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By William A. Rusher The first thing one must acknowl edge about Nelson Mandela is how impressive he is, simply as a human being: thoughtful, soft-spoken, good humored and polite, yet proud, deter mined and incisive. It makes one won der whether the average American politician would benefit equally from 27 years in prison. Probably not. For while that long sentence undoubtedly tempered Man dela’s steel, the steel had to be there to begin with. We should not forget that Nelson Mandela, like Menachem Begin, began his career as a terrorist. Nor should we forget — indeed, he doesn't try very hard to make us for get — that he has been a Marxist, and a close ally of the South African Com munist Party, all his life. When he first emerged from prison, he was very explicit about all this. On the subject of the Communist Party and its relation to his African National Congress, he declared: “No dedicated ANC member will ever heed the call to break with the SAC. What man of honor will ever desert a lifelong friend at the insistence of a common opponent and still retain a measure of Credibility among his people?” As for the necessity for socialism: “The nationalization of the mines, banks and monopoly industries is the policy of the ANC, and a change or modification of our views in this re gard is inconceivable.’ On this trip, under cross-examina tion by a panel of 11 editors and re porters of The New York Times, Man dela had obviously been coached to speak kindly of the possibilities for free enterprise in other areas of the South African economy. But from the standpoint of the top South African businessmen who have been urging the government for years to free Mandela and negotiate with the ANC, the future must look gloomy, indeed. That is why one friend of mine, who specializes in watching South African business closely from a vantage point in Wall Street, thinks the high com mand of the Afrikaner business com munity has privately decided to sell its interests to Americans and others for the pretty penny they will un doubtedly bring, and “go live in Park Lane” — leaving South Africa’s white lower middle-class holding the bag. That may indeed be the scenario, but it is not yet crystal clear by any means. State President F.W. de Klerk has made some remarkably sweeping assertions about South Africa's future as a multiracial society, but nothing he has said (thus far) is inconsistent with the hypothesis that what he wants, and will insist on, is constitu tional language giving South Africa's various ethnic groups veto power, as groups, over majoritarian decisions that threaten their cultural interests. That, however, is something Man dela would almost certainly refuse to agree to — especially after his heady reception in the major Western nations. In any case, the rest of the world can afford to look on future develop ments in South Africa with a good deal more detachment than was pos sible during the four decades of the Cold War. In those perilous yeas South Africa was well-nigh indispens able to the Free World, both beck of its geopolitical position and by vir tue of its near-monopoly of various essential minerals. If Nelson Man dela, South African communism’s dearest friend, had somehow clawed his way to the top in those grim days, the balance of global power would have shifted dramatically in favor of Moscow. Now, however, Mandela's senti mental loyalty to his communist al lies is merely an embarrassment, not a menace. Someday, perhaps, he can visit Moscow (if Boris Yeltsin ap proves) and lay a wreath at Lenin's bier (if Lenin is still there). The people who have most reason to fear Nelson Mandela now are the South Africans black and white, alike — who may someday have to suffer under a Marx ist economic system because of him. (©) 1990 NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN THE CONSERVATIVE ADVOCATE RUSHER WILLIAM A.
Newspaper Details
Marshall Chronicle
Marshall, Michigan, US
Fri, Jul 06, 1990
Page 2
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USA 01 Jul 2026
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