The Commonwealth and South Africa

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 11:42 am on 13 November 1987.

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Photo of Mr George Gardiner Mr George Gardiner , Reigate 11:42, 13 November 1987

I resent the hon. Gentleman's assertion that I am not concerned in the fight against racialism; I certainly am. But let me answer his first point about how I get to South Africa. Not all of my visits have been paid for by the South African Government. In one instance, I paid my own fare out there, and the South Africa Foundation then arranged the interviews for which I had asked before I went. I see nothing wrong with accepting the offer of a foreign Government to visit their country. If I were offered the same by Zambia or Zimbabwe, I would take it up, because visiting a country increases one's knowledge of it. This debate would be a good deal better if some of those who lecture us from the Opposition Benches on what is happening in South Africa had taken the trouble to go there and investigate for themselves.

When I was in South Africa in September 1986, when all the sanctions pressure was being mooted, I saw a very different picture. The reform programme had almost been shelved, and the question asked everywhere was, "How will we survive sanctions?" The South African business men who had been the instigators of reform in previous years were forced back into defending their very existence. Meanwhile, President Botha was having to look over his shoulder at the growing strength of the Conservative party, a more Right wing-party in South Africa than the Nationalist party, and at the undoubted and growing white backlash.

I have no doubt that the achievement of sanctions has been to kill off that momentum of reform, and to put back the whole process for at least five years. Let us look at the process more closely. The first effect of sanctions pressure was to incite violence; there is no doubt about that. Blacks in the townships had been offered the mirage of a quick solution to their problems. Many saw their protest and their sacrifice as something essentially short-term—the last heave, perhaps, that was needed to gain what they wanted. How else can we explain the folly of the school strikes and the assertion that political change must come before education, when education of the blacks is essential if they are to take over more of the running of their country?

In response, the Government took emergency powers, many of which were distasteful to many of us. It must be said, however, that no Government in the world would sit back without acting against what was clearly an attempt at revolution. As Elliot Mgwena, an unemployed black dock worker from Guguleti near Cape Town, said in the Washington Times in December 1986: We have been duped by the priests and the politicians. Tutu and Bosac made it sound like the Government would fall down as soon as there was disinvestment and sanctions. If that had happened, I would have said sanctions and disinvestment were good, but they failed to change things. All they are bringing is more suffering for us blacks. That false hope of emancipation through violence was the most cruel deception of the South African blacks, and the sanctions lobby must take a great deal of the blame for it.

I remember the pleas of blacks and coloureds on my visit for me to exercise what little influence I have as a Member of Parliament against the sanctions policy. I remember the pleas from black leaders who had managed to keep their townships running despite death threats; from parents who had managed to organise patrols to get their children through to school; from black business men in Soweto and from Incata, which has 1,300,000 black members; and, indeed, from the agricultural workers in the Cape. The Cape contains about 250,000 people who are dependent on the fruit industry. Every time I go out to buy South African sherry and wine — not only because it is a good buy—I am very conscious that I am helping those coloured workers in the Cape, against the sanctions lobby and others in the world who seek to drive them into starvation.

Another achievement of sanctions and disinvestment has been to encourage political extremes in South Africa. On the black side, they have lent credibility to the ANC, and they have put moderates such as Chief Buthelezi on the defensive.

On the white side, they have caused a growing swing to the parties of the far Right. Many white South Africans ask, "What is the point of reform when the rest of the world still tries to drive us into extinction?" Sanctions have almost destroyed the middle ground in South African politics. However, it is only by negotiation among moderates that peace and universal suffrage will come to South Africa.

My hon. Friend the Member for Orpington said that we should not disparage the efforts of Commonwealth countries to achieve a form of democratic government suitable to them. I understand his point. I hope that he will extend the same tolerance to those in South Africa who are seeking to work out a democratic, power-sharing solution that is appropriate to South Africa.

We have to consider also the effect of sanctions on the outcome of the elections on 6 May. The National party stayed in much the same position, but the Liberal PFP went right down the drain and the Right-wing Conservative party became the official opposition. What a credit, what an achievement for sanctions that has been. It has obliterated the party in South Africa that was campaigning most vigorously for reform and increased support for the party that resists reform. If the sanctions and the disinvestment lobby increases its impact, I shudder to think what will happen in the next elections in South Africa.

The only way to secure black advancement is by more and better education in South Africa. There must also be better housing and better health provision. That can be brought about only by an expanding economy. It is important to encourage, not to lessen, investment in South Africa. That would help to bring about more speedily the end of apartheid. I hope that this Government will soon scrap the sanctions against investment in South Africa, because they work contrary to our Government's own goals.

There are hopeful signs in South Africa. Those of us who want black advancement to continue are encouraged by the fact that its growth rate is recovering. We have the example of the Kwa Natal Indaba, which is one of the most encouraging developments in South Africa. White and black leaders have come together to work out a multiracial state within South Africa.