S. Africa Woos Black Nations in Wake of Namibia Accord

The husky white diplomat sped into town from his South African jet, past the big road sign reading “Apartheid Is a Crime Against Humanity,” and embraced a roomful of black dignitaries as “my African brothers.”

Afterward, at the presidential palace, he cracked open a case of South African wine and poured glassfuls of hints to his French-speaking hosts: How about putting this fine wine on the store shelves here?

The polite, if chilled, response: The Congo has quite enough wine already, Mr. Minister.

Here in the middle of black Africa, people still aren’t quite sure what to make of the friendly hug they got recently from South Africa’s foreign minister and international pitchman, Roelof F. (Pik) Botha, in town for the ceremonial signing of a peace protocol with Angola and Cuba.

“I don’t think many of us consider Pik Botha, or any white South African, our brother,” one Congolese official said later. “But it was interesting to hear him.”

South Africa has become an ardent suitor of black nations all across this vast continent in recent months, desperately trying to break its political isolation and win acceptance from vocal critics of its white minority-led government and apartheid system of racial separation.

And South Africa’s willingness to grant independence to Namibia, as well as a trend toward pragmatism over ideology among Africa’s black leaders, has at least a few African officials rethinking their attitude toward what they still routinely call the “racist regime.”

Door Creaked Open

A white South African would not have been welcome in this Marxist country before a few months ago, for instance. The door creaked open when South Africa changed its stand on Namibia, agreeing to leave the territory it has ruled for 73 years if Cuba withdrew its 50,000 troops from Angola.

Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso offered to host the U.S.-mediated peace negotiations, and delegations from South Africa, Cuba and Angola gathered for five rounds of talks in this Congo River city.

The South Africans, encouraged by the show of good will, brought commercial officers to discuss future trade deals with the Congo.

It turned out that although this tiny oil-producing country was pleased to host the peace initiative, it was considerably less enthusiastic about buying South African goods. The stores here are well-stocked with much more expensive goods imported from France, the former colonial power.

‘More Amazement Than Anger’

“A lot of people here are not particularly enchanted with the idea of South Africans being here, and nobody is going to show up to wave flags for them,” one Western diplomat in Brazzaville said recently. “But the initial reaction of most people has been more amazement than anger.”

Indeed, the Congolese could not hide their curiosity when Botha and Defense Minister Magnus Malan, followed by several dozen South African reporters, arrived to sign the Angola-Namibia peace protocol.

Taking his turn at the podium, Botha pleaded for an African unity that would include South Africa.

“My country wants to be accepted by our African brothers,” Botha said. “We all have tremendous problems. We were never given the opportunity to catch up with the industrialized powers. They make us pay for their fridges and their cars. The time has come for all of us in Africa to stand together economically.”

Botha’s lament echoed Africa’s own. Black rulers in Africa frequently blame the developed world for their lack of economic self-sufficiency. But those leaders point the same finger at South Africa, the most industrialized and self-sufficient country in sub-Saharan Africa. Much of southern Africa, in fact, is heavily dependent on South Africa’s goods and its transportation routes.

Civility as Success

Botha did not win many converts among the audience that day, but being allowed to make a speech in black Africa at all was considered significant by image-conscious South African diplomats, who tend to regard even civility as a success.

Earlier this year, a charter plane carrying Pik Botha was granted permission to fly over Uganda and the Sudan on its way to a round of the peace talks in Cairo. The South African Press Assn. ran a story heralding the one-time diplomatic breakthrough. (South Africa’s state airline is denied permission to enter much of Africa’s airspace.)

Since then, though, South Africa has had more concrete diplomatic achievements to tout. President Pieter W. Botha made state visits to Mozambique, Malawi, Ivory Coast and Zaire in recent months and declared: “Africa is talking to South Africa.”

Three of those countries have long had economic--and, in Malawi’s case, diplomatic--ties with South Africa. However, improving relations with Mozambique, a Marxist neighbor long hostile but economically linked to Pretoria, may help President Botha challenge countries that are hoping to further isolate South Africa with punitive sanctions.

Secret Trips

South African diplomats have made secret trips to several African countries, including the Central African Republic, to brief leaders on the progress of the Angolan peace talks. Pretoria also quietly trades with smaller countries, such as Gabon, Cape Verde and Equatorial Guinea.

The outlawed African National Congress, the principal guerrilla group fighting the government in Pretoria, argues that President Botha’s initiatives in Africa are designed to “win the legitimacy and respectability denied him by the overwhelming majority of our people.”

In a statement last October, the exiled group urged black leaders in Africa to “slam their doors in Botha’s face and intensify all measures for the isolation of Pretoria.” The statement continued:

“Now is not the time to open up to Pretoria. Those who do so, whatever their intentions might be, are postponing the day when Botha will be forced to speak to the real leaders of our people.”

Many countries in Africa provide refuge for the guerrilla group, which maintains military training camps in Angola, a large school in Tanzania, a headquarters in Zambia and safehouses in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Some nations, such as Nigeria and Mali, close their doors to anyone with the words “South Africa” stamped anywhere in their passports.

South Africans travel freely in a few neighboring countries, but their green passports are barred from most of the continent.

In Kenya, for example, resident foreigners must submit to a lengthy interrogation and pay a $65 fee to obtain permission to travel to South Africa.

Barriers to Travel

Even though there are daily, nonstop flights between Nairobi and Johannesburg, Kenyan immigration officials routinely make it difficult for passengers traveling to Johannesburg. Occasionally, officials demand bribes. Passengers arriving in Nairobi from Johannesburg must be able to prove they were in South Africa only to change planes.

Many African leaders consider South Africa a dangerous, destabilizing force in Africa. Pretoria has kept thousands of troops stationed in Namibia and, like the United States, has supported rebels trying to overthrow the Soviet-supported government in Angola. Western military analysts say it also has provided substantial support for rebels fighting the government in Mozambique. Pretoria denies that charge.

But South Africa’s sudden willingness to allow free elections in Namibia surprised many countries in Africa.

Namibia is a vast, mineral-rich territory, sometimes called the last colony of Africa, lying between South Africa and Angola. A decade ago, the United Nations called for independent elections in Namibia, and until recently the South Africans had defied the U.N. resolution.

Pretoria announced earlier this year that it would be willing to grant Namibia, which it calls South-West Africa, independence if Cuba would agree to withdraw its troops from Angola. Pretoria has justified its presence in Namibia by saying that the presence of Cuban soldiers and Soviet equipment in Angola was a threat to South Africa’s national security.

Looking for More

But many African countries will need more than South Africa’s peace initiatives to embrace Pretoria.

“We look at it as two halves of a cake,” said Lawrence Oyelakin, ambassador to the Congo for Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.

“The Angolan talks and the Brazzaville agreement are good for Africa,” Oyelakin said. “But until South Africa starts talking to its own people, I don’t think many people in Africa will want to talk to South Africa.”