Mandela Given Hero’s Welcome by 120,000 Gathered in Soweto

Nelson R. Mandela came home a hero today, welcomed after nearly three decades by an ecstatic throng of more than 120,000 blacks who delighted in his freedom but also heard him mourn the oppression of apartheid.

At what the independent South African Press Assn. called the largest political rally ever in southern Africa, Mandela exhorted a throng of blacks at the country’s largest stadium to end their factional disputes, take control of a crisis-ridden school system and work with discipline to end white-minority rule.

Some spectators came six hours early to get seats, and the 80,000-seat stadium was overflowing by the time Mandela arrived. Youths perched precariously on wall tops, others scaled 120-foot-high light towers, and more than 30 people were injured as crowds shoved and pushed to get a view of the podium.

An explosion of joy shook the stadium when Mandela, 71, emerged from an underground walkway, saluting with a raised fist.

“Mandela! Mandela!” the crowd roared as he slowly walked around the field, flanked by top leaders of his African National Congress and other anti-apartheid groups. People thrust fists into the air and danced as Mandela passed them.

“Today, my return to Soweto fills my heart with joy,” Mandela said. “At the same time, I have returned with a deep sense of sadness that you are still suffering under an unjust system.”

In Cape Town, the government issued its first formal response to Mandela’s statements since his release Sunday after more than 27 years in prison.

Constitutional Development Minister Gerrit Viljoen said the government agreed with Mandela that apartheid must be eliminated and voting rights extended to blacks. But he criticized Mandela’s support for continued guerrilla violence and economic sanctions.

“The government is not prepared to accede to the handing over of power,” Viljoen said. “If that is the goal of the armed struggle, then there is no meaningful way ahead.”

Mandela, speaking from a podium on the playing field, said the thought of returning to Soweto helped him endure his years in prison, serving a life term for starting the ANC’s guerrilla war.

In his nearly 30-minute speech, Mandela deplored the poverty and suffering endured by many in Soweto, a sprawling township of 2.5 million people that has been a home base for the anti-apartheid movement.

He said the ANC will “continue the armed struggle as long as the violence of apartheid continues.” He also condemned black-against-black violence, saying it had weakened the fight against apartheid.