Afrikaner editor sacked

Press, 1 September 1982, Page 9

Afrikaner editor sacked

NZPA Johannesburg The editor of the staunchly Right-wing Afrikaans newspaper “Die Transvaler” said yesterday he had been dismissed, a move seen by political observers as more evidence of divisions in the white minority South African Government. Dr Willem de Klerk. "Transvaler's” editor-in-chief and associate managing director of the controlling company, Perskor, said: ‘T can substantiate that there were political motives which most definitely played a role in the attitude which others eventually had towards me,” he said. His dismissal is seen as another setback to the Prime Minister (Mr Pieter Botha) in his promise of race reform. The reform outlined by Mr Botha led to a Right-wing breakaway of 18 hard-liners headed by a former Minister, Andries Treurnicht, and the formation of the Conservative Party, which has vowed to pursue apartheid policies. There has been speculation in other newspapers that “Die Transvaler,” often regarded as the mouthpiece of the governing National Party, could switch allegiance to Dr Treurnicht's party. The observers said that the dismissal of Dr de Klerk, regarded as a liberal in National Party circles, could be the first indication of such a change.