U.S. Envoy Will Return to Post in South Africa

The Reagan Administration announced Friday that Ambassador Herman W. Nickel will return to his post in South Africa until further notice, despite his request to be replaced as soon as possible.

The announcement was made after Terence A. Todman, the ambassador to Denmark and the leading candidate to replace Nickel, took the unusual step of suggesting, at a press conference in Copenhagen, that the Administration should adopt a policy for South Africa that “commands the respect” of blacks as well as whites before seeking a new ambassador there.

White House spokesman Peter Roussel said Todman’s remarks “had more to do with criticizing the perception of the policy, which he described as a clear and strong one, than with the policy itself.”

Defends Reagan Stand

Roussel defended the Administration’s opposition to sanctions as a means of forcing South Africa’s white government to put an end to apartheid, the system of racial segregation.

Todman’s remarks, couched in diplomatic language, attributed the negative reaction to the Administration’s policy largely to the fact that “the world has become fixed on sanctions.”

He said President Reagan’s call for the release of all political prisoners in South Africa, including the black nationalist leader Nelson Mandela, had been lost in the call for sanctions.

At the State Department, spokesman Charles Redman said Todman feels that his remarks were distorted. Redman, who spoke with Todman on Friday by telephone, said press accounts of his comments were “based on one sentence taken out of context.”

Policy Not Credible

Todman did not align himself with the pro-sanctions movement, but he said that the Administration’s policy as it now stands is not credible and that no one should undertake the assignment as ambassador until a new policy is established.

“I think that once we have a policy that finds credibility with the South Africans, with the people of Southern Africa and with the rest of the world, then we can start thinking about who is the very best person to go to South Africa to implement that policy,” Todman said. “I don’t think that we are at that stage yet, and until we get at that stage, I’m very happy here in Denmark.”

Todman was the second candidate to have stirred controversy over the post of ambassador to South Africa. North Carolina businessman Robert J. Brown called a press conference last month to take his name out of contention after questions were raised about his business practices.

Tokenism Charge

The White House had turned to Brown and Todman largely because they are black and would underscore the U.S. commitment to racial equality. While the idea of sending a black ambassador to South Africa won praise when it was raised, the Administration has since been accused of pursuing tokenism over substantive change.

With the announcement that Nickel will return to Pretoria, where he has served for four years, the White House appeared to be putting the matter on hold.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, speaking Friday on the plane taking him from Colombia, where he attended the inaugural of President Virgilio Barco Vargas, to his home in Palo Alto, commented: “Other things being equal, there’s a fair amount to be said for having a black ambassador. But the important thing is to have a competent ambassador.”

Nickel was one of the architects of the Administration’s controversial policy of “constructive engagement,” which advocates diplomatic pressure on the South African government instead of a confrontational approach through economic sanctions. Although the policy remains intact, top officials no longer use the term constructive engagement.

Result of Policy Review

Abandoning the term was one of the few tangible results to emerge from a policy review conducted earlier this summer by the White House.

Also, the Administration said it would increase its contacts with the African National Congress, the black political organization that has been banned in South Africa because of its alleged terrorist activities.

If ANC leader Oliver Tambo attends the opening of the U.N. General Assembly in New York in September, Shultz would be willing to meet with him, a White House official said, adding, “But nobody’s going to go out of their way to arrange a meeting.”

The Administration’s reluctance to get too close to the ANC stems from the organization’s refusal to denounce violence as a means of overturning the apartheid system.

“We’re not going to help the bomb throwers,” the White House official said, speaking on the condition that he not be identified. “We’re not going to aid them in an armed struggle.”