SOUTH AFRICA: A Watergate for Pretoria

Scandals shake the National Party

During its 30 years in power, South Africa's ruling National Party has been remarkably free of scandal. Not once, for example, has a high-ranking official been charged with misusing public funds. Last week that image of rectitude was shattered by the release of a 400-page report on an investigation being conducted by one of the country's most respected jurists. Confirming earlier newspaper accounts of widespread abuses in the Department of Information, an agency formerly controlled by one of South Africa's most powerful politicians, Supreme Court Justice Anton Mostert detailed alleged "improper application of taxpayers' money...

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