AFRICAN POLITICS TRAP MODERATES

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30562, 3 October 1964, Page 2

AFRICAN POLITICS TRAP MODERATES

A glimpse of the complicated situation in Southern Rhodesia is given by a school education adviser, Miss Marjorie Sanders, in a letter of thanks for books to the Dominion president of the National Council of Women (Mrs W. Grant). “The African dilemma grows more and more complicated and the ordinary man in the street—the moderate African—is having a very difficult time at the mercy of paid intimidators, thugs and pseudo-politicians, who are quiet lawless and without feeling for the sanctity of human life,” she said. The African who usually served her with petrol did not have his usual cheerful smile when Miss Sanders called recently at the petrol station.

“When I commented on this; ‘Ah, madam, it is very bad; too much trouble in the African townships: If I join one political party I am wrong; if I join the other one, someone wants to kill me. If I don’t join a party at all I am still wrong and someone else threatens to burn my house or hurt my children.’

“It seems terrible that the moderate Africans should be deprived of freedom in this way, especially by the people of their own race who are constantly giving lip service to the word ‘freedom.’ “We whites feel we cannot help at all. Although we abhor all that is happening, we know that if we try to help, the Africans would be so very suspicious of our motives that we would do more harm still in our efforts to help. That is the tragedy of Africa today,” Miss Sanders said.