White Anti-Apartheid Party in S. Africa Elects New Leader

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A senior executive of South Africa’s largest conglomerate was elected Friday as leader of the anti-apartheid Progressive Federal Party.

Zach de Beer, 59, succeeds Colin Eglin as head of the biggest white party opposed to racial segregation.

“Policies based on freedom and dignity can work,” De Beer told a news conference. “They represent the true alternative to the chronic conflict and creeping poverty which are the only present prospect.”

Eglin stepped aside as party leader but is keeping his seat in Parliament and was elected Friday to the subordinate post of party chairman.

De Beer said he will resign from his posts as executive director the Anglo American Corp. and chairman of the Southern Life Assn, an insurance company affiliated with Anglo.

He served in Parliament from 1953 to 1961 and is expected to run again for Parliament as soon as a relatively safe seat becomes vacant, either in a special or general election.

In his acceptance speech at the party’s federal congress in Cape Town, De Beer acknowledged that the party faced difficulties after suffering serious setbacks in the 1987 general election. He said he would seek alliances with anyone who shared the party’s values.

“I want to see a large, growing party composed of those who strive for equal rights, individual freedom and the sovereignty of the law.” he said.

He said President Pieter W. Botha’s policy of limited racial reform, leaving the white minority in control, had no chance of resolving the South Africa’s problems.