concerned.t'P" The council then adjourned, never to meet again. The ANC,
at its annual conference in December, 1946, endorsed the council's
decision.
By 1939, Afrikaners still dominated the agricultural sector of the econo-
my,but more than half of the Afrikaner people were living in towns, where
they were struggling to establish themselves in an English-dominated mi-
lieu. They were concentrated in the lowest-level white occupations: un-
skilled laborers, miners and factory workers, teachers and junior civil
servants. Only a few were beginning to enter the professions or compete
with the English ascendancy in trade and business. In South Africa the
average English-speaking White was twice as wealthy as the average
Afrikaner. 95
For many Afrikaners, ethnic identity was more important than occupa-
tional and class differences. The Broederbond, the Federasie van Af-
rikaanse Kultuurverenigings (Federation of Afrikaner Cultural Associa-
tions), the Afrikaner churches, the Reddingsdaadbond (Rescue Associa-
tion), and the National party combined to mobilize Afrikaner cultural,
economic, and political power.
The outbreak of war caused deep splits among Afrikaners. The pre-
dominant feeling was one of profound dismay that the country should