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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

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