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Aid Centers. One of the most hated aspects of apartheid has been the "pass laws," which require blacks to carry permits whenever they travel outside the semiautonomous black regions called Bantustans. The pass laws are still in effect, and more than 600,000 blacks were arrested last year for violating them. But nowadays an offender is less likely to be automatically jailed for a pass-law transgression or other minor infraction—partly because of the work of a string of government "aid centers" that have been established to help blacks cope with the law. Moreover, the area within which a single pass is valid has been increased—from about 50 miles to as much as 180 miles.
None of these changes exactly qualifies John Vorster for a human-brotherhood award. South Africa's blacks, after all, still have no vote, no right to own property and no real freedom of movement outside the black regions. And, given the depth and prejudice of white South Africa's attitudes, it remains to be seen whether a profound social change has really begun. But the short-term trend is clearly toward modest liberalization, particularly in business and industry, and for this the Vorster government deserves a measure of credit.