Indian Named Ambassador by Pretoria

As European Communities foreign ministers were debating Monday in Brussels on limited economic sanctions against South Africa, the Pretoria government appointed an Indian law professor as its ambassador to the communities.

Bahdra Galu Ranchod, 42, head of the law department at the University of Durban-Westville, is the first nonwhite to hold such a diplomatic post under South Africa’s white-led government. He said his appointment reflects “some of the changes South Africa is going through.”

“I do not see myself defending racial discrimination, or having to do so, while I am in Europe,” Ranchod said. “The South African government has stated clearly that it is moving away from discrimination, and I think that my appointment is further proof of that.”

South Africa has sent eight Indian and Colored (mixed-race) diplomats abroad in the last eight years, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Pretoria said. The latest appointments include a Colored first secretary for political affairs in London and an Indian head for South Africa’s information services in Australia. There has also been speculation that Pretoria might name a Colored as ambassador to Canada.

Criticism Rejected

Ranchod, a former visiting scholar at Columbia University’s law school in New York, rejected criticism here that his appointment to the Brussels post was tokenism.

“I have a reputation in South Africa and internationally on the need for change in this country, and I accepted the appointment only after careful consideration,” he said. “Over the years, I have been fairly consistent in my views on the need for a democratic South Africa where all would be treated fairly under the rule of law.”