South African troops cross into Swaziland

Press, 28 December 1985, Page 7

South African troops cross into Swaziland

NZPA-Reuter Mbabane South African troops crossed into Swaziland four or five times after a shooting incident three days ago and warned people not to harbour guerrillas, according to residents of the southeastern Lavusima area. The residents said a South African patrol fired at a man trying to cross the border illegally on Christmas Eve, but he was not hit and fled into the bush on the Swazi side. That evening and the next day, the border patrols, which usually number eight to 10 men, visited several villages just inside Swaziland and warned people they would attack them if they sheltered members of the African National Congress. In Pretoria, a South African Defence Force spokesman said he was checking the reports and could make no immediate comment.

Then a Royal Swazi Police spokesman confirmed that South African troops had crossed the border, which is generally

marked by a simple fence, but gave no further details. The residents said that since the incident a number of villagers in the area had fled their homes, saying they feared for their lives. The A.N.C., outlawed in South Africa, is the main guerrilla organisation fighting to end white domination by force. One villager quoted the soldiers as saying: “If we see any suspected member of the A.N.C. crossing from Swaziland into South Africa we will shoot that person and attack the area from which he came.”

Others said they overheard the troops talk of raiding a nearby refugee camp, named , Ndzevane, which mainly houses people who have fled tribal factional fighting in the neighbouring South Africa.

The “Times of Swaziland” newspaper quoted an unidentified official stationed in the area as saying: “We have stepped up our security efforts following the incursion over Christmas by the South Africans. I don’t know why South Africa

would want to attack us, because to the best" of our knowledge there are no A.N.C. members in the country.” There was no official comment immediately. The A.N.C. claimed responsibility for a series of land mine blasts on South Africa’s. northern border with Zimbabwe, in which seven people, six of them whites, died during the last month.

After the blasts, South Africa repeated stern warnings to its neighbours that it would not respect international boundaries in its pursuit of guerrillas. South African commandos have conducted a series of such cross-border operations in recent years, notably into Lesotho, Botswana, Angola, and Mozambique. Earlier this year, the Swazi authorities rounded up several dozen A.N.C. members who had entered the country illegally from neighbouring Mozambique and deported them. Swaziland secretly signed a non-aggression treaty with Pretoria in 1982.