S. African Blacks Again Greet Kennedy With Jeers

South African policemen with dogs cleared black protesters from the path of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) today as demonstrators told him to go home for the second time since he arrived.

The Kennedy party was visibly upset by the incident. The senator’s visit aims to support the black cause by speaking against apartheid. (Kennedy urges reform, Page 5.) He first confronted black demonstrators at the airport when he arrived Saturday.

When Kennedy arrived for today’s meeting with local labor leaders at a Johannesburg office building, he was confronted by at least 20 demonstrators from the Azanian People’s Organization (AZAPO), which rejects white help in its opposition to apartheid.

Police Eject Protesters

He was escorted into the building after police roughly ejected the protesters and arrested at least one.

Police then cleared the streets using dogs. As Kennedy left, about 100 black people on the opposite sidewalk chanted: “Kennedy, go home.”

Police again waded in with dogs and one woman was knocked to the ground in the melee.

Earlier today, Kennedy told businessmen at a luncheon meeting that the U.S. public and Congress were demanding genuine steps to reform South Africa’s racial system, including full citizenship for blacks.

He said he will make specific recommendations on the controversial issue of disinvestment--withdrawing U.S. investments to force reform--sometime after he returns to the United States.

But to his apparent chagrin and to the delight of many in the audience, the idea of disinvestment was criticized by the U.S. ambassador, who said pulling money out of South Africa was a “singularly wrong-headed way to fight apartheid.”

Ambassador Herman W. Nickel told the audience that “indignation is no substitute for policy” and criticized black leaders in the United States who call for harsh action against South Africa.

“The ambassador and I have some different views,” Kennedy said, “but I believe mine are closer to those of the American people.”

Nickel is a staunch defender of the Reagan Administration’s controversial policy of “constructive engagement” under which Washington has muted its criticism of South Africa’s racial policies, hoping to encourage reform.

Several bills have been introduced in Congress calling for reducing the U.S. business role in South Africa, where nearly 350 U.S. companies have an estimated direct investment of between$2 billion and $3 billion.