Jackson Visits S. Africa, Hopes to See Mandela

Jesse Jackson, beginning a visit to South Africa, said today that he hopes to see Nelson R. Mandela “walking down the streets of Johannesburg” before his 12-day trip ends.

The U.S. civil rights leader, granted a visa by the government after several rejections in the last decade, planned to meet President Frederik W. de Klerk and Foreign Minister Roelof (Pik) Botha as well as with leaders of the anti-apartheid movement.

At an airport news conference, Jackson declined to say if he had requested a meeting with Mandela, the African National Congress leader who is expected to be released soon, after more than 27 years in prison.

“I have no commitment from the government to meet him,” Jackson said. “I hope to see him walking down the streets of Johannesburg. The whole world hopes to see him free.”

In a widely hailed speech on Friday, De Klerk lifted a 30-year ban on the ANC, scrapped other restrictive measures and pledged to free Mandela promptly.

“This is a moment in South Africa’s history that must be seized,” Jackson said. “If the government moves back, there will be chaos. . . . But if the government seizes the political moment and moves forward, we will see the dawn of a new, free and democratic South Africa.”

He said he had set two goals for the trip--to encourage unity among black political factions and to “address the unfounded fears of the whites.”

Asked whether he favors continuation of sanctions against South Africa, he replied: “The real issue is to end apartheid. Sanctions will end with apartheid.”

De Klerk gave “a great speech,” he said, but “apartheid is still in place. . . . Nelson Mandela is still in jail.”

The Afrikaner Resistance Movement, a neo-Nazi white supremacist group, has threatened to mount protests against Jackson, but only a handful of right-wing demonstrators were seen at the airport and they obeyed police orders to avoid displaying placards.

Jackson and his wife, Jackie, were welcomed by senior leaders of the anti-apartheid movement, including Walter Sisulu, an ANC colleague of Mandela, and church leaders Allan Boesak and Frank Chikane.