State of the Nation as seen from a Front Bench in Parliament

Newspaper debates and articles by Japie Basson
POLITIKA (Soft cover, 196 pages, ISBN 0 978-0-620-40907-0, Price R190)

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The afore-mentioned autobiographical works are written in Afrikaans, and therefore do not reach as broad a readership as they would have, had they been written in English.
However, a series of debates with the title State of the Nation as seen from a Front Bench in Parliament, 1969 – 1981 has now been prepared for publication –  a collection of Basson’s writings covering a 12-year period.
In 1969 the editor of The Sunday Tribune invited Japie Basson and one of his political opponents, Dr Jan Smith, to write weekly articles for this newspaper, discussing each others’ viewpoints under the title “Face to Face”. This they did for 30 weeks of that year.
Basson was also invited – in 1971 – by the editor of The Sunday Times to contribute a series of articles on the state of politics in South Africa at the time. The articles appeared each Sunday for 45 weeks.
In the course of 1980, Basson also wrote articles for The Eastern Echo, a Johannesburg publication.
“In State of the Nation”, writes Paul Murray in his introduction, “we hear the Opposition viewpoint from the front bench in Parliament and direct views on the President’s Council … we also get to hear about a very special bank of South African party-political history and philosophy, on a vast range of topics that would normally not be available in book form.” Extremely important events in South Africa’s historical turmoil are explained and enlightened by “a mature and astute mind”, as Murray puts it. He goes on to say:
“Basson’s immensely powerful opposition to the inequitable manner in which conservatism bound the mentality of a people into a laager mentality against Blacks, was heard in Parliament for half a century. His writings in State of the Nation bear this out strongly and clearly.”
These eye-opening articles repeat in English much of what is told in the above three Afrikaans titles, but in the form of a debate – a debate that has now been bound in book form as part of Basson’s legacy to the nation.
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Contents summarised

Part 1: The Sunday Tribune: Line of Debate
May 1969 – December 1969
“Face to Face” articles sharing and opposing views with Dr Jan Smith

Part 2: The Sunday Times: Line of Thought
October 1971 – December 1972
Articles written for the newspaper on the views of the Opposition

Part 3: The Eastern Echo: Line of Conflict
August 1980 – May 1981
Articles written for the newspaper on the views of the Opposition