Word: botha
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...your report on South Africa, Prime Minister Botha [Dec. 3] defines apartheid as "good neighborliness," whatever that means. His comments on South Africa's blatantly racist policies sound as petty and fatuous as they really are. That bit that said that acts such as the immorality act had "existed all these years to protect colored and black women from being exploited by ruthless white men" generated cynical laughter...
...Prime Minister has announced proposals for sweeping reforms of the racial-classification laws known as petty apartheid. Besides authorizing companies to negotiate with black unions, Botha has proposed the "improvement" of statutes that forbid interracial sex and marriage and make certain public facilities off limits to blacks. While these contemplated steps have won the applause of business leaders, they have not done much as yet to satisfy the 20 million blacks. There has been no change in the white minority government's long-range plan of dividing South Africa into a "constellation" of nominally independent states, in which blacks...
...they have in the past, the leaders of black activist groups in Port Elizabeth and Soweto, the black township outside Johannesburg, are now focusing on factory workers. Because black labor is essential to South Africa's economy, strikes by blacks constitute a potentially powerful weapon. Though Thozamile Botha, who heads the Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organization (PEBCO), concedes that Ford is perhaps the "best" employer of blacks in the country, he has been prodding its management to respond to a long list of demands. He has attacked Ford's sponsorship of an all-white rugby team and special...
Before the strike, Ford responded warily to Botha's provocations, and kept him on the payroll despite his repeated absences. Since the walkout, the company has said it will rehire any of the strikers who want to return. Only a minority, however, have gone back to their jobs. Last week police raided the homes of strikers; 19 of them were placed in detention. Meanwhile, other firms are bracing for trouble. Says a director of a leading U.S. manufacturer: "We could definitely be a helpless target for these protests. South Africa is going to have to satisfy the aspirations...
...moves to appease black workers, Prime Minister Botha risks the wrath of Afrikaner hardliners, who abhor his apartheid reforms. Soon after Thozamile Botha's walkout, white union members held an angry meeting that led to an outburst of racial slurs; blacks were accused of "fouling" integrated toilets and making insulting remarks about white women. If the government cracks down hard on the protesters, as it did to quell the rioting in Soweto in 1976, it might spark more unrest. Predicts Fred Ferreira, Ford's industrial relations manager: "Inactivity is not going to solve this problem. Whether...