Broederbond chief resigns

Press, 6 July 1983, Page 6

Broederbond chief resigns

NZPA-Reuter Johannesburg The leader of the powerful Afrikaner political policy-making body, the Broederbond, resigned yesterday amid a row over new Government plans to give South Africa’s mixed-race citizens and Indians a political voice. The Broederbond’s executive council said that Professor Carel Boshoff was “involved with a view which does not find the Constitution Bill acceptable,” and his chairmanship had therefore become contentious.

The bill would give Coloureds (people of mixedrace) and Indians a political voice while still excluding the 70 per cent black majority of the population. The Broederbond is regarded as the powerhouse behind the governing National Party’s policy. Press reports say that a Broederbond-financed organisation, the South African Bureau of Racial Affairs, of which Dr Boshoff is also chairman, has prepared a secret report critical of the Government’s constutional reforms.

Dr Boshoff, a theologian and son-in-law of a former Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, who was one of the main architects of

apartheid, would remain a member of the Broederbond’s executive council, the society said. He will be succeeded by Professor J. P. de Lange, rector of the Rand Afrikaans University and regarded by political observers as a supporter of the Prime Minister, Mr Pieter Botha.

The “Johannesburg Star” reported yesterday that the report described the Government’s plans as “farical," and instead advocated a “sphere of geographical jurisdiction” for citizens of mixed race. The recommendation was taken to mean that Coloureds should be given their own “independent” homeland.

The split in the Broederbond became more significant when the Afrikaner Sunday newspaper “Rapport” quoted the Education Minister, Mr Gerrit Viljoen, as saying that the Government would have to review its financial support for S.A.B.R.A. if it deviated from an earlier agreement not to become embroiled in the Government’s constitutional plans. Local press reports have said that the Government’s annual support for bureau is about $98,000. .