The Press WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1966. Salisbury’s Defiance

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31236, 7 December 1966, Page 20

The Press WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1966. Salisbury’s Defiance

Constitutionally still responsible for Rhodesia, the United Kingdom has now invoked the powers of the United Nations to bring down the Smith regime. The rejection of Mr Wilson’s terms by Mr Smith’s colleagues will be deplored by all advocates of constitutional government The consequences can only be hardship for Rhodesia’s four million people, the exacerbation of racial strife in Rhodesia and elsewhere, and economic sanctions which may involve virtually all the world’s trading nations. Hopes were held when Mr Smith and Mr Wilson concluded their week-end talks on H.M.S. Tiger that an acceptable basis for a settlement had been reached. But if Mr Smith accepted Mr Wilson’s proposals he was unable to persuade his cabinet and, for the second time in little more than a year, he has decided to defy the British Government. Mr Wilson is now committed, in terms of the communique issued during the Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ conference in September, to take the issue to the Security Council of the United Nations: and there can be no doubt that the Council will call on United Nations members to boycott trade in Rhodesian exports. Although many members want the United Nations to resort to military action, Britain and the United States will be able to repulse such demands, at least in the immediate future. Rhodesia’s survival so far does not prove that sanctions are futile, but merely that effective sanctions are difficult to enforce.

To what extent South Africa may be prepared to assist its beleaguered neighbour is now the key question. If South Africa joined the other United Nations members in enforcing sanctions against Rhodesia the Smith regime could not survive many months. All the evidence suggests that South Africa is prepared to assist Rhodesia covertly, even openly, if need be, thereby risking the application of sanctions against herself. South Africa’s is a powerful economy; and sanctions against the world’s largest exporter of gold and diamonds would hurt many other countries. South Africa is vulnerable mainly in oil; and recent round-the-clock work to build up storage within the Union suggests that South Africa is preparing for a “ sanctions siege South Africa’s most powerful trading partner, the United States, has already indicated in the United Nations that the United States would prevent its nationals from trading with South Africa if sanctions were imposed. The stage now seems to be set for an escalating sanctions war, with the ever-increasing risk of the armed conflict which all have sought to avoid. The responsibility for this rests mainly on the shoulders of Mr lan Smith and the supporters of his illegal regime.