Afrikaner businessmen support Thabo Mbeki

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

New York Times, April 20, 2000

For South African Whites, Money Has No Color

By RACHEL L. SWARNS

JOHANNESBURG, April 19 -- The telephone rang on his desk that workday
morning, and when Neil van Heerden snatched it up, the voice on the line
asked: Will you join some prominent businessmen in signing a declaration of
support for President Thabo Mbeki?

For decades, Mr. van Heerden had worked as a diplomat during the era of
apartheid. He is a proud Afrikaner who speaks eloquently about the
dislocation and depression his people felt after finally surrendering power
to a black government six years ago.

But he is also a practical man who has learned to adapt. So when the call
came from a friend two months ago, he did not hesitate. With a flourish, he
joined more than 30 Afrikaner business leaders who praised the president's
"vision and leadership" and landed on the front pages of South African
newspapers.

"I said, 'If that's what you want to say, I'm with you,' " said Mr. van
Heerden, who now runs the South Africa Foundation, an association of more
than 40 of the country's biggest companies.

The unexpected pat on the back for Mr. Mbeki reflects one of the more
surprising shifts in the economic landscape here since the end of
apartheid: the growing confidence and increased prosperity of wealthy
Afrikaners under black rule.

Full article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/042000safrica-afrikaner.html


Louis Proyect

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