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A Change of Heart (Part 1) by

Jeffrey Archer

1 There is a man from Cape Town who travels to the black township of Crossroads every day. He spends the morning teaching English at one of the local schools, the afternoon coaching rugby or cricket according to the season, and his evenings roaming the streets trying to convince the young that they should not form gangs or commit crimes, and that they should have nothing to do with drugs. He is known as the Crossover Convert. 2 No one is born with prejudice in their hearts, although some people are introduced to it at an early age. This was certainly true of Stoffel van den Berg. Stoffel was born in Cape Town, and never once in his life travelled abroad. His ancestors had emigrated from Holland in the eighteenth century, and Stoffel grew up accustomed to having black servants who were there to carry out his slightest whim. 3 If the boys none of the servants appeared to be graced with a name, whatever their age - did not obey Stoffels orders, they were soundly beaten or simply not fed. It they carried out a job well, they were not thanked, and were certainly never praised. Why bother to thank someone who has just been put on earth to serve you? 4 When Stoffel attended his first primary school in the Cape this unthinking prejudice was simply reinforced, with classrooms full of white children being taught only by white teachers. The few blacks he ever came across at school were cleaning lavatories that they would never be allowed to use themselves. 5 During his school days Stoffel proved to be above average in the classroom, excelling in maths, but in a class of his own on the playing field. 6 By the time Stoffel was in his final year of school, this six-foot-two-inch, fair-haired Boer was playing fly half for the 1st XV in the winter and opening the batting for the 1st XI during the summer. There was already talk of him playing either rugby or cricket for the Springboks even before he had applied for a place at any university. Several college scouts visited the school in his final year to offer him scholarships, and on the advice of his headmaster, supported by his father, he settled on Stellenbosch. 7 Stoffels unerring progress continued from the moment he arrived on the campus. In his freshman year he was selected to open the batting for the university eleven when one of the regular openers was injured. He did not miss a match for the rest of the season. Two years later, he captained an undefeated varsity side, and went on to score a century for Western Province against Natal. 8 On leaving university, Stoffel was recruited by Barclays Bank to join their public relations department, although it was made clear to him at the interview that his first priority was to ensure that Barclays won the Inter-Bank Cricket Cup. 9 He had been with the bank for only a few weeks when the Springbok selectors wrote to inform him that he was being considered for the South African cricket squad which was preparing for the forthcoming tour by England. The bank was delighted, and told him he could take as much time off as he needed to prepare for the national side. He dreamed of scoring a century at Newlands, and perhaps one day even at Lords. 10 He followed with interest the Ashes series that was taking place in England. He had only read about players like Underwood and Snow, but their reputations did not worry him. Stoffel intended to despatch their bowling to every boundary in the country. 11 The South African papers were also following the Ashes series with keen interest, because they wanted to keep their readers informed of the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition their team would be facing in a few weeks time. Then, overnight, these stories were transferred from the back pages to the front, when England selected an all-rounder who played for Worcester called Basil DOliveira. Mr DOliveira, as the press called him, made the front pages because he was what the South Africans classified as Cape Coloured. Because he had not been allowed to play first-class cricket in his native South Africa, he had emigrated to England.

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12 The press in both countries began to speculate on the South African governments attitude should DOliveira be selected by the MCC as a member of the touring side to visit South Africa. 13 If the English were stupid enough to select him, Stoffel told his friends at the bank, the tour would have to be cancelled. After all, he could not be expected to play against a coloured man. 14 The South Africans best hope was that Mr DOliveira would fail in the final Test at The Oval, and would not be considered for the coming tour, and thus the problem would simply go away. 15 DOliveira duly obliged in the first innings, scoring only eleven runs and taking no Australian wickets. But in the second innings he played a major role in winning the match and squaring the series, scoring a chanceless 158. Even so, he was controversially left out of the touring team for South Africa. But when another player pulled out because of injury, he was selected as his replacement. 16 The South African government immediately made their position clear: only white players would be welcome in their land. Robust diplomatic exchanges took place over the following weeks, but as the MCC refused to remove DOliveira from the party the tour had to be cancelled. It was not until after Nelson Mandela became President in 1994 that an official English team once again set foot in South Africa. 17 Stoffel was shattered by the decision, and although he played regularly for Western Province and ensured that Barclays retained the Inter-Bank Cup, he doubted if he would ever be awarded a Test cap. 18 But, despite his disappointment, Stoffel remained in no doubt that the government had made the right decision. After all, why should the English imagine they could dictate who should visit South Africa? 19 It was while he was playing against Transvaal that he met Inga. Not only was she the most beautiful creature he had ever set eyes on, but she also fully agreed with his sound views on the superiority of the white race. They were married a year later. 20 When sanctions began to be imposed on South Africa by country after country, Stoffel continued to back the government, proclaiming that the decadent Western politicians had all become liberal weaklings. Why didnt they come to South Africa and see the country for themselves, he would demand of anyone who visited the Cape. That way they would soon discover that he did not beat his servants, and that the blacks received a fair wage, as recommended by the government. What more could they hope for? In fact, he could never understand why the government did not hang Mandela and his terrorist cronies for treason. 21 Piet and Marike nodded their agreement whenever their father expressed these views. He explained to them over breakfast again and again that you could not treat people who had recently fallen out of trees as equals. After all, it was not how God had planned things.

*** 22 When Stoffel stopped playing cricket in his late thirties, he took over as head of the banks public relations department, and was invited to join the board. The family moved into a large house a few miles down the Cape, overlooking the Atlantic. 23 While the rest of the world continued to enforce sanctions, Stoffel only became more convinced that South Africa was the one place on earth that had got things right. He regularly expressed these views, both in public and in private. 24 You should stand for Parliament, a friend told him. The country needs men who believe in the South African way of life, and arent willing to give in to a bunch of ignorant foreigners, most of whom have never even visited the country. 25 To begin with, Stoffel did not take such suggestions seriously. But then the National Partys Chairman flew to Cape Town especially to see him. 26 The Political Committee were hoping you would allow your name to go forward as a prospective candidate at the next general election, he told Stoffel. 27 Stoffel promised he would consider the idea, but explained that he would need to speak to his wife and fellow board members at the bank before he could come to a decision. To his surprise, they all encouraged him to take up the offer. After all, you are a national figure, universally popular, and no one

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can be in any doubt about your attitude to apartheid. A week later, Stoffel phoned the National Party Chairman to say that he would be honoured to stand as a candidate. 28 When he was selected to fight the safe seat of Noordhoek, he ended his speech to the adoption committee with the words, Ill go to my grave knowing apartheid must be right, for blacks as well as for whites. He received a standing ovation.

*** End of Part 1 ***