ABSTRACT
The Tri-Cameral Parliament was a logical culmination of the ideas of several Afrikaner ideologues. The Westminster model as imported via England was more than a source of great irritation amongst Afrikaner Nationalists. The Volksaard (national character), as we were frequently reminded, was better suited to a republican form of government. The many experimental models used to accommodate especially the ‘ c o l o u r e d s ’ and those of Asian descent in South Africa proved insufficient. They mostly resembled that which was said of the Kenyan situation during British rule: the whites either invited blacks to their banquet and then conveniently forgot to open the doors. Or else they were admitted to the dining hall but not given any plates or utensils. The first attempt to establish a ‘Coloured Advisory Council’ was made during the reign of General Smuts with his United Party in 1943. It was abortive. In 1958 the National government established the Coloured Affairs Department, despite opposition from the dispossessed. Naturally, they found people amongst the ‘coloureds’ who were willing to co-operate. Those people were called scabs, quislings and traitors by a large section of the oppressed intelligentsia. This department was later turned into a Union Council of Coloured Affairs (UCCA) and the final attempt at so-called power sharing via such constructions was the
The Afrikaners of South Africa
Coloured People’s Representative Council (CPRC). This also proved to be a failure and the very people who are now cooperating in the Tri-Cameral Parliament (e.g. Hendrickse and Curry) were actually responsible for the sudden demise of the CPRC.
