South Africa

Press, 12 September 1988, Page 16

South Africa

Sir,—Bert Walker is blind if he cannot see that I was turning his own arguments back on himself. I wrote (September 3) that Bert Walker claims that any films taken by outside bodies in South Africa depicting police violence towards protesters are stage-managed, i.e. faked, but that Government-controlled films showing opposition to Archbishop Tutu are genuine. Talk about selective evidence! He virtually says: “Films supporting my beliefs are true, those that don’t are false.” The Johannesburg “Star” reported Archbishop Tutu’s arrival in full, but made no mention of a demonstration against him. I suspect it was a case of the Government’s renting a “demo,” if there was any. Actually, only a small minority of blacks, consisting of elderly followers of Chief Buthulezi, oppose the A.N.C. Most of the opposition to Archbishop Tutu comes from younger blacks who think he is too moderate! — Yours, etc., VERNON WILKINSON, September 8, 1988.,

Sir, —Vernon Wilkinson (September 1) should realise that educational, economic and social uplifting of the black population is an essential foundation for the reform process. He should also realise that the middle class of Pretoria’s making is made up of blacks who, through hard work and enterprise, have utilised increased freedoms to better themselves. There is nothing sinister here. A black South African writer, Nomavenda Matthiane, wisely said: “When liberation comes it should find us prepared, which we cannot be without jobs and education.” A top A.N.C. member of the ’fifties, John Mavuso, endorses this principle. He has a unique and highly influential position on the Transvaal Provincial Executive Council and declares that black support for him outweighs criticism. He summarises the present situation admirably: “We have reached a stage in our history where the conflict is no longer between white and black, but between radicals and reasonable people.”—Yours, etc.,

lAN DIMBLEBY. September 9, lpBB.