A “political initiative” for South Africa — a (West) German view

Abstract

This article concentrates on the possibility of a South African initiative by the West. It is stated that previous‐attempts by Western and Black African states to help black and white South Africans to find solutions provide the world with many possibilities to learn from past failures. It is shown that a handful of German politicians showed a nearly unique sensitivity in dealing with the Republic's problems but that they did not prevail. As a consequence Bonn lost its credibility with both blacks and whites. The fear is expressed that blacks and whites will have to be traumatised before they will be prepared to make a deal.