S.A. urged to maintain unity

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32406, 19 September 1970, Page 17

S.A. urged to maintain unity

The Prime Minister of South Africa (Mr Vorster) last night criticised certain Church, political and economic leaders for failing in their duty to condemn terrorism. He said that terrorism could not be condemned in one part of the world and condoned in another.

“If the world does not watch out, we will be back in the jungle sooner than we thought,” he warned businessmen, at the annual meeting of the influential National Development and Management Foundation in Cape Town. Last Tuesday Mr Vorster warned South Africa’s Churches that he would act against them unless they left the World Council of Churches, which has decided to send money to anti-apartheid groups, including African guerrilla organisations. Last night the Prime Mini-| ster said that one thing South Africa could do was to prove) to the world that people of different colour, religion and language could maintain their identities and live together peacefully in one geographical area. Mr Vorster said he believed that: Whites have every right to be in South Africa. ) The portion of the country 1 where the white people live belongs to them, they have developed it, and “come hell or high water, we will keep it.” White South Africans not only want to maintain their identity, but have every right to maintain; it. The same rights claimed by the whites have also to be granted to the other

peoples and nations in South Africa. South Africa is not a multiracial but a multinational couhtry. In years to come certain portions of South Africa will “as of right” belong to other nations. The Bantu homelands will in time become independent and* have every right to do so. The Prime Minister said that in a multi-national country like South Africa there were a few things which could not be allowed. One (was that: “Under no circumstances may anybody’s human (dignity be impugned. The necessary rules to maintain the identities of the various groups did not impinge upon human dignity, he contended.