Separate Development
Separate Development was a South African policy created by Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd who sought to pre-empt the need for large scale migration of people to the towns and cities, by developing the economies of the homelands instead. The policy is often confused with General Smuts' apartheid.
Contents
Background
Verwoerd argued that a policy of economic decentralization would make for a peaceful multicultural society, with each community exercising its right of political self-determination, the political catch phrase after World War II.
Industrialists were encouraged with all sorts of tax incentives and labor benefits to establish industries on the homeland borders, resulting in a symbiotic relationship between labor and capital within a common economic system.
During the sixty's and seventy's, the country experienced an unprecedented economic growth. Unemployment was at its lowest in history.
Each homeland had its own Development Corporation. Large communal estates were established, which provided jobs for thousands of peasant workers and which injected millions of dollars into the communal coffers.
Tea estates, coffee plantations, citrus and dissiduous fruit estates with their own canning and processing facilities earned valuable foreign exchange for homelands and the region as a whole.
Universities and Technikons were established for each language group, decentralized in line with the overall policy and turning out thousands of literate black professionals.
New capital cities were built, each with its own parliament and administration complexes. South Africa's taxpayers gladly paid for "...these excesses of apartheid..." as they are being called nowadays.
Mother tongue education was the philosophy for primary, as well as high schools where practicable. Ironically, these institutions became the training ground for South Africa's black rulers of the New South Africa.
It was never understood that social apartheid was a distorted product of the country's British colonial history, whereas Separate Development is the application of the modern concept of Self-Determination for ethnic groups to preserve their identities and to foster peaceful co-existence with others without competing for the same resources.
There is no comparison between the economic development of the South African black homelands and the development of the independent neighboring black states outside South Africa's borders. Tragically, those 'apartheid' training grounds that served today's black leaders so well, have become relics of an apartheid past.
The development corporations have been disbanded.
The estates have been allowed to go to ruin.
Millions of jobless and roofless people are flocking to the cities and towns and live in abject poverty conditions in tin shacks, posing serious health and security problems in breeding grounds for crime.
A high price paid for a simplistic democratic system, now recognized by those familiar with the situation as a majoritarian tyranny.
An untenable social engineering process of nation building sustainable in a country with its deep historical ethnic fault lines.
Afrikaners are a crucial element to ensure the development of South Africa and the African continent.
Requiring acceptance and respect as White Africans with their own peculiar cultural needs, which they want to transfer to their children without interference and to be allowed to participate freely in the economy.
Prime Minister Verwoerd in a speech to the South African Parliament
The tendency in Africa for nations to become independent, and at the same time to do justice to all, does not only mean being just to the black man of Africa, but also to be just to the white man of Africa. We call ourselves Europeans, but actually we represent the white men of Africa. They are the people not only in the Union but through major portions of Africa who brought civilization here, who made the present developments of black nationalism possible. By bringing them education, by showing them this way of life, by bringing in industrial development, by bringing in the ideals which western civilization has developed itself. And the white man came to Africa, perhaps to trade, in some cases, perhaps to bring the gospel; has remained to stay. And particularly we in this southern most portion in Africa, have such a stake here that this is our only motherland, we have no where else to go. We settled a country bare, and the Bantu came in this country and settled certain portions for themselves, and it is in line with the thinking of Africa, to grant those fullest rights which we also with you admit all people should have and believe providing those rights for those people in the fullest degree in that part of southern Africa which their forefathers found for themselves and settled in. But similarly, we believe in balance, we believe in allowing exactly those same full opportunities to remain within the grasp of the white man who has made all this possible.
See also
External links
- At Thy Will South Africa - A Documentary Motion Picture: Elucidating the historical progression of South Africa's History with a chapter describing the policy of Apartheid & narration by various leaders of the respective eras including Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, P.W. Botha & F. W. De Klerk
- Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd - Africa's Greatest Statesman
- Reconstituted National Party of South Africa - H.N.P.
- Afrikaner Broadcasting Corporation
