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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, FEBRUARY 11, 1983
PAGE 8
the expulsion by saying that in Britain and America, an illegal
alien, if found, "is arrested and sent to prison, where he is
tortured.'']
The move was a popular one for the government of President Shehu
Shagari, which is courting votes for elections expected in July.
Foreigners have been blamed for religious riots in the Moslem
north of the country, and for the growing tide of crime, violence
and prostitution in Lagos and other cities •.•. Most of the for
eigners were forced to leave behind their possessions and sell
their property for a fraction of its value.
Meanwhile, Down South
In the southern part of the continent, the issues are still more political
than economic. The war in South West Africa (Namibia) drags on--and for
good reason. The South Africans are determined not to let a Communist
backed government come to power in SWA, bringing hostile forces right down
to the Orange River. Here is a report from the DAILY TELEGRAPH of London,
December 8, 1982 entitled "South Africa's war of survival." It is written
by journalist Stephen Glover who had spent time last year in part of the
Namibian war zone.
As you get closer to South Africa's war in northern Namibia so it
seems less likely that it will end. in the foreseeable future. In
London you are told that negotiations are still proceeding apace.
In Pretoria it is admitted that there are grave problems.... In
the "war zone" some of the more senior soldiers have been told on
the highest authority, as they put it, that the war will go
on • • • •
American officials [ have been attempting] to negotiate the with
drawal of 20,000-odd Cuban troops from Angola, in the event of
which the South Africans have said they will leave Namibia and
permit internationally-supervised elections. The South Africans
fear.•. that, if still in Angola, the Cubans might be invited into
Namibia should Swapo win� elect""Ion there.
- -�
The truth is that the South Africans, perhaps knowing a little
more about their continent than do the Americans, have never
really beIieved that the Cubans woulaleave Angola. They have
been unable to see how the Angolan Government could dispense with
the Cubans in its civil war with its own [south African-backed]
guerrillas, Unita. More important, the South Africans see the
Cubans as the
1
o
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s_ arm of Moscow whos"e ultimate � urpose on the
continent they e ieve""to be the annihilation oft emselveS: - -
Because we in the West see things differently, or do not care
overmuch about the annihilation of South Africa,-we-underesti
mated the desperate tenacity ofthat country.
To most South
Africans this is a war of survival, not some irrelevant colonial
squabble. It is the""oottom line...•
What a sorry state of affairs. The Nigerians don't care what happens to the
Ghanaians and the deluded West does "not care overmuch" if South Africa is
annihilated (to its own grave peril if it only knew).