The Outlook in South Africa
rriEGeneral Election held in South Africa last week was, like our own, a somewhat confused struggle, but, unlike the British elections, it has yielded a definite result. The Government in office through the last Parlia- ment represented a coalition of the Nationalist and the Labour parties. General Hertzog, the Premier, had only 63 supporters in a House of 134 members, and depended on the assistance of the Labour party of 17 members under Colonel Creswell. When under a redistribution scheme the number of constituencies was increased to 148, and- when the Labour Party split into two hostile sections, the one supporting and the other opposing the pact with the Nationalists, the South African Party under General Smuts believed that it had a good chance of returning to power. But in the end it has again been disappointed. Though it gained some seats, the Nationalists have gained more, while Labour, weakened by dissensions, has lost to both its opponents. General Hertzog now finds himself master of a compact Nationalist majority in the House of Assembly. If he likes, he can do without his Labour allies. But if he continues to work with Colonel Cresswell he will have a coalition majority of about 20, which is equivalent to over 80 in our House of Commons.
General Hertzog has never before been in so strong a position. It can only be inferred that his policy, whatever may be thought of it outside the Union, commends itself to the majority of South Africans. The Premier's handling of the flag controversy a year or two ago excited misgivings among those who follow South African affairs, lest it should accentuate unduly the antagonisms between English and Dutch which, one had hoped, were rapidly fading away. When General Hertzog in the last session introduced his very drastic Bills to settle the native question, and incidentally to disfranchise the existing native voters in Cape Colony, South Africa's best friends were rendered still more anxious. But the Premier held to his course, passed the Bills through the House with Labour support and was only foiled in the end by the refusal of the Senate to concur. At a joint session of the two parts of the legislature, he failed to get a clear two thirds majority for his Bills, which were therefore lost. Nevertheless, General Hertzog made the native question a main item in his electoral programme, and there need be no doubt that- the Dutch farmers in the country districts have voted for the Nationalists because General Hertzog proposed to put the black man in his place, as they would say, and keep him there for all time. The Premier has thus won a victory, but it is far from clear that a success gained on such an issue can be advantageous to South Africa as a whole or even to the white population.
South Africa is, of course, a self-governing Dominion and will settle her native question in her own way. But she may be reminded that the Union is not isolated from the rest of the world and that the treatment accorded to the natives within her borders must have an influence far beyond, in the other African territories for which we are directly or indirectly responsible. The British Govern- ment has long been endeavouring to frame a native policy which, with the full consent of all parties, may be con- tinuously applied hereafter in East, West, and Central Africa, and the object of which is, briefly stated, to promote the material and moral welfare of the black man. The Kenya Commission's Reports set forth this policy in some detail and made it clear that the British settler's interests were to be regarded as secondary arid that our main purpose must be to raise the status of the native in every possible way. In view of these facts, the native policy of the Union of South Africa cannot be a matter of in- difference to us. When it seems to be diverging widely from the course that our administrators are endeavouring to follow in other parts of the continent, we cannot but feel grave concern. Everyone must recognize the extreme difficulty of the position in South Africa- where a white population that is not homogeneous is face to face with a black population outnumbering it by four or five to one. The Southern Statek'of America have found it very hard to deal with a black minority. South Africa has the far harder task of dealing with a vast black majority that is in large part far lower in the scale of civilization than the American negroes. Those who realize the situation most clearly will be least ready to condemn South African statesmen for what they do or leave undone. Nevertheless it is immensely important that there should, if possible, be no marked divergence between the native policy of the Union and the native policy adopted else- where in British Africa. If in the new Union Parliament all parties would come to a friendly agreement with respect to the native problem, as General Smuts has repeatedly suggested, we should view the future not merely of South Africa but of Africa as a whole with less anxiety. For General Smuts always looks beyond the bounds of South Africa and knows that her destinies are interwoven with those of the tropical regions to the north.
Yet it is idle to deny that the omens are unfavourable. A marked feature of the elections has been the revival of racial differences among the white minority. While the towns have supported the South African Party, the country districts have given increased support to the Nationalists, and it is pointed out that General Smuts has lost many of his followers of Dutch origin, so that his effort to continue General Botha's policy in a party comprising both English and Dutch has been weakened. The growth of the Labour Party and its close co-opera- tion with the Nationalists in recent years had seemed to dispassionate observers, even if they had no sympathy with Socialist doctrine, to be a good thing precisely because it ran counter to the racialism that had too long afflicted South African politics. The split in the ranks of Labour and the reduction of its total represen- tation by half are thus to be regretted. Colonel Creswell may well continue to work with General Hertzog, but he will not be able to exert as much influence over him or to restrain the wilder spirits in the Nationalist Party from provoking their adversaries needlessly. It may be a counsel of perfection to suggest that South African politicians should forget all that happened before the Union of 1910 and turn their attention to the present and the future, but their country would benefit greatly if they could and would do so instead of continually reviving old and bitter memories. We can only hope that General Hertzog, having gained his victory, will use his new opportunities with discretion. South Africa is a great country with wonderful possibilities, but her resources will only be developed to the full if her white inhabitants work together, irrespective of the languages that they speak or the forefathers from whom they are descended, and if they deal fairly with the millions of natives living beside and among them.
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