Plattelandclarifies that South Africa’s psychosis
had now gripped him tighter than earlier, when he
was still a relative newcomer. Also, time had not
stood still. BetweenDorpsandPlatteland, the apart-
heid regime thrashed through the paroxysms of its
death throes. First, in the late 1980s, when the gov-
ernment was run by a shadowy clutch of hawks in
the military, intelligence, and police forces, the state
unleashed a viciously repressive state-of-emergency.
When this failed to quash resistance, Nelson Man-
dela was finally released in 1990, opposition politi-
cal parties were unbanned, and negotiations began
for a new constitution and a democratic election,
which was held in 1994. In this transitional phase,
the rural areas were particularly tense as conserva-
tive whites tried to reverse the changes underfoot,
engaging in sabotage and violence against black
communities, while reactionary elements in the
government simultaneously sponsored terrorism
against urban black populations.
InPlatteland, the poor whites of the region have
moved to center stage, assuming a new tragic dimen-Roger Ballen, Dresie and Casie, twins, Western Transvaal, 1993.
[#Roger Ballen]
BALLEN, ROGER