South Africa Clamps Down on Neighbors : Inspections Delay Cargo at Border After Approval of Sanctions

The South African government, which promised retaliation for foreign sanctions, today began time-consuming inspections of truck cargo from its black neighbors.

Freight agents in South Africa and Zimbabwe said the checks were causing long delays at the Beit Bridge border crossing between the two countries as inspectors unpacked trucks coming from Zimbabwe, Zaire and Zambia.

Similar cargo checks were reported at the border with Botswana. All four countries make heavy use of South African ports for their imports and exports.

“The screws are undoubtedly being tightened,” said Alan Cowell, executive director of the South African Assn. of Freight Forwarders.

Defended as Part of Study

However, Dean Colesky, South Africa’s commissioner of customs and excise, said the checks were being made for a statistical survey.

The checks began one day after six Commonwealth countries adopted harsh sanctions against South Africa to protest apartheid. Leaders of the six countries--Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, India, Zambia and Zimbabwe--decided on the measures at a London summit at which Britain agreed only to limited sanctions.

The pro-government South African Broadcasting Corp. today said Western nations that support anti-apartheid sanctions are hypocrites, and a commentary distributed by the government called the measures racist.

Dared Nations to Act

Foreign Minister Roelof F. (Pik) Botha on Tuesday dared Zimbabwe and Zambia to impose sanctions against South Africa and said levies and controls would be imposed on their imports.

Both countries have urged the West to impose economic sanctions against South Africa, but both are landlocked and depend heavily on South Africa for trade and transportation links.

Colesky said today that levies of 3% to 100% had taken effect Monday on imports to Zambia, but said the levies were instituted because of customs fraud, not because of Zambia’s stance on sanctions.

He said the levies were refundable once the imports reach the country of destination and would be imposed on goods of any country linked to customs fraud.

West Accused of Hypocrisy

The South African Broadcasting Corp. accused the West of hypocrisy by selecting sanctions that would not affect its own needs.

“Studiously screened from the sanctions list are such strategic or critical minerals as vanadium, platinum, chrome and gold, of which South Africa is the Western world’s major supplier and which are indispensable in a wide range of manufacturing and industrial uses,” it said.

The government’s Bureau for Information distributed the English translation of two commentaries in an Afrikaans newspaper that questioned the human rights record of India and black-ruled African nations and accused the West of racism toward white South Africans.

“There is . . . the argument that the whites should be punished,” the Beeld newspaper said. “What would the whites, who are championing the cause of the UDF (the United Democratic Front anti-apartheid group) have to say about that? They believe they have served the best cause, and are being punished simply because their skins are white.”