I had one of the best years of my life getting to see much of sub-Sahara Africa and I loved the place. If you could ignore the politics, South Africa is the finest place I have ever been outside the United States (God Bless her) and Switzerland. As to the politics it was the late 80's and Mandela was out of prison but still under house arrest, so things were very calm. I asked a lot of questions but tried to keep my mouth shut about my positions. I don’t think Americans should try to push their ideas while a guest in a foreign country.
I did get to meet several members of the Afrikaner (Boers) government, some high ranking Zulu’s from Natal, and one night I had dinner with the man running for President (English) on the liberal party ticket. I have neither the words nor the typing skills to explain all I think and remember about these fine people so I will list only a few:
1) Americans had no idea what they were doing with sanctions.
2) I always thought the Zulu’s would kill Mandela who is a prince of the Xosha’s and a mortal enemy of the Zulu tribe.
3)I once asked my Zulu housekeeper how she would determine how to vote if she ever won the right to do so. Her answer showed me how very wrong we are to push democracy on people who have no understanding, or appreciation of the concept. She said “oh I would have no problem doing the right thing I would just vote how my chief told me to.”
4) I never believed the Afrikaners would give the county over to the majority. Unlike Rhodesia where the whites were only 3% they were more than 30% in South Africa. The problem was that half the whites (English speakers) really thought they could work with the majority.
5) The REAL PROBLEM was that the ruling class was white. They ran the place far better than ANY black tribe runs whatever African country they are in. They had been there 400 years, as long as we have been here and most of the black tribes came to the area AFTER the whites. If the very same government had been black no one would have cared!
6) One Afrikaner told me “we would not have a problem if we had done to the blacks what you did to the Indians.”