LETTERS Tribes and nations
Sir: Andrew Kenny ('Trials and tribula- tions', 22 September) argues for the crea- tion of separate tribal states within South Africa. This would be an extremely diffi- cult if not impossible process. Mr Kenny fails to see that the tribes are now so intermingled in the large cities that it would be nearly impossible to tear them apart. He does not take into account the problem of the Swazis, of whom there are more in South Africa than in Swaziland. How would Pretoria react to the conces- sions of some of its territories to Swazi- land? It is also worth pointing out that South Africa has the largest Indian popula- tion outside India.
Separated tribal states are an economi- cally unworkable proposition. The home- lands that have been allotted to the various tribes by the Land Acts are minerally impoverished and extremely small. Black people own 13 per cent of South African land, while representing 85 per cent of its population. Migrant workers would have to go to work for the whites in the large industrial centres. Furthermore, if Africa is ever to escape from the shackles of pover- ty, then it will be through states sharing resources, not through existing states carv- ing them up.
This article suggests that the English nation is in fact one tribe. W.R. Inge, formerly Dean of St Paul's, once remarked that `a nation is a society united by a common delusion about its ancestry'. At the time of the Roman conquest, Britain consisted of several rival tribes, who fought the Romans separately. In Chaucer's times, the English still used different di- alects.
The solution for South Africa lies in the forming of a national identity. True peace can only be achieved when Zulus and Xhosas think of themselves first and fore- most as South African. This is a process helped by mass education and indus- trialisation, as was the case in England.
It is perhaps not surprising that the Afrikaners exaggerate tribalism in South Africa, because they benefit most from differences within the black population. Nor is it particularly surprising that Chief Buthelezi is not keen to forge a new sense of unity, because he after all would lose a lot of his power.
Finally, the Zulus and Xhosas attack each other in the townships because the rival tribe offers an easy target for relieving frustration. It is felt that the whites are too strong. With the apartheid system growing weaker every day, it is not inconceivable that whites may also become targets of township frustration.
Owen Sloman
29 Church Crescent, London NIO
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