South Africa Politics

ON A RECENT COLD MORNING, A DOZEN YOUNG BLACK MEN AND WOMEN gathered at the entrance to Duduza, one of apartheid's forgotten ghettos, to demand electricity, toilets and medicine from the white authorities. Like so many protests in remote corners of South Africa these days, this one seemed doomed to obscurity and failure. But as the marchers moved toward the center of town, trailed by platoons of policemen in armored vehicles, a speeding, white Mercedes-Benz overtook them.

Flying to South Africa requires patience and perspective. All of Africa seems to be spread out below as the plane zigzags its way to Johannesburg on a curious route. The plane must burrow through endless clouds, for although its presence in African airspace may be tolerated, the plane may not land unless invited. Mt. Kilimanjaro, snow-capped and majestic, juts abruptly from the desert floor, rising like a kingdom in the clouds. Miles later, the outline of Nairobi's airport comes into view.

Like most inhabitants of the vast urban melting pot of Soweto, Wilson and Isabel Zitha have fond, if not particularly strong, feelings about their ancient cultural heritages. So, when Zulus began battling Xhosas in the streets outside their modest home recently, Wilson, who is Xhosa, and Isabel, who is Zulu, looked on in stunned silence. And Isabel began to feel ashamed of her own roots. "How can I say I am Zulu? People are starting to hate us," she said.

The African National Congress, stepping up pressure on President Frederik W. de Klerk, urged the world Thursday to boycott South African goods, airlines and shipping services Monday, when the 39 victims of the Boipatong massacre are buried. And it called on its missions abroad to stage vigils outside South African embassies and to urge governments, churches and anti-apartheid groups to press Pretoria for "concrete and appropriate action" against the perpetrators of the massacre.

The African National Congress announced Friday that it will soon send a delegation for groundbreaking talks with South African President Frederik W. de Klerk on removal of obstacles to black-white negotiations. The ANC's surprise decision, a major step toward ending 30 years of armed resistance to white minority-led rule in South Africa, clears the way for the first meeting between guerrilla leaders and a South African head of state.

As a token of reconciliation, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela has given her wedding band from Nelson Mandela to a 13-year-old girl whose father's job under apartheid was to destroy her reputation. "I am not one that cries easily, but I was all choked up," said Paul Erasmus, a former security police officer who has confessed to a dirty tricks campaign against Madikizela-Mandela, including leaks to local and foreign media about her alleged marital infidelity. "It was a fantastic moment," he said.

The crowd already had trampled the fence and climbed every tree in sight when President Nelson Mandela's helicopter landed in this remote northern village of thatch-topped huts. Children literally sang his praises as he opened their new school. Grinning broadly, the 78-year-old leader began to dance. "This event is the biggest event in the history of big events!" a local official gushed to the crowd. A day on the road with Mandela showed that his magic clearly has not waned.

Newly inaugurated South African President Thabo Mbeki is well known for protecting his privacy. During a preelection television appearance, he even stonewalled when asked about his taste in music. But Mbeki is an open book compared with his wife, Zanele. The new first lady refuses to grant interviews. Her personal secretary has been instructed not to divulge basic information, such as her age and job history.

Winnie Mandela, the fiery and controversial wife of the African National Congress leader, will be tried on charges of kidnaping and assault in the December, 1988, beatings of four young black men at her Soweto home, authorities said Tuesday. Klaus von Lieres, attorney general for the Johannesburg district, said he decided to file the charges "because of my duty . . . to uphold and apply the law to all alike." Mandela, 54, will stand trial with seven members of her former retinue of bodyguards.

Standing near the hors d'oeuvres table at a downtown Los Angeles hotel, dapper South African businessman Dries Groenewald downplayed the importance of the first trade mission from his country to the United States since 1986. "You cannot just charge in and expect things to happen," said Groenewald, chairman of Paradigm, a South African manufacturer of computer software.

ON and off screen, Mark Bamford and Suzanne Kay find themselves battling stereotypes about South Africa. Their new movie, "Cape of Good Hope," is not at all what might be expected from a film set in a country once bitterly divided by race: The comedy-drama follows the intertwined lives of several characters, including a woman who rescues dogs, a widowed veterinarian and a Muslim couple eager to have children.

A surprise split late last week in this country's official opposition could significantly alter regional politics by thrusting the ruling African National Congress into power in a longtime opposition stronghold and giving it nationwide dominance, analysts said Monday. The New National Party, the successor to the party responsible for apartheid, said Friday that it was suspending its membership in the Democratic Alliance, the country's main political opposition.

In a twist on South Africa's contentious debate over restoring land to landless people, an indigenous community has launched a drive to reclaim what is today some of the country's most valuable real estate. About 60,000 ethnic Khoikhoi of the Goringhaicona tribe, led by paramount chief Calvin Cornelius, want to regain large sections of Cape Town's stunningly beautiful and financially lucrative Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.

Disgraced anti-apartheid activist Allan Boesak, imprisoned last year for fraud and theft, was granted an early release Tuesday, sparking allegations by some prisoners' rights activists of judicial favoritism for the privileged. Boesak was freed from a penitentiary near Cape Town after serving one year of a three-year sentence for stealing $400,000 from charitable donations made to his Foundation for Peace and Justice, including substantial contributions from singer Paul Simon.

President Thabo Mbeki lashed out at South Africa's mainly white and mixed-race opposition party bloc after it made big gains in local elections, calling it an "unholy alliance" that is bad for the nation. Mbeki told a victory rally for the ruling African National Congress, or ANC, in Johannesburg that any headway made by the Democratic Alliance could not discredit the will of the overwhelming majority. But analysts said the outcome signaled an alarming rise in racial divisions.

The political party that created apartheid, imprisoned Nelson Mandela and later negotiated a peaceful transition to black-majority rule in South Africa has called it quits after 86 years, conceding that it cannot go it alone in the racially mixed nation. Leaders of the New National Party confirmed Sunday that they have agreed to a merger with the country's main opposition party, the Democratic Party, under the name Democratic Alliance.

Leaders of the Congress of South African Students, meeting here this week, are pledging to make the Western Cape province "ungovernable." Expect picketing, boycotts, sickouts and strikes in the coming weeks, they warn. Teachers and other trade union groups, who last month led a march on the provincial legislature, are considering further disruptions. Some extremists, according to one report, have even threatened to burn down this city.

Newly inaugurated South African President Thabo Mbeki is well known for protecting his privacy. During a preelection television appearance, he even stonewalled when asked about his taste in music. But Mbeki is an open book compared with his wife, Zanele. The new first lady refuses to grant interviews. Her personal secretary has been instructed not to divulge basic information, such as her age and job history.

Thabo Mbeki, a child of the struggle against apartheid who was sent into exile 37 years ago to prepare for black majority rule, became this country's second elected black leader Wednesday, replacing retiring President Nelson Mandela. Mbeki took the oath of office in three languages outside the Union Buildings, the seat of government since 1913 and the center of white minority rule until five years ago.

The subject was Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. There were suggestions he might seek asylum in South Africa. Would he be prevented from entering the country? "No, we will not ban anybody," President Nelson Mandela told reporters here last month. "What we condemn are his actions." Mandela's statement sent journalists scurrying. "Milosevic Is Welcome in South Africa," screamed the headlines. Later, Mandela complained that the media had "gravely distorted" his remarks.