South Africa

Press, 7 December 1988, Page 22

South Africa

Sir, —My information on Jan Smuts, which lan Dimbleby (November 28) regards as “baseless,” comes from a publication that was printed in South Africa for the (South African) Government printer. — Yours, etc.,

KENNETH EBER MARTIN November 30,1988.

Sir, —Now that lan Dimbleby (November 30) has acknowledged the inadequacies of life in the “homelands” it is increasingly clear that his constant repetition on the themes of "development plans” and “massive problems” is no more than an attempt to obtain acceptance for the new style of apartheid. “Grand apartheid” — including the homeland policy — was abandoned because it was internationally unacceptable and economically inefficient, although we now see signs of the return of total segregation. The current strategy, which attempts to disguise, not replace, apartheid is to phase out the dispensable elements of racially ordered segregation and create an acquiescent black middle class with a stake in the system. As Professor Bundy (Cape Town University) emphasises, South Africa’s deep-seated economic crisis is inextricably linked to the structures of apartheid and cannot go away while the gap between the Government’s maximum reform proposals and the minimal demands of the black opposition widens. — Yours, etc., ALISTAIR PRINGLE. December 2, 1988.