Whites to vote in S.A.

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33452, 6 February 1974, Page 11

Whites to vote in S.A.

(X.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright! CAPE TOWN, February 5. Apartheid and the future of the country’s 18 million blacks will play a major part in South Africa’s General Election on April 24 in which only whites will vote.

The Prime Minister (Mr; John Vorster) of the ruling ; National Party, which has I jwon four elections since it I came to power in 1948. said I confidently: “Our policy ; guarantees the electorate! that they will at all times! maintain their identity”. In the last General Election in 1970 the Nationalist’ Party won 118 seats compared with the main opposi-.. : tion United Party’s 47 and! the Progressives’ one. I Economic factors, such as! increasing inflation and the Arab oil boycott of white ruled southern Africa, have encouraged Mr Vorster to call the election a year before his five-year mandate is up. There are 2.000,000 voters this year. While the National Party pushes its familiar line of separate development, as seen through the increasing independence of the African homelands, the main opposition, the United Party, will; be trying to sell its somewhat vague federal idea. The Progressives and the new Democratic-Party will, be trying to persuade the! ! voters that federation is I their idea, while the extreme. Right-wing Herstigte Nasion-1 ale Party will probably lump; them all together in their! condemnation of dangerous: liberal tendencies. Federation has been a popular watchword among the opposition, and the: United Partv leader, Sir De Villiers Graaff, told Parliament that it was the only way “we can constructively work to remove the indignities of apartheid in a manner th£t meets the wishes of all our people and will remove forever the; ghastlv racist stigma that attaches to the name of South Africa”. .. But Mr Vorster sug-j gested. in rejecting the federal notion, that it would’ remove something more im- ; portant to the white elec-: torate • “every person and state in the federation will! have to sacrifice part of its! sovereignty”. In the last election the United Party took eight seats from the Nationalists, but their chances of repeating the feat have suffered a severe blow by internal strife over leadship and over broad policies on race matters. The open conflict between the illl-named. Young Turks’ (one journalist wrote that! they were neither young nor; Turkish) and the "old guard”

led by Sir De Villiers Graaf! himself, has been repaired a little. But the Progressive and the Democrats hope to benefit from signs of disaffection among some more radical United Party members. If they do, the Government might just lean a little more towards a federal idea - Mr Vorster himself talked .of a “power bloc” in which I states did not have to giveup any sovereignty.