'Terrorium Act" for organising a rally in support of FRELIMO last year "DETENTE is the key word in Southern Africa today. It was only three months ago that South Africa's Prime Minister Vorster made his famous statement: I say: give South Africa six months chance by not making our road harder than it is already.you will be surprised where we will stand then."
Assumed by most, including top South African Government Ministers, to mean that apartheid was to be given a face-lift, this brought instant reaction from, amongst others, President Kaunda of Zambia, who hailed Vorster's speech as the Voice of Reason", Within a matter of days, however. Vorster felt compelled to enlighten the world that what he meant was that he would use the six months to try and make a deal with black Africa over Rhodesia and Namibia ("South West Africa').
This farcical manoeuvre called "detente was made necessary hy the victory of the liberation movements in the Portuguese colonies. The lask of preventing puerilla movements from moving into Rhodesia and South Africa has now become impossible, since Angola and Mozambique will no longer play the role of cooperative buffer states. Moreover, the prospect of fighting a war against Iberation movements with an inlicusingly militant black working class inside South Africa itself is not a happy one for Vorster. Still fresh in his memory is the large dentonsiration by blacks in Durban in support of FRELIMO last year (the organisens of which are currently being brought to trial under the repressive 'Terrorism Act)
CAPITALISTS In addition to these two factors Vorster is also coming under pressure from the South African capilalists. They have no obsession with a partic ular form of rule —as long as it keeps the flow of cheap black labour coming. For some time now they have been pressing the ruling Nationalist Party to liberalise' the notorious apartheid system. The problem as far as they are concerned is that the racist policies of South Africa are so infamous that the Governments of the black Atrean states dare not con sider opening up political relations with South Africa. This prevents