Out of the Ashes
Others will have commented on the verdict of the Rivonia trial. The Spectator has its own tailpiece in continuing the story of what is hap- pening to Randolph Vigne, the former chairman of the South African Liberal Party and an occa- sional contributor to this paper. Readers will know that Mr. Vigne is a 'banned' person, largely because of his courageous exposures of malpractices in the Transkei. Two weeks ago under the shield of parliamentary privilege the Transkeian. Minister of Justice alleged that last year Mr. Vigne approached a Transkei chief and asked about his politics. The chief declared his support for the South African Government. A few days later the chief was assaulted—the ob- vious implication being that Mr. Vigne was in some way involved in the attack. Yet, although Mr. Vigne is banned, there is a discretionary escape clause which allows a banned person to publish specific statements. He therefore pre- pared an answer to Matanzima's allegations: permission to publish was refused by the South African Minister of Justice, Mr. Vorster. Mr. Vorster chose the same day to announce that Mr. Vigne's request to further his studies at the University of Cape Town has also been refused.
These refusals are humiliating enough; they show, however, that there is still an opposition in South Africa which the Government dare not treat with the open .contempt and brutality it has shown to the Rivonia prisoners. Mr. Vorster
well knows that Liberal incursions into the Transkei are jeopardising the whole Bantustan- apartheid plan. Even if the Rivonia verdicts are, from the Government's point of view, effective, it looks as if another, multiracial opposition is growing up, more widespread and more dan- gerous for the Government in that it will be almost impossible to ban. This is why for the moment Mr. Vorster is forced to discriminate against individuals like Randolph Vigne in the hope of intimidating others. The signs are that he is not succeeding.
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