On double standards
Sir: Almost every part of Mr Shenfield's 'argument' (13 June) attacking white South Africa's critics was used, 'moans nuttandis, to attack the abolitionists over 150 years ago. As then, the basic issues in this country are: (a) should slavery (or, in South Africa, what Chief Luthuli called 'paid slavery') be abolished? (b) have we a greater responsibility for South African tyranny, having created it. than for other tyrannies? My answers are both 'yes' Mr Shenfield's presumably 'no' to (a) and (b) falls away.
Randolph Vigne 3 Macartney House, Lon Ion SEA 0
Sir: As an expatriate Briton working in Southern Africa I would like to say how wel-
come was Arthur Shenfield's article (13 June). It was a great change from the usual facile nonsense emanating from the BB( and UK press which one can only assume is writ- ten largely by people with no first-hand knowledge of South Africa.
I have lived both north and south of the Zambesi, and I heartily recommend all pro- testers, demonstrators and others who would apply an immediate liberal solution to southern Africa's situation, to work for three years in any capacity in east or central Africa. The dishonesty, graft, violence and downright cruelty of the people and the regimes will make apartheid Nationalists of most of them within a year.
One cannot say that apartheid is the final solution to South Africa's difficult racial problems, nor can one praise every aspect of the policy. But at least the Nationalist government is tackling the problem in a way that gives greater prosperity and peace to all races within the republic than any- where else in Africa, and one might reason- ably have hoped that this would be an occa- sion for praise rather than blame.
Is it too much to ask that the uninvolved and ignorant should keep quiet and let us here continue to try and do our best with the problems we face?
John L. Insley PO Box 542, Tsumeb, sw Africa
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