Howe Pessimistic on His Chances of Aiding Peace in South Africa

British Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe expressed pessimism about his South African mission for the first time Friday, saying it may be left to another man to pave the way for peace.

Howe was speaking to reporters on his plane as more signs emerged that the South African government was taking a firm line on his demands to free black nationalist Nelson Mandela and lift the ban on opposition groups.

“What I do may not in the end be enough to light the way to the top of the mountain. But somebody, somewhere, sometime, is going to get the case for peace and dialogue accepted,” said Howe, who returned to Pretoria on Friday after visiting Zambia and Botswana.

Trying to Mediate

The British minister was trying to mediate between the South African government and the black majority on behalf of the 12-nation European Communities.

As Howe left Lusaka for Botswana, Zambian President Kenneth D. Kaunda, who Thursday night savagely attacked the mission, said Howe had extracted no concessions from South African President Pieter W. Botha at their meeting Wednesday.

“I can see no succor, no hope at all from what Sir Geoffrey told me,” Kaunda told reporters.

In Gaborone, Botswanan President Quett Masire told Howe that his desperately poor country is already being strangled economically by South Africa, British officials said.

Dependent on South Africa

Masire explained that his landlocked country is totally dependent for trade links on South Africa’s road system.

As a so-called front-line state, Botswana would not advise the West against imposing economic sanctions against South Africa, the officials said.

But neither would it advocate them, recognizing that South African countermeasures could bring economic ruin to its neighbors, they said.

A Botswanan government statement issued after the minister’s visit said his talks in Gaborone “centered around the pressing need for dialogue between the South African government and the leaders of the majority in South Africa, including the African National Congress, in order to reduce the amount of violence and bring an end to apartheid.”

Howe said his mission needs “a leap of imagination” from Pretoria if it is to succeed.

“The question is whether those responsible in South Africa can summon up the necessary courage to take the steps I have been urging on them--set free the leaders of the black people, including Nelson Mandela, remove the restrictions on their political parties and have the courage to enter into a dialogue,” he said.