425. Memorandum From William H. Brubeck of the National Security Council to the President’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs (Bundy)0
Some weeks ago the African Bureau appointed Ulrich Haynes, a young Negro, as Desk Officer for Southwest Africa and the High Commission Territories. They have now scheduled him for a trip to the Hicom Territories and we are getting into a first-class fight with South Africa over the matter.
The South Africans first objected to any visa, then after several exchanges, have now offered grudgingly minimum physical transit rights through South Africa to the Hicom Territories.
Secretary Rusk has called the South Africans in and taken a very tough line on our claim to normal diplomatic treatment for Negro officers. However, Verwoerd is apparently making the decisions himself and we may reach an impasse.
Specifically we are demanding a visa to permit 3 days consultation with our Embassy in Pretoria and travel by auto to the Hicom Territories. We are awaiting a Verwoerd reply. Meanwhile the South African Foreign Office has informed us that their real objection is to Haynes’ assignment to the Southwest Africa desk (which, for their part, reflects their view of Southwest Africa as part of South Africa).1
Unless the South Africans back down, given the position the Secretary has taken, we may find ourselves in a minor diplomatic war—bringing home the Ambassador and leaving the First Secretary in charge or similar actions. And, since it seems to me evident that AF really wanted to test this one, it may well become a public issue of some news interest. It is obviously a parallel to the Arab boycott of Jews, and even (with regard to access rights to the High Commission Territories via South Africa) a faint parallel to Berlin—all this and civil rights too.
We are now waiting for the South African Foreign Office to get a reply from Verwoerd on our demand for normal diplomatic treatment. This may come up, therefore, while I am away next week.
- Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, South Africa, Vol. 2. Confidential. A copy was sent to Belk.↩
- Attached to the source text is telegram 694 from Pretoria, December 5, reporting Ambassador Satterthwaite’s meeting with Under Secretary Sole of the South African Foreign Office. Ambassador Satterthwaite presented the minimum U.S. requirements in the Haynes case, and Sole claimed that the South African Government’s real objection was to the fact that Haynes was also the Desk Officer for South West Africa. (Department of State, Central Files, ORG 7 AF)↩