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How to Handle the ANC
| Article
# : |
12512 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1987 |
4,939 Words |
| Author
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Max Singer
Max Singer, a public policy expert who lived in Israel from
1973-1977, is the author of Passage to a Human World. |
There are two fundamental reasons why there cannot be peace among blacks as long as the African National Congress (ANC) is a major factor and the communists within the ANC have not been defeated. The first is that the communists have quite different goals and priorities than the great majority of South African blacks. Second, the ANC does not want to have peace unless they have control, or at least a good chance of getting it.
One does not need to rely on reasoning to decide that the ANC will prevent peace among blacks; their past and current behavior forces the same conclusion. For example, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi who heads Inkatha - the Zulu organization that has many times the membership of the ANC - has always been very respectful of the ANC as an ally in the battle against apartheid. Buthelezi has refused to negotiate with the government until the ANC's Nelson Mandela is released from prison and the ANC is unbanned. But the ANC has systematically attacked and tried to weaken Buthelezi by making false statements about his policies and trying to force people to choose between the ANC and Buthelezi.
Another example of the ANC's unwillingness to have peace among blacks, except under their control, is their international campaign against the Pan African Congress (PAC) and the individuals associated with it - even though the PAC is a revolutionary black organization committed to the use of violence to bring down the government of South Africa.
Of course, the most important evidence of how the ANC stands on peace within the black opposition to apartheid is their support of, and probable participation in, the use of violence, such as the practice of necklacing of blacks who do not go along with the ANC and its policies.
Is there an alternative?
A common reaction is, "It may be unfortunate that the ANC is controlled by communists, but since the ANC is the main opposition to apartheid the only alternative to accepting the ANC is to accept apartheid." And, along the same lines, "How can you expect the blacks to reject communist leadership of the ANC when apartheid is so much worse? Naturally they'll do whatever it takes to get rid of apartheid. They have nothing to lose."
But this is wrong. The choice is not between working with the ANC and not fighting apartheid. The choice is between working with the ANC and working with people
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