Less S.A. violence but state of emergency remains

Press, 28 July 1987, Page 34

Less S.A. violence but state of emergency remains

NZPA-Reuter Johannesburg

The number of violent incidents in South Africa has dropped between 80 and 90 per cent in the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 1986, the Government has said. But a Government Minister ruled out the possibility that a 13-month-old national state of emergency imposed to curb black unrest would be lifted.

A spokesman for Pretoria’s Bureau for Information, reporting the dramatic decline in politically motivated violence which has killed an estimated 2500 people in the last three years, said the potential for a resurgence of conflict remained. In an interview on State-run television, the deputy Minister of Information, Stoffel van der Merwe, said the decrease

in violence was welcome, but said: “Unfortunately the conclusion that one comes to is if one would lift the state of emergency now, one would most probably see a reoccurrence and a re-escalation of the violence.” Civil rights groups say about 25,000 people have been detained for varying periods since President P. W. Botha announced the emergency in June last year. Mr Van der Merwe is in charge of Government efforts to persuade moderate black leaders to open a dialogue with the Government to discuss the country’s constitution and to give blacks more say in the nation’s affairs. Most black leaders have rejected the offer, but Mr van der Merwe said the political climate in South Africa for such negotiations was much improved compared with a year ago.