4 Blacks Killed in Attacks on S. Africa Police

Police reported that four men were shot to death Sunday as black crowds attacked the homes of black policemen in the industrial area around Port Elizabeth.

A spokesman at national police headquarters in the South African capital of Pretoria said the four killed were all attacking the police. He said that 500 blacks stoned the home of a black policeman in Solitcha township, near Uitenhage, an area of major recent racial violence. The officer fired on the crowd, killing two youths and wounding two.

In a similar incident, 20 blacks stoned the home of a black officer in Kwazakele township, near Port Elizabeth. The policeman was not home, but a civilian inside fired on the attackers and killed two, the spokesman said.

Last month, at least 19 blacks were killed in the black township of Langa, near Port Elizabeth, in a funeral procession that became a protest against South African racial policies.

Before and since then, black militants have taken special vengeance on those blacks they regard as collaborators with the white authorities.

Funeral Incident Disputed

Rioting continued, meanwhile, in communities around Port Elizabeth. Witnesses said that two black men were shot and wounded after the funeral of three riot victims but that it was not clear who fired the shots.

The witnesses said that about 10,000 mourners were leaving a cemetery near the Old Apostolic Church after services for three riot victims when policemen fired tear gas. According to this account, soldiers--on foot and in armored cars--moved in to prevent the crowd from reaching a nearby highway. Shots rang out and two men were seriously wounded. Witnesses said they saw the wounded men but did not see who fired the shots. They also said that police used tear gas to disperse thousands of mourners leaving the ceremony.

However, the national police spokesman denied the report, saying: “There was no incident at any funeral. That’s a load of nonsense.” The spokesman said officers did fire tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a crowd that attacked a police truck near the cemetery.

He said that officers broke up 34 riots in black townships across South Africa, using similar tactics.