SIR,--No one who has been an admirer of Bernard Levin
so faithfully as I would ever believe him capable of careless writing, much less of slovenly thought. And so I am compelled to believe that ;t was no pen-slip when he wrote in your Book Section (April 8) that 'some black men are dishonest and prey off their fellow blacks.' Whether the word 'off' should be 'on' may be disputable: the word 'some' should be 'most' without dispute. This is not a verbal quibble; it concerns the key-clue to the South African crossword puzzle.
Anyone who has lived here for any length of time
have for thirteen years—knows that at least eight out of every ten Bajatu workers are instinctively dishonest and congenital liars. They have inherited moral concepts from an almost sancrosant tribalism the codes of which exempt none. Certain human actions, which in the primitive and elemental stages of their mental development were permissible, have become recognisable as crimes through civilisation. Bantu have come under the civilising processes very recently and, to varying degrees, individually, Even among the more civilised, living an urbanised life, Performing clerical jobs in commerce and skilled jobs in industry, the thin coating of civilisation is frequently penetrated.
No sympathetic person blames the Bantu for the peculiar moral code that makes lying to and stealing from their employers punishable acts. Understanding persons realise that the coating of civilisation has not adequately 'taken.' They know that the grandfathers of most Bantu were completely uncivilised, subject only to the codes of savagery, their moral concepts controlled by paganistic rites. It is cause for marvel that their grandchildren have acquired as, much of the veneer of civilisation as they have in such a brief
intervening period but it is unfair to expect too much of them; the ancient Brythons in England, woad- painted and skin-clad, were much less civilised after three generations of the christianising process.
It is this pellicle of civilisation, rather than pigmen- tation, that constitutes South Africa's 'colour problem.' This is considerably explained in my cur- rent book Curtain-Up on South Africa and, because it is such a fundamental subject, its successor is en- tirely devoted to a study of Bantu moral standards. Bernard Levin, in thinking that only 'some' have criminal instincts, is in line with the general aptitude for romanticising the African natives that began when, in the midst of the most horrifying mutila- tions of the Kaffir wars, equally humanitarian- hearted missionaries were describing them as 'the noble savage.'
A basic misconception of the Bantu will not facilitate their emancipation. That will he more soundly achieved if it is recognised that they are, a most, but three generations removed from savagery and jungle moral codes. Education, which has had anything approaching a mass-effect only on the rising generation, will help correct this and, as edu- cational facilities have increased threefold over the past ten years, the time may be approaching when Bernard Levin's incorrect adjective will be correct.— Yours faithfully,
GARRY ALLIGHAN
22 Alpine Heights, Y eoville, Johannesburg
[Bernard Levin writes : 'I am sorry that Mr. Allighan should take so low a view of the over- whelming majority of the people among whom he has chosen to live as to call them "instinctively dis- honest and congenital liars." He should remember that his own—doubtless more exacting—moral stan- dards were formed when he was a British Member of Parliament, in the less-disturbed atmosphere of Westminster, and be more charitable. But even if his nonsense about the South African Negroes were true, it would still not justify the way in which the South African Government treats them:--Editor, Spectator.]
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