The surplus people

by Laurine Platzky

The foundations of apartheid are not shaken by people sitting together on park benches, or eating together in multiracial restaurants, or playing together in 'international' sports. But they would be shaken by the absence from the 'white areas' of those blacks whose labour is needed there and by the presence in those areas of blacks who are 'superfluous'. The resettlement policy is the cornerstone of the whole edifice of apartheid. The Surplus People Project has amply demonstrated this and it is to be hoped that as a result there will be not only an increased concern for the victims of that policy but also a concerted attack on the cause of the problem.