its name. Contrary to widely held views, Mussolini’s regime was racist, although it
is true that systematic anti-Semitism only developed after the alliance with Hitler.
Nazism is seen as a form of fascism, and not simply as a historically unique
movement. It is an extreme kind of fascism, emphasising the racial character of
nationalism in a more aggressive and systematic manner. Its anti-capitalism was
ultimately rhetorical as the liquidation of the leaders of the Nazi ‘left’ in 1934
demonstrates. Although fascism acquired mass support through espousing a
rhetorical anti-capitalism, once in power fascist movements consolidated their links
with big business. It is true that fascist leaders directed businesses and implemented
policies that were not always to the satisfaction of the business community, but it302 Part 2 Classical ideologies
South African Apartheid
There is no doubt that the South African National Party and its policies of apartheid were
widely admired by the extreme right elsewhere, including explicit fascists. A Mosley supporter,
Martin Webster, spoke of the South African nationalists as following ‘the same path as Hitler
did, but they will not be as hasty as he was’ (Bunting, 1969: 71). During the Second World
War, the National Party (NP) communicated with Nazis over their campaign to withdraw
South Africa from supporting the Allies. The NP had cordial links with the Ossewabrandwag
(the Ox-wagon Sentinel) which had also connections with the Nazis and whose paramilitary
wing sought to overthrow the government. Vorster, a future prime minister, declared in 1942
that his Christian nationalism ‘was an ally of national socialism’ (Bunting, 1969: 98).
When Germany and Italy were defeated, the National Party began to distance itself from
anti-English and anti-Semitic policies, and concentrated on developing the doctrine of apartheid.
All those serving sentences for wartime offences were released after the Nationalist electoral
victory in 1948. The stripping of Africans and (so-called) coloureds of their political rights,
the outlawing of sexual relations between the ‘races’, the Suppression of Communism Act
(which banned the party and imposed house arrest on opponents of the regime), the reservation
of skilled jobs for whites, the control imposed on the trade unions, all these and many more
acts had been envisaged by the National Party during the war period (Bunting, 1969: 110).
Bunting’s detailed account of what he calls the Nuremberg Laws of grand apartheid and
the title of his book The Rise of the South African Reichraises the question as to whether
Apartheid South Africa can be considered a fascist regime. The regime certainly resorted to
terror against its opponents, and was brutal, explicitly racist and authoritarian. On the other
hand, it was a parliamentary system for whites, and allowed limited liberalism in its treatment
of the press, judiciary and opposition parties, provided they were relatively conservative in
character. It comes close to being a fascist regime, and certainly Griffin is right to regard
Afrikaner nationalist organisations like the Afrikaner–Weerstandsbeweging (the Afrikaner
Resistance Movement) that developed in the post-apartheid period as fascist in practice (Griffin,
1995: 376).
Nevertheless, we would say that although apartheid was extremely right wing, it was not
technically fascist, despite its pre-war and wartime roots.Focus