82 BOOK REVIEWSthe former book, Tom 0stergaard, is right when he states that SADCCmember states had reason to focus their efforts on transport and com-munication during most of the 1980s as South Africa's dominance andpenalizing capacity vis-a-vis SADCC in this sector was enormous. But0stergaard soon reminds us that the 1980s are now over and that the newdecade offers new challenges, requiring different strategies, and one otthese strategies is investment and co-operation in the industrial sector.While acknowledging that SADCC and indeed all Southern Africanstates should invest and co-operate more in the industrial sector, 0*Jj?pgaard issues a word of caution. He provides a case study of the SADCLtractor industry, demonstrating how well-intentioned investment anaindustrial strategies can collapse. For industrial success, SADCC (a"^today's SADC) member states need to address various, inter-relateaobstacles: the evasive action of transnational corporations, for example>and external bank/financial controls, national restrictions and inter-statecompetition, and the unnecessary policy conditions of both donor agendesand multilateral institutions. 0stergaard suggests ways in which pol'cvinitiatives and programme actions could be undertaken by SADCC statf*to reverse such constraints and to guarantee increased success in industrialco-operation and development.There is no doubt that these two works provide an excellent beginflin»in the understanding of past investments and industrial action and t"enew challenges for SADC states and the broader Southern African regi°n-University of Zimbabwe A. M. KAMBUPZ1Regional Cooperation in Southern Africa: A Post-Apartheid Per*pec**veEdited by B. Oden andH. Othman. Uppsala, Scandinavian Institute of Afric^PStudies, Seminar Proceedings 22,1989,243 pp., ISBN 91-7106-298-X, S15.9i>'A synthesis of the findings of ten researchers, this book represents alandmark in the analysis and understanding of the interaction betw^Southern Africa and the Nordic region. In his chapter Tor Sellstrom tracethe origins of this interaction, citing the political support and humanitaf ^aid sent by Nordic countries to liberation movements in Southern Afficasince the 1960s. Since then the Nordic countries have remained in t^eforefront of the condemnation of colonialism and imperialism. jThe launching of SADCC in April 1980 created a solid base for enhan^economic co-operation between the two regions. Statistical evidence citgin the book proves that for most of the 1980s the Nordic states were &emain donors to SADCC's transport and communication projects as well ffjother programmes. The chapter by Elling Njal Tjonneland reveals apartbeSouth Africa's strategies to hold back the tide of liberation in the regi0"'The author shows clearly how those strategies began collapsing in the &te1980s as a result of the SADCC initiative.An interesting aspect of the book is its historical survey, with cl^statistical support, of labour migration within the region Š centered "«South Africa. It is also significant that C. K. Brown's chapter emphasi^BOOK REVIEWS 83the need for co-ordinated regional information as a necessary part ofregional co-operation in a Southern Africa freed of apartheid. Similarly,Ansu Datta provides a useful contribution on regional co-operation,emphasizing the need for co-ordinated action between governments, non-governmental organizations, and ordinary people in the region. The lasttwo actors, it is argued, provide a back-up to inter-state co-operation inwhich governments are the key actors.While it is true that Nordic assistance to SADCC states has been amajor component of development assistance since 1980, Hans Abrahamsoninforms us in his chapter that such aid now needs to be reorientated.Apart from the physical development of roads, railways, ports, and so on,there is a need to channel resources to support networks such asforwarding services, insurance services, national and regional carriersand shipping services. This is indeed vital if investments made during the1980s in the physical development of transport, communication and relatedfacilities are to be made full use of by SADCC (now SADC) states.In his chapter Tom 0stergaard clearly reveals the contradictions ofNordic/SADCC co-operation. All aid programmes are not altruistic andsuch aid creates and reinforces the dependence of the recipient on thedonor. The Norsad fund is used as an illustration of this anomaly. Thedesire of donor states to influence policy in the recipient state and theinterest of the latter to preserve some form of autonomy in the allocationand consumption of donor resources have caused conflicts between Nordicand SADCC states, particularly in the agricultural sector.Finally, although the authors hesitated to make precise predictions onthe nature of regional co-operation after apartheid is wholly abolished,they do offer some opinions. One is that post-apartheid South Africa willhave severe internal problems as it moves away from apartheid rulewhich could result in internal instability in that country, a factor thatmight undermine future regional co-operation. But, on the other hand, theauthors seem to believe that the advent of a democratic South Africawould enhance economic possibilities in Southern Africa, and indeed Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.University of Zimbabwe A. M. KAMBUDZIThe Black Insider By D. Marechera. Harare, Baobab, 1990, 128 pp.,ISBN 0-949229-16-4, Z$16,00.The Black Insider (1990), together with Cemetery of Mind (1992), is one ofMarechera's posthumously published novels (he died in 1987) and appearsafter the much-celebrated House of Hunger (1978), the often overlookedBlack Sunlight (1980) and the controversial Mindblast (1984). Its publicationis due to the tireless efforts and dedication of Flora Veit-Wild. The BlackInsideris in all respects an unusual novel, one which relentlessly interrog-ates the nature of the novel itself, very much in the post-modernist sense.Any reader expecting to find a conventional plot and developed char-acters in a recognizable social setting is in for a rude shock. In this novel