LOOKING BACK

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

Dr Connie Mulder, Minister of the Interior and Information and leader of the Nationalist Party in the Transvaal, says South Africa would be prepared to enter into friendly relations with a black majority government in Mozambique or Angola. Asked in an interview with Sunday Times: “Is it possible that attacks on our borders could escalate into guerrilla warfare similar to that of Vietnam? What is South Africa doing to ensure that Blacks are on the side of the White man?” Mulder answered: “The difference between South Africa and its Blacks and the colonial powers is that in the latter the local people had to fight and protest and struggle for their rights, political and otherwise. But the Blacks where we have control know in advance according to our policies they are entitled to political rights and we will assist them in achieving this.” — May 26 1974

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 25 YEARS AGO

Political parties have deployed their big hitters for KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and Gauteng on an election blitz in a last desperate bid to sway two-and-a-half million undecided voters. Opinion polls released this week showed that as many as one in four whites and more than a quarter of Indian and Coloured voters have not decided who they will back. One in 10 African voters is undecided. The way they will vote will determine who will be the official opposition in Parliament and who will rule in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The National Party and Democratic Party are leading the race to become the official opposition, with both parties registering support of around seven percent. — May 30 1999