BLACK VIEWPOINT

INTRODUCTION

EditorB.S. Biko (1972)

IT IS SIGNIFICANT that in a country peopled to the extent of 75% by blacks and whose entireeconomic structure is supported and maintained, willingly or unwillingly, mainly by blacks, we findvery few publications that are directed at, manned by and produced by black people.

Black Viewpoint is a happy addition by the Black Community Programmes to all those publicationsthat are of great relevance to the black people. Our relevance is meant to be in the sense that wecommunicate to blacks things said by blacks in the various situations in which they findthemselves in this country of ours. We have felt and observed in the past, the existence of a greatvacuum in our literary and newspaper world. So many things are said so often us, about us and forus but very seldom by us.

This has created a dependency mood amongst us which has given rise to the present tendency tolook at ourselves in terms of how we are interpreted by the white press. In the process, a lot of ushave forgotten that the values and attitudes of newspapers are governed largely by the values andattitudes of both their readership and of their financial supporters - who in the case of the whitepress in South Africa, are whites. Therefore, when we read of a report of any speech or incidentwhich focuses on blacks, we usually find it accompanied by interpretative connotations in terms ofstress, headlines, quotations and other journalistic nuances, that are calculated to put the report ina particular setting for either consumption or re-jection by the reader.

One must quickly add that the moral of the story is not that we must therefore castigate whitesociety and its newspapers. Any group of people who identify as a unit through shared interestsand aspirations necessarily need to protect those interests they share. The white press istherefore regarded by whites as doing a good service when it sensitises its own community to the'dangers' of Black Power. After all no white man is wanted outside the laager when the rest of thewhite society is facing the illusionary swaart gevaar that only exists in the minds of the guilt-stricken whites. Perhaps only very few whites would not want to be in the laager.

No, the real moral of the story therefore can only be that we blacks must on our own developthose agencies that we need, and not look up to unsympathetic and often hostile quarters to offerthese to us.

In terms of this thinking, therefore, Black Viewpoint is meant to protect and further the interests ofblack people. We do not intend to venture beyond this. We shall not serve as an exclusivemouth-piece for any particular section of the black community but merely to pick up topics as theycome and as they are dealt with by blacks in various situations.

In the present issue we focus attention on four addresses delivered by blacks in differentsituations. By juxtaposing these articles in this issue we hope to reflect the broad spectrum now tobe found in our society both in terms of the different stresses we lay in the definition of ourproblem - the white problem - and in the mooted solutions that all four speakers touch briefly on.

We hope this will generate a good response amongst those who read it.

BLACK DEVELOPMENT

Njabulo Ndebele

Njabulo Ndebele is a final year B.A. student at the University of Lesotho, Botswana andSwaziland. He is also the SRC President of UBLS

I. THE PROBLEM

There are three kinds of socially significant groups in South Africa. There is the ethnic group, theracial group and the broad national group. The national group is the combination of the racial andthe ethnic groups, that is to say, it is the national group which, for purposes of internationalidentification, can also be known as the people of South Africa, or simply as South Africans. Theracial group, on the other hand, is a combination of ethnic groups. Thus, the black racial group ismade up of Zulus, Basotho, Pedis etc. and the white racial group is made up of Afrikaners, Englishpeople, Portuguese etc. The national group, we shall note, is fragmented by the institutionalisedracial conflicts, that is to say in fact the national group is formed when the racial groups begin tointeract. This means implicitly that the most important agent for social dynamism is the interactionof the racial groups. In other words, it is not the nation, in South Africa, which matters, it is theracial groups. Indeed, there is no nation in South Africa; a nation pre-supposes a voluntary andunified political co-operation of all the social groups within a State.

However, on the level of simple human relations, at any particular moment, any particularindividual in South Africa is faced with three levels of socio-politico-economic conflicts. There arethe conflicts he experiences within his own ethnic group; those he experiences within his racialgroup, and those he experiences as a member of a racially divided state. There is conflict withinand between ethnic groups, and conflict within and between racial groups. In these conflicts, theconflicts within any particular group tend to be diminished whenever that group comes into conflictwith another similar group. In any conflict, two or more parties are both and at the same time,fighting against each other for an objective which neither has. It may be that one party has alreadyreached that objective, so that the losing party is engaged in a constant effort to remove the victorfrom the coveted place. On the other hand, the victor is engaged in an effort to maintain hisposition. Thus, in matters of state politics, the victor can be in a position to control his opponent ina conflict by force, if necessary, in order to maintain his position.

There is a hierarchy of conflict in South Africa. The greatest conflict is that between the races. Therace which is in power is the white race; that which seeks the power it does not now have is theblack race. The white races is able to control the black race, by force if necessary, in order tomaintain its position of power. The white race precludes the black race from participating creativelyin the quest for industrial development and, consequently, for political power. The white race-triesto make it difficult for the black race to reach certain academic standards, thus excluding the blackrace from the quest for intellectual and ideological power. The white race seeks to prevent theblack race from making any constructive and creative contribution to the black race's own culturaldevelopment, by creating social conditions unconducive to meaningful cultural expression, thusexcluding the blacks from the quest for cultural power in a distinct cultural identity. The white racetries to minimise the conflict within and between its ethnic groups in order to maximise its efforts todominate; it also tries to maximise the conflict within and between the ethnic groups of theoppressed black race in order to minimise the latter's resistance in the racial conflict. Thus by suchmeans, the white race prevents the black race from attaining political power. The whole socio-political framework in South Africa is based on the preservation of the superior-inferior relationshipbetween white and black, a relationship essential for the maintenance of white domination.

The need for freedom is an essential and natural characteristic of humanity. That is to say, there isno human being who can willingly accept a status of political servitude. It is self-evident therefore,that the white race in our country seeks to perpetuate and unnatural condition. It is important,

therefore, to realise that nature is on the side of the blacks. It is important, furthermore, that theblacks cultivate and develop a philosophy of nature and of life that will centre around the conceptof human worth and human dignity for only when we value our own selves do we find it necessaryto struggle for the preservation and the assertion of that which is valuable in us.

A paper for the Symposium on CREATIVITY AND BLACK DEVELOPMENT organised by theSouth African Students' Organisation (SA SO).

II. SOCIETY AND POLITICS

Politics is the quest for and the use of power; and society is the interaction of various power-groups. This view of politics and society is what I may describe as a functional view in terms of ourhuman circumstances in this country. It is functional in the sense that it is a necessary view to holdin the creation of a practical attitude towards the assessment of our condition. We blacks must sitdown to examine the various power-groups in our midst, with a view to finding out which of thesegroups can be most effective and relevant towards our necessary, and hence natural, struggle fora more meaningful participation in the shaping of our country's destiny.

It goes without saying, therefore, that there is a hierarchy of power-groups in a political structure.But all these groups have one thing in common - the desire to propagate a point of view whichmust be acceptable to a great number of individuals. The highest power-group is that which hasbeen granted the right and, at the same time, the privilege to rule a people. In seeking the greatestpower that man can ever wield, this group is conventionally referred to as the political group orparty. There are other power-groups which are normally referred to as social groups, that is to say,smaller groups which by virtue of their existence, natural necessity and interaction determine thenature of a community of people i.e. cultural groups, educational groups, religious groups,industrial groups, sports groups and others. An important characteristic of these social groups isthat they may not necessarily be in conflict with one another, for each seeks to assert itself in itsown field of interest.

III. POWER-GROUP AMONG BLACKS (a) The Peasant and Semi-Peasant

There are social divisions among the blacks, which are of a universal nature. Such are thosewhich exist between rural and urban blacks. The former, who in the history of many social andpolitical revolutions have often been regarded as having the greatest potential as an agent or asan instrument for the mobilisation of human forces towards social, political and economic reforms,are virtually a dormant group in South Africa. This group, whose members are known as peasants,is mostly to be found in small rural ethnic concentrations either in reserves or in the small townsbordering the reserves. Where the towns are far from the reserves but not very far from the bigtowns, the peasants of a particular rural area may be made up of several ethnic groups livingtogether and working for the same white farmer. The existence of these people has more oftenthan not been an embarrassment to the urban blacks whose relative social advancement hastended to make them wish to forget their wretched past, constantly being brought to life by thepeasant and his companion, the migrant labourer.

The peasants on the white farms have almost no political consciousness. Their day is rigidlyscheduled according to some form of compulsory routine. They have accepted, either consciouslyor sub-consciously, the fact that they are not working for their own betterment; rather, they areworking for a white master who seems to have a right to benefit from their labours. They have nosocial security. They do not own land. They can be driven away from the farms almost at the whimof their white master. Even their very survival is not as important as the survival of their master.Theirs is the life of insignificance, of diseases, of ignorance. Their whole personal orientation isgeared towards serving their master. They are grateful that their master allows them to build theirrusted zinc lean-to's half a mile away from the master's mansion. They are human possessionswhich the white master does not value.

Indeed, he does not even value their labour, as such, for he accepts their labour as much as heaccepts the fact of breathing. You only value the process of breathing when your lungs are introuble. Before then, your lungs are some aspect of yourself that you seldom think of in your life.That is the extent to which human beings have been reduced - mere insignificance.

Yet, in spite of all his apparent degradation, we would be wrong to suppose that there is no vitalpart of the peasant's personality which does not secretly abhor the degrading agent and theinhuman physical conditions to which the agent subjects him. An intuitive knowledge of naturaljustice tells the peasant that the life he is leading is far from ideal; that he is insecure; that hewishes to own property and work for his livelihood as any person proud of his physical strength,would wish. However, to wish for something is an indication that you do not have it at the momentof wishing. Thus, the next step is to try to find ways and means of acquiring the object of yourwishes. What, therefore, can the peasant do? Nothing. It is a fact that on their own, they cannot domuch. They are weakened, as a group, by ignorance; by lack of political awareness; by immediateethnic differences which to them are still the determinants of the basic conflicts in life. Thispeasant group is, indeed, a good example of a power-group that has no actual power. However,their potential power is immense indeed. It is this potential power that should interest us, forindeed, real social and political change, if it is to be a goal for all black people, can only be realisedin the mobilisation of all possible human resources.

Closely related to the peasant group, is a group that has become semi-peasant and semi-urban.This is the group of migrant labourers, most of whom work in the mines. A good number of thesecome from neighbouring black countries. These migrant labourers suddenly find themselvesuprooted from a rural life which they find uninspiring when compared with the stories of aglamorous life in the big cities. They come to the town and frequently mix with the urban blacks.Again, the tendency of the urban blacks has been to look down upon these labourers on accountof their untutored ways.

Having been in contact with the life of the towns, they have some measure of political awareness.It is also important to realise that when they get back to their homes, they come with an enhancedsocial status. They become interpreters of the fast-moving world outside. Some of them becomefairly literate. Thus, they realise, with some articulation, that there is a lot they do not have whichthe better members of their country, the white masters, have. They can do more for themselvesthan their completely peasant companions. We must realise, therefore, that this group can be avery important agent for social change in the rural areas.

(b) The Urban Blacks

The urban blacks are the most socio-politically aware among the black groups. This is becausethe urban black is more advanced socially, politically, economically, educationally and in manyother ways that make life in the urban areas supposedly more meaningful. That is one of theunexpressed, main political reasons behind the policy of the Bantustans. The urban blacks,because they know too much (much more than the lower classes among the whites) must bedivided into ethnic groups and sent to their homelands. There, they shall become a semi-peasantgroup, because basically the homelands are intended to be labour reservoirs of migrant labourers.In the homelands, they can be very easy to control; easy to convince that they are inferior, andeasy to convince that they have political power when in actual fact that political power is only thefreedom to organise effectively, through a government machinery, migrant labour, as some blackneighbouring countries are doing. The black governments in the homelands are going to do thewhite man's dirty job.

However, in his relative advancement, the urban black still feels backward in relation to his whitecounterpart. He works in the same factory as the white worker; diagnoses the same diseases withthe white doctor after having written the same examination; worships the same God as the white

churchgoer and generally does many other jobs which the whites do, yet, in a state which, byvirtue of his colour, discriminates against him, he is unable to participate in any decision-makingprocesses affecting him and his work.

He has repeatedly compared his skills with those of his white counterpart and has not found hisskills wanting. There are two social evils which beset the life of the urban black. He suffersprimarily because of the black colour of his skin; and secondarily as a member of the exploitedclass in a capitalist economy.

One of the most shattering characteristics of an advanced capitalist economy is that it tends to beextremely acquisitive. People want to lay their hands on almost anything that is brought to theirnotice by cunning advertisements. The urban blacks have joined this acquisitive world, and the lifeof this world is characterised by extreme alienation from oneself. Each person tends to move awayfrom himself in a bid to acquire things external to his own person. Thus, the acquisition and thehoarding of material things is responsible for a proportional rise in social status. That is to say,people do not matter; it is things that matter. Things make people; people no longer make things,that is to say, people no longer approach work and matter with a creative bent, because theirhandling of matter is no longer a means of self-expression, it is now a barren conformity to animpersonal acquisitive norm. An acquisitive society is also characterised by its purposelessness.There is no intrinsic purpose behind this blind acquisition of material things; indeed, acquisition isan end in itself. That is why after having acquired out of conformity, one has no value for thatwhich one has acquired, because it has no intrinsic value for one.

A casual and brief look at the history of racism in South Africa shows that the early white settlerswere sincere in their belief in the inferiority of the black man. They were driven by deep-seatedreligious beliefs. Now, it is no longer that way. There are very few whites now religiouslycommitted. Let us not be deceived, the Afrikaner is no longer as deeply religious as he was in thenineteenth century. Today, he has tasted of the material fruits of modern society and is determinedto enjoy them for as long as he can. The effect of religion is only powerful immediately after humanappeals to it have been successful. After that, that influence and power wane with each passinggeneration. That is why today, the Afrikaner speaks of ideologies, because an ideology is arational product of the mind.

That is why he now speaks of 'youth preparedness', because he cannot now rely on irrational andmystical religious appeals. The capitalist society has removed all the mysticism and seeks to beenjoyed on its own terms - rationality and indoctrination. That is why rational justifications forapartheid only succeed in being feeble. The true foundations of apartheid are irrational and thatirrationality has now disappeared. Indeed, the effect of apartheid today lies in the statute books -laws long written, and laws being written. The latest laws are now written with a view to the benefitof the economy and not of religion.

This fact leads us to a very important conclusion. We have seen how a fast-moving capitalisteconomy advances with a proportional increase in alienation. The white South African does notknow himself; he knows only that he is white, but of the collective humanity of whites he has avague knowledge because they have lost it. The capitalist society has had its toll of self-alienation;and the laws passed to the capitalist's benefit have helped him along by providing him with themaximum opportunity for hoarding wealth. The black person has ceased to be just a person who isblack, he has now become a vital tool in the hoarding race; the acquisitive marathon race. Theblack person has been reduced to a thing. There is no difference between the machine and theblack person. The money he earns is the oil that serves to keep him running. The blacks havebeen relegated to a vague generality in terms of human dimensions, and to a specific generality interms of exploitative and quantitative economic productivity. They have been reduced to a mereracial concept of labour by all the sections of the white community. Blacks are known as: labour inthe factory; labour in the mines; anonymous labour in the essential services; labour in the Kitchen.'Labour' and 'black person' in South Africa are synonymous. In changing such concepts about

them, the blacks can cripple the evil reality such concepts serve. They must realise that the whitescannot help but acquire, and in doing so, these whites may be ignorant of the injustices theyperpetrate, having been rendered feeling less by the blind urge to acquire. The blacks must asserttheir human dignity and rebel against an institution which relegates them to the status of things.

By what has just been said, it should not be understood that the implication made is that there areno racial conflicts. Among the whites, the fanaticism about race has simply watered down tonegative attitudes springing from a self-inflicted ignorance. That is why apartheid has all in allbecome 'petty'. Apartheid is no longer a pseudo-ideology; it has become an economic principle.This is an important development for the black person. It means that the black man must becareful of concentrating on the racial struggle, to the detriment of the economic struggle, becausethe latter may have become more important than the former. The whites continue to makedeclarations about white superiority and Western Civilisation. These declarations seemingly seekto underline racial conflicts; they are in essence intended to hoodwink the black man into believingthat his only problem is the racial one. This is clearly brought out by the liberal elements amongthe whites. The liberal cry against the oppression of the black man is essentially ethical. They donot want a politically free black man, they simply want a happy labour force. They have publiclydeclared that the happier the blacks, the more they can produce economically. To the liberal, theblack person is still a thing, only the thing must be given more oil to function with better efficiency.Let us look closely now, at the urban blacks.

The black person has in the past tended to demonstrate to the whites that he was also capable ofbeing a professor, an engineer, a businessman, a technician and other highly professionalpersons. So his whole personal orientation became geared towards this personal display. Little didhe realise that in trying to prove himself he was doing so not on his own terms, but on the terms ofthe whites. He had to prove himself within standards of life which had in themselves the capacityto oppress him, not within the standards of his own indigenous civilisation. Thus today he is stillcrying for education, sacrificing for it to the extent of starvation because the game of personaldisplay is still being played. There is a vague notion of what education is, and what it is for. Wehave all heard at some stage in our life the distraught old lady saying: My child, what can we do inthis world without education? This question is still being asked. But it is the wrong question. Thecorrect question should be: When we have education, what do we do with it?

What is happening now is that the blacks acquire education with only a vague aim for itsutilisation. The real shocking tragedy comes when the black man realises that even with hiseducation, he is still not really accepted by whites. He is still given lower wages; he cannot dosome jobs because of job reservations.

This struggle for education created social problems within the urban black population. Those whostruggled for this education for personal display tended, psychologically, to dissociate themselvesfrom their ignorant lot. In this way a black middle class, the darlings of the white liberals, wasformed, that is to say, class divisions were formed among the blacks. Some of the members of thisclass due to their political perspicacity decided to seek the political kingdom on behalf of theirpeople. This group reigned during the time when the teacher and the priest were highly respectedmembers of the black community. Because they brought themselves close to the people, theirpolitical influence lay in the fact that they were the few whom the people could present to the worldas symbols of success. The influence of this group reached both its zenith and its downfall atSharpeville. Sharpeville indicated that the intelligentsia had failed. At that time, the factory workerwas just beginning to earn more than the priest and the teacher. The ordinary, uneducated mancould buy a car and even run a business. This new economic power, insignificant though it was,gave the ordinary man confidence and an increased self-reliance. But it was a self-reliance thathad no political direction. It was a self-reliance commanded more by a mere instinct for survival.When, under oppressive conditions, the group has failed, each person goes at it alone. Thus, anycollective racial feeling against the whites was greatly diminished, because each person felt hewas suffering as an individual.

When the struggle seemed to be that of individuals, the decadent values so typical of capitalisteconomies set in. When there is excessive individuality, objective morality ceases to have anymeaning at all. Rapidly, the blacks were absorbed into the stream of acquisitiveness. The moraleffect this had on the social life of the blacks was phenomenal. The appeal of the mass mediabecame irresistible. Black people began taking to fashions; buying cars, generally developing acompulsive urge to seek entertainment. Thus their lives began to revolve around money and theaccumulation of wealth. How else do you explain the actions of a man who buys a pair of shoesworth about thirty rands, when his family is starving? It is the same with liquor, where the moreexpensive brands are preferred.

(i) The Black Middle ClassThis class was referred to earlier on as the darlings of the white liberals. It is made up of doctors,businessmen, lawyers, journalists, and other professional people. Most of them have becomeobsessed with capitalist values. They have the shared characteristic of indulging in the exploitationof their own people. This is because, although they are politically aware, they have no politicalcommitment. There is also the added vice of individuality. Because Africans can own no land inthe urban areas, the white liberals were heard to speak on behalf of this black middle class. It wasargued that if they were given land, hence security, they would work for the maintenance of lawand order. This invariably means that they would assist in the oppression of the blacks. Thewomenfolk of this class have formed ineffective social groups such as Women's Leagues wheretable manners, recipes, and darning methods are discussed. The journalists are worse. There isno black press in South Africa. The few black papers are white-owned. It follows, therefore, thattheir editorial policies as decided by the whites are geared towards financial gains, and the blackeditors seem to agree to be used as direct instruments for the exploitation of their own people. Thestrategy of this press is to make feeble attacks on apartheid as an indication to blacks that it is ontheir side. An indication that they are not interested in the political education of the blacks is thespace they give to gory murders, rapes, sports, adultery and other sensational events. They justifytheir actions by making false claims that blacks are keenly interested in such things.

The black middle class is also characterised by a general lack of creative imagination. Thereseems to be endless imitation and very little innovation. Scientists will complain about a lack ofresearch facilities - what is there to prevent them from building a small back-yard laboratory?Similarly teachers will complain about a lack of teaching aids - what is there to prevent them frommaking some? Accomplished musicians will continue playing classicial music and American Jazzwithout researching or experimenting with a wealth of musical forms and rhythms around them.There is a general frustration from self-pity which does not seem to struggle to find outlets. This isa group that should be in the forefront of a black renaissance in South Africa. This class mustwake up and review its position in the black community. It should come nearer to the ordinaryworkers for it is the latter who can give them a genuine support towards the realisation of healthydreams, and not the white liberals.

(ii) The WorkersThe workers are by far the greatest number of urban dwellers. Like the peasants, the urbanworkers have a great potential for effecting social change; but they have had no effectiveleadership. But unlike their rural companions, the workers are to some extent conscious of theirpolitical position, even if their dissatisfaction is only feebly and vaguely expressed. The workersare very active in their urban social setting. They have shown great initiative and creativity. Fromthem we get mbaqanga musicians, actors, beauty queens, soccerites, soul musicians, gangsters.The middle class seldom, if ever, takes the challenge that the creativity of the workers present.The middle class never develops on the crude initiative of the workers precisely because itdespises the workers' efforts. They forget that the mainsprings of a true cultural identity come frombelow.

It has been mentioned that the workers lack effective leadership. Like most workers throughout theworld, the black urban workers are caught up in the webs of a socio-political environment theycannot fully comprehend. It is the educated middle class who can explain to the workers theworkings of the system they live in, in order to channel this vast wealth of initiative towards thedestruction of the system. There is a group in black urban society which can be regarded as asub-group of the workers.

(iii) The Black Religious SectsThere are more than three thousand religious groups in South Africa. A number of theories havebeen advanced to account for this occurrence. The generally accepted theory is that becauseblack people could not hope to participate legitimately in the exercise of national politicalexpression, they sought this expression in religion. Most of these groups broke away from themain white-dominated denominations.

(iv) The Basis for a Black Socio-Political ChangeWe have seen what I consider the most important groups in the black community and we havenoticed that under over-bearing oppressive socio-political conditions, the more aware, by virtue oftheir education, tend towards a frustrated and apathetic acceptance of the situation, whereas theless aware show a great zest for life. Society cannot change significantly unless the crude initiativeand creativity of the less aware are crystallized into comprehensive gems of thought by theeducated. If this does not happen, society as a whole lives by intuitions, and intuitions have neverbeen clear agents for purposeful collective and effective action.

(a) The Blacks and the Philosophy of Life

Life is there to be lived, and lived fully. To live life fully means putting into practice as far aspossible the life of the rational imagination. An essential characteristic of the imagination is that itvaries in direct proportion to the availability of physical circumstances conducive to emotional self-expression. The emotional and spiritual states of our being enlist the assistance and co-operationof the mind towards their expression. It is the mind that examines physical possibilities ofemotional expression. If the mind cannot manipulate physical reality, imaginative reality soars togreat heights. If the latter does not find physical expression frustration sets in. Frustration can bepassive and it can be active. The former is that which seeks no outlet; it simply forces the victiminto a world of dreams only. Active frustration searches for outlets for relief. It enlists anotherfaculty of the human being - the will. Active frustration, however, puts great reliability on therational faculty. The mind is forced and pressurised into seeking practical solutions.

We can see, therefore, that the essential duality of mind and matter is an ever-present reality. Themind seeks to manipulate matter to the benefit of a third human dimension - man's spiritual beingwhich is the seat of morality. While nature tends to be arranged in a dialectical pattern, it is alsotrue that in the dialectical opposition between good and evil, man tends to wish for theperpetuation of the good.

If man tends towards this desire, then it is only because nature wills it so. The spiritual being inman determines the good to be pursued. Thus, when man handles matter, he does so with theaim of doing something good with it. Having considered these factors very briefly we can see thatwithout man, matter is valueless; and without matter, man has nothing with which to expresshimself. The purpose of man is self-expression, in the manipulation of matter. When man hastransformed matter into an object of inner expression, he is magnified and made valuable becausehe has created something of value. The aim of society therefore is to create an order in whichindividuals can create, and politics is nothing but the quest for the power to create maximumopportunity for man to create. Thus politics, properly conceived, is also a creative occupation. Thecreation of society, for the purposes mentioned, is a collective activity, that is to say society is forman. Any society will tend to develop a culture peculiar to it. Thus, culture, in its broadestmeaning, is a shared characteristic among members of a particular society of tending to seek self-

expression in a defined pattern of activities. But there is such a thing as universal culture, such asthe world objective knowledge, science, mathematics, technology etc. These are not the monopolyof any one society; it is simply that some societies acquired them before others.

The black man must begin to see life, his life in particular, in terms of the above thesis. There arecertain basic moral tenets which are essential prerequisites in the quest for a creative society. Theblack man must believe that it is both good and right for him, so long deprived of human worth, toseek the freedom to give ex-pression to his humanity; he must believe that it is both good and rightfor him, so long degraded, to reassert his human dignity, he must believe that it is good and rightfor all citizens of South Africa to share equally in the creation of the means of self-expression; hemust believe that it is both good and right to believe that he holds the right view because it is not inconflict with universal objective morality; he must believe that a system that relegates humans tothe status of feelingless things is both wrong and evil not only because it degrades man, but alsobecause it desecrates those values and beliefs which man holds most dear. (We cannot talk aboutman without in the same breath talking about the purpose of his life as is indicated by his values).The black man must believe that it is both good and right that if he lets such a system continue todegrade him, he is contributing to the desecration of his own beliefs; he must believe that it is bothgood and right that human beings are more than just labour entities; that the black man's mind andbeing, if given free expression, can create great works of art; great music; great philosophicalthought; great scientific contributions all of which can make South Africa a great country. If theblack man can see himself as such, he has already begun the journey towards freedom; he hasbegun to turn the heaven of his thoughts and beliefs into a physical reality on earth, and in SouthAfrica.

(b) The Blacks and Indigenous Culture

Culture includes customs, traditions and beliefs. But customs and traditions are man-made,therefore they can be changed according to whether man continues to find value in them. Nosooner has man created something than he either wants to improve on what he has made orcreate something else. Culture therefore is essentially dynamic. That is why the blacks must setabout destroying the old and static customs and traditions that have over the past decades madeAfrica the world's human zoo and museum of human evolution. When customs no longer cater forthe proper develop-ment of adequate human expression, they should be removed. Almost all theso-called tribal customs must be destroyed, because they cannot even do so little as to help theblack man get food for the day.

(c) The Blacks and Art

Today, the black man plays music with new musical instruments; he uses paints and the chisel,and he writes. The black man must use new instruments without shame, for science andtechnology are the rightful inheritance of all men on earth. But the use to which the blacks putthese things is their peculiarity. The blacks can develop their own universal standards of artisticexcellence. They must ignore the white critic who, in reviewing a black art exhibition, says theblack artist has not progressed beyond the township themes. Such critics do not appreciate theparadox in the fact that there is universality in parochiality. Black music must become morereflective. The present state of music is chaotic.

Mbaqanga cannot make one think seriously about life: the same applies to soul music as it isplayed by South African blacks. Black musicians must study the kind of music we have andimprove on it. Drama, that great art form of human expression, is still very poor. It portrays thetrivial aspirations of frustrated people without making the people want to outlive such trivialities.The blacks must ignore the white critic who says that drama is not a black art form. Drama is auniversal art form, and the black playwright must develop on the dramatic events peculiar to hisenvironment. The blacks must ignore the frustrated black journalist who says that South Africanblacks must win the political kingdom first before they begin to create artistic works of any

meaning and merit. Indeed, it is the great art works that inspire a bondaged people towardsseeking freedom. An imaginative exploration of the miserable human conditions in which peoplelive, touches the fibre of revolt in them; the fibre that seeks to reassert human dignity. Indeed, anintellectual awakening is a vital prerequisite to any significant social change.

(d) The Blacks and Religion

Religion is a very important and highly effective form of social control. A wrong religion caninfluence people towards wrong and irrelevant values and aspirations. We have seen how religionhas seemingly been used as a substitute for political expression. In being thus, religion in theblack community has become barren, because it has no intellectual content to it. Thus, the manysects we see are a perpetuation of bondage. The blacks must obliterate all these sects. On theother hand, the blacks must turn their backs on all the Western Churches; they have been shorn ofall emotional content. A genuine religion will spring out of the blacks' own circumstances, just as agenuine philosophy of life should. It should be a religion that will find God through man; and notman through God. Man must understand himself first before he can relate himself to God. Areligion of today must be like a true work of art: it must rationally centre in man and yet be rootedin an inexplicable mystery, the appeal of which is emotional. Religion is man-made, and because itis man-made it is also subject to the forces of change. A strong religion is one which, over theages, has continued to be an accepted determinant of social morality. If and when it failssomething else must be devised to keep society's confidence in accepted moral codes.

We have looked at the various aspects of the socio-political situation of the black community inSouth Africa. It is now for the black man to begin to work. It is work that involves a whole humanre-orientation. The blacks must awaken intellectually, spiritually, socially, morally, culturally and inmany other ways that make life worth living. If the whites do not want to change their attitudes, letthe blacks advance and leave them behind; and when they have been left behind, let them bewaited for on the day they realise the value of change. The important thing to realise is that whatthe blacks are striving for is more valuable than racial hatred. The blacks must know what theywant when they cry for freedom. They should not be put in the situation whereby when they getthis freedom they do not know what to do with it. The struggle is more than a racial one; it is also ahuman one; a human struggle involves development in all human activities that are the marks oftrue civilisation.

THE NEW DAY

C.M.C. Ndamse

C.M.C. Ndamse is a distinguished educationist and former lecturer at the University of Fort Hare.

PRINCE BISMARCK once said that one-third of German university students broke down fromoverwork, another third broke down from dissipation, while the other third ruled Germany, I do notknow which third of the student body is here tonight, but I am confident that I am talking to thefuture rulers of this country, and also of the free countries who may have come to this centre offreedom.

It is my belief that this institution is not only interested in turning out mere corporation lawyers,skilled accountans or entomologists. What it is interested in, and this I hope is true of everyuniversity, is in turning out citizens of the world, men who comprehend the difficult, sensitive tasksthat lie before them as free men and women, men who are willing to commit their energies to theadvancement of a free society. That is why you are here.

Dr Brookes is still alive. My remarks on and references to him must naturally be limited. Here wehave a statesman who eloquently proved the difference between a statesman and a politician. Astatesman thinks and prepares for the next generation. The politician thinks and prepares for the

next general election. Here we have a politician who has eschewed mud-slinging, and alwaysfought with clean hands. Here we have an educationist whose name has been a password fromgeneration to generation. He is one of the most distinguished scholars in South Africa, who doesnot believe that knowledge is merely for study, but that it is also for the market place. We aretalking about Brookes the Christian whose deeds and activities are a testimony to the soldiers ofthe Cross. But above all we are talking about Brookes the man. I shall not be so naive as tosuggest a fitting epitaph for him when he reports for higher service, but I do suggest that when hegets to the pearly gates of heaven and Gabriel and Michael demand an account of his activities,the answer should be straight and simple I am Brookes'. Believe me, the gates will open on theirown accord.

That is why, Mr. President, your invitation was accepted with trepidation. And yet to stand beforeyou I count as a priceless privilege. To stand before you as a Dr E.H. Brookes lecturer means tolink arms with those men who have previously demarcated, at your request, the irreducible line ofacademic freedom. This is a momentous task, to be assumed with all humility, and demands fromeach of us a statement as to where he stands and who he is. It is my heartfelt delight to remindthis august gathering that my fore-bears stalked these hills in days of yore. My great-grandfatherfought side-by-side with Shaka, and when Disraeli said: 'What! these Zulus, they beat our soldiersand convert our bishops', he was referring to the prowess and valour of the Zulus which has neverbeen surpassed. This is the day gone by. I am looking for the new day. This city is named aftertwo Voortrekkers leaders, reminding us of the carnage and bloodletting that took place in theseparts. These vales and valleys were filled with bellowing of beast and moaning of dying men.Human wreckage lay scattered, and the birds of the air fed with glee to their satisfaction. Thebullet penetrated man's skull, and the assegais kissed man's heart. Man fought with alacrity tograb and usurp. Man fought with valour and honour to hold. God's children were at one another'sthroat. Hell was let loose. That day passed and gave way to another day. Black hands joined tobuild the city. Time marched on.

We are all immersed in the stream of time. As day succeeds day and history bears us onward overits cataracts of change, we cannot be certain where we are or where we are tending. I am surethat Charlemagne's followers never thought of themselves as 'coming out of the dark ages'. Themen of the Middle Ages didn't know their period was giving way to the Renaissance. In fact, as faras they were concerned, their age was not in the middle but right in front, like every real degree ofdoubt about any attempt to appreciate changing circumstances and to define historical epochs.One may believe that a momentous period in human history has come to an end. I may say that Ifully agree with Paul Sauer, when after SharpeVille he said: The old book has closed and a newone has begun'. So profound are the changes and upheavals. But I fully realise that there isnothing more difficult to share and perhaps easier to refute, than a particular angle of vision onhuman affairs. Historical change and changes in the circumstances in and of man have a way ofdeluding the observers.

It may be that the complexity of our times comes from the fact that many processes are going onsimultaneously. There is a definite setback in the political control exercised by the peoples ofWestern Europe for centuries. The people of Western Europe committed the fatal mistake ofassociating political control with the 'white colour'. The black world has been asserting its rightswith ever-increasing determination. The Declaration of Human Rights means more to the blacksthan many people realise or care to know. The blacks are now aware of their numericalsuperiority. They have watched with glee the struggle between the United States and Russia - theColossus of Europe, in Smuts's words. They have evolved the doctrine of non-alliance. They haveused the United Nations Organisation to good advantage. There is above all the dramaticphenomenon, the new discovery by the black peoples: Black Consciousness. May I in passingsound this warning that wise men ignore this new development at their own peril. Another processwas a world-wide expansion of the technological and egalitarian revolution which Western Europeset in motion - the West Europeans have changed everything because as their dominion grew,they invented and carried through the decisive modern revolutions based on the drives of equality,

science, technology and fair play. The white man's transformation affected everybody else. Theybegan, perhaps not without cause, to think well of themselves. They forgot the cardinal lesson.They are no exception. They foamed dry about their civilising mission. Had they not rescuedpeoples from barbarism, converted the heathen, whatever that meant, and made three blades ofgrass grow where none grew before? They even claimed some special endowment and privilegefor the colour of their skin. Western civilisation and Christianity were synonymous. The convertedwere, however, not allowed to discuss the ills of this world. Golden seats awaited them in theworld to come.

This did not go on without being noticed. Cetwayo, the Zulu King, expressed himself succinctly.Referring to the activities of the white people, he said, 'First come missionary, then come rum,then come traders, then come army'. But Cecil Rhodes expressed himself more clearly, 'I wouldrather have more land than niggers'. Conquest and power do not confer intrinsic value. That lies inMan's being alone, the humanity he shares with all God's creatures. The fact that the two worldwars were conducted by men of white skin tells only that during that period, they had the edge instrength, weaponry and new techniques. Indeed, if at time, to be in terms of superiority, we wouldall be living in a well-ordered Utopia. Our world is still largely what they made it to be. Theconfusion and violence in which our planet is now immersed suggests that the Europeans are notsupermen. They are men, and so are all the in-habitants of this globe. Mankind, I believe, will havea special chapter for the period in history when a leading nation in the west dropped the hydrogenbomb on Hiroshima.

The new day we crave for replaces the old day. We choose to forgive and forget the past. Let usclose the old books. Let us search ourselves. Let us find out who the real lovers of our land are.Let us be clear as to who the enemies of our land are. Where do you place those who even inspite of themselves, are prepared to spend and to be spent to improve race relations? Where doyou place those who boast? May I crave for indulgence in my plea for the consideration of theblack worker!!

The black people are forced to labour under circumstances which are calculated not to inspirethem with love and respect for labour. This constitutes a part of the reason why it is necessary toemphasise the matter of industrial education as a means of giving the black man the foundation ofa civilisation upon which he will grow and prosper. Mere training of the hand without the culture ofbrain and heart would mean little. The effort must be to make the millions of blacks self-supporting,intelligent, economical and valuable citizens as well as to bring about the proper relations betweenthem and the white citizens among whom they will continue to live. With proper preparation andwith sufficient foundation, the black man possesses the elements out of which men of the highestcharacter and usefulness can be developed.

Lessons shall be applied honestly, bravely, in laying the foundation upon which the black man canstand in the future and make himself a useful, honourable and desirable citizen, whether he hashis residence in the urban areas or in the homelands. I am black. I know the black man pretty well- him and his needs, his failures and his success, his desires and the likelihood of their fulfillment -I have studied the relations with our white neighbours, and striven to find how these relations maybe more conducive to the general peace and welfare of both the black man and of the country atlarge.

I am not minimising the attempts that are being made. But the truth must be given in no uncertainterms that these attempts are too little, too slow, too niggardly and too grudgingly given.

The creation of nationalities and separate states within the ambit of South Africa has reached thepoint of no return. We leave this to time and the safe lap of history. Let me say, however, that thethree million whites are bound to the twenty million blacks by ties which neither can tear asundereven if they would. The most intelligent in the University of Natal campus community has hisintelligence darkened by the ignorance of a fellow citizen in the backveld of KwaZulu. The most

wealthy in Park town would be more wealthy but for the poverty of a fellow being in the shackles ofa Free State small dorp. The most moral and religious men (in human terms) in a theologicalseminary have their religion and morality modified by the degradation of the man living in squalor.Therefore, when the black man is ignorant, the white man is ignorant, when the black man is poor,the white man is poor, when the black man is in rags, the white man is in rags or at best, his soulis in rags. When the black man is the victim of countless diseases, because of the squalor andabject conditions under which he lives, the white man is in danger for epidemics and germs defydivisions of colour and creed. When the black man's crime-wave increases, the whole nationcommits crime. For the white citizens of South Africa there is no escape. They must help raise thecharacter of the civilisation of the black man or theirs is lowered.

No member of the white community in any part of South Africa can harm the weakest or meanestmember of the black race without the proudest and the bluest blood of the nation being degraded.

It seems to me that there never was a time in the history of our country when those interested ineducation in this audience should the more earnestly consider to what extent the mere acquisitionof the degree, the mere acquisition of a knowledge of literature and science makes menproducers, lovers of labour, independent, honest, unselfish and, above all, good.

Call education by whatever name you please, if it fails to bring about these results among thepeople, it falls short of the highest end. The science, the art, the literature that fails to reach downand bring the humblest up to the enjoyment of the fullest blessings of our land, is weak, no matterhow costly the building or apparatus used, or how modern the methods of instruction employed.The study of applied mathematics and statistics on poverty and disease and illiteracy that does notresult in making men conscientious in alleviating the lot and plight of their fellow-men is faulty. Thestudy of art and social sciences that does not result in making the strong less willing to oppressthe weak means little.

How I wish that from the corridors and campus of such a university to the humblest mud-hutprimary school among the kraals of the Transkei wild coast, we could burn, as it were, into thehearts and heads of all, that usefulness, that service to our brother, is the supreme end ofeducation.

We have had quack ideas repeated ad nauseum that the black man is an innocent child of naturewho needs the perpetual protection of the white man. It has been asserted that education helpsthe black man, and that education hurts him, that he is fast leaving the rural areas and taking upwork and residence in white areas, and that this justifies strict influx control measures. It has beenasserted that education unfits the black man for work and that education makes him more valuableas a labourer, that he is the greatest criminal or thief and that he is our most law-abiding citizen.

The black man has been told to acquaint himself with the modern scientific methods in farming; inthe same breath he has been told to perpetuate and cherish his custom and traditions. The blackman has been told about diet and about the vitamins. He is told about the traditional food and toplant and eat mealies to maintain identity. The black man is told to love his mother tongue whichhe learnt from his mother's lap and that mother tongue instruction or medium in schools is the besteducational communication known and yet he is told that to get a decent job he must proveproficiency in English or Afrikaans or both.

In the midst of these conflicting opinions, it is hard to hit upon the truth. But also in the midst of thisconfusion, there are a few things of which I am certain - things which furnish a basis for thoughtand action. I know that whether the blacks are inferior or not inferior, whether they are growingbetter or worse, whether they are valuable or valueless, a few years ago there were fewColoureds, fewer Indians and not so many Africans and now these number millions. I know thatwhether oppressed or free, the black people have always been loyal to the South African flag, thatno school house has been opened for them that has not been filled, that the statements and

pronouncements issued by black leaders are as potent for weal or woe as those from the wisestand most influential men in the Republic. I know that wherever the black man's life touches the lifeof the nation, it helps or hinders, that wherever the life of the white race touches the black, itmakes it stronger or weaker. I know that only a few centuries ago, soldiers and missionaries alikefelt themselves crusaders to save the pagans, that the blacks came out better Christians. Theblacks went to school with a foreign language as medium of instruction, they came out speakingthe proud Anglo-Saxon tongue. Today many blacks speak more idiomatic English than manyAfrikaners.

They speak better Afrikaans than many English-speaking South Africans. Indeed many blacks arethoroughly proficient in English, Afrikaans and vernacular. A few years ago, the Colouredespecially in the Western Cape was left to the fate of the slow paralysis of the tot system. Thattoday they are a potential force admits of no debate. A few years ago, the Indians came to SouthAfrica on invitation. Under the blazing sun their sweat soaked the soil along the Natal coast.

They would, it was thought, multiply with untold prolificacy, fill the gutters and if it must needs be,they would be repatriated. At the time South Africa did not know that these people had an 'easternsecret'. They have the ability to bear and endure. With their indomitable spirit, they have movedfrom strength to strength, defying 'ghetto laws' and paralysing restrictions. I am inviting the'doubting Thomas' to accompany me to Grey Street. Indeed let him open his radio set on Saturdayor Sunday morning and listen to the wonderful music with an eastern setting. Much credit goes tothe present government for its wisdom to see the need for change of attitude.

The African tribesmen from all the corners of Southern Africa, moved in ant-like formations to themines. From the bowels of the earth, where many of them have died unwept and unsung theybrought gold and diamonds, which precious stones have made South Africa the white man's'haven' and the envy of many. For these humble and innocent children of nature the habitat wasthe vermin-infested compound or sack hovel. But I know, who does not, that their descendants arethe commercial tycoons in Soweto. From the backyards of garages and hovels the black musclescarry South Africa unflinchingly. Yes, the hand and muscle of men and women happy in distressand rich in poverty. The world has been twice faced with devastating wars, and twice the blackman has answered the clarion call to fight for king and country. The wreckage at the bottom of thesea near France includes the pieces of the Mendi. The story is told that as the ship was slowly andsurely sinking, a faint voice was heard saying, 'Abantwana bam, Abantwana bam'. 'Oh, mychildren - my children'! We have reason to believe that this cry was a testimony of hope that themen had fought a good fight for a good cause and better things awaited their children. In thesecond world war the black hands waved knob-kieries and rusted assegais at Marshall Goering'smechanised units. And day and night, the British Broadcasting' Corporation, echoing thedeclaration of the Atlantic Charter, beamed in constant refrains 'we fight for freedom'.On the frontline the black man did all to save a white brother. At home the wheels of progressrolled on and there is not a single attempt to sabotage the war effort reported on the part of a blackman.

I submit it to the candid and sober judgment of all men, are not a people capable of such a taste,such transformation, such endurance, such long-suffering not worth recognising? We crave forrecognition and not tolerance. We call upon South Africa to help us to help them. One of theclarion calls we are called upon to make is that our nation with might and main should open thefloodgates of educational opportunities.

For this we need honest men who will face the stark realities of the situation. There are thoseamong both black and white who assert with a good deal of earnestness, that there is nodifference between the white man and the black man. This sounds very pleasant and tickles thefancy. But when the test of hard, cold logic is applied to it, it must be acknowledged that there is adifference - not an in-herent one, not a racial one, but a difference growing out of unequalopportunities in the past and at present.

Of course these days it is common knowledge that there is no inherent inferiority on the part of theblack man. Some years ago the black man foamed dry trying to prove that he had as much brainand intelligence as the white man. If I were provoked, I would be inclined to say that under givencircumstances, the black child has better brains than the white child.

Consider the prenatal care that is given to an average white child, how the mother is fed, caredfor, and nursed. Consider the care taken in a nursing home or hospital. Consider the nursing thebaby is given. A balanced diet awaits the baby. Hygienic conditions surround both mother andbaby.

On the other hand the black child is born of an ill-fed mother. Often the black child is born in athatched rondavel kitchen filled with smoke. At times the rondavel is infested with vermin. Almostall the facilities and amenities taken for granted for the white child are conspicuous by theirabsence. As he grows he hardly has toys. There is no children's literature.

There is no radio. The black child and the white child go to school. It has happened that thesehave found themselves on the campus of Natal University. At some stage the two write the sameexamination and obtain the same grade. The question may be asked, if the conditions were thesame from the beginning, what would be the position? The highest test of civilisation of any nationis its willingness to extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. A nation, like an individual, liftsitself up by lifting others up. Surely no people ever had a greater chance to exhibit the fortitudeand magnanimity than is now presented to the people of South Africa. It requires little wisdom orstatesmanship to repress, to crush out, to retard the hopes and aspirations of a people.

But the highest and most profound statesmanship is shown in guiding and stimulating a people sothat every fibre in the body and soul shall be made to contribute in the highest degree to theusefulness and ability of the nation. It is along this line that I pray God the thoughts and activitiesof this audience may be guided. We must all recognise the world-wide fact that the black manmust be led to see and feel that he must make every effort possible in every way possible, tosecure the friendship, the confidence, the co-operation of his white neighbour in South Africa.However, I am aware that the white man has no respect for a black man who does not act fromprinciple. In some way the white man must be led to see that it is to his interest to turn his attentionmore and more to the making of laws that will, in the truest sense, elevate the black man. One ofthe greatest questions which our youth must face in South Africa is the proper adjustment of thenew relations of the races. It is a question which must be faced calmly, quietly, dispassionatelyand the new day has dawned to rise above party, above race, above colour, above sectionalism,into the region of duty of man to man, of South African to South African, of Christian to Christian.

The black people will fight for the maintenance of their identity. Yet we should surely admit that weare one in this country. The question of the highest citizenship and the complete education of all,concerns all people in South Africa. When one race is strong the other is strong. When one isweak, the other is weak.

There is no power that can separate our destiny. Indignities and petty practices which exist inmany places injure the white man and inconvenience the black man. No race can wrong anotherrace, simply because it has the power to do so, without being permanently injured in its ownmorals. The black man can, as he has often done, endure the temporary inconvenience, but theinjury to the white man is permanent. It is for the white man to save himself from this degradationthat I plead. If a white man insults a black man, ill-treats him, despises him, it is the white man whois permanently injured. Vexation of spirit comes to the black man discriminated against or hurt, butdeath of morals - death of the soul - comes to those responsible for discrimination.

In the economy of God there is but one standard by which an individual can succeed. There is butone for a race. This country, which we all love and for which we shall pay any price, for its ownsake, expects that every race shall respect the dignity of man.

During the next decade, the black man must continue passing through the severe South Africancrucible. He is to be tested in his patience, for his forbearance, his perseverance, his power toendure -to withstand temptations, to economise, to acquire and use skill - his ability to compete, tosucceed in commerce, to disregard the superficial for the real, the appearance for the substance,to be great and yet small, learned and yet simple, high and yet the servant of all. This is thepassport to all that is best in the life of our South Africa and the black man must possess it or bebarred out. It is this discovery that has given birth to Black Consciousness. Moreover it is with apeople as it is with an individual. It must respect itself if it would win the respect of others. Theremust be a certain amount of pride about a race. There must be a great deal of faith on the part of arace in itself. An individual cannot succeed unless he has about him a certain amount of pride -enough pride to make him aspire to the highest and best things in life. Wherever you find anindividual who is ashamed of his race trying to get away from his race, apologising for being amember of his race, then you find a weak individual. And such a race is weak and vacillating. Theapostles of Black Consciousness adhere to this and are prepared to pay any price to go it alone. Iam not going to call upon liberals to shed tears, if they have any.

Some of us are convinced that the sponsors of Black Consciousness hate nobody and bear maliceto none. They have discovered, and just in time, that they are 'children of the universe no less thanthe trees and the stars; they have a right to be here'. And we are all convinced that in working outhis own destiny, while the main burden of activity must be with the black man, he will need, as hehas done in the past, the help, encouragement and guidance the strong can give the weak. Thushelped, those of all races in South Africa will soon throw off the shackles of racial and sectionalprejudice and rise above the clouds of ignorance, narrowness and selfishness into thatatmosphere, that pure sunshine, where it will be the highest ambition to serve man, our brother,regardless of race or previous condition. We should hear less nonsense about Dutchmen,Rooineks, and Coolies and Kaffirs. We should realise that every man, woman and child, no matterwhat colour or creed, is a vital component of a tremendous nation-in-being, a momentousexperiment in history, of which we are a part. As South Africans we are committed to the arduoustask of building a great society, - not just a strong one, not just a rich one, but a great society. Thisis a pact we make with ourselves. We should remember that the bastion for South Africa is not aparticular section of the population, indeed neither is it an increased defence budget or moreinformation offices, as necessary as these may be. The bastion for this country is the great societyof great men and women dedicated to their mother-land not by ties of master and servant, but bymutual respect. Let us remember what Thomas Jefferson said, borrowing a vivid phrase from anEnglish Revolutionary, ... 'the mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nora favoured few booted and spurred, ready to ride them legitimately by the grace of God'.

The effect of discrimination on the human mind has an affinity with the mental condition we callarrested development; an historian whose task it is to record the deeds of the perpetrators ofdiscrimination towards the blacks, finds himself embarrassed by what he knows will be thecontemptuous astonishment of posterity. He feels he is being invited to chronicle the mischief andsnivelling of schoolboys who should be birched and sent to bed in eternal oblivion. But they have aplace in history. It is a humiliation of the Muse of History.

The new day has come for every lover of South Africa to set the might of angered and resolutemanhood against the shame and peril of discrimination. These perpetrators of discriminationwhose glee taunts their victim as he is bundled out through the front door of a restaurant, or isthrown headlong into the police van for failure to produce a pass, do not represent the best amongthe whites in South Africa. And I plead for the masterful sway of a righteous and exalted publicsentiment that shall condemn discrimination to high heaven. Let us remember that there is noescape through law of man or God from the inevitable:

The laws of changeless justice bind oppressor with oppressed. And, close as sin and sufferingjoined, we march to fate'.

Mr President, let me say that millions of black hands will aid you in pulling the load upward, or theywill pull against you the load downwards. The blacks will constitute a fraction and more of theignorance and crime in South Africa or a fraction of its intelligence and progress. They shallcontribute to the business and industrial prosperity of South Africa, or they shall prove a veritablebody of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to advance the body politic. TheUnited States and Russia choose to make amends in space. We choose to make amends onmother earth.

My friends, this is our task. It is not an easy one. At present great gaps in culture, understanding,education and income hold the races apart. It is not simply a question of white and black. It is allround the world. The 'new day' may be too imperceptible for our eyes. The atmosphere may bemore congenial than we imagine. Let me remind the youth in this hall that the temptation, isnaturally to want no change. Idealism ends with the attainment of a degree. It is very comfortableto be at the top of a heap, to live in a clean home with all the amenities, not filthy backyards; to seeyour children grow up well fed, with adequate provision for education, to have no experience ofhunger; to be literate and skilled, to know nothing of human contempt.

Somebody has said that this lulls the conscience, dulls the mind and narrows the heart. As RobertKennedy once said: 'For the fortunate among us the danger is comfort; the temptation to follow theeasy and familiar paths of personal ambition and financial success so grandly spread before thosewho have the privilege of education. But that is not the road that history has marked out for us.There is a Chinese curse which says: 'May he live in interesting times'. Like it or not we live ininteresting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty, but they are also more open to thecreative energy of men than any other time in history. And everyone here will ultimately be judged- will ultimately judge himself - on the effort he has contributed to building a new world society andthe extent to which his ideals and goals have shaped that effort'.

We are called to duty in good weather and in bad. Let us take heart from the certainty that we areunited by hope and purpose. For we know now that freedom is more than the rejection ofdiscrimination, that prosperity is more than escape from want, that good race relations is morethan the sharing of power. These are, above all, the human adventures. They must have meaning,conviction and purpose and because they do, the new day calls us to a great new mission. Themission is to create a new social order, founded on liberty, justice and fair play, in which all menand women can share a better life for themselves and their children.

So we are idealists. We are all visionaries. Let it not be said of you and of me that we left idealsand visions to the past, nor purpose and determination to our adversaries.

And we shall ever remember what Goethe once said:

The highest wisdom, the best that mankind ever knew, was the realisation that he only earns hisfreedom and existence who daily conquers them anew'.

Delivered at Edgar Brookes Academic and Human Freedom Lecture for 1972 at University ofNatal, Pietermaritzburg, on Friday May 5th, 1972.

KWA-ZULU DEVELOPMENT

Chief M.G. Buthelezi

Chief M.G. Buthelezi is the Chief Executive Councillor of the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly.

In South Africa, this is one of those rare occasions where people meet across the colour line notas masters and servants but as fellow compatriot to communicate. This is not deny the fact that Icame here as a representative of the underdogs of this land who are the servants-class of SouthAfrica, and whether we like this or not you represent the master-class of this land on whom mypeople depend for a living.

It was suggested that I should in my short talk deal with The Current Economic Situation and itAffects the Zulu Homeland. I must say that with all due respect for this suggestion, I am noeconomist. I will, however, do my best to present in as few words as possible the picture as I see itfrom the point of view of a black man in the street.

As a historian I will be excused of reading a bit of well-known history of our land, because I believethat no one can never see things in their proper perspective, save against the wider canvas of thehistory of the land. This is regardless of whatever one wants to look at, be it political issues,cultural or social problems. This applies equally to our economic ills. As a layman I cannot makepresentations that I can offer a diagnosis or even a hazard guess at any cures for our economic illin KwaZulu.

However, being a representative of the patient, I can at least describe the pains particularly thevery sharp ones around the tummy which are so excruciatingly painfully! Even the doctor needsthis is to arrive at an accurate diagnosis.

As early as 1880 The Natal Witness disputed the suggestion that Africans had any right toconsider Natal as their country: They are here as immigrants on sufferance, and not as citizens'.This was after the Zulu War, when even Zulu territory north of the Thukela was fragmenteddeliberately in order 'to break the Zulu power once and for all', in the words of Sir Bartle Frere andZulu Territory was opened up by the conquerors for white occupation. This was not peculiar toNatal, but happened throughout this southern-most point of Africa.

My people were at first self-sufficient because there was enough to eat and no problems ofpopulation explosion. This too was soon brought to an end by the new conquerors who calledupon Chiefs to supply young men to work on what was then known as Isibhalo. They were in otherwords forced to sign contracts to come to places like Johannesburg and Kimberley and otherindustrial areas to build the white industrial empires that we see in full bloom in all the metropolitanareas of South Africa. Taxation was one of the methods used to force Africans to move into urbanareas to work.

The tragedy deepened when even in the urban areas my people found themselves regarded astemporary sojourners who were there on sufferance, only to minister to the reasonable wants ofwhites. According to the 1852-1853 Commission Report it was recommended that 'All kaffirsshould be ordered to go decently clothed. This measure would at once tend to increase thenumber of labourers because, as they would be obliged to work to procure the means of buyingclothing, it would also add to the general revenue of the Colony through Customs Duties'.

Coming to the question of the so-called Homelands, as early as 1849 Earl Grey agreed that itwould be 'difficult or impossible' to assign to Africans reserves of such a size that they couldcontinue to be economically self-sufficient. He added that it was desirable that Africans should 'beplaced in circumstances in which they should find regular industry necessary for their subsistence'1 .

Not all Africans could be accommodated on the reserves, and the remainder continued to occupycrown lands and colonist owned farms. Africans ultimately spilled over into the white farms assquatters. The reserves were made up of the worst farming lands in the Colony. According to G.R.Peppercorne, most of the land in the Impofana reserve is 'as worthless as the sands of Arabia' (2).Only thirty percent of KwaZulu is arable land.

According to Brookes and Hurwitz there was no increase in land provision for Africans between1864 and 1913 (3). The promises made by the Hertzog Government under the Native Trust andLand Act of 1936 for an additional quota of land to my people and other ethnic groups was arecognition of this fact. Little wonder that whereas other people improve with times, my peoplehave sunk lower and lower into poverty over the years because they are caught between twodevils.

When the Zulu Territorial Authority was inaugurated in 1970 I made it clear that withoutconsolidation of land, the present Government's policy would not make any sense. There hasbeen very little done or said about this aspect of government policy until last year when the PrimeMinister promised to consolidate the Zulu Homeland only to the extent of the 1936 land quota. Ipointed out to him then that consolidating in terms of that quota could hardly be adequate in termsof setting us up as a separate independent State in terms of his government's policy.

What happened last week has been merely confirmation of what the Prime Minister said last yearand also a few weeks ago in Parliament. I refer here to the so-called draft map for theconsolidation of KwaZulu. This is a question which is crucial to the whole exercise of setting upKwaZulu as a country and on it hangs the issue of whether we can ever be economically viable ornot. I wish also to submit that the whole question of our economic potential depends on it.

Earlier this year I opened a conference at the University of Natal's Institute for Social Research onTowards Comprehensive Development in Zululand'. This Conference was interesting in so far aswe did not try to find cures for KwaZulu's economic ills, but managed to assess the complexity ofKwaZulu's economic ills. We found that there are two issues closely interlinked, the problemsrelevant to the development of the Zulu homeland territories, on the one hand, and those relevantto the development of the Zulu people on the other. Although the two issues are closelyinterlinked, the problems facing the development of the Zulu people, the AmaZulu, relate not onlyto the Zulu Homeland Areas, but more directly to the entire economic, social and political structureof South Africa. The development of the AmaZulu (or that of other blacks for that matter) is muchmore closely interlinked with change and progress in the common economy and common area ofSouth Africa, than is the development of KwaZulu (4).

To me the most important area which concerns all of us is that of the development of my people.At present we have hardly any employment opportunities for the KwaZulu citizens, no wonder wehave only about a third of citizens in KwaZulu at any time. More than sixty percent of our able-bodied males are away most of the time.

We have at present no industrial growth points except Sithebe which has few Zulus at present,who are paid very low wages. The specious argument used by the Bantu Investment Corporationis that although Sithebe has low wage levels and ample supply of labour on the credit side, therelatively low level of training is ranking high on the debit side and it is, therefore, not strange tofind that an unskilled worker is being paid a weekly wage of R 5 to R7. The Bantu InvestmentCorporation further state that they would prefer wage levels comparable with those in themetropolitan areas but realise that it is far better at this stage of development in KwaZulu to havesay 100 Zulus employed at R7 a week than to be able to create say only 10 employmentopportunities at R12 per week. It must also be remembered that the cost of living in metro-politanareas is very much higher than in the vicinity of Sithebe (5).

The argument on the cost of living being lower in rural areas is a partial truth, because people canonly live in accordance with their means of livelihood. And in any case this is also on account ofpoverty and since we have no cash crops except sugar cane in some parts of KwaZulu, we have acash economy and it is a remittance economy, as families depend entirely on cash from theirbread-winners, who must earn wages elsewhere. The measuring rod as far as wages areconcerned is the poverty datum line. Food is cheaper in town than in the rural areas where peopleare charged extra for transport costs.

The greatest shock so far in this whole question of whether Kwa-Zulu can ever be economicallyviable now or in the dim misty future has been the decision by the all-powerful South Africangovernment in deciding that Richards Bay should be developed as a white port, and in doing sodepriving KwaZulu of the only opportunity of having an outlet to the sea. No one disputes the factthat Richards Bay is providing jobs for Zulus, and that this will increasingly be the case as theRichards Bay complex develops. Job opportunities are welcome as is the concern of governmentsthroughout the world. But the question that arises after that is whether we can really beindependent as easily as it is so often glibly said these days, if at most KwaZulu's developmentmeans that it is merely going to continue to be a vast labour farm for white South Africa, as allBlack Homelands are at present?

What is not so encouraging is that even in the metropolitan areas of South Africa very few of ourpeople are paid above the poverty datum line. Many surveys have been carried out including oneby an employee of the Johannesburg Municipal Non-European Affairs Department. I feel certainyou are all familiar with these. On the average it is now well-known that the ratio of black to whitewages is 1:14. Other industries give what are called fringe benefits and many of them boast thatthey look after their employees and provide them with a balanced diet. What Dr Francis Wilsonhad to say last week on this point is quite illuminating concerning the recent rise in the wages inthe Gold Industry (6). It is also true to say that any wise person who uses any beast of burden,would look after it, feed it well and shelter it so that it can be in good condition to bear its burdens.

One must also thank and encourage all the other industries that are trying to narrow the wage-gap. But we blacks wonder what underlies white thinking in this respect because when one looksaround there are no subsidised shops that sell necessaries of life at sub-economic rates. At thesame time the majority of white South Africans have for years rejected the idea of accepting blackurban workers as anything but temporary sojourners. These people are supposed to send moneyto their families in the Homelands and to help us develop in the Homelands. The question is, inview of the above, how does one do it? So far there seems to be no serious consideration ofconsolidating these Homelands, as a result KwaZulu cannot at present take even displacedAfricans from white farms as it is congested. We are developing a new class of rural Africans whocannot even have token arable allotments, and cannot keep any stock, who are settled in what arecalled closer settlements. Owing to the stringent application of Influx Control regulations thesepeople cannot freely go to look for jobs in urban areas.

An additional burden is caused by lack of a free and compulsory education for blacks, which isavailable for the white group. So that some of the meagre earnings that are sent for necessitieshave also to be used to pay for the children's education, in fees, books, in some cases for theprivately paid teachers and also to put up school buildings. At this juncture I wish to congratulatethose white people who are assisting in providing funds towards the Rand Bursary Fund, ASSECAand other similar projects. These are palliatives that are very necessary and which we highlyappreciate.

The Homelands are all being given 'self-government'. In other words we are supposed to providefacilities for our people from our taxation and from allocations from the Consolidated RevenueFund made to us by the Republican government. At present it is not yet apparent that theseHomeland governments can provide separate but equal facilities on the basis of this. In fact theKwaZulu budget of 32 million rand for the current financial year is, despite inflation, hardly a drop

in the ocean, in terms of providing facilities for four and a quarter million Zulus. Even for our CivilService it is going to be difficult to get the best men in view of this differentiation in salaries on thebasis of race.

There is an apparent reluctance on the part of white South Africa to consolidate the Homelandsrealistically, to make them independent countries in a meaningful way. There is also an equalreluctance to accept our people who are in the urban areas as permanent residents in theseareas. It might also be pointed out that all of us including myself, may be indulging in self-hypnosisby even trying to believe we can successfully create several ethnically oriented economies inSouth Africa instead of one.

Several questions at once arise such as, does white South Africa hope to have her cake and eatit? At some point we have got to decide one way or the other. Or does white South Africa hope wecan all live in a make-believe world ad infinitum through sheer force of arms? This seems to be thetime for decision whether we are going to be set up as viable Homelands or not. This is thedilemma of white South Africa, in which South Africa alone has placed herself. It is black SouthAfrica's dilemma too, with the difference that since black South Africa does not wield the power ofthe bullet and the ballot, it is a dilemma in which black South Africa has been placed by whiteSouth Africa. So that in a sense we are not equally cul-pable as far as the apportioning of blame inthis dilemma I am talking about is concerned. But we all have equal reason to 'Cry the BelovedCountry', since our destinies are so inextricably intertwined.

How long are urban Africans going to remain temporary so-journers in the metropolitan areas ofSouth Africa? If we blacks are as human as whites can anyone tell me what are these virile able-bodied men in hostels and compounds supposed to do in order to enjoy feminine company? Ofthe married temporary sojourners from the Homelands who are forbidden to bring their wives withthem into metropolitan areas, the question can be asked: Can our male white compatriotscountenance the idea of living in separation a mensa et thoro from their wives, and only make loveto their wives during the Easter weekend and during a few days at Christmas time?

Many of you will, I am sure, want to ask me, why then be in-volved in the Homelands policy? Ibelieve that it is a moral duty to be involved in alleviating human suffering, even if that is the mostone can do. For this reason I believe that despite the many snags I have pointed out there is stillsome scope to help my people to develop even within the limitations of the policy. That is why Ihave great admiration for what American firms like Polaroid, I.B.M., and Pepsi Cola, and bankslike Barclays Bank and Standard Bank are doing in giving equal pay for equal work regardless ofrace. These firms should by now have put our own South African firms to shame, if at all we stillhave a conscience such as I believe South Africans have. Do South Africans feel happy thatforeign firms should take this lead, and that South African firms should drag their feet instead offollowing in their footsteps?

I believe that apart from the development of people themselves there is still a little scope fordeveloping these Homelands whether one believes in separate development or not. TheHomelands to me are a challenge whether one regards the Homelands policy as a political fact ora fantasy.

I believe that their development even on the basis of establishing micro-economic activities issomething in which all of you can assist us. Community development schemes are a necessity inareas such as KwaZulu where people are as a result of poverty still victims of diseases of wantsuch as malnutrition, kwashiorkor and tuberculosis.

I believe that where there is economic infrastructure, industry and commerce in South Africashould not hesitate to help us to establish industries, not necessarily as cures for our economic illsbut even as palliatives. To me while South Africa battles in trying to make up her mind about thefuture, we should not forget that human