Railroads South Africa

The government Monday posted soldiers at rail yards and stations to prevent renewed attacks on the strike-beleaguered railway system and warned transport workers that they may be dismissed starting today. Officials of the state-run South African Transport Services said trains were running normally and that soldiers were posted in and around Johannesburg to augment police guards. They did not say how many troops were deployed.

In a desperate rush to catch his commuter train a few months ago, Walter Moloto leaped under the "whites-only" sign into a first-class coach as it was leaving the station. It was Moloto's first visit inside a white train car and, he hoped, his last. The other passengers cursed him, a conductor grabbed him by the shirt and he was shoved out the door at the next stop. Moloto hurried back to the third-class cars, where for 40 years the law has said that black passengers in South Africa must ride.

Police shot to death six blacks during street battles in Johannesburg on Wednesday after South Africa's state-run railroad fired more than 16,000 striking workers. The clashes, some of the worst in recent months, heightened tensions once again in the black townships around Johannesburg, and union officials warned that further violence may follow as blacks react to the deaths.

South African trains, which currently have separate cars for blacks and whites, will be integrated "as soon as possible," a spokesman for the Transport Ministry said Wednesday. Signs designating cars for blacks and for whites have already been taken down and destroyed in the western Cape Province, but no date has been set for similar moves in Johannesburg and other major cities.

Commuter trains were set afire at eight railroad stations in and around this city on Wednesday in the third day of arson attacks that authorities have linked to a five-week-old strike by 22,000 black workers against the state-run railroad system.

The state-run South African Transport Services announced that police and troops will guard railway property beginning today in a bid to stop violence that has marked a bitter, six-week-old strike by 18,000 black transport workers. About 60 train cars were firebombed or stoned last week. But, since today is a public holiday in South Africa, the new security arrangement may not face a serious test until Tuesday morning, officials said.

Police using masked informers raided the headquarters of a black union Wednesday, apparently looking for suspects in the killing of four railway workers, while riot police circled the 11-story building. A police spokesman, Lt. Pierre Louw, said 11 people, ages 12 to 49, were arrested in the seven-hour search of the downtown building, the South African Press Assn. reported without giving other details.

South African trains, which currently have separate cars for blacks and whites, will be integrated "as soon as possible," a spokesman for the Transport Ministry said Wednesday. Signs designating cars for blacks and for whites have already been taken down and destroyed in the western Cape Province, but no date has been set for similar moves in Johannesburg and other major cities.

In a desperate rush to catch his commuter train a few months ago, Walter Moloto leaped under the "whites-only" sign into a first-class coach as it was leaving the station. It was Moloto's first visit inside a white train car and, he hoped, his last. The other passengers cursed him, a conductor grabbed him by the shirt and he was shoved out the door at the next stop. Moloto hurried back to the third-class cars, where for 40 years the law has said that black passengers in South Africa must ride.

Police using masked informers raided the headquarters of a black union Wednesday, apparently looking for suspects in the killing of four railway workers, while riot police circled the 11-story building. A police spokesman, Lt. Pierre Louw, said 11 people, ages 12 to 49, were arrested in the seven-hour search of the downtown building, the South African Press Assn. reported without giving other details.

Police shot to death six blacks during street battles in Johannesburg on Wednesday after South Africa's state-run railroad fired more than 16,000 striking workers. The clashes, some of the worst in recent months, heightened tensions once again in the black townships around Johannesburg, and union officials warned that further violence may follow as blacks react to the deaths.

The government Monday posted soldiers at rail yards and stations to prevent renewed attacks on the strike-beleaguered railway system and warned transport workers that they may be dismissed starting today. Officials of the state-run South African Transport Services said trains were running normally and that soldiers were posted in and around Johannesburg to augment police guards. They did not say how many troops were deployed.

The state-run South African Transport Services announced that police and troops will guard railway property beginning today in a bid to stop violence that has marked a bitter, six-week-old strike by 18,000 black transport workers. About 60 train cars were firebombed or stoned last week. But, since today is a public holiday in South Africa, the new security arrangement may not face a serious test until Tuesday morning, officials said.

Commuter trains were set afire at eight railroad stations in and around this city on Wednesday in the third day of arson attacks that authorities have linked to a five-week-old strike by 22,000 black workers against the state-run railroad system.