S. Africa Lifts Emergency : Repression’s No. 1 Symbol Eliminated

In a move likely to have repercussions for South Africa’s image across the world, President Frederik W. de Klerk today announced that he will lift the 4-year-old state of emergency in most of the country when it expires at midnight Friday, leaving it in effect only in the violent province of Natal.

The step eliminates at the stroke of a pen what is perhaps the principal symbol of South African repression in the 1980s--a system of detentions without trial, forced restrictions on the movement and lifestyle of dissidents, bans on many political organizations and unauthorized political meetings, and strictures on news coverage.

The end of the national emergency helps pave the way for black-white negotiations on dismantling apartheid.

“The net result of the lifting of the state of emergency is that one of the main stumbling blocks (to constitutional negotiations) has been removed,” De Klerk told Parliament in Cape Town.

In Paris, African National Congress leader Nelson R. Mandela said De Klerk’s action was “a victory for the people . . . both black and white.”

But he said he will continue to urge Western governments to maintain economic sanctions against South Africa, and he criticized the retention of the state of emergency in Natal.

Mandela said the retention of the emergency in Natal is not likely to reduce the violence.

The White House welcomed De Klerk’s move, calling it a sign of “the remarkable progress” in recent months in South Africa.

Right-wing whites, who have opposed recent reforms, criticized the action.

During the state of emergency, more than 30,000 activists, most of them black, were detained without charge for varying lengths of time. Thousands more went into hiding after former President Pieter W. Botha imposed the restrictions June 12, 1986.

In announcing the end of the state of emergency, De Klerk also held out the prospect of other reforms.

He said the government is considering changes in security laws that “could possibly inhibit the free conduct of peaceful politics” and said he is taking unspecified actions that will allow thousands of exiles to return home.

The ANC says it has more than 15,000 exiled members.

De Klerk also said that as a “goodwill gesture” he will release 48 prisoners convicted of politically motivated crimes. The ANC has said there are 3,500 inmates it considers political prisoners.

The ANC has said the lifting of the emergency, the release of political prisoners and the return of exiles are the main obstacles to full negotiations.

De Klerk defended the decision to keep Natal under emergency rule, saying the violence there “cannot be countered with the ordinary laws of the land.”

More than 4,000 blacks have been killed in factional fighting in Natal since 1986, including 500 who died in the first three months of this year.

The main combatants in Natal are the supporters of the ANC, the country’s most powerful black organization, and members of Inkatha, a relatively conservative Zulu group.