S. African troops to clamp iron grip on Natal
S. African troops to clamp iron grip on Natal
JOHANNESBURG (Reuter): South Africa yesterday 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.
South African authorities are keeping secret the exact number of troops and police to be deployed but African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela said "peak mobilization" would be reached by Tuesday.
Military spokeswoman Capt. Kim van Niekerk said a company of about 150 men had arrived in Natal from the neighboring Orange Free State overnight and two more were due by tomorrow to reinforce troops permanently stationed in the province.
President F.W. de Klerk, after consultation with the multi- party Transitional Executive Council (TEC), said on Thursday a state of emergency had been declared in Natal and the enclaves of KwaZulu black homeland within it.
De Klerk and Mandela told separate news conferences the measures, similar to steps taken to crush dissent during the apartheid era, were necessary to ensure that the April 26-28 national elections could be held in Natal -- where about 300 people were killed in political violence last month alone.
Emergency regulations published yesterday 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 unauthorized 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 Defense 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.
Tantamount
Mangosuthu Buthelezi, chief minister of KwaZulu and leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party, condemned the emergency measures as being tantamount to an invasion of his territory.
Buthelezi, who has vowed to resist the elections, 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 on Thursday the South African Defense Force (SADF) 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 on Friday to sort out details of the chain of command.
Some of the powers exercised by Coetsee in Natal have to be wielded in consultation with the TEC, comprising the government, the ANC and smaller parties and charged with creating conditions for free and fair elections.
Buthelezi said on Thursday a free and fair poll could not be held in Natal if emergency regulations were in force. He wants the election to be postponed until agreement is reached on his demand that the province become an autonomous Zulu state.
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.