Helen Suzman, widely regarded in the 1960s and ’70s as the conscience of South Africa for taking on the white government as the only member of parliament opposing racial discrimination, probably never anticipated she might be perceived differently by some blacks today.
Even though she backed the African National Congress in its freedom struggle, Suzman now finds that the “moment you disagree with anything you become a racist.” Recently, she was the only member of the Human Rights Commission to oppose a recent decision to back a new bill pushing affirmative action for blacks, who constitute 70 percent of the population.
Though Suzman, 81, a South African native, has been candid in her criticisms of the new ANC government, she also supports many of its policies. Her respect for President Nelson Mandela remains undiminished. But Suzman, recipient of 23 honorary degrees and the UN human rights award, says she cannot lend her support to a government that aligns itself with the Communist Party and proposes legislation she believes will inhibit economic growth and investment.
Q: South Africa is what you believed it could become–a working, multi-racial country. But challenges remain: unemployment, crime, violence. What are its pluses, minuses?
A: We’re back to due process, rule of law, no detention without trial and hit squads. And we’ve got shot of (rid of) all the repressive race laws, such as the Group Areas Act, the Separate Amenities Act, The Race Classification Act and Land Act which confined blacks to 13 percent of South Africa’s land area. That, in itself, has created a better atmosphere. And of course we are no longer a pariah state.
There is high regard for Mandela. It’s a matter of pride to us.
Q: What practical changes have taken place under the new government?
A: There’s free medical attention for children under 6 and pregnant women. Running water has been provided in many areas, also houses, but not the one million houses the government promised to build–just about 300,000. Electricity has been provided by our parastatal, Eskom, to millions of houses, schools, and clinics. The most important (legislative change) is the disappearance of the Bantu Education Act (which mandated an inferior, segregated school system for blacks). The school system has been integrated. And that has been both good and bad.
Q: What is the negative impact?
A: Standards will probably go down for a while. Africans come into the new system with no sciences, no math, limited language teaching and that inhibits their employment possibilities very considerably. Many white parents who are worried about deteriorating standards in integrated schools have moved their children to private schools, if they can afford to do so, where there are far fewer black students. As a result, schools that were once entirely white, are now almost entirely black.
Q: There are frequent reports of South Africa’s high crime rate, especially in urban areas. Does this cause you anxiety?
A: I live as I have always done. I frequently drive myself at night to Pretoria from Johannesburg and elsewhere, and so far have had no difficulties. I live alone in the northern suburbs, but do have security protection. However, there is no doubt the prevalence of crime and violence does occupy a good proportion of dinner table talk in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg and elsewhere, and, I have no doubt, in the black townships
Q: You recently said you were optimistic about South Africa’s future, but I also understand you are also critical of upcoming legislation. What don’t you like?
A: I am not so much “optimistic” as “hopeful” about the future, mainly because of the raw materials and human resources in the country, and our good infrastructure and tourist attractions, all of which should encourage foreign investment and will provide the necessary jobs for the expanding population.
I am critical of a number of bills presently under discussion in Parliament, all of which I believe will inhibit such investment. I refer particularly to the Employment Equity Bill which I have opposed in a minority report from the Human Rights Commission, of which I am a part-time commissioner.
Q: Is this the South African equivalent of affirmative action?
A: Yes, in that employers with more than 50 employees have a target–they don’t call it a quota but essentially it is–that within 5 to 7 years an employee force corresponds to the population: 70 percent black, 50 percent female and 3 percent disabled. There is a clause that you don’t have to hire someone who doesn’t have any qualifications. An amendment has already been proposed which talks about potential rather than qualification.
Q: You are a member of the opposition Democratic Party. Yet you admire Nelson Mandela and have been sympathetic to the ANC’s struggle. Why don’t you join the ANC?
A: Because the Democratic Party is doing a good job. They are fearless, they’re moral. (DP leader) Tony Leon raises all the tricky questions. I don’t join the ANC because of its alliance with the Communist Party and because it introduces bills like the Employment Equity Bill. You don’t sacrifice efficiency, competence and merit. COSATU, (the Congress of South African Trade Unions, which is allied with the ANC government and the Communist Party) isn’t really concerned about unemployment which is running about 26 percent. This is what worries me most and I long predicted that this was would happen. This is why I was opposed to sanctions. In mining and in agriculture we lost markets and this is a country that doesn’t have social security, apart from child maintenance or private old age pensions. There is no job unemployment insurance unless you belong to an employee fund and are skilled or semiskilled.
Q: How do you react to a perception among government supporters that whites are not adapting, are too critical and not doing enough to assist in nation building?
A: I do think that whites are inclined to over-emphasize the negative factors, such as crime and violence, and ignore the fact that all the oppressive laws have gone, and there is no more detention without trial etc., that South Africa is no longer a pariah nation, and we are back at the United Nations, a member of the Organization of African Unity, a key member of the Southern African Development Community, that economic sanctions have gone, there are no more academic boycotts, and best of all for South Africans, we enjoy the wonderful pleasure of competing in international sport. These positive factors are forgotten by the whingers, (whiners) as in the fact that Mandela is the most popular leader in the world today.
Q: On the other hand, blacks have an unpleasant habit of accusing whites who do not agree with anything the government does of being racist, and this applies to me as well.
Isn’t that surprising given your reputation for fighting for years against discrimination?
A: Yes, this happens even to liberals like myself with a past history of fighting discrimination and the apartheid regime, but I do understand that the younger generation of blacks doesn’t really know about the part played by liberal opponents of that government.
David Winder, a former foreign correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor, recently returned from his native South Africa. He teaches mass communication at Principia College at Elsah, Ill.
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An edited transcript
