The South African government's official policy of apartheidvaguely defined as "separateness" for 2,000,000 dominant whites and 8,000,000 subordinate blacksreached an ultimate. In gold-mining Klerksdorp, at the request of the local Handelskamer (Chamber of Commerce), the town council agreed to provide separate hearses for the two races. It was unpleasant and unhealthy to contemplate, explained Councilman D. J. Piennar, that a hearse bearing a black corpse to the cemetery might next day be used to carry a white man's coffin.
Capetown's anti-government Cape Argus sputtered indignantly over Klerksdorp's "incredible apostles of apartheid," derided their ban against "mixed traveling on man's last journey"...
