S. Africa to Integrate Some Movie Theaters

The white minority government, continuing to inch toward reform, today announced that it will begin integrating movie theaters and plans eventually to integrate all bars and restaurants.

The movie theater reform will allow theater operators in some major city centers to apply for special permits to admit black viewers. The reform is similar to an earlier one which allows some hotels and restaurants--generally the more expensive ones--to admit nonwhite customers.

The proposal to integrate all bars and restaurants will require legislative action. No time frame was announced.

Today’s change follows appeals by major movie chains to let them admit nonwhites to city center movies in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and the Natal provincial capital of Pietermaritzburg.

The government statement did not say which city centers will be affected by the change. There was no immediate reaction to the step.

Leading South African businessmen earlier today urged faster reform and negotiations between the white-separatist government and black leaders to prevent a further escalation of violence in the country.

Speakers representing both black and white industrial and commercial bodies told a news conference that only a clear undertaking by the government in conjunction with accepted black leaders that apartheid would be eliminated would satisfy both domestic and international pressures.

A joint statement by five business groups, including the black National African Federation of Chambers of Commerce, was issued on the return of a delegation that met various bodies in Europe and the United States and made representations to the United Nations.

Delivering the statement, Raymond Parsons, chief executive of the Assn. of Chambers of Commerce, said that overseas “the general perception is that the relatively peaceful option is fast receding and that substantial further escalation of violence is very likely.”