The main obstacle is the position taken by the Conservative Party and its growing power at the polls. They have gained support, and for that reason it’s quite serious. If de Klerk makes the mistake of holding a referendum among whites, he stands the danger of being beaten. Then there is the obstacle presented by the far right, the neo-Nazi organizations which have threatened to start a civil war if a democratic government is installed. They are drilling publicly with weapons, and so we must take them seriously.
One has to be very careful because if we appear to be overly concerned about de Klerk and maintaining his position, this is going to be exploited by the right wing. The Citizen [a right-wing Johannesburg tabloid] sharply criticized me for giving ammunition to the right wing (The argument was] that if I’m so concerned about him and winning any election that might be held, it is because there is a pact between the ANC and de Klerk. One would perhaps like to talk less about that.
I said I was opposed to giving whites block votes, but in order to allay their fears I would be prepared to consider that solution. That has always been opposed by the ANC and it was shot down also by whites themselves, [so] we have to think in terms of other solutions. We have been concerned right from the beginning about allaying the fears of whites. We understand their fears, because democracy is going to mean that they are going to lose their privileged position. It will be stabilized in due course, but nobody can deny that in the beginning they will have to lose.
I do not underestimate the threat coming from the right wing in the form of military intervention, but at the same time I don’t want to exaggerate it.
I have never thought that I had any popularity among the whites in this country, but if that popularity has declined, it must be a reflection of the growth of the right wing. It’s not surprising if one’s popularity among whites is not so high. There is no need for the ANC to have a low popularity as far as the whites are concerned. But there is a lack of communication.
We have announced in the ANC Freedom Charter that we would nationalize the mines, the banks and other monopolies, but the rest of the economy is based on private enterprise. Not even the land is nationalized, which is normally the first sector of the economy which socialist [governments] nationalize. [But] it is reasonable to nationalize an organization like the mines.
Can he help de Klerk? Mandela (MARK PETERS FOR NEWSWEEK)
title: " We Understand Whites Fears " ShowToc: true date: “2023-01-27” author: “Kenneth Garcia”
The main obstacle is the position taken by the Conservative Party and its growing power at the polls. They have gained support, and for that reason it’s quite serious. If de Klerk makes the mistake of holding a referendum among whites, he stands the danger of being beaten. Then there is the obstacle presented by the far right, the neo-Nazi organizations which have threatened to start a civil war if a democratic government is installed. They are drilling publicly with weapons, and so we must take them seriously.
One has to be very careful because if we appear to be overly concerned about de Klerk and maintaining his position, this is going to be exploited by the right wing. The Citizen [a right-wing Johannesburg tabloid] sharply criticized me for giving ammunition to the right wing (The argument was] that if I’m so concerned about him and winning any election that might be held, it is because there is a pact between the ANC and de Klerk. One would perhaps like to talk less about that.
I said I was opposed to giving whites block votes, but in order to allay their fears I would be prepared to consider that solution. That has always been opposed by the ANC and it was shot down also by whites themselves, [so] we have to think in terms of other solutions. We have been concerned right from the beginning about allaying the fears of whites. We understand their fears, because democracy is going to mean that they are going to lose their privileged position. It will be stabilized in due course, but nobody can deny that in the beginning they will have to lose.
I do not underestimate the threat coming from the right wing in the form of military intervention, but at the same time I don’t want to exaggerate it.
I have never thought that I had any popularity among the whites in this country, but if that popularity has declined, it must be a reflection of the growth of the right wing. It’s not surprising if one’s popularity among whites is not so high. There is no need for the ANC to have a low popularity as far as the whites are concerned. But there is a lack of communication.
We have announced in the ANC Freedom Charter that we would nationalize the mines, the banks and other monopolies, but the rest of the economy is based on private enterprise. Not even the land is nationalized, which is normally the first sector of the economy which socialist [governments] nationalize. [But] it is reasonable to nationalize an organization like the mines.
Can he help de Klerk? Mandela (MARK PETERS FOR NEWSWEEK)
