S.A. reaffirms stand on racial policies

Press, 2 September 1983, Page 3

S.A. reaffirms stand on racial policies

NZPA-Reuter Pretoria A lavish public relations exercise, designed to counter boycotts of South African sport, ended on an unexpected note yesterday when a Government Minister strongly reaffirmed the Government’s policies of racial separation. The organisers of the today conference of rugby writers, led by the South African Rugby Board, condemned sports boycotts and told some 80 reporters from throughout the world that progress was being made in racially integrating the sport. A speech by the National Education Minister, Dr Gerritt Viljoen, surprised several of the sports journalists.

Dr Viljoen strongly reaffirmed the Government’s apartheid policies based on

white supremacy and said most whites would refuse to make unacceptable political changes for the sake of international reacceptance in sport. He said later, in reply to a question, “I would be misleading you if I said there was a move towards total integration of school sport.” The former British rugby international and sports writer, John Taylor, said Mr Viljoen’s speech appeared to undermine the efforts of the Rugby Board. “I want to say how disheartening I found your speech,” he told the Minister, who faced a barrage of critical questions. Another former player for Britain, Clem Thomas, said Mr Viljoen’s speech had been “terribly disheartening” and had shown terrifying honesty.