LOOKING BACK

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 50 YEARS AGO

A whispering campaign is gaining momentum throughout South Africa to bring Cabinet Ministers under the suspicion that they are using their high office to “feather their nests”. The whispers have spread so widely that Mr. “Basie” van Rensburg, Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, has defended them as honourable men. In a speech which has been given considerable publicity in the Nationalist Press, Mr. Van Rensburg gives the assurance that any Cabinet Minister who uses his office to enrich himself “will not be tolerated for a single day in John Vorster’s Cabinet”. Mr. Van Rensburg’s remarks reflect the growing concern among Nationalist Party leaders over the gossip. He would not have made such a public declaration if the gossiping had not reached serious proportions. — June 16 1968

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES 25 YEARS AGO

The National Party handed out bread rolls, oranges and a meal to about 4 000 black people bussed in from all corners of the northern Transvaal to attend a rally addressed by President FW de Klerk in Pietersburg yesterday. Mr de Klerk, introduced by Foreign Affairs Minister Pik Botha as a “strong chief”, predicted the National Party would soon command the second-largest slice of support among blacks in South Africa. The meeting, which featured tribal dancing, was also addressed by a number chiefs from various areas in the northern Transvaal. — June 20 1993