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1939, but aoaa aaabars of the Nationalist right wing<br />
hid long •WDTltt, and regarded the smelters as far<br />
•ori objectionable than tha aaaaara of tha Ojjw<br />
Brandwag.<br />
Given that thera was no clear and obvious<br />
auccaaaor to varaoard, whose total dominance of both<br />
party and govarnaant had thoroughly precluded tha<br />
— f — of a nuatoar two in both, and In tha light<br />
of tha axtraaa factionallaa within tha party,<br />
Voratar'a vary politioal aaaxnaas stood in hla favour.<br />
Ha waa not firmly identified with any faction of tha<br />
part/, and enjoyed wide respect for hia ruthless<br />
perfccaance aa Htniatarof Juatica. Voratar eventually<br />
eaarpad aa tha unchallenged candidata because ha<br />
anjoyad tha total backing of two apparantly<br />
contradictory alnga of tha party - tha axtraaa right<br />
lad by Or A Hartzog, and tha Capa party. Togathar<br />
thay coaprlaad a Majority of Nationalist aPa,<br />
parsuadlng Schoaaan to withdraw baf ora tha issue<br />
oaiaa to a vote* Tha support of tha axtraaa varkamptaa<br />
for Voratar can ba aaally axplalnad. Hla maabarahlp<br />
of tha pro-Mazi Osaewe Brand wag when couplad with tha<br />
hardllnar reputation aamad aa Minister of Juatica ,<br />
ewwaad to aart hia out aa a cowaiittad partlaan of<br />
tha right. Tha Capa vota ia axplalnad by tha fact<br />
that, in tha abaanca of a cradibla Capa candidata.<br />
voratar's aarriaga to tha daughtar of ona of tha<br />
foundara of tha Capa HP and Sanlaa - PA Helen - aede<br />
hla tha aoat accaptabla candidata. It aaa through<br />
thia connactlon that Voratar had in fact baan ao<br />
Quickly rehabilitated In tha V after 19d8. His<br />
appointaant to tha Cablnat by Verwoard In 1968. but<br />
5 yaara aftar ontaring Parllaaint, aaa widely<br />
lntarpratad in Nationalist clrclaa aa ona of tha<br />
aopa VarwoenJ offarad to tha Capa NP, still bittar<br />
aftar tha dafaat of lta candidata in tha 1958<br />
laadarahip election*<br />
This detail is crucial to an understanding of<br />
tha nature of Vorstar'a laadarahip in both party<br />
and govarnaant. Ha laaadlataly raallsad that ha<br />
could not doainata either in tha style of Verwoard.<br />
In tha party, ha thua triad to stand abova all<br />
factions, and bring Ma togathar by tha praatlps<br />
of hia office. To do so, ha took a stap unprecedented.<br />
In Nationalist politics, ona which aaa to transfer*<br />
tha ralationahlp between party and govarnaant»<br />
Under tha noraal procadura of tha NP, aa tha chosan<br />
National Laadar of tha party in succession to<br />
Varaoard, ha would naturally havs llkaalsa succeeded<br />
varaoard aa Transvaal laadar of tha nP. Evary<br />
national laadar of tha NV alnca ita Incaptlon had <<br />
baan alaultanaoualy tha laadar of tha Party in hia<br />
hoaa Province. Thia coaprlaad tha final political<br />
basa of tha National Laadar. But Voratar had not<br />
rlsan to national laadarahip through tha aatabllahad<br />
path of promotion In his provincial party. Ha had<br />
not anjoyad tha support of tha ovsrshalalng<br />
majority of Tranavaal af>s in tha pariod in which it<br />
aaaaad aa if an alaction between hla and Schoaaan<br />
would ba nacasaary to aalact tha national laadar.<br />
Ha had no natural political basa in tha Transvaal<br />
party, while tha Provincial laadarahip aaa hia to<br />
claia by right, ha auat hava raaliaad that not only<br />
would ha anjoy at bast tha grudging support of tha<br />
party organisation in tha province, but glvan that<br />
tha factionallaa of tha HP was at its worst in tha<br />
Transvaal, ha would gat sucfcad Into thoaa atrugglaa<br />
in a way which could rapidly loaa hla hla support<br />
in othar provinces. Thus rathar than take thasa<br />
risks for llttla ratum Voratar announcad ha would<br />
not accapt tha Transvaal laadarahip. and offarad it<br />
to hla aatonishad and gratlflad opponent, Ben<br />
Schoaaan - thereby placing Schoaaan and his faction<br />
daap in Vorstar'a political dabt, and axplicltly<br />
alavating hia own placa in tha W* to that abova<br />
tha various factions.<br />
Thia dapartura was to ba of vital algnificanca<br />
in tha factional struggle in tha NP. Vith tha<br />
National Laadar of tha party thua affaetivaly<br />
without a local institutions! powar base In tha<br />
party, it meant that tha aachinary of govarnaant<br />
would coma to play an lncraaaingly iaportant rola<br />
in thaaa factional atrugglaa* Oaaplta hla dallbarata<br />
attaapt to elevate hlaaalf abova thaaa atrugglaa,<br />
Voratar could not raaain neutral aa tha hP want into<br />
lta aost sarlous lntarnal splits slnca tha 1940s.<br />
Indeed for tha firat thrae yaara of hie'Praaiership<br />
ha waa attacked froa a nuabar of aides as baing a<br />
weak laadar, Siaply to protact hia own position,<br />
he aaa forcad, witnin tha party, to raly on various<br />
factional groups, in tha aarly yaara of his<br />
laadarahip, 1966-9, whan the axtraaa right attaaptad<br />
to drlva tha verllgtaa out of tha ranka of Afrikaner<br />
natlonallaa (but andad up baing drlvan out of tha<br />
party thaaaalvaa) Voratar was forcad to raly vary<br />
haavlly on tha Capa Party for support. But Voratar<br />
dapandad for political support avan aora haavily on<br />
tha Special Branch of tha South African Police. Aa<br />
Hinietar of Juatica, ha had built tha Security Police<br />
into a vary powarful force In South African polltica.<br />
Tha SB waa used against Voratar'a natlonaliat<br />
opponenta as affaetivaly aa ha had uaad it to break<br />
tha national liberation aovaaent in tha aarly 60s.<br />
Thus, ona of tha aoat algnlfleant features of South<br />
African polltica In tha 1960a waa tha aaaalva<br />
build-up in tha diractly political rola of tha<br />
Sacurity Police under Voratar. Eventually in 1969,<br />
p»g« 10<br />
ha craatad a naw, apaclal aacurlty aarvlca, raaponslbla<br />
only to the Priaa Minister, tha notorious BOSS.<br />
Hencaforth 6086 aaa Voratar'a atrongaat and aost<br />
effective paraonal political basa. But this<br />
development aaant that tha apparatuses of tha state<br />
ware now uaad by tha Priaa Hiniatar to intervene<br />
diractly in internal natlonaliat polltica.<br />
There ia a further iaportant dlaanaion here*<br />
Tha varfcraapta/verllgta conflict waa asaantially<br />
a atruggla batwaan thoaa who wlahad to praaarva<br />
tha claaa allianca of 1948 as an alliance doainated<br />
by tha interests of farmer* and tha patty bourgaolala<br />
against those who raaliaad that In 20 years tha social<br />
basa of Afrikaner natlonallaa had shifted profoundly,<br />
and wantad to transfora tha ideology and polltica to<br />
suit tha changing class composition of tha volk. Tha<br />
varllgte phanomenon was a response to tha aaarganca<br />
particularly In tha 1960s of a class of aggraasiva,<br />
self-confident Afrikaner capitalists, whoaa intaraata<br />
now want beyond thoaa of tha narrow claaa allianca<br />
out of which thay had aaargad. By tha lata ttCQe,<br />
the varliyte element *as no longer confined to tha