Botha’s New Retreat

President Pieter W. Botha of South Africa has become increasingly bitter about what he regards as the misunderstandings and lack of appreciation by his foreign critics of the reforms that he has been making in apartheid. But once again in recent days he has retreated from decisive action to end the basic legal support of racial segregation, the group areas act that enforces racial segregation in housing. And in so doing he has validated much of the foreign criticism and clouded the future for his own deeply troubled nation.

Botha has implemented significant changes that, measured from the point of view of the privileged white minority in South Africa, must seem generous beyond words.

Over the last seven years labor legislation has been redrawn to eliminate racial discrimination and legitimize black unions, a model for many other African nations that now are more discriminatory and repressive in dealing with organized labor. This is the most far-reaching of the reforms, although even here there are disappointments.

Some fundamentals of apartheid itself have been wiped away over the last three years with the repeal of the ban on mixed marriages and some elements of the so-called morality act, and with abolition of the influx-control and pass laws that are intended to control the movement of blacks. Black rights have been enhanced by restoration of South African citizenship, granting of the right to own property in selected areas, desegregation of sports competition and the end of racial restrictions in central business districts. Furthermore, increased funding for black housing and education has been voted, although both remain inferior.

The confidence that might have been encouraged by these steps has been eroded, however, by some broken and some unfulfilled promises, and by the consistent rejection of proposals to dismantle the crucial elements of apartheid. The commitment in 1984 to terminate forced removals of blacks from areas where they have settled has not been respected. The commitment made in 1985 to provide some sort of black participation in the political process has been frustrated by the unwillingness of the government to free key blacks who are essential to the negotiations. The breaches of the Nkomati Accord for peaceful relations with Mozambique and the interference of South Africa directly in the affairs of other neighboring black states on grounds of national security have raised further questions about Botha’s good faith, as has his continuing resistance to implementing earlier commitments to grant independence to Namibia through a United Nations plan. And now a key cabinet minister has rejected an innovative power-sharing proposal for the governing of Natal province.

Botha may indeed be a captive of the extreme rightists who have resisted his reforms at every step. If so, he should say so and stop blaming his troubles on foreign critics. The key actions for the launching of a dialogue for peaceful change are his to make. They are the freeing of political prisoners; the end of the emergency, including the persecution of the United Democratic Front; the recognition of the African National Congress, and, of immediate importance, the repeal of the group areas act. Until those things are done, few will believe Botha’s commitment to “a new South Africa in which the reasonable aspirations of all its citizens would be satisfied.”