Reagan May Add Curbs on Pretoria : Airline Restrictions, Cutback in Diplomats Under Consideration

President Reagan, under pressure from Congress to toughen his stance toward South Africa, is expected to announce some additional limited sanctions toward the white minority-led government in a speech Tuesday to foreign policy specialists, White House officials said Friday.

The actions that Reagan will probably announce include ending U.S. landing rights for South African Airways and reducing the number of U.S. diplomatic personnel in Pretoria, the South African capital. These modest steps, however, are not expected to still the congressional cry for stiffer sanctions in the battle against apartheid.

Reagan is also expected to name black businessman Robert J. Brown as ambassador to South Africa in an effort to underscore symbolically his commitment to racial equality. Brown, a North Carolina consultant and public relations executive, would be the first black U.S. ambassador to South Africa.

Opposes Broad Sanctions

The Administration remains opposed to more sweeping sanctions, arguing that they would hurt the people they are trying to help. The steps being considered are viewed by the White House as mild punitive actions that would not create hardship for South African blacks.

In fact, Reagan is likely to call for increased investment in South Africa as a means of maintaining U.S. leverage on the Pretoria regime.

Last September, the President imposed some limited sanctions on the Pretoria regime including a ban on the sale of American computers and computer equipment to South African government agencies that enforce apartheid, such as the police and the military; curbed most American bank loans to Pretoria, and halted the export of nuclear technology. The sale of Krugerrand gold coins in the United States was also banned.

Critics of the Administration’s “constructive engagement” policy have demanded a virtual trade embargo against South Africa. A bill approved by the House of Representatives in June would require U.S. businesses to sell all their assets in South Africa, and legislation pending in the Senate, while less severe, would ban new U.S. investments and bank loans in South Africa and curb that country’s lucrative sales of minerals to the United States.

While “constructive engagement” still appears to be the underpinning of Administration policy, Reagan will call for the opening of a dialogue with the outlawed African National Congress, the main black nationalist organization fighting the Pretoria government.

The decision to have Reagan present the outlines of his revamped policy in a speech to members of the World Affairs Council-Foreign Policy Assn. followed considerable debate within the Administration. White House officials generally opposed a high-profile speech on the grounds that Reagan recently had been out front on several controversial foreign-policy issues and that he risked “cheapening the currency” of the presidency by taking on another so soon.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz is said to believe strongly that Reagan must enlist public support for his measured approach toward South Africa or risk being steamrollered by the increasing congressional demand for Draconian economic sanctions. The White House decided against a prime-time televised address, but Shultz managed to arrange for an afternoon speech in the East Room.

“This is one of the issues where the President is our most important asset and that argument won out,” said a White House official who spoke on the condition that he not be identified.

The anticipated appointment of Brown has drawn criticism from the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other prominent political figures, who accused the Administration of practicing symbolism and tokenism at the expense of real policy changes.

(The Washington Post reported Friday night that Brown’s name had been withdrawn from a draft of the Reagan speech. Quoting unnamed sources, the paper said the action appeared to be related to rumors circulating about whether Brown had been involved in questionable deals to sell rice to Nigeria. Brown denied the reports, the paper said.)