Young Detectives

In early 1966, the head of the group which publishes "Patrys" was the South African Prime Minister, Dr Verwoerd. The magazine had, since 1959, been running a detective club, which was by then 10,000 strong (equal to 250,000 prorata if the club existed in Britain) Only Afrikaans -speaking white children were admitted, the club's patron was the head of the Johannesburg C.I.D. (Criminal Investigation Department), and the membership regulations made it clear that members were to report to the commandants at police stations and accompany the police on raids—usually against Africans.

The club membership card was photographed and reproduced by the "Sunday Express" It carried the words "Authorised to co-operate with the South African Police" in Afrikaans, and was signed with the signature and stamp of the Chief of South Africa's Police, General Keevy. Copies of the magazine itself, available not only from ordinary bookshops but also from Dutch Reformed Church bookshops, confirmed all this.

However, since 1966, while South Africa has been at pains to present itself to the outside world as increasingly liberal—the "verligte" versus "verkrampte" affair being a well-known case in point and the South African Government has not only labelled its policies as "outward-looking," but has even applied the "verligte" tag to itself. Since this Government, through its Voortrekker Press, its police force, and its educational system is responsible for "Patrys" magazine, its distribution and its detective club, then "Patrys" offers not only an insight into the true policies of white South Africa, but also into the kind of people young Afrikaners are being brought up to be.