Most Fetes Banned as Mandela Turns 70

Nelson R. Mandela, the imprisoned black nationalist leader, turned 70 years old Monday amid a nationwide, police-enforced ban on celebrations of his birthday and an unprecedented call for his release from a pro-government newspaper.

Beeld, the country’s largest Afrikaans-language daily, argued in an editorial that Mandela has, in his 26 years behind bars, “acquired a status that is larger than life,” which he would have difficulty maintaining out of jail.

As evidence, it cited the hundreds of thousands of birthday wishes Mandela has received from around the world in recent days.

The government and white South Africans, Beeld continued, “have suffered more from his imprisonment than Mr. Mandela and his following. If a more suitable time for his release is awaited, we can state now that time will never come.”

‘Could Trigger Uprising’

But the government quickly quashed any hopes of Mandela’s release, asserting that freeing the African National Congress leader could trigger civil uprising, violence and terrorism.

“His release is not, at the moment, a possibility,” Stoffel van der Merwe, the minister of information, declared in an interview Monday night on the nation’s main television news program.

“We have to take into account that he is an old man, and we have to look at humanitarian issues,” Van der Merwe said, speaking in Afrikaans. “But we have to look at what will happen in the country if we release him.”

Dozens of world leaders renewed calls Monday for Mandela’s release, and activities marking the day were held in some 30 countries.

But South African authorities have prevented nearly all celebrations in recent days, detaining organizers, banning several outdoor concerts and rousting about 500 people Sunday from an indoor concert at a Cape Town university. However, security officials did not halt a service Monday at the University of the Western Cape attended by more than 1,000 students.

The authorities even obtained a court order banning a weekend soccer game and barbecue at a private home in Honeydew, a white community 20 miles northwest of Johannesburg. Police set up roadblocks around the house to question guests who, not knowing the event had been canceled, showed up anyway.

‘Certainly No Threat’

“We were certainly no threat to public safety. It was just to be a fun day for family and friends,” said Miranda Harris, a free-lance television producer and host of the barbecue. The guests were to include Mandela’s wife, Winnie.

At a news conference Monday, Winnie Mandela said she was grateful for the birthday wishes from around the world but disappointed that the South African government had banned the local celebrations.

“We had every intention of conveying a message of good will,” she said.

The Mandelas had turned down a special government offer for a six-hour family visit at Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town. Mandela is allowed 30 visits of 40 minutes each per year, with no more than two people at a time.

Mandela, an international symbol of black resistance to apartheid, is serving a life sentence for sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. By all accounts, he is in excellent mental and physical shape. He spends several hours each day on an exercise bicycle, reads newspapers and closely follows political developments.

President Pieter W. Botha has offered several times to release Mandela if he renounces violence. Mandela, a lawyer, has said he will do so only if the ban on the African National Congress is lifted and apartheid is dismantled.