York, London or Addis Ababa. In any event I t hought I would let you know that I am no longer available for any long-tenn assignment with the U.N. Technical AssitanceProgram but that I couM be avaBable for short periods of consultation or teaching of not longer than a month or so. My wife is learning aH she can about the frightening population explosion in South A&ica and hopes to do some work in this area later on as she has had a great deal of experience in family

planning programs. She joins me in sending you our bestregards. Sincerely Joseph Andriola"

ncog coincidence that on 17 Desember 1974 — 6&y-four years later — the Security Council of the United Nations unanimously, and without debate, of course, demanded that the Republic of South A&ica get out of South West A&ica, a land which since 1968 the U.N insists on calling "Namibia." 2. I have vivid recollections of xny fervent hopes and liberal idealism during this period when I wrote that we must guard against the exploitation of returning servicemen a&er the end of the war by idealogues such as "... self-styli patriots — little Fascists of domestic vintage who, in the guise of patriotism or religion will attempt to spread their ideas of hatred and intolerance. Such persons will try to pit alien against native born, Jew against Christian, labor against capital and against other labor groups, black against white, and white against other races." g. Andriola, "Social Casework as a Democratic &ocexs," Pggfaatxy: jonr. Of'flic Biologyand paxhokgy of Intnprrsona/ Ednrisnx, August, 1944, p. 230). It is ironical that it is some of my aging coueagues and the young, a8luent, post-war generation — both Black and White — who would turn out to be the neo-Fasrists a quarter of a century later and who, under thz quxxsof 6brrdLxmhave been doing thm damnest to destroy Western Civilization. It amazes me to learn that so few supposedly well-educated South A&icans know that Gen. Jan Smuts, South A&ica's great scholar, soldier, pohtician and international statesman, was one of the founders of both the League of Nations and of the United Nations. As a matter of fact one of his xnajor achievements was drafting the Covenant of the United Nations. 4. While searching through U.N. documents I have not come across any indications that the inhabitants of dozens of newly created A&ican countries had ~ impe d imentia. The fact that their inhabitants were just as iHiterate, unsophisticated and backward — if not more sothan the Blacks of South West A&ica, never seems to have entered into the deliberations held in the august chambers of the United Nations. 5. Paul S. van der Merwe, "South Africa and South West A&ica," in Christian P. Potholm and Richard Dale (eds),SouthernAfriru xnPxxsPzrtiss,Glencoe, IIL x The Free Press, 1972, p. 69. 6. As indicated earlier, these are esentiauy the same complaints xnade by the Lutheran Bishop Leonard Auala in Ovamboland and by David Meroro, the National Chairman of SWAPO. 7. It is somewhat xnore than ironical to recall that Ethiopia, where slavery has existed &om ancient times to the present day, and where millions of Ethiopians suffer &om malnutrition, poverty, disease and suuvation, and where imprisonxnent and even executions without trial are coxnmon occurrences, should be one of the chaxnpions of the "poor, oppressed" indigenous peoples of South West A&ica. Since the overthrow of the tyrant Exnperor Selassie in 1975, these and ~ ~ st iH p l ague that beautiful but tragic land. 1. It is an i

8. South WestAJnoa Sususy1974, Pretoria: Gov't Printer, 1975, p. 18 (Italics added). 9. SouthIYcst A+ice Surrey1974, p. 26. 10. A close friend who ten yeats ago was one of my outstanding students at the University of Arizona and who currently is a top-notch social worker in California, gave a sarcastic twist to this notion when early in 1975 he wrote: "I keep forgetting that South Africa, according to your lettexs, is part of the civilized world. I guess I' ve been 'brain-washxxl' by the radical, liberal, Third world prem." 11. Starting in 1963 I had been on a panel of social welfare experts for the United Nations Programs of Technical Assistance — the " effort to aid under-developed countries." In view of what I know now and with a difFerent perspective regarding the U.N., soxne of my mmxnents in this letter regarding my initial impressions of South Africa appear ingenuous but they are hardly designed to make one a pariah. During the previous ten years I usually received prompt replies from the U.¹ but I did not receive even an acknowledgement of this letter. I have since written other letters which required rephes. They have aho been ignored.

coop erative

A LOOK AT TH E F U TURE Slack society with its back against the wall, Bghting for survival, tends to regard campaigns to combat population explosion, as attempts either to weaken their resistance against the onslaughts o f racism or as mere attempts at extermination.. . Family planning and the problem of population explosion e% never really be tackled adequately as long as we live in a race-tom society. The elimination of racism is a pre-requisite in dealing with many problems in South A&ica. When people discruninate against each other they are at war with each other. The above is typical of remarks by Chief Gatsha Buthelezi of K waZulu and of some other Slack leaders in South ~ c a r e ~ the tragedy of overpopulation among non-Whites. The quotation is &om one of his many long articles which appear at irregular intervals on the editorial page of 17ie Cape Tims. This one was dated 30 September 1974. When Suthelezi and other Black A&icans talk and write about the urgent need to eliminate all forms of racial separation or difFerentiation which they indiscriminately label "discrimination," they do not limit themselves to what is generally understood by the term, discrimination. They @so want "shared power." Sut "shared power" is a blatant euphemism for "take over" or "total power." And I don't blame them! I think that if I were a Black man I would want to do the same thing: I would want to take over the government and take &om the White man ever~ he ha sbuilt up in South A&ica — mostly with Black labour. Although it may not 6t in with the Western liberal's notions of fair play, of democracy or with his idea that majority rule is sacrosanct, Wite South Aff is Not going to relinquish power ts Blok SouthAPku. It is not going to institute American-style

airs

one-man-one-vote elections. Notwithstanding all the resolutions and aH the threats and aH the boycotts and aH the posturings by the Afro-Asians, the intrigues of the Couununists or the weak-kneed stance of the Western democracies, the present South A&ican Government and any foreseeable South A&ican Government wiH not budge one inch on that crucial point. And that goes aho for the "ultra-liberal" Progressive Reform Party if, by some remote chance, it became the party in power — irrespective of its claims now while it is on the outside looking in. It is as simple as that. President Harry Truman used to say, "The buck stops here." In his own way, Prime Minister John Vorster says the same thing when it comes to his responsibilities for the survival of the White minority. To cave in to the Slacks would mean that the White minority would commit collective suicide. This is irrespective of whether or not the Black man is d.eveloped enough, or literate enough or "civilized" enough to be ready for the vote. Such considerations are totaQy irrelevant. The Blacks could aH be high school g raduates — that is, high school graduates who can ach y r e a d and write — or even hold university degrees. They ~re not be given the power to rule the Republic of South A&ica. If they want that power they will have to obtain it by force-if they can. Of course, what they do in their Homelands is another matter. To point out dispassionately that Sutheiezi's words quoted, above are sheer nonsense or political claptrap to impress the folks back home in Zululand, merely avoids the issue. Incidentally, as far as I can determine many South A&ican Blacks really bdieve what he says. Such ideas are being drummed into them incessantly by their "elders," by the controlled Slack press, by the more articulate and educated Slacks like Suthelezi and by many missionaries as well as by a large segment of the bemused English-language press. Sut even if South A&ican Blacks did not have these ideas pounded into them, my guess is that they have a gut feeling that the more babies they produce the sooner they wiH take over. I Gether believe that this applies equaHy to the urbanized Blacks as well as to those who live in the more remote areas where their daily existence is not far removed &om that of Stone Age ~

Despite the many traditional and regional diHerences that divide the various tribal groups, that impel the Basutos and the Xhosas to bash each other's brains out in factional Sghts, for example, there is one thread that binds them together. It is the same thread that binds the Organization of A&ican Unity together: the envy and the hatred of the "common enemy" that is the Whites in Southern Africa. Those more knowledgeable than I am about Black A&ican c ustoms will be quick to point out tha,t children, especially ~ i s, are usually welcome because they work in the Gelds and when they marrythe father can expect to receive ten or more heads of cattle as "lobola" or bride price. My learned &iends wiH no doubt also p o in t o u t t h a t i n t he tr a d i tional e x tended family, children are the best insurance for old age. Of course, they fail to indicate that in societies changing &om a subsistence economy to a cash economy as is the case in Southern A&ica and elsewhere in A&ica, this is a highly dubious assumption. Furthermore, even in the traditional extended family in the less developed area of a modern state such as Italy — namely, the southern part of that country — this is no longer true. Several generations ago when it was true, as I know &om my own research there, it was damned poor "insurance." And 6naHy, we are told, Blacks must have lots of children in order to carry out certain rituals for deceased parents and for other deceased ancestors. But over and above such considerations, even when void, there is ample evidence to indicate that Blacks in South Africa want to continue to have many children so that they can swamp the Whites by their sheer numbers if they cannot overcome them by force of arms or if they are unwilling or afraid to try. But let us listen to Harriet Sibisi, a highly respected, sophisticated, Westernized Zulu anthropologist. Incidentally, she told me that she herself has seven children! In writing about traditional Zulu society she stated: Without children a man (or woman) is unlikely to complete the Pife] cycle — the more children the better. What I am ~ing to say is that children are not seen only as a social or an economic asset, but they are a religious

asset as well... children will not only provide security for

their old age, but through them the coupleis given a passage or rather a ticket into the world of ancestral spirits for it is the living children who must perform a necessary sacri6ce to integrate the departed parents with other ancestral spirits — a factor which is absent in non-ancestrai re «

ligions.' But even a weH-educated Slack woman like Sibisi whom I assumed would be expected to know better and who impressed

me as being on &iendly terms with Mme liberals, especiaHy academics in South A&ica and England, does not hesitate to in-

dulge in blatantly irresponsible and basicaHy anti-white assertions such as the one which appears on page 57 of the same article: The rationale on family planning in order to avoid population explosion is often seen as one of the lines taken by the dominant imperialistic societies calculated to keep down the number of those they want to dominate. The general reaction to the population explosion-scare is that we have plenty of land in A&ica and plenty of resources in South A&ica. Mihy should countries such as Britain make their

problem our problemP Vfhy should we share problems with them and yet not share p and the good things in

rops

life with them P It is my reiterated contention that South A&ican Blacks do

not seem to understand that in the process of littering the landscape with their offspring many wiH die of diseases associated with malnutrition such as kwashiorkor. Furthermore, those that survive can be expected to su8'er &om mental retardation and poor health. But even when they do understand these things they don't care. %hat's one baby more or less when there are so

many P Neither do they seem to care that if open racial warfare breaks out — if the "blood bath" so gleefuHy predicted by White liberals and Black militants during the past twenty yearsactually occurs, that one hundred Blacks wiH be kiHed for every

Unite. As an intelligent and politically alert Transkeian, who has worked and hved in Cape Town for ten years, told me recently

when I was discussing this problem with him, "I know, but we

will win in the end no matter how' many of us get kiHed." He also told met that Chief Kaiser Matanzima was a "traitor" to his people since he had settled for the Transkei "when aH of South Africa belongs to us!" In other words, as I have heard so many Blacks and many deluded Whites tell me, South A&ica really belongs to the Slacks, that their far greater numbers is on their side and that consequently, they are bound to win eventuaHy. Other things being equal, if South A&ica's demographic variables maintain their present relationships — namely, if Blacks continue to increase much faster thanWhites —then my &iend &om the Transkei is absolutely right. Any White South African with a m entahty of at l east a twelve-year-old — and sometimes I wonder how many there are in South A&ica — wiH have to admit that although Slacks are deluding themselves regarding their alleged, ownership of the country, they are not deluding themselves regarding the second belief — that in the end they wiH win. Such a grim polibiHty does not even begin to consider that substantial support can be expected &om outside of South AGica to help the Blacks in their "struggle for liberation." It is no secret that Conununist China and the Soviet Union, for example, have been training gueriHas and other military personnel in several Black countries in Southern A&ica. And it is also no se-

cret that such armed forces are not being tressed for the defense of their own land but rather for the invasion of a foreign land. First they must take over in Rhodesia and then they can aim for the brass ring — the number one prize — The Republic of South

A&ica. The three minority gmups — Asian, Coloured and Whitewill be drawn together by sheer necessity because they will realize with increasing clarity that they need each other for mutual survival. They will share equal rights, privBeges and opportunities as weH as equal responsibilities. If the crunch comes, Knglishsp~ Sout h A & i caus,except for a few who will use their British passports to get out, wiH 6ght for their land with the ner, the Coloured and the Asian. AH of them but especially the Afrilcaner, will not give up easily. As a matter of fact, it is safe to say that if faced by overwhelming odds, some may quit

but the A&ilier won't quit. Nor will many Asians be able to

quit in view of their recent history of being persecuted by BlacksaH over A&ica. Some of the Coloured may surrender, e> p~ sinc e they wiH be exposed to an unrelenting barrage of blandishments "that we are really aH Blacks so we belong together. AH of us have been opprmed by the coloniahst, raciahst, capitalist Mute man," The Afrikaner also remembers, among other things, that the Zulus and other Blacks do not take prisoners. They have a long history of disembowling them and of ritnalisticaHy dipping their spears (or bayonets) in their blood and of cutting oR' certain parts of the anatomy of the dead or wounded enemy. This also applies to the enemy who is neither wounded nor dead when captured. So the Afrikaner, with nowhere to go and with everything to lose and nothing to gain by surrendering, won't quitConsequently, although there is no possibility of the kind of capitulation that took place in Angola and Mozambique in

imagist,

l974, and as this is being written in August 1973, looks immi-

Afar.

nent in Rhodesia, there mill bono BlnN take-over in South Everything that can possibly be done to maintain peace and stability must be done and I believe will be done. Petty apartheid — which as an American I have known aH my life in places such as New York, Ohio, Michigan, Oklahoma and Californiaas weH as all vestiges of oflicial discrimination must and will be eliminated. Even though hardly m entioned in t h e l i b eral American press, the South African Government is moving in that direction much more rapidly than anyone dreamed it could or wouldeven three or four years ago. And my hunch isthat the present liberalizing changes wiH continue to take place without the riots, the bombings, the killings and the burnings, not to mention the mountains of civil rights legislation which had to be passed by Congress to get things moving in the United States. Furthermore, the Bantu Homelands will continue to be consolidated wherever possible. Additional land will be bought by the 9'hite South African Government and allocated to themnot as much as the Black Homeland leaders are suggesting or demanding — but more than the government anti the >'hite South Africans, who must foot the biH, were prepared. to give them a few years ago. The Homeiands wiH continue to develop with tine-limited but generous assistance, including accelerated

technical askance by the South A&ican Government. This will help them become increasingly viable and self-supporting. However, unless they cut their birth rates drastically and unless the Black males are willing to work hard and productively, they will be doomed to the same poverty and which plagues all of Black Africa. But even if all these predictions come true and even if the changes are less painful and disruptive than many pessimists believe, the serious threat of Black domination facing South A&ica will not be solved unless the Black population growth is drastically curtailed. The government, assisted by voluntary agencies and churches, must carry out a mass program of fertility control aimed primarily at the Black population in White South A&ica as mell as in the BlackHomelands. It must provide, among other things, for proper and adequate incentives— no matter how much money it will cost or what sacri6ces must be made by Whitesto stem and, if possible, reverse the tide of Black population

degrad ation

virt ually

grouW. In order to accomplish such a colossal and almost insurmountable task, South A&ica mM have to develop and implt, ment a program which embodies all or most of the characteristics of the fertiTity control tnodel presented in the next chapter. It will aho have to design a sophisticated and on-going evaluative research project to monitor the fertility control program and make whatever adjustments experience dictates. l. Harriet Sibisi, "Abortion and Zulu Culture," in G. C. Oostbuizen, G. Abbott and M Notelovltz(eds) AbertioB iatheSNlthcra AJACQQ Coarct Cape Town: Harold Tirnmins, 1974, pp. 53-54.

149

A STRATEGY FOR WHITE SURVIVAL UMTAT A — Th e population g rowth in t h e Transkei is among the highest in the world, and if

this is not checked the country should never become prosperous, the Chief M inister, Kaiser Matanzima, said here yesterday. Deiiv~ his B udget speech in the Transkei Legislative Assembly, he said he regarded the propagation of family planning by the new Department of Health as equaQy important to the renderixg of health services. (?he Cape Times,

10 April 1973). Chief Matanzima is one of the few Black leaders who has taken a forthright public stand in favour of fertility control. It is interesting to note, however, that when he discusses family needed for the development and planning as being d survival of his soon to be independent country, he is either ignored or given short shrift in the English press. But when Chief Buthelezi refers to fanuiy planning asthe White man's plan for "genocide" of the Blacks, as he has donedirectly or indirectly on more than one occasion, he makes headhnes. Matanzima, I might add, has also been given ample and prominent coverage when he has attacked the White South A&ican Government. An interesting and perhaps even useful piece of research could involve a factor analysis of the kinds, size and prominence of racial news or news with racial overtones critical of the government, by both the Afrikaans and the English language press, which appears over a period of a month or two. Perhaps some aspiring Ph.o. candidate could carry out such research as partial ful611ment for a doctorate. The racial situation in South A&ica must change. I believe that all objective students of South A&ica, irrespective of their particular political persuasion or skin colour, would agree that the stutus ye cannot continue inde6nitely even if, as some sin-

esperately

cere proponents of apartheid or separate development contend, it is in the best interests of most South A&icans. (See, for

example, H. F. Sampson,Priueip/es of Apurlheid,Johannesburg:

Voortrekker, 1966; N.J. Rhoodie and H.J. Venter, Ap artheid, Pretoria: H.A.U.M., 1960 and S. Plennar and A. Sampson,

Ttoo Views of Sepurale Deue/opnent,London: Oxford University Press, 1961). Furthermore, I doubt if, as presently being implemented, it can continue even if it provides the least for the smaHest number as Andreski suggests (Stanislav Andreski, "ReHections on the South A&ican Social Order From a Comparative Viewpoint," in Heribert Adam, ed., South Africa — Soeio/ogiea/ I'erspeetiues, London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1971, p. 25). As indicated earlier it is not at aH far-fetched to assutne that in the event South A&ican Blacks or Black invaders &om other countries obtain power, they wW not accord to Whites and other minorities the same rights and privHeges which they would arrogate to themselves. In view of their fi rmly-held belief — not entirely jusd6ed, I might add — that they have been exploited by Whites, why should they? W'hy should they be expected to turn the other cheek? At best they would permit the Whites, the Coloureds — "the despised half-Whites" — and the Asians to remain in South A&ica as second class citizens. This would mean, of course, that most of the %whites and many of the Asians who could manage to get out would depart voluntarily or be pushed out as has happened aH over Black A&ica in the past and is still happening today. One can hardly be sanguine about what would happen to the Coloureds, especiaHy those with a light skin. The Coloureds are the Brown A&ikaners of South A&ica and like the White ~ ners t hey have nowhere

sacring

togo.

In considering such a possibility I am inclined to think that many White Hberals, not only in South Africa (especiaHy if they hold British or other foreign passports) but also in most Western countries, ~ould applaud the demise of the White population or at least to consider it to be poetic justice. Furthermore, I think it is fair to assume that most, if not aH, member states of the Organization of A&ican Unity would also be delighted. However, there is one way — and it may be the only way — in

which the colossal and unique racial problems of South Africa have any possibility of being solved in the best interests of aH racial groups and at the same time, attack the ubiquitous problem of runaway population growth in South A&ica. And that is through a fearless, honest, realistic and rigorous anti-nutul toith special emphasis on the tlrustu retluction fobirth ratesfoall non-%kites but particularLy, the birth rutefoSlack Africans. Among other things, this presupposes that redressing the gross imbalance of Blacks to Whites is imperative unless one is to have a reversal of domination in which a vast and rapidly-growing Black majority eventually suppresses Whites and other minori-

popu lationpoli@

tlcs.

If such a hypothetical policy could be implemented it might make it possible for a more balanced ratio of non-Blacks and

non-whites to live in South Africa in peace and harmony, in what could turn out to bc thc &st truly pcaccful, prosperous and multi-racial society in the world, with untrammelled opportuniYies for self-fulfillment for all of its peoples. TAIILE 1

Prj oectetLuggregate P~lation in South APtcaa Selected years (000s) and percentages Racial

2000

group

Coloured

15 460

70,15

3 882

17,37

2 097

9,53

0

/

2020

74,16 62 798 77,21 6 890 13,70

9 204$

4 890

7 720

9,72

2,96 TOTAL

22 038 100,01 50 288 99,99

99,99

«Adapted from Table 9 in J. I- Sadie, Prefrctions af the South Afriren Popetetion,ISN-Kti7. Johannesburg: Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Limited, I973, p. 37. /Assuming a net immigration of 30,000 per year.

If one looks at Table 1 several facts become immediately dear: the South A&ican population is expected to continue to grow at a tem$ying rate and the gap in the ratio of Blacks to Whites will continue to widen so that by the year 2020 Whites will constitute only 11% of the population and Blacks some 77% compared to about 17% and,70%, respe~ely, in 1970. The Coloured group is expected to maintain the same ratio of about 9,5% and the proportion of Asians will be expected to drop from roughly 3% to about 2 %. These 6gures assume that a net %'hite immigration of about 30 000 per year will continue undiminished — a somewhat dubious prospect. During the decade 196®1970, Sou& A&ica's population increased by 36 % (India's by 28,8%) from about 16 million to 22 million. By January 1975 it was aheady over 25 million. Table 2 shows the net growth during 1974, TABLE 2

South Afmonpopulation growth, 1974~ Bantu. White . Coloured . Asian. ToY~ . .

.

.

. 497 000 . 8 7 000 . 7 0 600 .

1 7 400 6 7 2 000

~Adapted from 77ieSuch@Tinm (South A%ca) 2$ Feb, 1975.

Given the current and forseeable political climate of virtually aH of Black A&ica including, of course, much of Black South A&ica, the implications for White survival with such a racial ddferential are not encouraging. When aH factors are considered, honestly and realisticaHy, one is faced with the following inevitable conclusions: 1. There is increasing sentiment among Blacks that A&ica is for Blacks only and that if the Black majority comes to power, White South A&icans will be doom%. At worst they wiH be harassed, beaten, robbed, imprisoned without trial or with mock trials, or kiHed. At best they vill be used by the Blacks for as long as it suits them and then they will be "A&icanized." This means that they will lose their businesses, their farms, their jobs and possibly their homes, for which they will receive little

or no compensation. Unfortunately, neither the history of Slack A&ican States since de~ l o n i m tion began more than twenty years ago, nor current and anticipated developments, can do much to dispel such a grim and dismal scenario. 2. As a corollary there wiG be no chance for White survival if the lopsided ratio of Slacks to Whites continues to grow in favour of Slacks. As a matter of fact it is highly unlikely that Whites or Slacks or Srowns could have any kind of meaningful and satisfying existence in South Africa even if the ratio remained the same and the population continued to grow at the present disastrous rate of about 2,8 % per year. Although only about 15% of South A&ica's land is arable, this is a larger percentage than that of many other A&ican countries. Furthermore, South A&ica has many advantages of good dimate, substantial and diversi6ed natural resources (but no oil3 and a high level of technology coupled with advanced industriabzation. Consequently, if the continued runaway population growth of non-Whites presages a sharp reduction in the quality of life or even the untimely termination of hfe itself for many South Africans, the prospect for the rest of A&ica is more foreboding. The %'orld Sank, the Food and Agricultural Administration of the United Nations and other informed and responsible agencies are compelled by the facts at their disposal to be pessimistic. There are continuous or intermittent famines in the Sahel, the broad belt of 6 million square miles — twice the size of continental United States — south of the Sahara and spreading &om the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Even

relatively rich and heavily subsidized Kenya is affected. Sut these disasters are only a grim forecast of greater and more widespread disasters to come both there and in the rest of A&ica. When aH the variables — both known and speculativeare carefully studied and analyzed, and projections for the future are made, when all is said and done, the one ubiquitous

culprit is, too sump peopk for tao few resources.

Consequently, since all racial groups in South A&ica have ala~ ly hig h b i r t h r a tes and relatively low death rates (Asian in South Africa have one of the lowest death rates in the

world and the lowest of any of its population groups), the pro-

posed model for an anti-natal policy which follows must be directed at all segments of the population. It should, be noted, for example, that according to the Urnted 3'ations Demographic 2"earboohof 1972, the birth rate of South A&ican Mutes is among the highest in the Western 4'orld.' On the other hand, the birth rates of the non-White groups are among the highest in the entire world, bearing a &ightening similarity to those of the rest of Aki m and other parts of the Third W'orld.

In orderto have any hope of being effective, an anti-natal population policy must be comprehensive, it must cut across all racial, religious, political and economic lines, and it must be made to work bythe use ofmasseducation (propaguakr, ifyon will)

combinedmith substantial increases in living standards for those at the lotv end o f the economic scak and rvorthvvhile incentives for not having children. The proposed model for such a policy includes the following: 1. Contraceptives.The entire spectrum of contraceptives shouM

be available to males and females without charge. 2. Sterilzzations. They should be available &ee of charge for both men and women. In addition, those volunteering for such operations should receive cash bonuses on a sEding scale — the poorest men and women to receive the bonuses. Since such operations (vasectomies for men smd tubal ligations for women) are the only 100% efFective birth control measures in existence today, besides cash, each person who volunteers to be sterilized should be publicly honoured, as a South African patriot and as a world humanitarian. One more point needs to be made: a vasectomy is a simple, 6ve-minute procedure which can be done anywhere; sterilizations for women are safe, have been greatly simpli6ed in recent years and may only require staying in hospital overnight. 3. Abortions.Prevention of births is the primary consideration and the lion's share of time and money must be directed to the prevention ofpregnancy. But the armamentarium of an eAective anti-natal policy must also include abortions as well as sterilizations and the widespread use of e6'ective contraceptives.

largest

Gonsequently, abortions should be available without restrictions, they must be provided without charge, and must be

carried out under proper medical auspices. Furthermore, eoery rooman reques ting an abortion should be encouraged to volunteerfor a sterihZahon. 4. Legal marryingage. No one should be permitted to marry before the age of twenty-one. 5. Unmarried Persons.Those over the age of twenty-one should receive income tax rebates and jor other beneflts so long as they remain single providing, of course, that they are not producing children out of wedlock, in which case they should be severely penalized. 6. Married Couples.They should receive monthly cash grants and, other incentives for remaining childless. However, if they later decide to have children, the grant would be cut in half after the erst child is born. Two children would eliminate the grant and three or more children would result in f i n ancia or other penalties. Couples who adopt one or more children should receive amonthly cash grant or allowance foreach adopted child as well as other beneflts. 7. Additumal Concessions.Special concessions should be granted to bachelors and spinsters as well as to married couples with two children or less. These could include being given priority for the rental of good housing and low-interest loans for those wishing to buy a horne or start a business or buy a farm. Furthermore, couples with no more than two children of their own and/or with adopted children (irrespective of the number ) should be provided with complete expense scholarships for the schooling of said children from primary grades through university (for those capable and willing to attend a university }. And b c hildless persons and those with no more than two natural children should have unlimited and unrestricted job opportunities where merit would be the only criterion. This means that impedimentia such as job reservations and wage

family

anally,

differentials based on race or skin colour would be abolishedbut only for those non-Whites sohou q alityunder the proposedpolicy.

8. Old Age Pensions. Blacks must be disabused of the notion (mostly fallacious) that children are insurance for old age. The best way to do this is to institute a systemfouniform pensions irrespect&e ofskin colour. Pensions should be a matter of right and not subject to a

means test as at present. Elderly persons who are childless or who have only one or two hving children should receive the largest pensions possible. The amount of the maximum pension should be such as to enable them to live out their remaining years in ~ u m co m f ort, in peace and in dignity. Those with three or more living children would have their pensions reduced — the larger the number of children, the smaller the pension. One suggested formula would caH for a reduction of 25 % of the maximum pension for each living child aA:er two children. This would mean, for example, that an elderly person or elderly couple with three living children would receive 75 % of the maximum, those with four living children, 50 /~and those with six or more living children would not receive any pension at aH.' Based on the cost of hving in July 1975 a suggested maximum but uniform old age pension could be R125 per month for one person and R200 for a couple. It should be obvious that the model proposed for implementing an anti-natal policy a~W entail the expenditure of vast sums of money over a long period of time and Mt initially, virtuaHy aH of the money must come out of the pockets of the White man. Hence for an unforseeable period of time this would result in a reduction of his standard of living and a concomittant improvement in the standard of living of all other racial and ethnic groups. But as the standard of living of the non->@utes rises at » hat can be expected to be an accelerating rate, they will pay an increasingly higher share of taxes thus easmg the burden on the %lute taxpayer with obvious results. Despite its crucial humanitarian by-products I am aware that almost aQ aspects of the proposed model, aimed not only at curbing the overall birth rate but also at drasticaHy reducing the gap between the proportion of non-%Mtes and non-Blacks, can be considered controversial or radical. I plead guilty on both counts. Many persons, particularly White middle-class liberals and militant Blacks may also consider the model to be

offensive or "racialistic." And here I do not plead guilty. B« that is beside the point. The current fad of hurling epithets and threats at those with whom one ~ ees m e rely serves to becloud the issues. In this case the issues include the survival of South African W hites, the curbing of r unaway population

158

growth, a more viable racial distribution and the weH-being of aH South A&icans irrespective of skin colour. There is ample evidence and a voluminous literature which dearly indicates that the world must check its population growth or face accelerating disasters of colossal proportions. This is especiaHy true in the Third World where the pressures of population exert their crueHest toll in malnutrition, mental retardation, disease, famine, ignorance and death.' Although in the past, the usual family p~ g pro g r ams have been ineHective in the Third World, recent data compiled by two highly competent investigators are signi6cant. They found that: 1. The most important single factor in the attainment of

sharp fertility declines is the availability of more effective methods of fertility control, distributed through vigorous nationwide family planning programs under voluntary or oKci@ governmental auspices, or both. 2. The long-held belief that only after social and economic development can there be a decline in b~ ra t es seems untenable. Countries like Algeria, Brazil, Kuwait, Mexico and Venezuela — aH of which had high rates of industrial and/or economic growth during the 1960s — continued to have high birth rates because improved methods of fertility control were not available and/or b ecause the governments were pronatal. On the other hand, in Third World countries like Costa Rica, Egypt and Singapore, which had strong fertility control programs, birth rates fell signi6cantly. 4 AH the horrors of the population "bomb" which are already most of the peoples of the worM could descend upon South A&ica unless population growth can be radically curtailed and, in the case of the Black South A&icans, hope6dly reversed' As a matter of fact such horrors are already in South A&ica, albeit to a much lesser degree than in most of the rest of Africa. For example, any day of the week, at Red Cross Childrens Hospital in Cape Town one can see dozens of almost moribund Black babies with swollen bellies being cared for by mostly White doctors and nurses who struggle to keep them alive. In some parts of South Africa the situation is worse but in aH ~ of t h e rest of Black Africa it is much worse!

affe cting

virt ually

159

I would like to dose this section by quoting &om an outstanding American whose distinguished f r eer as a university teacher, researcher, top business executive and public servant needs no elaboration &om me. Here I referto Robert S. McKamara, President of the World Bank who says: Nor need anyone be deterred &om appropriate action by the myth that the NIhite Western world's assistance in family planning eHorts among the non-White nations of the developing areas is a surreptitious plot to keep the Whites in racial ascendency. The myth is absurd on purely demographic grounds, as well as on many others. NonWhite peoples on the planet massively outnumber Whites.

They always have and always will. No conceivable degree of family plantung could possibly alter that mathematical fact. But a more relevant answer is that if the %lute world

actually did desire toplot against the non-White nations, one of the most effective ways possible to do so would, be for theWhites to dip those nations any assistance whatever in family p~ g. Fo r the progressive future of the nonWhite world is directly related to its indigenous economic development — and that, in turn, as we have seen, is dependent upon its being able to bring birthrates down to a level that 1>N avow a sicc a n t increase in per capita income. N.B. Shortly before this book went to press early in 1976, the

foHowing item appeared in a Cape Town newspaper: DRASTIC ATTACK ON INDIA'S BIRTH PROBI EM Tke Argrls Corres~ t

CHANDIGARH, (India). — The Government of Punjab state, accelerating its attack on the population explosion, is drawing up legislation to make sterilisation compulsory aa:er a family has had a c~ numb e r of children, probably two or three. GfEcials here, calling the measure 'revolutionary,' said

they thought it would be the Grst sterilisation law in the world. 'It is a drastic solution to a drastic problem,'said Baibir Singh, the Health Minister of this northern state. 'India is growing every year by a number equal to the population of Australia. W'e simply must slow it down.'

LESS FOOD Singh said he hoped the state legislation could set a pattern for the rest of the under-developed world, much of which is on an economic trea~ bec a use of rapid population growth. For example, because the population of India is increasing by one million a month, 1975's record grain harvest still adds up to less food, per person than there was at the time of the last record harvest 6ve years ago. The Punjab law is now being drawn up by a high-level committee. Singh acknowledged in an interview that it might attract some opposition &om 'people who think they have a Smdamen-

tal right to have as many children as they want.' ELIGIBLE 'We ran into the same sort of objection with smaHpox vaccinations and eventually it was accepted that everyone had to be vaccinat~ e ven if they didn't like it, for the common good.' OfBcials here said it had not yet been determined, which parent would be required to have the operation under the new

law, or whether the stopping point for families would be aker two orthree children. (77ie Argus,Cape Town,5 January,1976). SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The Republic of South A&ica seems to have a world-wide reputation as being unique in its denial of various rights and privileges to many of it s people. When Dr . M a rgaret Mead, America's grand dame of anthropology, visited South Africa in 1974, she referred to this phenomenon when she said her &iends had "Sts" when they heard about the planned trip. By the time

she arrived in Cape Town, she had already been in South 161

A&ica for about two weeks and had seen a bit of the country. At her 6rst meeting in Cape Town, which I attended, held at a Coloured community centre, a White university student asked her if she had ever seen such terrible slums as those of Soweto and other Black townships. Her immediate reply was that she had in many parts of the worM including Chicago and New York, only they were "worse1" Yet although South A&ica is considered an ogre at the United Nations and elsewhere, it has an exceHent parliamentary system of government and one of the Snest court systems in the world. Whenever Ihave attended a court hearing or trial I have been most favourably impressed with the fairness of the proceedings, irrespectiveof race or skin colour. I wonder ifany knowledgeable and honest American liberal can say the same for the courts of Black A&ican countries P Another signi6cant and far-reaching phenomenon is the press &eedom in South A&ica. I think it mn be stated without danger of contradiction that Soph Africa hasthe only free press in Afrtea. According to Mike Keats, until January 1974, the United Press International network chief in Johannesburg, "There aren' t any other A&ican countries where you can pick up a newspaper and see the Government being criticized in the way you can in South A&ica — and I would hasten to add in both the English and the ~ aans p r ess." (T he johannesbnrg Star, 30

Jan~

1 9 74, p. 27).

Frank Barton, the A&ican Director of the International Press Institute stated the same ting. Speaking at the Institute's annual meeting in Geneva he stated, "In Black A&ica today there is no freedom of the press in any recogmable form . . . T h e unpalatable lact is that there is morc press freedom in South Africa than in the rest of Africa pat together." (The Cape

esse ntially

Times, 16 May 1975, p. 2, itahcs added)

Prior to coming to South A&ica in 1972 I heard American coHeagues at the university where I was teaching as well as other aHegedly informed persons state that South A&ica had a huge police force and that it was a police state. I got the same impression &om some of the reading I did on South A&ica while stiH in the United States. But what are the facts P The 1973 annual report of the South African Police indicates

that there were 34 514 authorized positions of aH ranks. This 6gure included a small internal security unit, formerly known as the Special Branch, which concerns itself with problems of sabotage, subversion and ~ mat te r s. Of the overalltotal, 18 638 positions were set aside for Whites and 15 876 for non&bites. For a country the size of South A&ica, with a popula. tion of over 25 miHion, a total police force of less than 35 000 would clearly indicate that in proportion to its size it is proba. bly one of the smallest pohce forces in the world. An interesting comparison can be m ade between South

A&ica's nations police department and the police department of New York City. In its 1973-74 annual report, which I also have in my Qes, it states that the New York Police Department had a total of 32 219 positions aHocated to it and an annual budget of $777 million. I do not have the budget figure for the South A&ican police but knowing what I do about the relatively low salaries paid to policemen in South A&ica I doubt if it is even half as large as the New York City budget. In other words, the polieeforee of the entire South Afrieun nution is the sume size us thut fothe City) of JY'no I'orh und its budget is eonsiderublp lour er. In case anyone is under the impression that the cost of living in South A&ica is much lower than it is in the U.S.A, and therefore, policemen do not need as much money to make ends meet, let me disabuse them of this. I found that in order to maintain the same standard of living in Cape Town which I

nPP rorimutely

had in San Diego, California — it takes 20-25% more money. Retaining one's sanity and one's objectivity are difBcult daily tasks in South A&ica, especially for an American hberal who is acutely conscious of the problems, the injustices, and the paradoxes that beset this beautiful land. The government has a tiger by the tail — of this there is no question. But it can't let go. Neither can it hold on forever. And for the many enemies as weH as the would be &iends of South A&ica to say that it must let go of the tail and risk being swallowed, by the tiger is no answer. On the other hand, the tiger simply won't lie down and purr like a kitten. ActuaHy it is growing stronger and wilder and more ferocious by the year — or by the month or by the day! Which aH makes for what looks like a temfyiiig and insoluble dilemma.

Concerned VIMtes, laden with their ow~ guilt and with the accumulated guilt derived &om their ancestors, are polarized and frequently engage in t r ying t o p olarize and politicize others. They consume vast amounts of energy in constant, daily and unrelenting breast beating. Some of the more &ustrated angry )Vhite liberals and pseudo-liberals wiQ turn on anyoneSouth A&lean or foreigner ~ e - w h o may not agree with them, with an irrationality and a ferociousness which has to be seen and heard to be believed. On the other hand, some of the more reactionary White South A&icans, who are just as concerned and &ighten&, sound like echoes &om the Scopes "Monkey " in Tennessee of half a century ago. Others sound like those sturdy but bigoted Midwest burghers who 6lled the pages of Sinclair I.ewis's novels in the 1920s and the 1930s. This is the short view. In the long view; perhaps maintaining

one'sequilibrium may be no more dificult in South A&ica than i t is for the thinking and socially committed person in th e United States, in Italy, Israel or Britain or, for that matter, anywhere in the Western World I don t know. * Any objective outsider who is x~ to come to South A&ica and to make the prodigious e6ort of trying to understand what makes %lute South A&ica tick, may eventuaHy be rewarded with only two or three or even four or 6ve indisputable truths. Howevel; he N'ill also discover tbat aa other t r u t hs a re m a constant state of Hux, diScult to grasp and to pin doem. As he continues to sift and analyse piles of facts, to dig beneath the surface through the slippery shale of rumors, biased opinions, shoddy research and the ponti6cations of the many small or confused minds both inside and outside of South A&ica and strikes bedrock, a few of these hard truths come into sharper and sharper focus. What emerges is a South Africa that is quite different &om what it appears to be on the surface or even part way beneath the surface. hardly a w» l d-shattermg discovery. What is so unusual about that, one may be justified in tions much more different than the way they appear on the surface P Do we always need an Alexis de Tocqueville to remind us that the United States, for example, is a most unusual and complex country~ Do we need a jaundiced and long-time liberal

American profimor of social work to make such a trite remark about South A&ica P The answer is obvious. However, on closer scrutiny we see that what is so different about the real South Afrku and which sets it apart &om any other nation in the world includes the following: l. Its paradoxesand its differences~ especially those relating to its highly strati6ed social structure, present an image which is much more skewed than that of almost any other country. For example, it is the only country in the world which is both a

thriving Western, Christian industrialized democracy and, also an authoritarian and backward Third World state. In other words almost anything one can say about other nations is also true of South A&ica — only more so.

2. Basically, South A&ica's "institutionalized racism" is not much different than the "institutionalized racism" of the United States or of England or of India or of that of any of the "liberated" Black A&ican countries. The only difference is that in South Africa, some world-wide racial practices are entrenched in law and there is a White minority in control and it says honestly that it does not pretend that we are all "brothers under the skin." Whites and Blacks and those in between are digersztperhaps in more ways than they are similar and it is not just a question of skin pigmentation. But this is contrary to world opinion! Like many of my generation I contributed to this opinion because I was reared on the liberal anthropological notions of Prof. Franz Boas, who held sway at C olumbia U n iversity &om 1896 to 1936, and of his devotedand distinguished followers. I wa s a lso nourished by t he p hilosophy of t he B ritish Fabians and their counterparts in A merica. I w a s t aught, among other t h i ngs, t ha t e n v ironment an d p a r t icularly "ascribed" soci~ o n o mic status, played a crucial role in human development and that the concept of "race" was an inhuman myth. At this stage in my life and on the basis of my own investigations, I have come to the sad, conclusion that I was both misinformed and misled. In view of the historical events of the thirties and forties (economic depression and Second World War) when it was common practice to confuse idealism and ideology

with facts and social science, perhaps I was both ready and

eager to be misinformed and misled. To maintain, for example, that Black A&icans are "not really diHerent" &om White Europeans and their descendents (there are also marked di6erences among dUFerent racial strains of Blacks) is a dubious hypothec at best. To deny that vastly diferent climatic and other variables, including cultural factors, have had little or no eHect upon natural selection and adaptation in the development of dif erent racial groups is scientilc nonsense. The Bushman, for example, as indicated earlier, is the only human being that can survive in the desert wastes of Southern A&ica with the stone age implements at his disposal. Over many rnillenia the Bushman evolved the abiTity to adapt to his harsh environment.. His stomach, for instance, can expand enormously which permits him to gorge himself with a volume of meat (when he kiUs a mammal) equal to @most half of his body weight. He can store large amounts of fatty tissue in his buttocks (steatopygia) as can certain other A&ican racial groups and his body can draw upon this "food reserve" as needed during periods of prolonged scarcity. He is genetically and, therefore, socio~ t u r a ily, considerably tMerent &om all non-Blacks and &om the great majority of other non-White

racial groups. The government of South A&ica recognizes this and says, in eH'ect, that Bushmen and other major racial/ethnic groups should be given the opportunity to develop their potentialities within their own socio-biological strata. If "Black is beautiful" well and good. Why not keep it that way instead of ~ g to

make it Browne And if non-Blacks and non-Whites mix in certain ways, for example by having sexual intercourse "across the colour line," the government calls it a crime. It also says, in efFect, "We will not take White children and put th em on a bus and force them to go to an all Black school many miles &om their homes." And i t says, "%'e do not think a White man should be allowed to buy a house in a Black area, nor a Black man be allowed to buy a house in a White area — even if he can afford it ." I t s a ys 6xrther, that keeping obviously di8'erent racial/ethnic @+ups apart sociaQy is the best guarantee of

avoiding racial strife and of fostering racial pride and selfful61 ment. And so I feel constrained to ask: Did it ever occur to a truly objective and honest White liberal in the United States or England or Holland, that perhaps the White minority government

of SouthernAfrica may be on the right tracks Furthermore, is it possible that the White majority governments of the United States, England and Houand are on the wrong track in dealing with their respective BhLck-Mxite problems? 3. South A&ica is a microcosm which mirrors with a &ightening reHection the macrocosm of the struggle already joined and expected to escalate between the guilt-ridden and weak-kneed democracies of the West and their enemies. For the United States and many other Western nations this is the age of appeasement. Although they have been catering to and app~ the n o n-Western Worldsince the end of World War Two, they should, have learned by now that appeasement like other types of blackmail does not work It didn't work with Adolph Hitler or with "UncleJoe" Stalin. And it won't work with Idi Amin of Uganda nor, for that matter with Leabua Jonathan of Lesotho or even with the crying "humanist", Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia. Nor will it work with the racists in any of the other Black A&ican countries. During June and July of 1975 no less a man than the Russian Xobel Laureate, Alexander Solxhenitsyn, was teuing America that appeasing the big Russian bear would not make him tun into a cuddly teddy bear. He pointed out that the currently fashionable U.S. policy of seekmg an East-West detente is a snare and a delusion. The Russian bear merely becomes more voracious and sooner or later he +91 gobble you up. Solzhenitsyn may be right. In that case I may be just as wrong as I was during the years when I embraced, the "United Front" and sneered at "red-baiters who looked for Communists under every bed."

Liberalism, particularly doctrinnaire liberalism, is a dHEcult disease to cure. In my case the virus seems to have been controlled in recent years. However, the infection, although dormant, may still be there. For example, I beheve that detente with the Communist world is stiH possible. Henry Kissinger, our indefatigable Secretary of State, keeps telling us dmt it is im-

167

perative. Although I question my own judgement I think he knows what he is talking about and for the present I am willing to go along. Sut I maintain that there must be a dearent digiventea-

tion between true detenteor eo-esishme and appeasement. Although the analogy may not be entirely valid the West simply cannot aHord — let alone survive — another Munich. In the South A&ica of 1975, Prime Minister John Vorster is

being lambasted &om the left and the right for his policy of detente with some Black A&ican states. The lek is calling him a fraud because his brand of co-existence does not include radical internal changes which would inevitably lead to Black majority rule. The right — and not merely the lunatic &inge — is teHing him that he is well on the road to selling the White man down the Limpopo and Zambesi Rivers. It is also extremely sceptical of the abiTity or the desire of the Black man to share the White man's political destiny without puHing him down into the chaos and corruption which is common in virtuaHy aH Black African states. South A&ica aside, one is compelled to ask: When wiH the

White man of the Western WorM stop apologizing for himself' %%en will he renounce the shabby weakness that masquerades as democracy and humanitarianism P When will he stop trying to 6ght — albeit ~ - h e artedly — according toQueensberry Rules while his opponent gouges his eyes out, kicks him in the

groin and, if he slips and falls, stomps him into the grounds When, in short will he stop digging his own grave P Similar questions have been raised byJames Surnham, a form er Trotskyite and former professor of philosophy at ¹ w York University, in his prescient but strangely neglected book,

The Sapid'e of the 8 est — AnEssup on the Meaning andDestiny of

Liberalism,which fust appeared in 19&k In the closing lines of another little-known book — this one on the rise and fall of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyassaland — its author also asks these kinds of questions and closes with a w~ whic h I hope Americans will heed. The West appears to have dedicated itself to the abjurahon of any form of race chKerenttabon, unless it happens to favour the non-White — just like the constitution of the abandoned Federation of Rhodesia and Nyassaland.

Has it ever paused to consider whether the Pan-A&icans, the A&o-Asians, the Chinese... intended to reciprocate? Whether they are equally dedicated to the extermination of racial prejudice — including the type that operates in their favour? If not, it is high time that the West took the trouble of Snding out. When it does, she may have to reassess the wisdom of aiding and abetting the blow aimed at her own vitals. For the Hames sweeping towards South A&ica contain just as much menace for the West as a whole as for anyone on this continent.' 1. In 1969 it was 22,9 while the rate for the entire country was 40,$. In 1971 birth rates for a selected group of countries followst U.S.A.: 17,3, Japan: 19,2,Italy: 16,8, Greem: 15,9, France: 17,2, Ireland: 22,8, West Germany t 11,7. The dubious distinction of having the highest birth rate in the Western Iud~ ed Wo r ld fell to Israel which in 1972 had a birth rate of 26,9. 2. Under the present system, although the maximum pension for Whites of R57 per month is mostinadequ ate, it is apprmdmately douhle those for Coloureds and Asians and roughly 6ve times greater than the pension for Black South A&icans. If the proposah in this model are implemented, existing pensioners, including those with three or more children, would continue to receive their pensions under the old system. Furthermore, during the phasing out period of some ten or 6Aeen years, as persons become eligible for a pension, they would come under the new system. Consequently, until the old syst~ is phased out, there would actually be two pension schemes in operation. 5. According to this view, the famous U,¹ resolution on population and development of 1966 and others like it are grossly irresponsible exercises in rhetoric which do nothing to tackle the tragedy of excess population which is already upon us. (See General Assembly Resolution 2211 (XXI ), "Population Growth and Economic Development," 17 Dec., 1966). 4. R. T. Ravenholt and J. Chao, "Availability of Family Planning Services The Key to Rapid Fertility Reduction," EumiEyPfannisg Pnspatt'sss, 6,4 Fall, 1974) pp. 217-23. 5. Paul R. Ehrlicb, ?7+ Population Bomb — Or Ths Loud @ Obtwion, ¹Y.: ~t in e , 1968. See also ¹ic J. van Rensburg, Populution Explosionia Soutlicrn A friar, Pretoria: J. L. van Schaik, 1972 and Populakm Growth sNd ths ANctlGee PsterdqWashtngton~ D C.: U S Govt Prin~

O K ce q

1972. 6. "A Race Against Time," Dialog', 7,2 (1974) p.10. 7. Guy van Eeden, Thr Cnew'of Being A%its, Cape Town: Nasionale Boekhandel, 1965, p. 145.

EPILOGUE There are approximately 8 miHion Black A&icans who are not living in their respective Homelands and who are considered to be temporary residents in the White areas of South A&ica. Some work on farms, mostly as farm hands. Many more work in mining and manufac~ and, i n creasingly, in the skilled and semi-skilled construction trades. Except for the farm workers most Black workers have received several wage increments the past few years that have been greater than the rise in the cost of living and, in some cases, considerably greater. These "temporary" residents in the White areas are supposed to be repatriated to their respective Homelands someday. But most of them will not return — at least not permanently. Some were born in the VAite areas and may never have been to their particular Homeland such as the Transkei, the Ciskei or Lebowa. But for every one that goes to a Homeland, on a holiday or for a short visit to his relatives or even for a long stay, another usually takes his place in a White area and lives in a crowded township or "location" — the name for an A&ican residential area usually located near an industrial centre. If by some legerdemain, all these Blacks could be induced to leave voluntarily for permanent re-settlement or, failing to do so, to be forcibly taken back to their respective Homelands, the South A&ican economy would c ollapse. Furthermore, the tough, well~ c i p Ened South A&ican Defence Force would be immobilized and the country would become extremely vulnerable to invasion and sabotage &om terrorists who could sweep down &om the Slack A&ican countries which now surround, South A&ica. These things would happen because the trains and the trucks would stop running; the ships at the docks would neither be l oaded nor unloaded; the coal, gold, the uranium and t h e diamonds would not be mined; and all the factories — both large and small — would grow silent. The garbage would not be collected and the streets and roads

would not be cleaned nor repaired, nor would new ones be built. And the a@uent, Hberal White "madams" in Cape Town and Jo)mnnesburg and East London would have nobody to cook, to wash dishes, scrub Soors and to clean their toilets. There would be no food in the stores: the crops in the 6elds, the &uit in the orchards, the grapes on the vines would aH re-

main unharvested Thegrazing cattle and the sheep would be neglected and go astray and their bounty would not be available to feed the hungry mouths of the land. There would be panic in the streets and panic in the homes and panic in the beautifully panelled board rooms in the tall skyscrapers of Johannesburg and Durban and Cape Town. And very soon the Whites would clamour for the return of the 8 miHion Black Africans who do most of the hard work which keeps the Republic of South Africa ahve and welL

Dr. Andriola is ar, Amerfcan who from 1972 — 1974 was Senior Lecturer in the Social Science Faculty at gf1e University of Cape To vn. Prior lo that h e held professorships and lectureships at several universities in t h e United States ol America. He has I avelled extensively in Southern Africa a fld has added Afrikaans to the four languages he already speaks Auently. In June 1975 he went on a ion to South West Airica in three-weeks, 6,000 kilomet r e s e arch expedil o rder to o x iirst ormation of what was going on there. Dl'. Alncl ~s blished widely and is listed in " i nerican k'en cf .Ior his championship of minority groups and Scion his ai he calls the most ' w idely detested and tittle ~fy ot the Republic of South Africa' is the result of lder, ly trained mind e j

/'

Prof. Andriola has written a controversial and perhaps even a contentious book. It is bound to raise the blood pressure of White liberals not only in South Africa but in the rest of the Western World as well. It also seems destined to stir up the anger or contempt of militant Blacks and Browne. Furthermore, I am afraid that some conservatives and all right-wingers will disapprove of many of his views. In his writing the author brings to bear the research skills of the social scientist and the practical knowledge of the social worker and the political activist. He does not hesitate to call a spade a Spade-particularly when he excoriates hypocritical White liberals and the double-talking "diplomats" at the United Nations. After all, since he has beena life-long liberal himself, actively involved in many liberal causes including a long association with the left wing of th e Democratic Party in America, he is in a good position to evaluate both the faults and the virtues of liberals. He concludes that the faults — in fact the suicidal behaviour of White liberals in South Africa and elsewhere — far outweigh their virtues One may not agree with all he says; one may even disagree with many of his views. However, it must be admitted that as a longtime fighter for the rights of minorities he is still at it. In this book he makes a strong case for the preservation of what he calls the "most despised minority" in the world — the White South African. His proposed solution to insure the survival of this minority is both bold and innovative and bound to raise more questions than it tries to answer. For this and other reasons the book is recommended to anyone who is concerned about the survival — not only of South Africa's non-Blacks — but also of its non-Whites and of all those in-between.

HOW A R D TIMMINS Publisher P.O. Box 04

Cape Town, 8g00 Republic of South Africa