Incisive Journalism in Cameroon: The Best of ��Cameroon Report�� (1978 � 1986)

55. Cameroon Report 21/04/85: South Africa: Botha’s Lame Reforms

211 55 Cameroon Report 21/04/85: South Africa: Botha’s Lame Reforms Introduction: Racist South African authorities this week, delivered what appeared to be the most conciliatory package in decades to resolve the apartheid question and to promote the search for Namibian independence from South Africa. This package comprised the abolition of the immorality and mixed marriages acts which prevented love or marriage across the races, and a projected withdrawal of racist forces of oppression from southern Angola. Our African affairs observer, Charles Landzeh looks at how far such a package can be delivered, and how far it could solve the problem of Namibian independence: In two volleys, Pretoria announced the abolition of the immorality and mixed marriages acts which prevented love or marriage across the races, and closely followed up with a statement to withdraw South African occupation forces from southern Angola. While it is easy to see Pretoria’s move as a precipitated response to mounting anti-apartheid pressures from sympathizers in the United States and open disinvestment threats from the rest of the world, many questions abound as to what the real intentions of Pretoria are in making such a quick move for the first time since apartheid became an official policy in 1948. Apartheid or separate development of races has been institutionalised in South Africa by a series of acts and laws. The immorality and mixed marriages acts legally forbid love 212 or marriage across the races, the group areas act provides for the establishment of separate residential areas for the different races, while the pass laws regulate the movement of people from one residential area to another and who must carry along passes or official permits. Apartheid therefore is based on a chain of acts and laws and the abolition of one or two of these acts would have no meaning unless the whole file is done away with. For example, how can people make love and get married when they cannot move freely in and out of each other’s residential areas or meet without fear? This explains why antiapartheid leaders have quickly dismissed the abolition of the immorality and mixed marriages acts as another ploy by Pretoria to fool the rest of the world. In sum, President Botha’s abolition of the immorality and mixed marriages acts amounts to the provision of sentimental liberties to the races which have little or no significant impact on the anti-apartheid struggle. What the rest of Africa and peace loving nations want are well-meaning reforms which would give majority rule and a one man one vote legal institution in South Africa. President Botha’s sentimental liberties could be another soft move to dampen the rising fervour of the anti-apartheid struggle which is now taking greater proportions and threatening the very foundations of that hated inhuman system on the continent. In another statement, Pretoria announced it was withdrawing all its occupation forces from southern Angola with immediate effect. Although President Pieter Botha gave explanation why such a move was coming fourteen months behind the Lusaka 213 agreements with Angola, subsequent statements have revealed Pretoria’s true intentions. Those who care about developments in Southern Africa were still thinking hard on the withdrawal plans when Pretoria unleashed its project to set up a puppet transitional government in Namibia without the participation of the South West Africa people’s Organisation (SWAPO), the sole and legitimate liberation movement recognised by the OAU and the United Nations in the struggle for Namibia’s independence. Pretoria’s announced withdrawal from southern Angola therefore turned out to be a pre-emptive manoeuvre to win whatever support it can for its evil plans in Namibia which it has continued to occupy and exploit in open defiance of world opinion. President Botha’s evil package for Namibia, in all, is a slap on the face of the United Nations as it completely ignores UN resolution 435 calling for supervised elections in the South West African territory with the immediate pullout of the racist South African forces. Racist South Africa geographically has no territorial boundaries with Angola but the presence of its forces in the independent country can only be explained by the fact that Pretoria violated Namibian and Angolan territories with impunity in its cross-border raids. In 1983, the racist forces invaded southern Angola from its solidified bases in the Caprivi Strip of northern Namibia to support UNITA rebels...