South Africa

Press, 14 September 1988, Page 20

South Africa

Sir,—ln answer to Kenneth Martin (September 9), I do not support apartheid and I do fully appreciate the need for full democracy. However, what galls me is the way anti-South Africa correspondents either evade the issue or deny facts when it

comes to admitting real reforms by the Botha Government. Others misrepresent the situation by quoting outdated policies or ignoring the voice of black moderates. Though we may wish it so, it is unrealistic and downright stupid to expect South Africa to reform overnight. It is better to encourage peaceful change while letting the Government know the ultimate standards we expect from it. My previous letter is proof “times have changed” in one key area — education. Mr Martin’s response was to bring in another issue — one I do not even dispute. These reforms will not be repealed unless the mad Conservative Party gets into power. — Yours, etc., lAN DIMBLEBY. September 12, 1988. Sir, —The important thing to know about black education in South Africa is that for every rand spent per head on blacks, five to seven are spent on whites. Most spending on the former is directed towards the urban blacks. The reason is that the Pretorian Government has realised, like most governments today, that the only way to compete commercially is to have a well-educated workforce, mainly drawn from urban areas. This is consistent with the Afrikaner Government’s aim of building up a business-professional middle class of blacks who, they hope, will be less disposed to join their under-privileged, and therefore more revolutionary-inclined, black comrades. The snag in this theory is that a well-educated black group is likely to be more conscious of its human and political rights, especially those of their white predecessors — “no taxation without representation.” — Yours, etc., VERNON WILKINSON. September 10, 1988.