Candid talks between S.A., Britain

Press, 4 June 1984, Page 8

Candid talks between S.A., Britain

NZPA-Reuter London The South African Prime Minister, Mr P. W. Botha, has been told of Britain’s opposition to his country's policies of racial segregation, official sources said. Mr Botha held talks with the British Prime Minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, yesterday during a brief visit to Britain. The talks were described by both sides as candid, while in central London at least 14,500 people marched on what organisers said was the biggest anti-apartheid rally seen in Britain. A Thatcher aide said, “The South Africans were told it was unacceptable that a person’s rights should depend on the colour of his skin. This was said very forcibly.” Mr Botha flew by helicopter from Heathrow Airport to Chequers, Mrs Thatcher’s country residence west of the capital. There were no demonstrations at Heathrow, but as he left Chequers, three women protesters ran to within a few hundred metres of him, despite an intensive security operation. They were stopped by the police who said the incident was a simple case of trespass. Mr Botha said he and Mrs Thatcher had discussed Namibia (South-West Africa), which Pretoria rules in defiance of United Nations resolutions. Britain is a member of a five-nation Western group which has been trying unsuccessfully to negotiate Namibia’s independence. Mr Botha, the first South African Prime Minister to visit Britain since 1961, told reporters, “Both sides expressed their strong desire to help Namibia achieve its independence as soon as possible under peaceful conditions.” He reiterated that it was of the highest importance for foreign forces to withdraw from the area. South Africa has said it wants Cuba to withdraw about 25,000 troops from Angola before Namibian independence. British sources said Mrs Thatcher had criycised the forced removal qf blacks from “white” areas in South Africa. But Mr Botha said, “Each side put its views about the situation in South Africa quite candidly.”