20,000 March With Tutu, White Mayor : Cape Town Protest of Police Brutality Had Official OK

More than 20,000 people joined Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Cape Town’s white mayor today in a march protesting police brutality after the government ordered police to allow the demonstration.

It was one of the largest anti-government marches ever in South Africa and the only one in recent years to receive official authorization.

“We have scored a great victory for justice and peace,” Tutu told a crowd of white, black and mixed-race protesters who packed City Hall after the march.

He said acting President Frederik W. de Klerk should have been present “to see what this country is going to become . . . a Technicolor country.”

Freedom Songs, Banners

After singing “We Shall Overcome,” jubilant marchers set off in rows of six from St. George’s Anglican Cathedral along a major downtown street behind Tutu, Mayor Gordon Oliver and the Rev. Allan Boesak, president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

Youths chanted freedom songs and waved banners that said, “Peace in Our City!” and “Stop Killing Our People!”

The parade ended at City Hall, where about 1,800 people managed to squeeze inside and about 20,000 others stood outside in a parking lot.

Police let the march proceed unhindered, a sharp contrast to protest marches two weeks ago in Cape Town that were broken up by riot squads using whips, batons and a water cannon that sprayed purple-dyed water.

Use of Force Denounced

Tutu and other activists have denounced the use of force against peaceful protesters. They have also blamed police for the deaths of at least 23 people in Cape Town’s black and mixed-race townships during violent protest of the Sept. 6 parliamentary elections, which excluded blacks.

Police defended their actions and said only about 15 people died, most in clashes not involving policemen.

Protest demonstrations normally are outlawed in South Africa, and the Cape Town police commander, Maj. Gen. Phillipus Fourie, had vowed last week that he would stop the march. However, Cape Town’s white mayor said today that he had appealed to the national government and received permission for the march.