In No Uncertain Terms: A South African Memoir

A brave, one-woman clarion for liberal values during many of her 36 years in South Africa's parliament, Suzman recalls her life in a forthright, energetic voice. The author, whose father went to South Africa at the turn of the century in order to avoid pogroms in Lithuania, was born in 1917. She first became truly aware of the plight of black South Africans when she taught economic history at Wits University in Johannesburg during the '40s. An admitted ``late starter in the field of race relations,'' Suzman won her first parliamentary election in 1953. Despite anti-Semitic baiting from apartheid supporters, she used her position to expose miseries like detention and the forcible removal of people from their land. Though occasionally overemphasizing insider politics, Suzman incisively portrays such important individuals as former Prime Minister P. W. Botha and the then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela. Defending her anti-sanctions stance, unpopular with the anti-apartheid movement, she emphasizes the importance of economic growth to combat unemployment and housing shortages. Her assessment of the current situation is sketchy but she remains optimistic that rich resources and ``innovative citizens'' will ultimately allow South Africa to prosper. Photos not seen by PW . (Nov.)