Restrictive measures against Nazi activity in South Africa were defended today by Prime Minister J.B.M. Hertzog, of the South African Union, who made public his reply to the recent protest of the Third Reich on these restrictions, the Havas News Agency reported.
Pointing out that the Union Government sincerely regretted Germany’s interpretation of the measures as “combative measures against Germans” resident in South Africa, Hertzog declared:
“Insofar as the German Government may consider the proclamation to be combative, it may be stated that it is directed against practices which the Union Government, on evidence given before the Southwest Africa Commission, considered to be of such nature as to preclude conciliation between various sections of the population; and to be against the interests of Germans as well as other inhabitants of the territory.
“I feel, however, that it should be borne in mind that the proclamation applies equally in respect to all persons who are not British subjects and does not in its terms discriminate against German nationals.
“In recent years the execution of our policy has been rendered difficult by fostering in the territory conceptions which prevent many Germans from throwing in their lot with South Africans and conducting their lives in accordance with the spirit of the mandate.”
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