Rioting Spreads in South Africa; Death Toll for Week Climbs to 42

Rioting spread from the South African city of Port Elizabeth to neighboring Uitenhage on Friday, and South African police said 42 people had been shot dead since Monday.

Maj. Bill Dennis said police and soldiers worked side by side through the night to restore order after five days of rioting in Colored (mixed race) areas of Port Elizabeth.

But he said the violence spread to the neighboring car-making town of Uitenhage, about 20 miles away, where black and Colored crowds burned and looted shops Friday.

“Things are very quiet in Port Elizabeth this morning. It would seem that our problem is in Uitenhage now,” he said.

Dennis said 40 people had been killed in Port Elizabeth since Monday, nine of them during the night. Two people were killed in Uitenhage early Friday.

“They have all been shot by police using shotguns or by shopkeepers protecting their property,” he said.

Law and Order Minister Adriaan Vlok said in a statement that he would send police and military reinforcements to the south coast city to contain what police called the worst violence since 1985.

“They will seek out criminals and act relentlessly against them and all perpetrators of political violence,” he said.

National police chief Gen. Mulder van Eyck told a late-night news conference in Port Elizabeth that 220 people had been arrested and police were studying videotapes to identify looters and arsonists.

Telephone, trash collection, mail and all other public services were cut off in the riot-hit areas. Municipal employees had been targeted for attack and, along with most other residents, stayed home to protect their houses.

The government had appealed to Port Elizabeth residents to stop the unrest. The African National Congress held a community meeting and urged people to stay off the streets.

“More men and more vehicles have been brought in. We are patrolling the areas to see what can be done to restore normality,” he said.

Van Eyck said the rioting appeared to have been triggered by dissatisfaction with the living conditions in Colored areas.

“The high rental of homes, the lack of proper water supply, lack of facilities and the inadequate schools . . . seem to be the real cause of the trouble,” he said.

Residents said the rioting was fueled by the resentment of ANC supporters against Colored leaders who cooperate with the white government in a Parliament of three races that excludes blacks.

Meanwhile, the ANC sought to limit the fallout from a controversial statement by the wife of black leader Nelson Mandela, saying that “many people make mistakes and sometimes misinterpretations.”

The ANC ruled out any action against Winnie Mandela.

In a speech marking the launching of the ANC’s Women’s League on Thursday, Winnie Mandela said the milestone agreement earlier in which the ANC suspended its nearly 30-year-old armed struggle against white rule did “not mean a cessation of violence.”

She also was quoted by the state-run South African Broadcasting Corp. as saying the cease-fire decision announced by her husband was a “mere” strategy.