m - DISA

^ — :—: __.
* party, In «n ettenpt to defsat the opposition to his
l
pollcli* .Uhln the MP.
Finally, it should M noted that the** sweeping
change* In the for* of the state over the post two
mrt, have baan ecccaiaenisd by a paraxial *
raorgeytlsstlon of the state bureaucracy, Tha mater
of Oepsftawnts has been reduced fn» 40 to 22, snd
tha Public Sarvlca Cosed aalon ha* been chs^gad eith
tha task or producing 'a aaasller, but aora affaotlva
and battar paid' public tavlw. Significantly, tho
Prlae Itlniatar has appointed *prlvata sector laadora*
to ovaraoa thla eork of tho Conalaalon, This aova
sea explained aa representing but ono atop In *a
policy of cooperation bstaesn Govarnaant end tho
private sector, inciting selected ecadealc*'/ 7 -
If It la ie*ssbsrsrt that atata saployese have long
constituted a vital basis of support for tha HP, and
In particular for tha M> riant, tho significance of
; thaoo changes bee pass cloarar. In effect, .tha Leader
I of tho HP to relying upon loading non-natlonallat
party buslnassaan representing four of th% biggest
eonopollee . in tha country, to oversea tha reduction
in earning and •• organ! sotlon of a crucial alta of
eoplo,aont for (particularly) tha Afrtksano opaafclng
patty bourgoolaio. Thara could bo llttlo aora
eloquant evidence of tha shift in the balance Of daao
farcaa In the NP,
at tha outoat that tha capitalist atata
not stand outside tha class atruggla aa a alapla,
atatlo ml undlffarantlatad lnatruaant to be laid
hold of by thlo or thto data, and than used to
\ conaolldata tha interests of mat claaa. Rather, as
itaalF a contradictory unity* tho capitalist atata la
I constituted through, snd la ltaalf a slta of, olasa
struggle. This papar haa attempted to ex**ine slsasnts
of tha claaa atruggla vlthln tha atata. If tha
analyalo haa baan W sldad and lnooaplater in that
*t haa foousaad prlaarlly on tha significance of
Afrikaner nstionallet politics, it does S*aa that tha
culainatlon of thaoa struggles in tha election of
Botha aa National Leader of tha W and Pris* Itlniatar
eaeasaaessaaaea-sswaaaa——eaweeeawwa •^•wawwwawa
haa heralded important chengee In tha for* of the
South Afrlcen stete - chengea based on the
InetitutlonallaeUon of a nea political allgnaent
of claaa forces in which tha bourgeoisie attaapta
to secure tha conditions for rapid-capita list expansion
through'the noticeable centralisation of poser In the
hands of a single individual end the militarisation
of politics generally.
The central political question arising cut of
these develop—nts le slsply thlai shst, if any, ara
tha leplicatlons end significance of these changes in
tha fan of the capitalist atate for tha national
liberation struggls in South Africa? At one level
the eraser le clear. These such heralded 'reforms*,
tha sudden concern -ith 'the Quality of life 1 of
South Africa'* black population, tha recognition of
efrloan trade unions, tha conceaslone to tha blade
•lddle claaa etc. In no say herald tha collopoo of
Apsrthaid end tha snd to national oppression in South
Africa. Aa a syataa of brutal end violent
exploitation which control*, directs, channels.
allocates labour on behalf Of all capitalist* and ki
South African sorters divided and opcraaiad and thalr
labour poser cheep, little In Apartheid is changing.
For all of Botha f s clela that hie govarnaant sill not
tolsrata 'hurtful or insulting' legislation ageinat
anybody, for all of Minister Koorntof"s barefaced
statement to Aasrlcan capitalists that -Apartheid
as you kno* it is dying** after tha
proposed refonaa, tha fundasamtal props of Apartheid
as a syataa of labour exploitation rsealn even aora
* firmly In place. Ihe raglaa haa no plana to give
aiactca the vota, or to abolish tha paea lass end influx
control, population registration, group eraes or my
other of the legislative prope of Apartheid la*our
exploitation. Undar the 'nee dispensation' of the
total strategy, African sorters aill go on ouaualng
at tha peas offices and labour bureau, esaetlng In
the alnes by day and cooped up In conpountf* at night.
The millions of jobless will continue to rot In the
esmtuatana, dented all political rlghta, stripped
of their citizenship in tha land of thalr foe*father*f
tha subjects of play-play •states' recognised by
I ~ in H*-m^^***-—+m-M*-*»*m\ ail • i "
nobody but tha capitalists sho night need their labour
occasionally. So, at thia level, little or nothing
has changed. All that haa happened Is that the stata
has bean further aUlterlaad, tha apparatuaaa of
oppression ara now even stronger, aora centralised and
eleldod with intent to crash but even tha slightest
hint of opposition.
But at another level, the changes in the fora of
the South Afrlcen etate analysed in thia paper do neve
great significance for the neture and direction of the
national liberation struggle. The consolidation of
tha Botha regis* has finally atrlppad off tha *
'Afrikaner* **ek anion since 1946 hid tha capitalist
character of tha South African stata frea ao aeny of
the ojporajnta of Apartheid. Total strategy Is a
strategy to save *frae anton-rlee* froa "the Marxist
threat* in Southern Africa. Tha raglaa eafcas no
bones about this. It presents ltaalf quite openly snd
proudly aa a regis* of tha aoat powerful sectors of
tho capltaliat class, in alliance alth and resting
on, the ewtieasly powerful South African are*/* Ho
lonqir can even the aoat blind apologist for
capital lea argus that Apsrthaid euat be bla-ed on
Afrikaners and not capital la*. Bo longer can 'the
Boars* be held to be the anaay. Indeed thla 'Boer*
state ie noa turning on other •Boers' In tha neae
of profit, private property end stability. Thus.
tha changes In the for* of stata in South Africa
clarified the real relation* on which this stata
Tha present crisis of tha capitalist stata in &A
hlngss on the Question of hoe to eertntaln tha continued
untroubled snd prof 1 table rule of capital. That
doss not Ua in the handa of Botha alone, or
in tha hands of tha solitary. It reeta finally
with tha sorting naoaoe. And aa the intensifying
class struggle in South Africa testifies, tha aaaoeo
ara becoalng increasingly aaare of their poaar. Thla
U tha real and lneoluble crlala of tha capltaliat
etate In South Africa.
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IT