Freed Black Leader Challenges S. Africa to Legalize Opposition

A black nationalist leader freed after 12 years in prison Monday challenged the government to legalize outlawed black opposition groups.

Zeph Mothopeng also urged blacks to unite, and he called for freedom of all jailed activists, including his rival, Nelson R. Mandela.

“Long live the Pan-Africanist Congress!” supporters chanted as the ailing 75-year-old president of the banned organization arrived for a news conference. It was his first public appearance since 1976.

The government said it freed him unconditionally Saturday for humanitarian reasons.

For years, followers of Mothopeng’s group have been at ideological odds with Mandela’s African National Congress. Both organizations train guerrillas to fight white-minority domination. But the Pan-Africanists favor black self-reliance, while the larger African National Congress supports a multiracial approach.

Mothopeng, who quit the ANC in 1959, adopted a conciliatory tone Monday.

“My first task, which I am going to do everything in my powers to discharge, is to unite the African people,” he said. “We don’t look at the color of a person--we consider his convictions.”

In calling for the release of jailed activists, Mothopeng named Mandela and fellow Pan-Africanist leader Jess Masemola “as symbols of all other prisoners of conscience who should be out here and working for the return of our land.”

“They should be released not on the grounds of compassion or mercy but because they are held illegitimately,” he said.

Mothopeng has been seriously ill for months with cancer of the thymus gland, but he said he will remain active politically.

‘A Direct Challenge’

“I issue a direct challenge to (President P. W.) Botha,” he said. “Let him unban the PAC and all other political organizations.”

Mothopeng urged foreign countries to intensify economic, cultural and sporting boycotts of South Africa until the government makes major political concessions. Currently, the black majority has no vote in national affairs.

He declined to assess political changes during his imprisonment, when the government claimed significant reforms.

But Mothopeng warned: “I am calling on the international community not to be fooled by cosmetic change. The only item we are prepared to negotiate is the return of the land and the wealth to its rightful owners.”.

The simultaneous, unconditional releases of Mothopeng and longtime ANC member Harry Gwala, 69, were the latest in a series of government moves aimed partly at improving its international standing.