Some S. African Trains to Be Desegregated

Whites and other races will be able to travel together on South African trains for the first time in 75 years beginning Sept. 1, Transportation Minister Hendrik Schoeman announced Monday.

However, those whites who prefer segregated facilities can still travel in segregated compartments, he said. In a statement, the National Party official said that separate rail facilities for white and nonwhite passengers are “a national heritage” in force since 1910.

Beginning Sept. 1, however, some first-class cars on suburban trains will be marked for whites only while other, unmarked first- and third-class cars will be available for all races. On intercity trains, certain first- and second-class cars for whites only will be so designated, but there will be coaches in first, second and third classes open to all.

“The established right and wishes of white passengers . . . to travel in coaches which are solely reserved for whites are reaffirmed,” Schoeman said.

South African railways have one of the most visible remnants of what here is called petty apartheid, supposedly minor annoyances where facilities for whites and other races are segregated.

Airlines, many buses and international hotels are desegregated.

Violence in Black Towns

Amid such steps toward racial progress, further violence was reported in a dozen black townships Monday. Police said a 14-year-old boy was killed when a man fired on a group of about 10 people who threw a gasoline bomb at a private house in Kwathema, near Johannesburg.

In New Brighton in Cape province, a guard was reported wounded when a black man threw a hand grenade at the home of a minister in a clash between rival anti-apartheid groups.

In Johannesburg, an explosion rocked the 15th floor of an office building at the luxury Carlton Center--the same building bombed two years ago during a flare-up of racial and political unrest.