Boycott Spurs New Violence in S. Africa : Wife of No. 1 Jailed Dissenter in Hiding After Raid on Home

Police today fought street battles with black youths near the port city of Durban, an area previously unaffected by months of black rioting.

Meanwhile, Winnie Mandela, wife of South Africa’s top jailed black leader, Nelson Mandela, went into hiding after a police raid left her home in the Orange Free State a shambles, her lawyer said.

The eastern port city of Durban had been relatively calm through nearly a year of protests against apartheid.

During the night, youths burned down a school administration office in the township of Umlazi near Durban and set fire to the homes of two principals who refused to observe a three-day school boycott that began today.

Police said that a number of shops were looted and that officers used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse gangs of youths.

Not Covered by Emergency

Durban is not covered by the state of emergency imposed July 21 in 36 communities.

The trouble apparently stemmed from the slaying last Thursday of Victoria Nonyamezelo Mxenge, a prominent black activist lawyer. Opposition groups have charged that her slaying was the work of a pro-government death squad.

Police said a black youth was shot and killed in Kwa-Mashu township outside Durban on Tuesday.

Police headquarters in Pretoria said early today that the number of people detained under emergency powers has fallen. Twenty-two more people had been detained during the previous 24 hours and 342 people were released, police said.

That cut the number of those still held to 862. Police have rounded up a total of 1,459 anti-apartheid activists and released 597 of them.

3-Day University Boycott

In Cape Town, about 2,000 University of Cape Town students called a three-day boycott beginning today to protest the state of emergency. The student body of about 12,000 is nearly all white.

In Johannesburg, lawyer Halton Cheadle said a $1-million civil suit will be filed against the government on behalf of victims of one of the bloodiest incidents in the recent racial strife.

He said the plaintiffs included the families of 20 blacks killed when police opened fire on black marchers near Uitenhage and 36 blacks who were wounded in the incident on March 21.

Lawyer Ismail Ayob said Winnie Mandela, a prominent anti-apartheid activist, took refuge in a “safe place” the day after police fired tear gas into her home in Brandfort to drive out demonstrators who took refuge there.

Winnie Mandela, who was out of town during the attack, is the wife of the jailed president of the African National Congress guerrilla group.

‘Violence ... Excessive’

“It seems to me from what happened in the house that the violence was excessive, and that is why I am afraid for Mrs. Mandela,” Ayob said.

He said her 20-month-old grandson was missing after Tuesday’s raid but was found “some time later” wandering down a nearby street and is now with relatives.