Apartheid and Promoting Tourism in South Africa

How nice to hear that American tourists are having such a good time in South Africa. But how sad to read that, far from improving their understanding of the country, their visit leaves them with an inaccurate, rosy-tinted view of apartheid. The Kushins clearly had a great holiday, and think apartheid isn’t half as bad as the papers say. I wonder how much of their time they spent chatting to the black waiters and chambermaids who made their stay so pleasant about what it’s like to be black in South Africa.

We spent two months in South Africa last year and would like to put a few facts straight.

There are still plenty of segregated beaches in South Africa. There are plenty of segregated bus stops. Commuter trains may be integrated, but the rest are not: The “whites only” signs are there for all to see, and when we tried to buy third-class tickets we were refused on the ground that “nice people don’t travel third class” (we are both white). And shoppers of all races can be found in shopping malls, but more often than not the whites are spending money, while the very few blacks are trying to make it, selling baskets on the streets or begging.

The South African Tourist Board is no doubt very persuasive in its offers of glamorous “adventure” holidays. But Americans need not be fooled. Only a few miles outside glamorous, modern Cape Town lies the appalling mess of the black squatter camp at Crossroads. If tourists must go to South Africa, they should at least go with their eyes open.

MELANIE GILBERT

STEVE MINSHULL

Los Angeles