LOOKING BACK

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

The nationwide swoop by Security Police during the terrorist scare last October and November, when 148 people were raided and 47 detained, has fizzled out — with only a handful of prosecutions so far. These prosecutions are sub judice and therefore cannot be commented on, but the fact that so many people were detained, apparently without good cause, suggests that the claim by the Minister of Police, Mr. Louwrens Muller, that South Africa was sitting on a “powder keg” was exaggerated, to say the least. Mr. Muller made the claim to justify the raids and arrests, and police spokesmen made similar claims. The record so far does not support them. Among those who were raided were leading clergymen, journalists, prominent university leaders and students. March 19 1972 —

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 25 YEARS AGO

The President is not amused. The gardens at the Union Buildings in Pretoria are in such bad shape that the ever-tolerant Nelson Mandela has lodged a gentle objection. The lawns surrounding the site of his inauguration as President three years ago — the seat of the government’s executive arm — are immaculate, but many of the beds stand empty. In some cases, plants may have been removed for replanting in autumn, in others they have selectively died. The slate retaining walls of the terraces are crumbling with age in places, and brass lettering on the war memorial has been ripped off. Maintenance of the gardens

— by far the grandest formal ones in South Africa — is being put out to private tender. But leading landscapers feel that they need a major overhaul as well. — March 16 1997