Mandela Meets With Parliament Opposition Leaders

Black nationalist leader Nelson R. Mandela met Friday with parliamentary opposition leaders at his home in the black township of Soweto, while more than 1,500 anti-apartheid demonstrators staged a pro-democracy protest in downtown Johannesburg.

Officials of the Democratic Party, the main white anti-apartheid party, and the United Democratic Front, an anti-apartheid coalition, joined the leader of Parliament’s mixed-race chamber in an hourlong discussion with Mandela.

Afterward, Democratic Party leader Denis Worrall said that there was agreement on the need for universal voting rights but conceded that differences remain with Mandela, who heads the African National Congress, over such issues as guerrilla violence, economic sanctions and nationalization.

The Rev. Allan Hendrickse, leader of the mixed-race chamber, said after the meeting that the ANC and the Labor Party, which controls that chamber, would be able to work together. The ANC has urged boycotts of elections for the mixed-race and Asian chambers of Parliament, saying their creation was part of an effort to entrench the exclusion of blacks.

Later, hundreds of blacks joined thousands of whites in a march and rally in Johannesburg organized by the Democratic Party.

Meantime, Mandela aides released details of what will be his first trip abroad since he left prison on Feb. 11. The 18-day, four-nation trip begins Tuesday in Lusaka, Zambia, where he will meet leaders of several African countries and confer with the ANC’s exiled leadership. He will then visit Zimbabwe and Tanzania before flying to Sweden to visit ANC President Oliver Tambo, who is recovering from a stroke in a Stockholm clinic.

Aides also confirmed that Mandela, who has endorsed the nationalization of South Africa’s mines, planned to meet Monday with Gavin Relly, the chairman of the country’s largest mining conglomerate, who has opposed apartheid.

In London, Britain as expected lifted bans on new investments in South Africa, despite opposition from other European countries and the ANC.

South Africa gained praise after President Frederik W. de Klerk announced bold racial reforms Feb. 2, including the lifting of a 30-year ban on the ANC and Mandela’s release.

British Trade and Industry Secretary Nicholas Ridley said: “The steps President de Klerk has taken have transformed the political climate in South Africa. He has opened the way to a peaceful end to apartheid through negotiation. This deserves a constructive response.”