JOHANNESBURG : Taking It to the Streets
Contending that mass action is the only weapon available to disenfranchised blacks, the African National Congress plans scores of demonstrations today to protest the deadlock in talks with the South African government over ending white minority rule.
“There is a smooth road and a rough road to democracy,” ANC official Ronnie Kasrils told the Sunday Times newspaper. “The government blocked the smooth road (at the negotiations). We must now travel the rough road.”
President Frederik W. de Klerk has indicated he would take unspecified steps to prevent mass action from paralyzing the nation. Some reports speculated that the president might impose a state of emergency.
The start of the protest campaign is designed to coincide with the 16th anniversary of the 1976 student uprising in the black township of Soweto.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
