TRC Final Report

Volume 5

Part minority_position

Subsection 6

■ APARTHEID FROM YET ANOTHER ANGLE

40 The structure of apartheid policy as it emerged in the political system of our country is discussed elsewhere in the report. It originated and developed as a result of different influences over at least a century. Some examples are quoted in the report. I highlight and add a few to widen the context and understanding:

a The unchecked reign, for many decades, of colonialism, which is concomitant with exploitation and disruption of cultures, customs and mindsets, and operated as a closed system without real access for indigenous people to the worlds and structures of the colonising powers;

b The influence of British Empire politics, especially under Rhodes;

c The reactive phenomenon of Afrikaner Nationalism, which created its own myths and history of an Afrikaner people dating back to their founding with the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in 1652 (purely to facilitate trade), with a mission from God to evangelise Africa as His chosen people, seen as a parallel with Israel. Amnesty hearings of right-wing applicants showed ample evidence of remnants of this frame of mind, continuing right up to the end of the Commission’s mandate period.

d The depression of the 1930s, poverty and, more specifically, the ‘poor white’ question;

e The development of the legal structures of apartheid from 1948 to the late 1950s coinciding with the last days of colonialism and the civil rights struggle in the United States;

f The launch by Dr Verwoerd of a change in policy, with a deepening of ideology, at the time of uhuru and decolonialisation, and especially after the “Winds of Change” speech by Harold Macmillan, then British Prime Minister. Arguing that discrimination and domination were indefensible, the new policy introduced the concept of partition to create a framework of independent nations, superimposing the nationalistic perspective on African ethnic groupings. What is seldom appreciated is that it is virtually impossible for the ideological mind to view the world in a frame of reference other than its own. The system of ethnic nation states was perceived as a moral way out for the post-colonial ruling elite.

g As with all ideologies, practice could not be made to fit theory. Those homelands that became independent found themselves with democratic constitutions conflicting with traditional value systems, with their hierarchies and customs. Conflict with existing and emerging democratic forces continued and escalated.