Mandela Says Peace Is His Final Goal, but He Won’t Reject Violence

Nelson R. Mandela said today he is committed to seeking peace and racial harmony but defiantly endorsed anti-government violence as a necessary “defensive act” against apartheid.

On his first full day of freedom after his release from 27 years in prison, the 71-year-old black nationalist told a news conference that negotiations between his African National Congress movement and the government could begin “very soon” if President Frederik W. de Klerk continues his peace initiative.

“The state of emergency has to be lifted in its entirety, and political prisoners have to be released,” Mandela told more than 200 reporters assembled on the lawn outside the home of Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

He said he had been conferring with government officials for the past three years on the prospect of negotiations with the ANC, as well as on the issue of freeing political prisoners.

Mandela denied there was any conflict between his commitment to peaceful solutions and his endorsement of the ANC’s guerrilla campaign.

“I have committed myself to the promotion of peace in the country. But I have done so as part and parcel of the decisions and campaign that have been taken by the ANC. . . . The armed struggle is a defensive act against apartheid.”

The ANC’s bombing and sabotage campaign, launched by Mandela and his colleagues in 1961, has been nearly dormant in the past year, although the movement has refused to confirm it is scaling back its military actions.

He reaffirmed his support for continued economic sanctions until the government dismantles the institutionalized racism of apartheid and support for the ANC’s commitment to nationalization of South Africa’s mines.

Mandela said the white government’s intention when it jailed him and other ANC leaders “was that we should be forgotten.”

Instead, his release from prison was covered by journalists from around the world as an epic event that could lead to sweeping political changes in South Africa.

Said Mandela: “I am absolutely excited to be out.”

Later today, Mandela and his family arrived at an isolated airport outside Johannesburg by chartered plane from Cape Town. Mandela and his family drove off in a motorcade, but it was not clear if they would go straight to the black township of Soweto.

At a smaller soccer stadium in Soweto, tens of thousands of blacks packed into the grandstands today and surged onto the field, anticipating mistakenly that Mandela would appear. Dr. Selma Browde, running a first aid station, said several dozen people were treated for minor injuries and dehydration.

Police reported about 30 deaths in unrest around the country since daybreak Sunday, including a clash between police and looters in Cape Town that left one black dead and more than 100 people injured. Early today, a white security guard killed a black man who was among a group carrying bricks and clubs that cornered him, police said.