ANC Proposes Mandela Talk With Buthelezi

In a conciliatory move aimed at ending black factional fighting, the African National Congress has proposed a meeting between Nelson Mandela and rival black leader Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi.

In its statement Monday, the ANC backed down from months of resistance to a Mandela-Buthelezi meeting. It did not say when the two should meet, only that such a meeting should take place in the “near future.”

Zulus loyal to Buthelezi’s conservative Inkatha Freedom Party have been involved in bloody battles with ANC supporters since the mid-1980s.

Buthelezi said he welcomes the invitation, which he said Inkatha had been pursuing “for some time now.”

Mandela, who is visiting Australia, said Tuesday he hopes the meeting will ease tensions. Violence between the ANC and Inkatha in black townships around Johannesburg has claimed about 800 lives since early August.

“Future meetings are important,” Mandela told a news conference in Canberra. “You create a new atmosphere, an atmosphere of hope. The meeting raises the hope of a peaceful resolution.”

Later Mandela became angry when an Australian radio station attempted to set up a surprise live telephone conversation between him and Buthelezi. Mandela was sitting in the studio after finishing an interview when Buthelezi was introduced via a telephone hookup.

“In fairness, you should have told me,” Mandela said before returning to his hotel. He did not speak to Buthelezi.

If a meeting takes place, it would be the first between Mandela and Buthelezi since Mandela’s release in February from 27 years in prison. The two were scheduled to meet earlier this year, but Mandela canceled under pressure from the ANC, which felt the talks would only enhance Buthelezi’s stature.

Both groups oppose apartheid, but Inkatha disagrees with ANC support of boycotts, strikes and other protests. Inkatha has also accused the ANC of trying to speak for all blacks in South Africa.