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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, AUGUST 23, 1985
far, would be to try to stop President Botha from stamping out
black revolution. What� black revolutionaries� doing to
other blacks in the townships is absolutely damnable, and only
fanatics can possibly believe that the cause of racial equality
excuses such actions.
South Africa could be on the edge of a race war which would be
disastrous for all races and might well land the super-powers in
a confrontation even more bitter and dangerous than was Vietnam.
At present it seems that the West feels it can do nothing more
constructive than try to pressurise Mr. Botha into giving way••..
Down this path disaster lies•.•• Anti-racism today threatens to
become the� fanaticism which causes people� take leave o1
their senses in � reat matters as well as small; in local, nation
al and now even international affairs-. -
Referring to the meddling in South Africa's affairs by American liberals,
syndicated writer Cal Thomas wrote in the August 22 LOS ANGELES TIMES:
The American track record for helping other nations is not a good
one. We "helped" get rid of Batista in Cuba, and got Castro. We
"helped" topple the Shah in Iran, and saw him replaced with the
Ayatollah Khomeini. We "helped" rid Nicaragua of Somoza, and the
price is the communist Sandinistas.
Call for Sanctions--and a Bailout
One manifestation of the liberal blindspot is the avoidance of the economic
realities of the whole of southern Africa. Nine other countries in the
region--six of them landlocked--are heavily dependent upon South Africa for
employment, as well as transportation links to the outside world.
For
example, 85% of Zimbabwe's imports and exports go through South Africa,
plus at least 50% of those of Malawi, Zambia and Zaire. The economies of
Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland are so closely interwoven with South Africa
that the four of them are linked in a customs union.
International sanctions would cripple all of these economies before they
would harm South Africa's. Common sense should indicate the foolishness of
applying sanctions. But emotion and hostility now take precedence over
reality. Several of these countries have formed the Southern African De
velopment Coordination Conference (SADCC). These countries have tried, un
successfully, to wean themselves away from dependence on South Africa. Of
ficially, they support sanctions, but the SADCC Executive Secretary said
this past week that sanctions must be coupled with "equally important mea
sures" to support their economies. Tanzania's President Julius Nyrere went
so far as to say that� "Berlin-style airlift" might be necessary to rescue
the SADCC states. Nyrere, who has been so successful in getting enormous
amounts of guilt-ridden Western aid for his country, would certainly try to
hit up "Uncle Sam," the Scandinavians and others for such emergency aid.
One thing is definitely certain: Mr. Mandela is in error to state that under
communism "everybody would be living better." Under such a totalitarian
system the material birthright blessings that have been available not only
to the children of Israel, but to all the other peoples of southern Africa,
would cease.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau
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