Between the Devil and the Deep Black Sea?
| Author | Shaun Johnson |
| Published date | 01 April 1986 |
| Date | 01 April 1986 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/004711788600800502 |
443
BETWEEN
THE
DEVIL
AND
THE
DEEP
BLACK
SEA?
Black
Perception
of
British
Policy
Towards
South
Africa*
SHAUN
JOHNSON
THIS
ARTICLE
is
an
attempt
to
look
at
contemporary
British
policy
towards
South
Africa
from
a
slightly
unusual
perspective:
that
of
black
South
Africans
today.
It
is,
of
necessity,
highly
speculative,
selective
and
impressionistic.
The
speculation
about
the
future
is
my
own,
as
are
the
selections
of
events
which
construct
my
argument.
The
impressions,
however,
are
those
gleaned
from
a
wide
range
of
black
South
Africans,
young
and
old,
who
are
involved
in
the
continuing
crisis
in
that
country.
In
1914,
and
again
in
1919,
the
prominent
black
politician
and
writer
Solomon
Plaatje,
accompanied
by
other
leaders
of
the
fledgling
South
African
Native
National
Congress
(SANNC),
took
ship
to
London
to
&dquo;tell
the
Englishmen
how
the
sons
of
the
soil
were
being
robbed&dquo;.’
He
and
his
colleagues
expected
the
support
of
the
British
government
for
their
struggle
against
the
emergence
of
a
&dquo;racist,
exploitative
system
in
South
Africa&dquo;.
Some
seventy
years
later,
black
South
Africans-and
indeed
all
South
Africans
who
seek
a
democratic
and
equitable
society
on
the
southern
tip
of
the
continent-no
longer
believe
that
Britain
can
or
will
intervene
decisively
to
help
them
achieve
their
goal.
In
post-Emergency
South
Africa,
their
questions
are
more
likely
to
be
framed
in
the
reverse:
&dquo;How
far
will
the
British
Government
go
in
helping
to
maintain
and
give
succour
to
the
minority
white
regime?&dquo;
The
upsurge
of
cynicism
about
the
West’s
role
in
South
Africa,
Britain
specifically
included,
was
starkly
recorded
at
crucial
anti-apartheid
gatherings
in
Durban
over
the
Easter
weekend
of
1986.
The
National
Education
Crisis
Conference,
which
was
as
much
a
coming-together
of
all
non-racialist
resistance
groups
as
an
education
meeting,
bitterly
condemned
Western
governments
for
&dquo;colluding
and
conniving&dquo;2
with
the
Botha
regime.
The
refrain
may
be
well-worn,
but
it
would
be
foolish
for
any
observer
to
ignore
two
new
elements:
the
real,
deep-seated
contempt
felt
for
&dquo;allies
of
apartheid&dquo;,
and
the
*
Shaun
Johnson
is
at
present
engaged
in
research
work
in
South
Africa
for
the
David
Davies
Memorial
Institute’s
Study
Group
on
South
Africa
which
will
be
producing
a
report
next
year.
The
views
expressed
in
this
article
are
solely
those
of
the
author.
1
Jack
and
Ray
Simons,
Class
and
Colour
in
South
Africa.
1850-1950
(London,
IDAF,
1983),
p.
132.
2
Resolution
number
8
of
the
National
Education
Crisis
Conference.
Durban.
30
March
1986.
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