Liberals Against Apartheid : A History of the Liberal Party of South Africa, 1953-68

The Liberal Party of South Africa was founded in 1953 to promote nonracial democratic liberalism in opposition to white supremacist apartheid. Under Alan Paton, it quickly moved into the extra-parliamentary field and won considerable black support, competing with Communism and black nationalism. Growing influence brought heavy government attack, and the 'banning' of nearly 50 of its leaders, black and white. Despite forced dissolution in 1968, the Liberals' ideas have triumphed over those of left and right in the 'new South Africa'. The Non-racial Liberal Party Of South Africa, Led By Alan Paton, Promoted, At First In Parliament And Increasingly Among The Voteless Blacks, Democratic Liberalism In Opposition To The White Supremacist Apartheid Of The Afrikaner Nationalists And In Competition With The Racially-compartmented Congress Alliance, Under Strong Communist Party Influence In Those Cold War Days. With The Proscription Of The African National And Pan Africanist Congresses In 1960, It Struggled On As The Country's Sole Non-racial And Radical Political Force. Growing Success Among Rural Blacks Began Its Slow Extinction - By The 'banning' Of Nearly Fifty Of Its Leaders, The Move Into Sabotage By Liberals Who Had Lost Faith In The Constitutional Process It Upheld, And, In 1968, By Legislation. The African National Congress Won Power In 1994, With Liberal Party Ideals Of Non-racial Democratic Liberalism Triumphing Over Black Nationalism And Marxism-leninism, As Well As White Supremacy, In The Constitution Of The 'new South Africa'.--book Jacket. Randolph Vigne. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 236-256) And Index. Then an officer of the party, Vigne was banned in 1963 and escaped from South Africa the next year. He describes the non-racial party that competed with the Communist-influenced and racially compartmentalized Congress Alliance, its continued efforts after other anti-apartheid groups were proscribed in 1960, the move to sabotage by members who lost faith in constitutional and legislative processes, and the influence of the party on the African National Congress. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.