FT932-15172
_AN-DDOCIABIFT
930415
FT 15 APR 93 / Six dead as riots sweep South Africa
By PATTI WALDMEIR and PHILIP GAWITH
JOHANNESBURG
RIOTS swept South Africa yesterday and at least six people were shot dead
after one of the largest political protests in the country's history, called
to mourn slain activist Chris Hani.
President F W de Klerk announced further security measures in advance of
Monday's funeral of the murdered Communist party leader.
But political leaders, including officials of the African National Congress,
made clear that the death toll yesterday was lower than might have been
expected, given that hundreds of thousands of people attended rallies and
protest gatherings and millions stayed away from work. Employer
organisations said 80-90 per cent of workers remained at home.
On national television, Mr De Klerk said that yesterday had been 'a dark day
for South Africa,' adding 'what happened. . . cannot be tolerated in any
civilised country.' He said 3,000 extra police would be added to anti-riot
units in the wake of the violence, more unrest areas could be declared, and
that authorities might clamp down on types of protest allowed.
Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, ANC secretary-general, took a less gloomy view of the
day's events, saying the countrywide mourning had gone off 'relatively
peacefully.' He believed the pace of constitutional negotiations would pick
up, and that there would be joint black-white control of the security
services within two months.
Mr Ramaphosa criticised what he said was an unprovoked attack by police on
demonstrators in Soweto, where marshals struggled, but succeeded, in
controlling a crowd tens of thousands strong. At least four people were
killed and some 250 injured, five of them critically.
But in Cape Town, Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Port Elizabeth ANC officials
appeared to lose control of the large crowds, which attacked police, smashed
windows and looted shops after breaking away from rallies addressed by ANC
leaders.
Police appeared to act with restraint in the areas, although there were
unconfirmed reports that at least two people had been killed in Cape Town.
The Soweto shooting broke out when an angry crowd marched on a police
station after attending a rally addressed by Mr Nelson Mandela, ANC leader.
Mr Mandela implored a packed stadium to act peacefully.
He praised the white Afrikaner woman whose eyewitness evidence had led to
the apprehension of Mr Hani's alleged murderer and said to South Africa's
youth: 'Your duty is to take such examples and use them to build a new
non-racial nation.'
Violence erupting erupted only after he had departed to address a rally in a
nearby town.
However, Mr Carl Niehaus, an ANC spokesman, warned after the Soweto
shooting: 'This kind of action by police is exactly what will lead this
country to bloodshed and. . . the consequences in days to come must be laid
squarely at the door of the police force.'
Financial markets reacted nervously to events. The financial rand - a
barometer of foreign investor confidence - closed at R4.82 against the
dollar, compared with R4.56 before Mr Hani's death. The stock market index
fell by 31 points to 3,498, having shed 51 points on Tuesday.
Although yesterday's unrest will have depressed businessmen, few would have
been surprised.
Mr Jeff Liebesman, chairman of the W&A group, an industrial conglomerate,
said he was 'disappointed and upset' at yesterday's events, but not shocked.
'We were braced for it as a group.'
Countries:-
ZAZ South Africa, Africa.
Industries:-
P9229 Public Order and Safety, NEC.
Types:-
NEWS General News.
The Financial Times
London Page 4