Abstract
When he came to power in 1978, Prime Minister P.W. Botha knew that the dream of Verwoerdian apartheid was no longer feasible. The black population explosion, the refusal of three homelands to accept independence, the rise of Marxist rule in Mozambique, the growing despondency among Afrikaner intellectuals, and the emergence of an Afrikaner bourgeoisie—all militated against a literal reading of the apartheid vision (Louw 2004). “We are moving into a changing world, we must adapt otherwise we shall die,” Botha is alleged to have said, though he would deny having uttered these exact words (Lipton 1986, p. 51 quoted in Giliomee 2003, p. 586). Promising a slew of apartheid reforms, the pragmatic Botha met with shrill resistance from verkramptes for whom the means never justified the ends (O'Meara 1996). But given his four-decade-long apprenticeship honing a prodigious managerial acumen, he was unwilling to continue with policies that had ceased to work.
Knowledge for the sake of understanding, not merely to prevail, that is the essence of our being… For if we fail to struggle and fail to think beyond our petty lot, we accept a sordid role.(Simon Biesheuvel quoting Vannevar Bush—PASA address 1986)
[T]raditional professional organisations… have in the perception of both the people of this country and beyond, been seen to be too closely allied to the ideology and practices of the apartheid state and are therefore irrelevant to people’s needs.(Jerry Coovadia—OASSSA address 1987)
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Notes
- 1.
Full text versions of this address are available in both English and Afrikaans. Most excerpts here have been taken from the English version.
- 2.
In 1974, SAPA and PIRSA’s joint efforts culminated in professional registration becoming a requirement by law (Nicholas, 1990). By November 1976, PIRSA was putting out feelers with a view to establishing an even closer alliance—including the possibility of outright unification. Dreyer Kruger, for example, who had opposed the registration of the Indian psychologist Chanderpaul Ramphal in 1960, now believed that the existence of the two associations was not in the best interests of the discipline: apartheid policy was not working, professional divisions made little sense to the younger generation of psychologists, and “[n]o black or brown group had made use of PIRSA’s willingness to assist in the establishment of separate organizations for these groups” (PIRSA Newsletter 16, 1977, p. 3 quoted ibid., p. 62). Kruger’s position, however, did not represent the Institute’s official line: PIRSA hardliners were not interested in integration, while moderates such as Langenhoven (1977) were more circumspect in their appraisals. It took, consequently, several more years before the amalgamation was realized, but between 1978 and 1982, SAPA and PIRSA agreed to hold joint national congresses.
- 3.
This address was delivered in both English and Afrikaans.
- 4.
Given the heterogeneity of their audiences, it is perhaps the most all four presidents can do.
- 5.
Prime Minister Botha attempted unsuccessfully to establish a tricameral parliament for whites, coloreds, and Indians to the exclusion of black Africans.
- 6.
Two keynote addresses from the Psychology and Apartheid Committee congresses were located but were excluded from the data set on the grounds that they were delivered by non-South Africans.
- 7.
It would be something of an overinterpretation to cite the rhetoric of Vogelman and subsequent OASSSA speakers as instances of Marxist discourse. While OASSSA addresses abound with Marxist terminology, it cannot be claimed that the organization was Marxist in any programmatic sense.
- 8.
Unlike Biesheuvel (1987), neither Vogelman (1986) nor Coovadia deem it necessary to launch a multipronged investigation into black impoverishment—the deleterious impact of apartheid policy is obvious. In the words of their colleague, Dawes, who was reflecting on the scientific credentials of his own paper: “There are no figures quoting mental health/ill health statistics in this article, which would have added a certain scientific respectability to my argument. I maintain that to argue that my reasoning is suspect until such figures are presented, is similar to suggesting that because we do not have stress data on concentration camp victims in the Boer War this experience was not psychologically destructive. The events speak for themselves…” (1985, p. 60).
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Long, W. (2016). The Quest for “Social Relevance” (1978–1993). In: A History of “Relevance” in Psychology. Palgrave Studies in the Theory and History of Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47489-6_8
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