How to be a dictator

SIR — To be a successful dictator, you need to do the following:

Control the police and prosecution services, or the army, preferably both;

Silence the free media, basically the newspapers;

Control the lawyers, starting with the judges, and then if possible the independent lawyers as well;

Take away the public’s votes, gerrymander constituencies, pack ballot boxes, terrorise opposition voters, and apply proportional representation where party leaders determine whether you have a seat in Parliament; and

Cultivate a street-gang-type movement, which parades about smashing things and evicting people.

The Nats controlled the police, but did not quite manage to control the army; the End Conscription Campaign was a thorn in their side. They managed to intimidate some newspapers, but never really got control of them. They appointed some dodgy judges, but were never able to make the judiciary their lackeys. The independent legal profession was never remotely under their control. The Nats took away most people’s votes with racial legislation, and did some gerrymandering of the rest, but never completely eliminated parliamentary opposition.

In the end, their failures and the contribution of anti-apartheid NGOs left enough middle ground for our transition from apartheid to take place without a violent revolution.

All South Africans need reminding that if we don’t learn from history, we will be condemned to repeat it.