South Africa Limits Relocations of Blacks in Cape Area

The South African government Thursday announced a major rollback in plans for the large-scale removal of blacks from townships near Cape Town. However, the changes will not affect many residents of the Crossroads squatter camp, focus of violence this week in which at least 17 people were killed.

Gerrit Viljoen, minister for cooperation and development, said the government has approved the introduction of 99-year leasehold rights for blacks in Langa, Nyanga and Guguletu townships. The concessions affect about half of the 250,000 blacks around Cape Town.

In 1983, South Africa announced that all Cape Peninsula blacks would be moved to a new township called Khayelitsha or returned to the tribal homelands of Ciskei and Transkei.

On Thursday, however, Viljoen said that development of existing townships such as Nyanga--which had been suspended after announcement of the Khayelitsha relocation plan--will be resumed. “I anticipate that these decisions will contribute to a sense of permanence and security among the residents of Langa, Nyanga and Guguletu,” he said.

Community workers opposing removal welcomed the announcement, although the multiracial United Democratic Front, an umbrella anti-apartheid group, described it as a panic reaction to the recent rioting. It said the government seeks to drive a wedge between “legal” and “illegal” blacks. The residents of Crossroads have flooded in from the poor homelands without permits required under the country’s apartheid laws. They remain under threat of resettlement. However, Viljoen said he will meet with Crossroads leaders before any relocation, the Associated Press reported.

Outbreaks continued, meanwhile, in other townships across South Africa. A black man was killed in a clash at Seeisoville, in the Orange Free State. Riots also occurred near Port Elizabeth and Kimberley.

In Durban, seven leaders of the anti-apartheid movement arrested on treason charges Tuesday were arraigned. They were ordered held until March 15, when a judge will decide whether they should remain in custody until they go on trial.