De Klerk to See Bush Sept. 24; First Such Visit Since ’48

President F. W. de Klerk will meet with President Bush in Washington on Sept. 24, the first U.S. visit by a South African government leader since apartheid took effect in 1948, South Africa announced Friday.

Foreign Minister Roelof F. (Pik) Botha announced the visit in a statement, saying he and De Klerk will take up a longstanding invitation from Bush.

Government sources said De Klerk will try to cement a warm relationship already established by telephone with Bush and to explain his plans for power-sharing with blacks, who outnumber whites by 5 to 1.

They said he will not ask for relief from sweeping economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. Congress as a penalty for apartheid, the country’s policy of racial separation, but will argue that they should be re-examined.

South Africa’s international isolation began to thaw early this year when De Klerk repudiated 40 years of apartheid and started talks with African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela about a negotiated transition to democracy.

De Klerk was to have met Bush in June, shortly before Mandela began a triumphant American tour, but he canceled when U.S. anti-apartheid groups threatened to disrupt his visit.

The sources said De Klerk realizes he will still face protests but believes his reform message will be an effective counter to opponents of his visit.

The most significant symbol of De Klerk’s break with white Afrikaner tradition was his request last week to his own National Party, which has ruled South Africa without significant challenge since 1948, to open its doors to blacks.