Pretoria Told Sanctions Veto Would Not Hold

A White House spokesman confirmed Sunday that the United States has told South Africa that President Reagan will not be able to sustain a veto of economic sanctions against the Pretoria government unless it speeds up movement away from its policy of racial segregation.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Larry Speakes said that South African officials, faced with ever-mounting opposition to apartheid, are taking public opinion in the United States and other foreign countries into account in seeking to defuse their country’s racial tensions.

Vacation at Ranch

Speakes spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One as Reagan flew here for a vacation at his ranch that is scheduled to last until Labor Day, interrupted only by a brief visit to Los Angeles.

Although the tense South African situation is expected to be one of the chief items on his business agenda during the next few days, the President is expected to spend much of his time relaxing at the ranch and completing his recovery from his July surgery for cancer. Administration officials expect some word from South Africa, perhaps later this week, on what it proposes to do to ease the racial crisis.

Robert C. McFarlane, the White House national security adviser, met with Foreign Minister Roelof F. (Pik) Botha and other South African officials last week in Vienna. Speakes on Sunday confirmed reports that the U.S. representatives came out of the meetings persuaded that South Africans no longer believe they can maintain their rigid apartheid system unchanged.

Contending that there has also been “a lack of in-depth understanding in the United States of the complexities of the South African problem,” Speakes refused to say how the anticipated reforms might affect Reagan’s attitude toward U.S. sanctions against the South African government.

Both the House and Senate have approved economic sanctions, and the issue is expected to reach Reagan’s desk soon after Congress reconvenes in September. The President has refused to say whether he will veto the measure, and Speakes reiterated Sunday that the Administration intends to continue with its policy of “constructive engagement,” saying once again that it presents the only way for Washington to have influence upon the South African government.

Reagan’s decision on whether he will veto sanctions, Speakes added, will depend upon his “own personal opinions . . . the pros and cons of sanctions . . . the advisability of the legislation.”

Since the two days of meetings between U.S. and South African officials in Vienna, there has been speculation that the Pretoria government’s expected move to soften its policy has been fostered by the prospect of Congress’ pushing the sanctions through, even in the face of a presidential veto.

The meetings were requested by the South Africans, and Administration sources said the two sides discussed in some detail possible avenues toward easing the tensions that have produced continued rioting in black and Indian areas.

This week’s issue of U.S. News & World Report magazine says that South African President Pieter W. Botha is considering proposals to bring blacks into the national government and to hold a summit meeting with representatives of the country’s racial groups to negotiate their participation in the government.

Despite the South African crisis, White House officials have made it clear that the President plans to spend much of the remainder of this month relaxing and regaining his strength after his intestinal surgery. To emphasize the point, Speakes declared in Washington last week that he intends to brief reporters only three times each week instead of appearing for the customary session each day.