A Crazy Game of Musical Chairs

Everyone in South Africa is classified by race, placed at birth into one of nine racial categories that determine where he can live and work. But people can have their classification changed if they can prove they were put in a wrong group. The result is apartheid's own crazy game of musical chairs, as illustrated last week by Home Affairs Minister Stoffel Botha's announcement of last year's racial reclassifications:

Nine whites became colored, 506 coloreds became white, two whites became Malay, 14 Malays became white, nine Indians became white, seven Chinese became white, one Griqua became white, 40 coloreds became black,...