Willem Christiaan Naudé

Willem Christiaan Naudé worked at South Africa’s Washington legation well before becoming ambassador. In 1944, while serving as an attaché, he accompanied the South African delegation to Bretton Woods as an adviser. By July 1957 he was undersecretary for external affairs in Pretoria, discussing relations with the United States and the growing international challenge to South Africa’s racial policies. ^{4, 2}

In conversations that month with American diplomats, Naudé questioned why the United States supported discussion of apartheid at the United Nations. He appealed to Western solidarity and argued that Americans would resent comparable scrutiny of their own race relations. Embassy counsellor William Maddox replied that friendship did not require agreement with Pretoria’s policies. Naudé nevertheless welcomed a suggestion for further informal talks on South West Africa, where previous negotiations had failed to produce a settlement. ²

Naudé presented ambassadorial credentials on 6 October 1960. In August 1962 Secretary of State Dean Rusk pressed him to explain the wishes of South West Africa’s inhabitants. Naudé cited a 1946 consultation as evidence for retaining ties with South Africa and questioned whether petitioners appearing before the United Nations represented the majority. Asked about current opinion, he acknowledged discontent but declined to give an overall assessment. Rusk challenged him to establish the popular support Pretoria claimed. ^{1, 3}