Familiar as it has become, the violence was more ominous than ever. President F. W. de Klerk warned of impending “civil war.” The bloodshed further frayed relations between de Klerk and Mandela. Their preliminary accord last August held out the promise of talks aimed at granting full political rights to the country’s voteless black majority. But since then factional fighting has killed more than 1,300 people in black townships around Johannesburg. Now the two leaders trade threats.
The ANC threatens to boycott further talks with the government. It says de Klerk must adopt its plan for ending the violence no later than this week. That includes the removal of top security officials they accuse of siding with Inkatha. But de Klerk last week defended his security chiefs. He threatened to take “far-reaching steps” if a round-table peace parley scheduled for late this month fails to end the fighting. In a conciliatory gesture, he did offer to give up the government’s right to ban publications, put citizens under house arrest and detain suspects at length without trial.
Unless church leaders succeed in an effort to broker a compromise before the ANC deadline, Mandela likely won’t see de Klerk at least until after the ANC elects its senior leadership in July. That would offer little hope for an end to the killing.
