RaDical MiDDle - ColdType

116 | denis beckett
10
the seven-Year switch
early in 1987 I met Louis Nel, Minister of Information,
by chance in a lift. I introduced myself and was surprised that
he was warm and amiable. I was as yet half graduated from
expecting top Nats to have iron teeth and pointy tails and give
someone like me only scowls and remonstrance.
I told Nel he was the unanimous choice of the nation’s subeditors
for State President. He looked quizzical. I said that with
21⁄2 letters in his surname he’d make the headline writers’ life a
doddle. God forbid a Van der Westhuizen got the job.
Nel doubted the sub-editors’ support would do much for
his career (he was right, he was sacked soon after) and asked
how Frontline was going. I said there was a tightness in the
budgetary arena, which was an understatement for the fact that
I had stomach cramps every time I saw an invoice. Nel asked
how long I’d been at it and I said seven years. “Well there you
are”, he said, “the next seven years will be the good ones”.
This seemed consoling but as I drove back to the office I got