Evening star., 1960-06-28

into office through conStltu-
tional methods.
One of Prime Minister Yer
woerd's most obvious char
acteriSticS is his intellectual
arrogance. The 59-year-old
premier. who proudly boasts
that none of his seven chill
dren have ever been bathed
or put to bed by an African
servant, as Minister Of Native
Affairs under both Malan and
Strijdom was responsible for
the design and implementa-
ton of apartheid.
Even after an assassin put
two bullets into his head this
spring and the Unions econ
omy suffered terrible blow
in the loss of confidence on
the part of overseas investors,
DR.. Verwoerd said he would
not change his policies.
The reason is obvious: To
do so would be to admit that
ne was wrong and that his
whole political career Is a
failure.
Support Doubtful
Even if he had the co'lr-
age and vision to make sucn
an admission. it is douot1ul
If the supporters of the Ma
t,onalist Party would accept
it, For IL long years every
organ of publicity has been
used to drum into the Afri-
kaners' heads the thesis that
there is no other way than
this. To expect them, dociie
and easily led though they
are. to accept a sudden re-
yersal of policies is expecVlils
too much.
The principal opposition n
group m Parliament, Sir de
Villiers CRAFTS United Party
which holds Al of 100 seats IN
the House of Assembly, is a
dead letter. Although the
up in the last election polleo
almost as many votes as tne
Nationalists, who hold lo1
seats (67 per cent OF the
totan, gerrymandering ano
the legal overwhelming OF
the rural vote at the expense
of the urban ballot, reduce
its hopes of ever being aole
to form a government.
To win. the U. P. has to
attract the Afrikaner rural
vote and this it cannot 40
because of its rejection OF a
republic. In Afrikaner eyes,
it will always be stigmatlzed
as the political home OF Eng
disappearing South Africans
and Afrikaner renegades.
r,t+Io niAareucp
Nor is there any reason to
believe that it would be able
to prevent a racial clash II 1t
did come to Office. 1t fire.
ouently votes with the Ma
tionalists on racial matters
and it's opposition, at best, is
tepid. A U. P. government,
from the African point OF
view. would be the difference
between being slapped with
an open hand as opposed to
being slugged with a closed
fist.
To the left Of the U. P.
is DR.. Jan Steytler'S Progress
sive Party. a 12-member par
liamentary group which broke
away from the U. P. last year.
DR.. Steytler. a talented Afrl-
kaner surgeon. has forged a
group which just might be
able to avert catastrophe . q.
if it could get into power.
Although it believes in "the
maintenance of white civiliza-
ton" (the South African
translation is segregation it
does guarantee protection of
fundamental human rights
and the dignity of the human
being, irrespective of race,
color, or creed"
Backing a Question
But it is difficult to assess
the political backing of the
Progressives if only because
they were elected in 1858
under the U. P. label CSteyt-
ler was leader of the party in
Cape ProvinceI In addition,
their lukewarm attitude to-
ward the republic and their
"liberalistic" label "a dirty
word in the South African po-
litical lexicon makes him
completely unacceptable to
the Afrikaner electorate.
The South African Labour
Party was erased from the
political scene in the 1855
elections and Alan Paton's
Liberal Party polled less than
5000 votes. Either has about
as much chance of winning a
seat, let alone forming a
government, as Vice President
Nixon has of taking MissiS-
Sippi in November.
The one hope-and 1t is a
@sint one-lies with red
haired Jacobus "Japie" Bas-
sons National Union Move
ment. Mr.. Basson q 4l-year-
old Afrikaner. draws his in
spiration from 70-year-old
Henry Allan Pagan. South
Africa'S most eminent jurist
and its best loved Afrikaans
novelist.
Mr. Fagan. after retiring