WORLD : ANC May Review S. Africa Policy

The president of the African National Congress today said the black opposition group should reconsider its support for international sanctions imposed on South Africa to protest apartheid.

Oliver Tambo, who a day earlier returned to South Africa after 30 years in exile, told the opening session of the ANC’s consultative conference the group had to reconsider its strategy to recognize South Africa’s changing political scene.

“It is no longer enough for us to repeat the tried slogans,” he said in a speech that could mark a major change in the ANC’s position on sanctions. It was the first conference of the formerly banned ANC in South Africa in more than 30 years.

“We should therefore carefully re-evaluate the advisability of insisting on the retention of sanctions given the new developments in the country and abroad,” the 73-year-old leader said.