Johannesburg, Friday.
SOUTH Africa today gave soldiers and police powers to clamp a grip of
steel on Natal province where political violence threatens historic
elections less than four weeks away.
Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, whose power base is in the province which
includes the KwaZulu black homeland, renewed his criticism of the
measures, but said he was willling to go ahead with a planned peace
summit next week.
''If the discussions next week . . . do not come up with something
that will make it possible for us to participate in the elections, even
at this late stage, then of course we will continue to play the role of
being opposed to the status quo as set out after the elections,'' he
said in the KwaZulu capital of Ulundi.
President F. W. de Klerk yesterday announced a state of emergency in
Natal-KwaZulu to bring widespread violence under control and to ensure
people there can vote in South Africa's first all-race election from
April 26-28.
Buthelezi's rejection of the election, which he says will not deliver
the autonomous Zulu state he seeks, has fed tension in the region where
about 300 people were killed last month alone.
The Inkatha Freedom Party leader has previously said he does not rule
out participation in the elections on condition that they are postponed
''a month or two''. This option has been ruled out by de Klerk and
Buthelezi's main black rival, African National Congress leader Nelson
Mandela.
The summit next week on violence and constitutional disputes is due to
bring Buthelezi, Mandela, de Klerk and Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini
together for the first time. Originally set for last Wednesday, it was
postponed after violence erupted during an Inkatha march through
Johannesburg on Monday.
South African authorities are keeping secret the exact number of
troops and police to be deployed in Natal-KwaZulu, but Mandela said
''peak mobilisation'' would be reached by Tuesday.
Military spokeswoman Captain Kim van Niekerk said a company of about
150 men had arrived in Natal from the neighbouring Orange Free State
overnight, and two more were due by Sunday to reinforce troops
permanently stationed in the province.
Emergency regulations published today gave security forces powers to
detain people without charge for up to 30 days, use ''necessary force''
to maintain order, and search people and premises without a warrant.
The rules bar unauthorised military training, prohibit the display of
weapons or potentially dangerous objects, including traditional Zulu
spears and fighting sticks, and set strict conditions for marches and
rallies.
They allow Defence Minister Kobie Coetsee to appoint ''control
officers'' with powers to declare closed areas and take charge of
essential services. Foreign observers can be named to monitor the
control officers.
Violations of the emergency rules can be punished with jail terms of
up to 10 years.
Buthelezi, who is chief minister of KwaZulu, condemned the emergency
measures as being tantamount to an invasion of his territory, and said
they would sour the atmosphere at the summit.
He said it was as though KwaZulu was a woman being held by de Klerk's
government while she was raped by the ANC.
ANC-Inkatha rivalry underlies much of the political violence in which
about 10,000 people have been killed in Natal-KwaZulu over the last
decade.
Mandela said yesterday the South African Defence Force would be in
control of security of the region and the post of KwaZulu minister of
police, held by Buthelezi, would cease to exist.
The ANC leader said KwaZulu homeland police would be confined to
barracks, but senior officers from the SADF, the South African police,
and the homeland police were meeting today to sort out details of the
chain of command.
Political and military analysts said the state of emergency could
spark guerrilla resistance by pro-Inkatha Zulus in Natal, where the
tribe's warrior history is proudly remembered.
KwaZulu and the nine other black homelands set up under apartheid to
separate whites from blacks are due to be reincorporated after the
election, the first held under universal suffrage in South Africa.
The ANC is expected to win up to two-thirds of the vote.--Reuter
' It was as though KwaZulu was a woman being held by de Klerk's
government while she was raped by the ANC. '
Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi
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