Commitment Stronger, Freed S. Africans Say

Walter Sisulu and six other graying leaders of the outlawed African National Congress, on their first day of freedom, told cheering supporters Sunday that their commitment to the black liberation struggle had grown in prison, and they called for major government concessions as a precondition for negotiations.

The government release of eight prisoners--including the ANC military wing’s former high command--after a quarter-century in prison “is the kind of half-measure that we feel always does great harm to the country,” the 77-year-old Sisulu said. “It is even short of our most elementary demand--the release of Nelson Mandela.”

The leaders’ remarks marked the first news conference sponsored by the ANC inside South Africa since it was banned in 1960.

“It is (our) duty to continue the struggle for freedom and pressure the government in every possible way in an orderly and disciplined manner,” Sisulu said.

Asked if he still supports the ANC’s armed liberation struggle, which he helped lead, Sisulu said the ANC favors orderly change.

“We did not adopt violence because of choice, but because the ruling class was adamant in refusing to allow the people of South Africa to be free,” he said. But, he added, “unless we ourselves are disciplined, we can forget about seeing Comrade Mandela again.”

Tears streamed down the faces of some of the 500 supporters in the Holy Cross church hall in Soweto as the freed men raised clenched fists and led them in singing “God Bless Africa,” the anthem of the anti-apartheid movement. On the platform were dozens of key anti-apartheid figures, including Winnie Mandela, wife of the 71-year-old leader, who remains in prison.

Sisulu, a former secretary general of the ANC, also delivered a message of hope for the liberation movement, saying he and the others have been heartened by the progress of anti-apartheid forces and expect to see a black government in South Africa “within my lifetime.”

“Our dedication and determination has not been weakened by the long years of our imprisonment,” said Sisulu, who had not been heard or seen in public in South Africa since he was sentenced to life in prison with Mandela and eight others in 1964. “On the contrary, we have been strengthened by the developments in the country and by our own clear vision and confidence in the future of South Africa.”

The eight prisoners released at dawn Sunday included seven leaders of the ANC, the primary guerrilla group fighting white minority-led rule, and one from the smaller Pan Africanist Congress. Each had been convicted of political crimes, ranging from terrorism to anti-government sabotage, and all except one was serving a life sentence.

They were greeted with embraces and sobs of joy at their homes, freshly painted and scrubbed clean for their expected arrival. Hundreds of activists, many of them born after the men went to prison, gathered at the men’s houses to sing ANC songs and shake their hands.

“It’s difficult to describe how I feel,” said Sisulu, standing arm-in-arm with his wife, Albertina, outside his home early Sunday. “I am inspired by the mood of the people.”

“We came to welcome the father,” said Flora Kotsi, a 25-year-old college student who was waiting at Sisulu’s house when a police convoy dropped the him off at 5:30 a.m. “I wanted to see him, just to touch him.”

All seven ANC members later appeared with Sisulu at the news conference and rally, taking turns to praise their supporters for carrying on the struggle and maintaining pressure on the government to win their release.

“You people of South Africa have built that little organization we left behind into the mighty force it is today,” said 60-year-old Ahmed Kathrada, convicted with Mandela and Sisulu in 1964. “You have thought of the people in prison as heroes, but you are the heroes.”

President Frederik W. de Klerk, who announced last Tuesday that he intended to release the men, has launched a broad effort to bring leaders of the 26-million black majority to the negotiating table. He said his decision to release the men came after consultations between government officials and Mandela, whose own freedom has been made a precondition for negotiations by most black leaders.

But anti-apartheid leaders have said that Pretoria must first loosen its clamp on black political activity by lifting the three-year-old state of emergency, lifting the ban on the ANC and other organizations, freeing the remaining political prisoners and removing restrictions on about 400 black activists.

Sisulu repeated those demands Sunday, saying that De Klerk “must make visible efforts to create the climate of negotiation.” He added that Mandela had told him and his colleagues that they should “continue with the struggle, in the interests of peace, until he is out of prison and all prisoners are out.”

“If the government doesn’t meet our demands, we have no alternative but to continue to fight for our freedom,” added Andrew Mlangeni, 63, another of Mandela’s co-defendants in 1964.

The freed men said their future political role would be determined by the exiled ANC and anti-apartheid leaders inside the country. They plan to apply for passports to travel to the ANC headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia.

The men’s repeated references to the need for order and discipline in the movement suggested that they would shy away from direct confrontations with the authorities in the coming days.

The government has said that future prisoner releases would depend on the behavior of the newly freed men, and De Klerk has said he might be forced to restrict their activities to protect public order.

The others freed Sunday were Japhta Masemola, 58; Elias Mostsoaledi, 65; Raymond Mhlaba, 68; Wilton Mkwayi, 67; and Oscar Mpetha, 80. Mpetha had been serving a five-year sentence for terrorism.