LOOKING BACK

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

The National Party has the backing of the majority of South Africa’s White elite — that is, holders of top posts in South African society. Nationalists occupy 45 per cent of the top jobs in the country while 20 per cent of the people in leading positions support the United Party, and 13 per cent are Progressives. These are some of the facts which have emerged so far from a study of the White South African elite being conducted by Professor H. W. van der Merwe, director of the Abe Bailey Institute for Inter-Racial Studies. English-speaking members of the White elite outnumber their Afrikaansspeaking colleagues, however. — May 11 1969

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 25 YEARS AGO

As world leaders began arriving yesterday to celebrate the birth of democracy in South Africa, President-elect Nelson Mandela moved swiftly to show that his new government will be both pragmatic and reconciliatory. Speaking outside a Cape Town mosque, he said: “I stand firm in the belief that we are one country, one nation, whether we are coloureds, Indians, whites or Africans — that is what we must promote in this country from now on.” Hours earlier he had announced that the vital finance portfolio would remain in the hands of Mr Derek Keys. “We realise the importance of leaving the portfolio of finance as it is — without interference,” he said. — May 8 1994