IN THE YEAR 1960 the Union of South Africa cele-
brated its Golden Jubilee, and there was a nation-wide
sensation when the one-thousand-pound prize for the
finest piece of sculpture was won by a black man,
Edward Simelane. His work, AFRICAN MOTHER AND
CHILD, not only excited the admiration, but touched the
conscience or heart or whatever it is, of white South
Africa, and was likely to make him famous in other
countries.

It was by an oversight that his work was accepted,
for it was the policy of the Government that all the
celebrations and competitions should be strictly segre-
gated. The committee of the sculpture section received
a private reprimand for having been so careless as to
omit the words "for whites only" from the conditions,
but was told, by a very high personage it is said, that
if Simelane's work "was indisputably the best," it
should receive the award. The committee then decided
that this prize must be given along with the others,
at the public ceremony which would bring this par-
ticular part of the celebrations to a close.

For this decision it received a surprising amount of

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