No legislation is contemplated to repeal the "conscience clause" which provides that there must be no discrimination on religious grounds in the admission of students to South African universities, Premier Hendrik Verwoerd declared today.
The Premier’s statement came in a letter to Joe Nossel, a Jewish member of the Nationalist Party, of which Dr. Verwoerd is leader, asking him to receive a deputation of South African Jews. Mr. Nossel said the Jews were concerned over omission of the clause from a bill to establish Bantu (Negro) universities now pending in Parliament.
Dr. Verwoerd said there was no reason to receive the deputation as the object of Mr. Nossel’s request, that the Jews should not be treated differently from other sections of the white population, would be defeated if he received such a sectional deputation.
The Premier added that the rights of Jews were not affected. The education of the Bantu in South Africa had always been on a religious basis, he said. Since Jews did not conduct missionary activities to convert the Bantu and there were, in fact, no Bantu Jews, he declared, this matter did not affect the Jewish community.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
