Department of History

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Browsing Department of History by Author "Barnard, J. M. M. (Jolene)"

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    Die Erika Theron-Kommissie, 1973-1976 : n historiese studie
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2000-12) Barnard, J. M. M. (Jolene); Venter, C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences . Dept. of History.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the early 1970s the National Party government under B.l Vorster experienced serious problems due to its policy on the Coloured population. Issues concerning the mutual relations between the population groups came strongly to the fore and the government's policy of separate development was subject to widespread and severe criticism. The period 1970-1974 is generally regarded as a time of change in South Afiica due to international and foreign pressures. South Afiica's position in the international community deteriorated dramatically and attitudes towards the Republic became increasingly hostile in the rest of the world. Furthermore, the Vorster government was confronted with two opposing schools of thought within the party itself, the so-called verligtes and the verkramptes. During the 1970s the political decision-making processes became entangled in a continuous struggle between the enlightened wing of the National Party, the so-called Cape Liberals, and a more conservative element, the verkramptes of the Transvaal. Race relations issues and the government's Coloured policy in particular were often the source of contention. In March 1973 Vorster appointed a Commission of Enquiry into Matters Relating to the Coloured Population Group. It was chaired by prof Erika Theron, formerly professor in Social Work at the University of Stellenbosch. The Theron Commission, as it became known generally, consisted of twenty members, six of whom were Coloureds. The Commission had to investigate the following: the progress made by the Coloured population group since 1960 in the social, economic and constitutional spheres as well as in the fields of local management, culture and sport; constraining factors in the various fields that could be identified as sources of contention; and any other related matters. The Theron Commission's report was tabled in parliament three years later on 18 June 1976. The Soweto riots that broke out two days before, however, forced news of the report out of the newspapers and caused its influence to be largely dissipated. The Theron report contained a number of recommendations that were directly in conflict with the government's apartheid policy and were hence not acceptable to the government. Consequently, the government - by way of an interim memorandum and a later white paper - rejected those recommendations that affected the core of its apartheid policy. The recommendations included the repeal of the Mixed Marriages Act (Act 55 of 1949) and Section 16 of the Immorality Act (Act 23 of 1957), two of the cornerstones of the policy of apartheid. Recommendation No. 178, in which the commission recommended direct representation for Coloureds at the various levels of government, was also rejected by the government. The potential influence of the Theron Commission's report to influence change was thus firmly nipped in the bud. The government's reaction caused bitter disappointment among the Coloured population as well as enlightened Whites and at the same time fuelled the conflict between the verligtes and the verkramptes. It also ensured intensified criticism from the opposition parties, especially the United Party. Yet the recommendations of the Theron Commision's report played a prominent role in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the wheels of political change began to tum, and let to the tricameral parliamentary system of 1984 in which the Coloured population group was also represented. The Arbeidersparty of South Africa (APSA) - Ministers' Council, which was in control of the House of Representatives from 1984 to 1992, consistently endeavoured to negotiate a better social, economic and constitutional position for the Coloured population on the basis of the Theron Commission's report.