Listening to the silent majority

[133]

Sam Mabe also spoke to me about black leadership, as he saw it. He was as critical of the membership of Inkatha as he had been of fida He was of the opinion that membership of Inkatha was in many instances not even voluntary, that people in Natal were practically forced to join

[p. 192]

Buthelezi's political organisation. Without being an Inkatha member, one is, according to Sam Mabe, excluded in Natal from housing, from business and even from marrying the person one loves. Mabe feels people in black South Africa lie too often to themselves. He advocates scrupulous honesty. Too many so-called leaders are more interested in their own political image, aimed at impressing the public and gaining votes,^121. than truly serving the people. A true leader should have the strength of character to tell the people the truth, even if he has to give them bad news. But even Mabe will discover some day, that all politicians in the world say one thing to get into power, and do something else once they have got the power. Why should black leaders in South Africa be an exception to the universal rule?

I suggested to Sam Mabe, that he would think about the feasibility and usefulness of arranging a referendum for all blacks in the country, to choose their representatives to go to the Great Indaba in the future and negotiate their future on their behalf. He immediately made some notes in a writing block on his desk. After all, a host of black leaders I had in the meantime spoken to agreed that a referendum was the ultimate solution to the problem of black representation in the nfbl as well as the Great Indaba. However, until I left South Africa for Holland in July, I never saw the idea pop up in any of his columns or editorials. He had probably discarded the suggestion.

121. A characteristic of politicians world-wide