Towards Darkness and Death: Racial Demonology in South Africa

Abstract

Many students of human relations in South Africa would probably agree that an understanding of the policy of racial separation and the general determination of whites not to yield power to the black majority necessitates an awareness of their fears. The importance of this factor can hardly be overlooked, especially if it is defined broadly along the lines suggested by Philip Mason in his succinct study of racial tensions around the globe: There are fears of all kinds… There is the vague and simple fear of something strange and unknown, there is the very intelligible fear of unemployment, and the fear of being outvoted by people whose way of life is quite different. There are fears for the future and memories of fear in the past, fears given an extra edge by class conflict, by a sense of guilt, by sex and conscience… Fear may also act as a catalytic agent, changing the nature of factors previously not acutely malignant, such as the association in metaphor of the ideas of white and black with good and evil… Where the dominant are in the minority they are surely more frightened.1

Afrikaner Fears and the Politics of Despair: Understanding Change in South Africa

“…This is certainly how such a shift has always been seen by almost all whites (Hugo, 1988, demonstrates this point well), and it is therefore what they must consider negotiating about in 1992. As a nonracial liberation movement, the ANC has had coloured, Indian, and white members for years, and to the extent that such membership increases now that the ANC can operate and organize openly, any successor government under its control would be based on a nonracial majority comprising all population "groups.…”

“…See Nachmias and Nachmias (1987: ?29, 235). involve random sampling procedures, therefore we cannot generalize our findings to non-responding or non-sampled elites and certainly not to the entire Afrikaner population of over three million.9 Where appropriate, however, we will compare our results to two contemporaneous probability samples of adult Afrikaners from throughout South Africa (Hugo, 1988;Hofmeyr, 1990a). In addition, 3 individuals did not give their occupation, 2 said they were farmers, and 9 reported other primary occupations.…”

Projecting Peace in Apartheid South Africa

“…6 Certainly, many "white" South Africans were ever-fearful of the only alternative to apartheid that seemed to be on the horizon: "black majority rule." 7 To many of those who opposed "white" rule, the two main techniques of struggle; guerrilla warfare and non-violent resistance, lacked promise. Altogether, the alternatives appeared stark, the range of options narrow.…”