South Africa

Press, 14 August 1989, Page 20

South Africa

Sir,—Once again we are faced with the spectre of sporting boycotts over contact with South Africa. What sheer hypocrisy. The South African white regime has survived now for decadds and it does not take much intelligence to realise that the world trades with it, otherwise its economy would have collapsed years ago. The United States, for instance, buys its platinum from there; why not buy it from the only other source,' the U.S.S.R.? That is only the tip of the iceberg on the subject of trading with evil people. Until the political hypocrites of this world, together with the moneychangers, have something to gain from total bans on South Africa, then leave our sports people alone. — Yours, etc., G. McRAE. August 7, 1989.

Sir,—To argue, in justification of apartheid, the political philosophy that blacks can never equal whites requires its proponents to argiie that black is white, as F. W. de Klerk does (August 5): “Things must change drastically and fast, but whites must not go from being the dominating to being the dominated. One man, one vote will inevitably lead to (black) majority rule and domination. That .is unjust towards the whites and totally unacceptable.” No suggestion there that white minority rule and domination is unjust to the disenfranchised blacks and totally unacceptable. To minds incurably steeped in apartheid’s racist premises, it may be possible to reconcile the irreconcilable — “change things drastically and fast,” while preserving the special, privileged status of the minority whites which could only be maintained by the present regime of violence. Making Nelson Mandela’s release conditional on the A.N.C. renouncing violence is an irony apparently lost on Afrikaner officialdom. — Yours, etc., M. CREEL. August 7, 1989.