CRACKS IN APARTHEID’S WALL ECONOMICS IS BEGINNING TO GIVE THE LIE TO IDEOLOGY

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31663, 26 April 1968, Page 12

CRACKS IN APARTHEID’S WALL ECONOMICS IS BEGINNING TO GIVE THE LIE TO IDEOLOGY

(By

FRANK TAYLOR.

writing to the "Daily Telegraph". London, from Cape Town)

(Reprinted from the "Dail|/ Telegraph” bv arrangement)

The installation in Cape Town of Mr Jacobus Johannes Fouche as South Africa’s second State President set the seal on the “new era” of Mr Vorster, the Prime Minister.

Uncontroversial, acceptable to politicians of most shades of opinion, Mr Fouche symbolises the efforts of Mr Vorster to keep together the two wings of his ruling Nationalist Party. In turn, the fact that two distinct wings have emerged is a symptom of the patterns and policies introduced by the Prime Minister since the assassination of his predecessor, Dr Verwoerd, 18 months ago.

Under Verwoerd, the man of granite, South African politicians just did not step out of line. The perfection of the policies of apartheid (later to become known as separate development), the survival of “white” South Africa, the isolationist attitude towards the rest of the world—all were part of a clear-cut doctrine which was relentlessly pursued by a man who was nothing, if not doctrinaire. But the days of Verwoerd are past and considering the grip he had on the country during his lifetime, it is remarkable how quickly he has been forgotten. A Different Mould Mr Vorster has proved himself to be of quite different mould. This is not to say he does not subscribe to the racial policies so lovingly fashioned by Verwoerd. There 1. no doubt at all that he does. But his methods are proving to be somewhat different, while at the same time he has laid down the guidelines for a very definite foreign policy something which the Republic lacked under his predecessor. In doing so he has taken the calculated risk of antagonising the extreme Right wing of his Nationalist party, the grass-roots Afrikaaners to whom change is anathema and who see “liberalist” traps all over the place, whether in sending a multi-racial team of athletes to the Olympic Games or in establishing diplomatic relations with independent Black African countries.

As an observer of the South African scene for more than three years, I can appreciate the fears of the diehards; for the changes which may, on the surface, appear to be minor could eventually affect the very keystone of the South African socialpolitical structure. First Black Diplomat One does not have to look further than the well-heeled Cape Town suburb of Rondeboseb for proof of Mr Vorster’s ability to bend the dogma of apartheid to suit new circumstances. There, in a comfortable house, surrounded by trees, lives Mr Joe Kachingwe, who, as First Secretary at the new Malawi mission, is the first black diplomat to represent his country on a permanent basis in South Africa. Mr Kachingwe and his family are living in a whites-only residential area, the only Africans permitted to do so.

It is Mr Vorster’s intention Ito establish similar contacts with other black States (in a recent conversation he confirmed to me that his Government had received “encouraging noises" from certain unnamed countries north of the Zambesi). Gradually the colony of black diplomats and their families will grow. Contact on a social level between black and white will spread. Even now, Mr Kachingwe’s white neighbours are at pains to point out that they do not mind having black neighbours of this calibre. But what of South Africa’s own blacks? The Government’s ultimate aim is to channel all indigenous Africans into their “homeland” areas, such as the Transkei and the Ciskei. where they will eventually be led to independence. Black Labour Force But “white” South Africa will never be able to do without the vast labour force the Africans now provide: the Republic’s burgeoning industry is founded on solid black muscle. And while the African labour force remains in the urban centres, so the numbers of black professional men—the lawyers, doctors and so on —will increase. They will naturally seek and be sought by the Kachingwes of the diplomatic world. Thus, social contact between white South Africans and the Republic’s blacks will flourish through the diplomatic middlemen; and this strikes at the very roots of apartheid. And what of the “homeland” policy itself? After 20 years of apartheid the prospect of a selfsupporting, politically independent Transkei (to name but one) is as remote as ever. The hard fact is that the ratio of Africans to whites outside the homelands—that is in the urban centres of "white” South Africa—is

rising every year instead of falling. In these so-called "white” areas there were 14 Africans to every 10 whites when a survey was taken last year.

Economic development of the Bantustans is proceeding so slowly that it will be many years before there is enough employment even for the natural increase of the 4.5 million residents, let alone for the millions of Africans who are supposed to be channelled there from the urban centres. Training Lagging Training of Africans to take over the administration of the Transkei is also lagging. Indeed, more and more white officials are being sent to the area as administration problems become greater (which recently led a local politician to remark ironically that Umtata, the “capital” of the Transkei, was “getting whiter and whiter”). With the prospects of a racial Utopia, in which each group will be separate but equal, still so remote, the political extremists and hardline apartheid theorists have no doubt found a few crumbs of comfort in Mr Vorster’s recent moves on the other racial front, which concerns the Republic’s Coloured (mixed race) and Indian populations. It has now become clear that the Prime Minister is determined to remove from Parliament the Coloureds’ four M.P.s (who, incidentally, are white). In their place the Coloured people will have a Coloured Representative Council, whose functions will be confined to the administrative field (education, bousing, welfare, and so on). The Government takes the stand that in this way the Coloured people will be allowed to develop along their own lines, and that through some as yet undefined link with Parliament they will have even better political rights. But the Coloureds themselves (of whom there are nearly two million) do not agree. Coloured Worse Off The overwhelming weight of evidence given by Coloured leaders recently to a special Parliamentary commission investigating the political rights of the various racial groups was in favour of retaining the four M.P.s in the House of Assembly. Many Coloured people feel that if the Government’s scheme goes through (and there is nothing to stop it) they will be even worse off than the Africans; for where the Africans will be getting

their own “homeland” the Coloureds, most of whom live in the Cape Province, are economically and geographically tied to the whites, with no hope of ever becoming a full-fledged separate entity. The Indians of South Africa are also under Government scrutiny. Proposed legislation will turn their Indian Council (they do not have any M.P.s) into a statutory body, with the appointment of its members resting with the Minister of Indian Affairs. Such developments would Indicate that Mr Vorster is just as determined as any past Prime Minister to see that apartheid is carried to its logical conclusion. But, as has been pointed out, he has shown himself to be flexible on other aspects of bis policy, and there is no reason to suppose that he will not apply his pragmatism to separate development as a whole some time in the future; for sheer economics is beginning to give the lie to ideology. Effects Of Threats Those countries which continually seek to ostracise South Africa through United Nations boycotts and embargoes might do well to ponder this. If the aim is to change South Africa it might best be achieved through increased contact; for if the Afrikaaner is coming out of his shell he can just as easily be frightened back into it by threats and pressure. Sir Alec Douglas Home made the point on his recent visit to the Republic. Britain, he said, had differences with South Africa on many subjects. “But there is no reason why we should not differ in a civilised and understanding way. The problems of social and economic organisation will not be solved by any attempt to isolate South Africa from the rest of the world.” But the threats, particularly from the Afro-Asian bloc, continue, and the British arms embargo is still in operation. Both have obliged Mr Vorster to give close attention to the country’s defence forces and there is no doubt that a considerable military arm bas been created.

Recent events in Rhodesia have caused a mild state of nervousness in the Republic. Should Rhodesia be allowed to succumb to black nationalism South Africa would be ready to fight for her own survival; in this case whatever cracks had begun to appear in the apartheid monolith would be quickly cemented over, and the racial clock put back to the days of Verwoerd.