LOOKING BACK

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

The Rev. C. F. Beyers Naude, director of the Christian Institute, issued a serious warning this week that racial troubles in South Africa were inevitable unless the responsible non-White leaders accepted the present racial legislation and unless discussions were held with these leaders to enable them to raise their legitimate grievances. Mr. Naude said he was convinced that if this was done in the immediate future, and if the latent goodwill of most non-Whites was used, the dangers could be limited to a minimum. “Let us change our course before it is too late. There is still time to do so,” he said. — July 28 1968

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 25 YEARS AGO

When five unidentified gunmen chose a suburban Cape Town church as their target for terror last Sunday night, they probably thought it was the softest possible target to hit. Instead, the attack on the St James Church in Kenilworth exposed a strength the attackers could never have imagined. The killers struck on St James’ Day, which honours James, beheaded for his faith and the first apostolic martyr. In the aftermath of the attack, faith has sustained the wounded, the grieving families of the 11 dead and members of the congregation who were in the packed church when grenades and automatic gunfire desecrated the service shortly after 7.30pm. Almost all the regular churchgoers will be back in the pews tonight. — August 1 1993