Listening to the silent majority

[19]

John Gogotya (51) is Director of the Federal Independant Democratic Alliance (FIDA). I met him in his Braamfontein office. He seemed to take a moderate black, Group I, position in public. FIDA claims a 600 000-person registered membership. In spite of his moderation, he began by establishing his credentials, as follows, ‘I strongly condemn apartheid. I myself had been a victim of apartheid laws in this country. I lived here all my life. I know what it means to be regulated by a thousand and one laws, where to sleep, where to eat, where to go and where not to go. I would love for my children to inherit a South Africa free of that kind of life, so they can live as respectable citizens, with dignity. I also would like the children of my former oppressors to live in dignity in the country of their birth. Because, let's face it, this country belongs to both blacks and whites. We built this country together and we'll continue to build it after apartheid is gone. It is for this reason that we established FIDA. The name spell it out. First of all, we believe in independence. Man must be free, psychologically, politically, socially, economically and culturally. We condemn outside interference, whether in the form of Marxism or in the form of US-sponsored sanctions.’

John continued, ‘We believe in democracy. We don't want a sham democracy. We are, for instance, opposed to so-called People's Democracies, because they are dictatorships in disguise. We believe in the fundamental democratic rights of people. The people themselves ought to decide their fate. This has to be done through the ballot-box, and not through the barrel of a gun. This is why FIDA supports peaceful negotiations over reform. Violence begets violence. Violence does not bear fruit. Look at Vietnam. What was achieved by that particularly cruel and bloody war? Even now there is no true peace in Southeast Asia. We say a violent overthrow, whether of a white government, or of a future black government - as we see happening all over Africa - is not the answer. We adhere to and we believe in peaceful negotiations.’