South Africa Beefs Up Forces in Township Fighting

South Africa began calling up army reservists Saturday and sent military reinforcements with armored cars to help police enforce emergency powers in battle-ravaged black townships near Johannesburg.

District army chief Gen. Wessel Kritzinger said in a statement: “Additional troops are being deployed to stabilize the violent situation which has arisen over the past few weeks.”

Armored cars with mounted machine guns lined up opposite a male workers’ hostel in Vosloorus, south of Johannesburg, early Saturday as police and soldiers went in to search for weapons.

A man was found burned to death at dawn in the township, the scene of heavy fighting last week between supporters of Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress and Zulu chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi’s Inkatha movement.

Police said another man was found shot to death in Daveyton, east of Johannesburg, taking the official death toll in fighting since Aug. 13 to 514.

Police said several men were arrested and a pile of weapons ranging from cane-cutting knives known as pangas to homemade “zip guns” and a Soviet pistol were seized during a midnight raid on hostels and houses in Kagiso, west of Johannesburg.

A helicopter hovered over Kagiso, shining a searchlight onto houses and shacks, while 1,000 police searched the area early Saturday.

The raid was conducted under special police powers invoked Friday to give security forces the right for three months to search and detain in 27 townships around Johannesburg.

Youths roamed the township with petrol bombs Saturday, setting fire to car-tire barricades and searching for Zulu rivals.

“We can’t compromise with these (Inkatha) people. We have to kill them or they will kill us,” said one youth, who had a petrol bomb made from a gin bottle tucked inside his shirt.