Fatuous and naïve
Sir: Much of what Colin Welch (Centrepiece, 14 April) has to say about South Africa is true, especially his appreciation of the complexity of the situation and how fatuous and naïve many judgments delivered from distant borders are. Certain statements of his are, however, open to dispute: 1. Why should the 'presence and survival' of a black majority that outnumbers the whites by five to one be viewed as one of South Africa's 'redeeming glories'? The only glories involved are the testimonies to the stoicism and patience of the blacks. More accurately, the 'presence and survival' of the white minority is a monument to black political apathy and to
pthoclicee atstsatblies.hment of a brutally successful
•
2. As Mr Welch correctly observes the `vast wealth is surely the property of those who created it and their heirs'. Who does he think constitutes the mining, industrial and agricultural workforce? What of the government's attempts to deprive them 0,1; their citizenship and thus their heirshiP• Are these people getting their share of the wealth when they are consigned to 1 cent of the country's land and receive O 20 per cent of its wealth? 3. Should expediency be the main point of reference when discussing Political reforms as implied in the reference to the `breakdown of apartheid, only increasing expectations and thus dangers'? Who are we, white South Africans, to impose our value-judgments and will on 20 million people? 4. Nobody, now or ever, liberal or otherwise, can guarantee 'that the new state of affairs would be better than the old'• What can be guaranteed, though, is that South Africa will provide a sad postscript t, the African tragedy unless repression and pseudo-reforms to achieveare replaced hy. justice. real e -aj et attempts achieve
democracy and
justice.
Gawith
Rosetta Farm, Rosetta 3301, South Africa
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