Basic HTML Version
PAGE 10
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JULY 26, 1985
"In reality not only the responsible black leaders but the overwhelming
black majorities are saddened and shocked by the behavior of their young
sters, stirred up to a frenzy by professional rabble-rousers hired by one
revolutionary organization or another."
But, once again, why the revolutionary mentality now? The clearest answer
came from a man whom I felt was the most eloquent of the parliamentarians I
talked to: Salam Abram, a member of the new Indian chamber, the House of
Delegates.
"There are," Mr. Abram said, "elements within our borders who do not want to
see reform succeed." In other words, the pressure on South Africa, both
from within and without, has come from the forces who fear that the coun
try's new governmental structures (gradually admitting Indians, Coloureds
and eventually at least urban blacks into the process) could, as Mr. Abram
said, have "an even chance of success."
Success would keep a market
oriented prosperous society in the Western camp. The Marxists therefore
feel they must turn those not quite in the system against the system before
it's too late. (Foreign Minister Roelof F. Botha said virtually the same
thing on July 24: "The elements that stand for a Marxist dictatorship have
intervened," he said, in order to "stop the process of change. There is too
much at stake for all South Africans to allow our future to be determined by
perpetrators of violence who burn people alive.")
Never forget, added Mr. Abram, that the fall of the Western-style free
enterprise system in South Africa is a major Soviet objective. To facili
tate this aim, he said, the Communists turned the revolutions in two former
Portuguese colonies flanking South Africa--Angola and Mozambique--to their
side. Mr. Abram charged that Communists have made sizeable inroads into
the liberal churches in South Africa. And why is Moscow so interested? The
defense of the United States and much of the rest of the Western world
hinges upon access to South Africa's storehouse of vital minerals such as
chromium, manganese and platinum. The U.S. has no chromium reserves and
limited resources.
Yet this mineral is so critical that without it
missiles, ships, submarines, aircraft and weapons support systems could not
be built. With no domestic resources and no known substitute for chrome, a
report from the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Mines says,
rather matter-of-factly:
"The problem for the United States is one of
national security."
I asked Mr. Abram whether he, like I, suspected the motives of at least some
in the West who call for disinvestment of stocks in companies doing busi
ness in South Africa (in order to force them to leave South Africa). Of
course, he replied. The most troubled townships have been those with the
highest unemployment. If those calling for disinvestment of U.S., British,
Canadian and other Western industries succeed, then additional millions of
blacks could be thrown out of work--able then to be marshalled into the
forces of revolution!
Adding to the suspicion of the motives of some of those who call for disin
vestment is the experience that these South African officials had while in
Los Angeles. While here they had the opportunity to speak with some area
businessmen. However, most elected officials, especially in the city of
Los Angeles, refused to see them. (The city government is pushing for dis
investment of its pension funds.) This is especially poignant in the case