HIGH PRAISE FOR VERWOERD GOVT.

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30563, 5 October 1964, Page 2

HIGH PRAISE FOR VERWOERD GOVT.

(New Zealand Frets Association) ROTORUA, October 4. The Verwoerd Government is the greatest South Africa has ever had, according to Mrs Enid Alexander, South African political historian and author who is spending a holiday at Taupo. “And I say this as the widow of one of the foremost political liberals South Africa ever produced,” she said.

Formerly a supporter of the United and. Progressive parties, Mrs Alexander saw the strength of the Nationalist Party and its leader when order was restored after the 1960' riots. . .

“The political situation in South Africa has been misjudged by the rest of the world. It is easy to criticise, but people should be aware of the facts,” she said. They should study the problems and see what has been done for natives and the coloured peoples. “We are fully aware of our obligations to those in our country who are not so highly civilised as we are.

“Natives are bound by tribal laws, many of which are In conflict with civilisation, however.

“They are not ready and are thoroughly incapable of taking over the government of the country at present. Nor will they be ready for several generations,” Mrs Alexander said. Departments The government had two departments, one for natives end the other for coloured peoples, and they worked efficiently. This was a charge against the white taxpayer. They paid for the necessary education. Natives could be given responsibility only as fast as they could absorb education and this would take generations to achieve. It was interesting to note, however, that South Africa produced more university-trained natives than the rest of African states together, she said. The world must not underestimate the worth of the Afrikaaner. They pioneered South Africa at the same time as the natives; they were great politicians. Apartheid meant separate development, and this policy had always been there. Verwoerd’s aim was to pursue this policy. Fine Articles Mrs Alexander paid a tribute to Dr. Emery Bares,

foreign editor of the “Daily Telegraph,” Sydney. “He spent some time in South Africa and wrote five of the most brilliant articles that have ever been written about our country. He got behind the minds of those who control South Africa and saw the wide conception of what they were trying to do and hope to achieve, given the time and without outside interference, Mrs Alexander said. New Zealanders should not compare the lot of the Maori with that of the South African native.

“We realise the Maoris are a very superior race of Polynesian descent far more advanced than the African native,” she said. Another attribute of the Verwoerd government was its attitude toward Jewry.

“No Government has ever done more for South African Jewry and never has the county been so free of antiSemitism,” she said. All Blacks The All Blacks had engendered a great love of New Zealanders in South Africa, and the Maori representatives who recently visited there had created a very favourable impression. The same could be said for Inia Te Wiata, who played a leading role in “Show Boat” in South Africa, she said. This feeling of friendship was strong and she thought it a great pity that South Africans were now obliged to obtain a. visa to enter New Zealand.

Mrs Alexander, a sister of Mr B. J. Baumberg, of Taupo, will leave for Wellington next week, where she will stay for a few days before returning to South Africa by way of Sydney and Melbourne.