One small step in S. Africa

Press, 10 November 1983, Page 20

One small step in S. Africa

A new constitution that excludes more than two thirds of a country’s population from a share in political power is hardly likely to be welcomed by those to whom liberal and democratic principles are important. The substantial support for constitutional changes given by white South African voters last week can still be regarded as one of the more important steps in that country’s unhappy political history in recent times. The new constitution still takes no direct account of the wishes of South Africa’s black majority. Indians and people of mixed race will be accorded a voice, but only on terms that do not seriously threaten white political control. Even so, the white monopoly on South Africa’s national politics has been breached, and with the support of a majority of the country’s white population. The Government led by the Prime Minister, Mr P. W. Botha, has several objects in proposing the changes that voters approved last week. Outside South Africa, the Government hopes the new arrangements will be interpreted as evidence that rigid, racial segregation can be changed by peaceful means, even if the changes are small and slow, and hedged about with restraints. The change probably comes too late, and does too little, to win friends for South Africa. . Inside South Africa, the changes are an attempt to recruit support for the hard-pressed white minority. Members of the Indian and Coloured communities are being invited to throw in their lot with the whites, rather than accept that their future lies with the black majority in a common front against white oppression. South Africa desperately needs skilled labour, loyal to the present regime. If Indians and Coloureds can be offered a political stake in the country, they may be encouraged to work for it, and even fight for it, too. The Indian and Coloured communities are not necessarily going to welcome what little is being offered them, although some will do so, if only because they believe they will have a better prospect of breaking down the country’s racial divisions by working within the system rather than outside it. The Indian community, too, has a fear of racial oppression from blacks as well as whites. Indians have been among the first to suffer from black uprisings in the past. Beyond that, Mr Botha and his colleagues

have also used the constitutional changes to increase the power of the South African executive at the expense of Parliament. Under the new arrangements, South Africa will move closer to an American style of presidential government. Mr Botha sees himself as the first of,the new-style presidents under a system in which the whites, Coloureds and Indians will have parliaments that can advise him, but with the executive having greater freedom to make decisions without being bound by the need to achieve parliamentary majorities. On the face of it, none of this augurs well for South Africa’s future. The black majority are likely to feel pushed further into the wilderness of segregation and second-class status. Black community leaders have said that the new political arrangements will make black violence more likely. Yet, in the weird context of South African politics, Mr Botha’s new constitution can be seen as “enlightened” and even “courageous”. The rigid racists among white South Africans have suffered a major setback. The electorate has demonstrated it will accept changes that erode — if only a little — the supremacy of the white minority. A precedent for sharing power has been set and the case against denying blacks any political voice, except in artificial “homelands,” has been strengthened. When the principle has been conceded that change is possible, black South Africans will be further encouraged to seek ways of improving their position, by whatever means, legal or illegal. White South Africans may discover that they can work with members of other races without their whole way of life coming to an end. Even the more powerful presidency may turn out to be a way to more change. Reform does not come easily to a government that depends on the support of a strong parliament. Mr Botha and his colleagues are not likely to want to make further important changes. In their own eyes they have been daring enough already; but a way has been opened for the next generation of white politicians to take the process a little , further. Whether they will want to do so, and whether they will have time before violence from the oppressed majority becomes the decisive factor in South African life, remain imponderables about South Africa.