Ham again
From Mrs Marion Friedmann
Sir: Mr D. S. Fraser Harris may possibly be ignorant of the facts of SA political life, in his devious attack on the Hain family (December 4). If he is not ignorant, then the attack is despicable. The Hains were banned for their adherence to the aims and methods of the nonviolent, non-racial SA Liberal party, and for no other reason. The Suppression of Communism Act is used against anyone who is an embarrassment to the government: Communists, non-Communists and anti-Communists alike. Mr Fraser Harris may not know this: surely the editorial board of The Spectator does, and, if so, why does it lend its columns to a smear?
Notwithstanding the Hains' abhorrence of violence, they had sufficient human-kindness to offer shelter to the wife of Harris, during his trial in Pretoria. Their attitude to his act was well known. Peter did indeed read the cremation services on behalf of his father: I never thought to hear anyone seek to make political capital out of an act of that kind. I presume that Mr Fraser Harris does not wish, any more than Peter Hain does, to see a racial blood-letting in South Africa. If it is to be avoided then peaceful pressures like the STST must be brought to bear on those in whose hands the power for change lies. Or perhaps Mr Fraser Harris thinks the South African system quite satisfactory as it is.
Marion Friedmann 40 Hampstead Way, London NW I I
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