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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MARCH 23, 1984
PAGE 13
one-on-one with South Africa's various black homelands which have become
independent (four of them so far). Here is how Brian Pottinger, writing
also in the SUNDAY TIMES (Johannesburg) of March 18, describes this scheme:
south Africa has embarked on a dramatic Africa initiative which
could profoundly shift its foreign-policy orientation away from
Europe and the United States towards the African continent.••.
Among the exciting possibilities now arising from the momentum of
the latest initiatives is the creation of a new regional economic
bloc to challenge the industrial nations' ability to dictate raw
material prices. Such a new alliance would be a de facto reali
zation of the long-held dream of Mr.� Botha's government--an
economic constellation of Southern African states •..•
At the same time the Prime Minister (speaking at Komatispoort]
laid heavy emphasis on South Africa
I
s "Africaness" and harked
back to the Afrikaner's� struggle against colonialism and im
perialism. In a speech which struck a strong responsive chord in
his part-Mozambican audience, he said the responsibility existed
to give the subcontinent a chance to live and grow without the
interference of outsiders.
"As Africans we take pride in our identity and in our traditions
in this part of the world. Instead of dividing� energies and
resources let us pool them, for it is in our combined economic
strength that the promiseof a more prosperous region will be
realized."
He also pointed out neither South Africa nor
Mozambique had a hand in drawing the political map: it was done
by others who served the interests of colonial powers and who
spared little thought for the inhabitants of the region.
Mozambican President Samora Machel--while admitting differences
of opinion on questions of domestic policies--echoed almost pre
cisely the same views. He referred to the bitter legacy of Euro
pean colonialism in Africa and described the people of the conti
nent as "survivors" who had always struggled to eradicate foreign
domination and exploitation. And in a powerful reaffirmation of
the Lusaka Manifesto of 1969 he repeated that white South
Africans were indeed Africans....�
The creation of the conditions for a southern African economic
community... still faces major problems. Chief among these is the
existing imbalance in levels of development between South Africa
and its neighbors--something which could lead to greater and not
lesser economic dependency for the weaker members.
All thi � talk . of pea
7
e and cooperation, of cou � se, does not sit� with
the Soviet Union, which has a vested interest 1n promoting turmoil in the
sens1t1ve region. At the moment, Moscow does not know quite what to do.
Perhaps it will wait until after the 1984 U.S. presidential elections.
Either of the two top Democratic Party contenders would be preferable to
President Reagan on the entire range of East-West issues in Moscow's eyes,
of which the future alignment of mineral-rich southern Africa is a vital
part. For example, former Vice-President Walter Mondale had a standoff
with the late South African Prime Minister John Vorster in Vienna in 1977 at