Sanctioning Apartheid - KORA

The Cultural Boycott of South Africa (Ill 399
culturally. White South Africans are also very assimilated into
Western popular culturef in p@ar American culture. Most
white South Ahins have grown up watching Ammican films
and listening to AngleAmerican popular music Mom recentlyI
many have become avid fans of American TV programs? The
boycott thus seeks to deny apartheid South Africa any legitimacy
and n o d relations with the West.
In ~~1 the boycott has sought to deny any legitimacy
to the South ,i#ion government's aggressive propaganda
campaign to promote its "refom." In recent years, the government
has undehkm certain reforms, in an attempt to portray to
%uth Africans and the outside world that it is moving away
from apartheid. h the dtud arena, this has dted in
allowin& in certain locationsI multiracial performersI audiencesf
and spectators for theatres, movie housesf musical performances,
and spats events. The most publicized of these venues is Sun
CityI the enkrhhment complex located in Bophuthatswana, one
of the supposed "independent homelands"' set up by the South
Abican government as part of its apartheid/Bantustan masterplan.
The South African government has tried to promote these
and o&er refom as proof of their desire to move away from
aweid? The hope of this campaign was that it would placate
South Africa's htemal and external critics and ease the pressure
on South Africa, or at least prevent a further increase in pressure.
PrrsIlmably the government believed that it could offer these
typ of reforms without dealing with the fundamental issue of
political and economic power.
When unravelled, the argument for the boycott of culture
going to South A$io calls for essentially three things: for artists,
musik, md sportspeople not to perform in South A£rim; for
arsists such as playwrights and filmmakgss not to allow their
work to be perhnned or screened in South Africa; and that
musicians and writas not allow their recordings and books to be
sold in Sauth Africa. Most of the debate and publicity has been
about not performing in South Africa and not allowing films and
plays to be meend or performed. Much I%ss attention has been
focused on the question of &g popular music and books in
South Africa, although these issues have come up in debates
within the music and publishing industries,