Wind of Change (speech) - The Original Delivery and Its Impact in South Africa

The Original Delivery and Its Impact in South Africa

The year 1960 was rife with change. Starting with the surprising announcement by Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd that a referendum would be held in regards to whether South Africa should become a republic; After that were Macmillan’s speech on 3 February, an attempt was made on Verwoerd’s life on 9 April, and the African National Congress (ANC) and Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) were banned in a state of emergency, along with other controversies. Harold Macmillan did not solely compose the speech commonly known as the "Winds of Change"; he had input from numerous friends and colleagues who helped derive the perfect wording for the delicate situation. The Prime Minister wanted to separate the British Nation, but also inspire the black nationalists there to pursue their freedom and equality subtly. The other hidden motive is that during this period there was much dissent amongst the powerful western nations over the level of involvement and the continued interference of Britain in her colonies. By separating themselves from the archaic practices that were condemned by their powerful allies they opened themselves up to more political opportunity. This was a bold attempt to address multiple parties and interests at once.

Before he delivered the speech, Macmillan went on a 6 week tour of the African nation that began on 5 January. He began with Ghana, Nigeria, Rhodesia & Nyasaland and then South Africa where the meeting finally happened with the South African Prime Minister Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd. Macmillan tried to explain the necessity of change brought upon them by the two world wars. When Harold Macmillan delivered his speech, it was done for multiple reasons. Although the main subject matter of the speech is relating to the separation of Britain from its South African colonies, it also made reference to their discontent with the apartheid and it held positive political results for the British nation. The speech held promise of major policy change on the topic of their decolonization, and was actually delivered twice in two different locations. First it was done in Ghana, but there was no press coverage and few people even attended the event in Accra. The second, more famous, telling was on 3 February in Cape Town and was met with very mixed reviews.

If the speech would be judged on its quality of deliverance and content it would be considered a success. When considering if this speech was successful one must place it next to its objectives. The speech did lay down a relatively clear understanding of Britain’s intended exit as a colonial power in Africa, so in the larger scheme it achieved its purpose. However, when considering there is indication that Macmillan’s intent was to sway white South African’s to abandon Verwoerd’s apartheid dogma, that part of the speech was a failure. It was an important moment to have such a distinguished, powerful figure from the western world admonishing the practices and encouraging the black nationalists the achieve equality, but it still was not as ground breaking or immediately effective as was the implied intent. There was some belief that the policy outlined in the speech was seen as ‘British abdication in Africa’ and ‘the cynical abandonment of white settlers’. Not everyone felt that it was the right move for the nation to make. However, there was a slightly ambiguous reaction from some of the Black Nationalists; they had been prevented from meeting Macmillan – assumingly by Verwoerd – over the course of his visit and were skeptical about his speech at first. Small groups of ANC supporters gathered in both Johannesburg and Cape Town and stood in silence while holding placards with urgings directed at Macmillan. They wanted him to talk with Congress leaders, and reached out to him with banners saying: ‘Mac, Verwoerd is not our leader.’ It is even said that Mandela thought the speech was ‘terrific’ and he even made a speech in 1996 that specifically recalled this very address when he spoke to the British parliament in Westminster Hall. One ANC leader named Luthuli noted that in his speech Harold gave African people ‘some inspiration and hope.’

Some people indicated that the British Prime Minister was very nervous for the entire speech, with obvious struggle he would turn the pages. This could be because he knowingly was presenting a speech that he had intentionally withheld from the South African Prime Minister before. Macmillan had declined giving Verwoerd an advance copy, and merely summed up the main content to him. When the speech was complete there was visible shock on Verwoerd’s face. He apparently leapt up from his seat and immediately responded to the British Prime Minister. He was reportedly calm, and collected when he gave his response – something that was widely admired by the public. He had to save face when Macmillan had dropped a ticking time bomb into speech, yet he managed to respond quickly and well in a game of words he was not accustomed to. He famously responded by saying: "there must not only be justice to the Black man in Africa, but also to the White man", and he had strong political truth in this. For these Europeans there had no real other home, for Africa was their home now too; they also were a strong stance against communism, for their ways were grounded in Christian values. A writer on the subject of this speech named Saul Dubow stated that "The unintended effect of the speech was to help empower Verwoerd by reinforcing his dominance over domestic politics and by assisting him make two hitherto separate strands of his political career seem mutually reinforcing: republican nationalism on the one hand and apartheid ideology on the other."