Right-Wing Rally Threatens Pretoria Armed·Revolt
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E?ISCOPAL. CHURCHPEOPLE 10r a FREE SOUTHERN AF~ICA E 339 ufayettl Stre.t. N.w YOr1(, N.Y. 10012·2725 C (2'2) 4n.o066 FAX: (212) 979-l·J13 S A #136 1 June 1993 fHE TIMES MONDAY MAY 31 1993 THE ORSERVER, SUNDAY 30 MAY I~3 Right-wing rally PAC raid shows De Klerkis no threatens Pretoria longerin control .......:401.. other negotiator.; to close WIlli armed·revolt Johannesburg ranks. Allleter ap.rka Compounding the concern is the growing suspicion that the PRESIDENT F. W. de Klerk raid was planned in collusion • Worriedat apparent progress by has been exposed as the with the newly-formed Afrika iators onagreeing an election date. emperor with no clothes by the ner Volksfront, headed by four THE South. African go¥em revelation last week that he was retired military generals, ment was gi¥en an ultimwm . t-wing Afribners have given the South not told about the massive raid including the former Chief of ~ open taJks on Afri . goyernment a six-month ultimatum on the Pan-Africanist Congress the South African Defence kaner5eJkfderminationwith E Force, Gen Constand Viljoen, which threatened the constitu- in six months or face armed , tional talks. with the deliberate intention of rewJlt carri«t shotHW1S 01' bolsaemi mands by the far riBbt have The fact that his police chief provoking a walk out by the Bugene Terre·Blanche. pislDb. There wee scufIIes grown more beli8erenl in and Minister of Law and Order PAC. te.der 01 abe ne<rfasdsa Afri with blade bysaaDders as they response to at1acb on white acted on their own has shown In an interview two weeks kaner Rfsistance MOYement nwdJed to the l1IIty. fannen by the Pan AfricanisI I that the President's hold on ago, Gen Viljoen expressed con (AWJq, declared at a rally in MrTerre'BIanchc. sportinr Coogrem's (PAC's) lIl'JDed power has weakened to the cern that the negotiations were Pmoria OIl Saturday: ·We ~ fatipes and a gold- wma. the AwUan l'alpAe's point where he is no longer in so far advanced. Major deci give the gm.muneDt six braided cap, told General Libention Army. and as mul-' real control. Instead of repri- sions, including the setting ofan I'DOftths 10 ~re law and CoftsQnd Vlljoen. former tiputy negotiaIors make I. manding or dismissing them, election date, are due to be order and to negodalle sell chief cl the ~ focce and IJIOIRSS toINards Idtinc a De Klerk has meekly endorsed taken at a meeting of the full deternlinarion widi us. If they co-ordinator oI1be VdksfJoot date for the aJUntry"s IJst all I the raid and swallowed the Negotiating Forum on Thurs lID not meet this we wiD whowas illa suit and tie. that race detIioo. Ga1enl Vijoen i humiliation of its clumsy fail- day. Viljoen wanted the negoti nep1a%e over the barrel of a he 9lQlId happily RnIIIe IIJIda' reaIIinned atthe nMy that the . ure. ations suspended for several gIIA- - bim ifow war brot.e 0Ul. -If Afrikaner would not be !Ub As one Western diplomat put months to give time for the vio The rally outside abe Union you WlInl ttl fiPt. I'fteI'lIl I j«mI to rule by a ·commu I it: 'This comes close to being lence in the country to be Baidinp. the go¥CItUJlent's will be your corporal. The ... African National Con I the action of a coup and the brought under control. iCbninistrati¥e headqlwters. tbousands of AWB members gn:ss gayemmeIIt iRa unitary President has not been able to Another factor behind the raid may be the random attacks was orpDiIed by !be Afrika here are )'OUr!." be said. state. do anything about it.' ner VoIlIsfront. 10rmcd last General ViIjoen. who has The chalenge from tilt! An embarrassed De Klerk on white farmers and police monJh by • group of mired emphasised be hopes f« a right 1llring came a ~after a admitted at a press conference men, which have increased alarmingly, with 35 farmer.; police and annygeneral3 to try poIi.ticaI soIudon poIia: S'MlOp in wbich 75 last Thur.;day that he knew to riabt-win« killed this year. The police 10 unify the fractious white Afrikaner demEtds. said; Mit 1eadel'S of the PAC were nothing about the raid, in which 77 PAC leader.; were arrested blame the PAC's armed wing, :!;!:!. ~ ~:ff~ ~!cen 'AAe !Iv:laLIoj take to ~ it arrested. The main charge and their headqua:ters ran the ,A.z.a..ian People's Liberation J'>'er by the AWB. Fewer than would be a great disasli7. But .1eYelled at the govmunent in Army (APLA). of the apeaed sacked in the early hour.; of 5.000 50.000 ifwe tuM to saaiIkr: oursdYes an emerzenq debaee at the Monday morning, until after it Added to this is a deepening nlppoAen turmd OW' calSe ~ up. Many is jusI." 1be multiparty constitutional talks had begun. division within the Cabinet, 'on the arrest of the PAC Despite the obvious political where the .~ister of Law and implications of the operation, Order, Hernus Kriel, has .fi":-";\ oftidaJs and members of its the Cabinet was not consulted, emerged as the leader of the .'" ' t' armed wing was its failure to even though the Commissioner hawks, accusing the govern 'P'e; act against nght-wing miliaan- of Police, Gen lohan van der ment's negotiating team of giv , .r- . --1 : c to)'. The PAC had threallened to I , ", 'withdraw from the talks until , Merwe, said the raid had been ing away too much to the ANC. planned for weeks, He is now making a power play -~~ <~., _~,.p.all its men were fu:ed. The government's negotiat to establish himself as De . -',_, ing team, headed by Constitu Klerk's heir apparent. '," r tional Affairs Minister Roelf But whatever the motives, r . Meyer, first knew of the raid the PAC raid has backfired. ~t~:Z". ~'~'.I ' ! when it walked into a storm of Instead of derailing and delay outrage in the negotiating coun- ing the negotiations, it has cil last Tuesday morning. increased the determination to Meyer was so incensed he speed them up. Black partici issued a public statement deny- pants last Thursday appealed to ing he had any prior knowledge the PAC to stay in the talks. ofthe police action. Kriel has suffered serious De Klerk, by contrast, made embarrassment. He was sum a fumbling appearance in Par moned before the n~otiating Illiament, trying to justify the council to explain the police operation while at the same action and bad to admit that of I time admitting he did not know the 77 people arrested, only I it was going to take place_ He four had been charged - with , has fallen in behind the hawks possession of unlicensed pistols : and ordered Meyer and the and ammunition. ·,. THEweEKLV~May7'1c 131993' 3 About-turn on control of armed forces Contradicting earlier including the ANC. demands, the ANC is now "Relinquishing control of lhe secu· rity forces will be the ultimate indica ready to drop its denuuuJ for tion to the NP thai the\" are no longer joint control ofthe armed reforming apanheid, b'ut that they ;re in fact terminating their po"er, that forces before elections. they are finally breaking" tlh domina' By CHRIS LOUW tion. It is obviouslv a Ie,) difficuil decision for them to take."' HE African National Congress Maharaj yesterday said :he A:-;C is set to drop its demand for would stdl wanI 10 be fullv inr"rmed joint control ofthe armed forces of what was happening;" ilhin Ihe Tin the run-up to elections. forces. "We will not claim executi'e Shared control of the armed forces powers - or Ihe power 10 initiale by the cabinet and a sulH:ouncil of the actions - but in terms of the powers transilional executive council, repre of the tran"tional executive SlruCtures senting the panies involved in negoti we will be in a position to say 'stop' if ations, was seen as one of the major the forces act in a way contrary 10 their mechanisms to ensure the levelling of brief."' the political playing field. This differs markedlv from Ihe Yesterday senior ANC negotiator position taken in an ANC booklel Mac Maharaj told The Weekly Mail published earlier Ihis week, entitled that the ANC would not insist on Seven Steps to Democracy -AnA'vC being represented in the command Guide 10 the Negotiations Process. structures of the South African Under the heading "The ANCs Defence Force. It would accept that Objectives", it is staled unambiguous the powers of the sub-council for ly: UAll armed forces including the defence and for law and order would South African Police and SADF must be limited to a supervisory role. come under effective multipany con· This directly contradicts the ANC's earl ier demand to have joinl control trol in the period before eleciions."' over the armed forces. Conflict over Demands for immediate joint con control was seen as one of the major Soidierlull on _. The ANC no longer leeks joint control of the .my t.forw eIKtIona Phcm: KEVIN CARTER trol also featured prominently on ban stumbling blocks in reaching an sowce ofroncern and some resolution officials. ~ialS thai the government had no plans ners and in speeches at the mass rallies agreement on how the transition would have to be found to ensure that Myburgh said the government"wz "to throw the keys to South Africa following the murder ofSouth African should be managed. the elections were free and fair.