28 Die as Troops Open Fire on ANC Marchers : Protest: Nearly 200 are injured in black homeland of Ciskei in a major setback for South African talks.

Army troops in the nominally independent black homeland of Ciskei opened fire on a protest march Monday, killing at least 28 and wounding almost 200 others in the worst setback since June to the South African constitutional negotiations process.

The African National Congress, which sponsored the march, and the South African government blamed each other for the border blood bath. It was one of the worst incidents of state violence in one of the self-governing homelands, created by apartheid’s social engineers more than a decade ago.

The homelands have emerged as one of the most contentious issues as the country tries to chart a course toward a new constitution in a unified South Africa. Four of them, like Ciskei, are considered independent by Pretoria, which provides them substantial military and economic support. Six other homelands are “self-governing” but still technically part of South Africa.

The ANC--which has suspended constitutional talks with South African officials, in part over questions about the government’s role in a June massacre in the Boipatong township--had targeted Ciskei’s ruler, Brig. Gen. Oupa Gqozo, for one of its largest protest marches. Gqozo (pronounced COR-sa) took power in a March, 1990, coup and has been particularly brutal in his crackdown on ANC activity.

A crowd--estimated at between 20,000 and 50,000 strong--marched Monday on the capital of Bisho, just across the border with South Africa. The protest had been approved early Monday morning by Ciskei’s chief magistrate.

Protesters, led by ANC Secretary General Cyril Ramaphosa and Communist Party chief Chris Hani, were 100 yards inside the border when Ciskei security forces opened fire in two one-minute bursts. The troops then fired tear gas into the crowd, which scrambled through the countryside in terror.

Many of those hurt, according to reports from the scene, were shot, while others were injured by the razor wire that had been strung to contain the march. Ramaphosa and Hani managed to avoid being shot by dropping to the ground.

Brig. Gen. Marius Oelshig, head of the Ciskei Defense Force, said his troops opened fire when they saw some protesters armed with guns and hand grenades. He added that the protesters had opened fire on his troops. (Gqozo issued a statement later saying one of his soldiers was killed.)

The South African Press Assn. reported that just before the shooting, one Ciskei soldier shouted: “Christ, they’re out of control. They’re going mad.”

ANC leaders, who said the march was an attempt to topple Gqozo’s regime, called the killing “unprovoked” and warned that the incident imperiled the democratic transition in South Africa. In a statement, the ANC blamed President Frederik W. de Klerk’s government for the massacre, saying it had continued to prop up Gqozo despite numerous allegations of human rights abuses.

“The blood of the slain and the injured has indelibly stained the hands of . . . Gqozo and his henchmen. . . . An equal responsibility devolves also on the De Klerk government,” the ANC declared.

But De Klerk and his government ministers said they had tried, in negotiations Sunday and early Monday, to prevent the confrontation. “We are deeply shocked,” De Klerk said Monday night. He added that if the ANC had cooperated with the authorities, “this could have been avoided.”

Roelof F. (Pik) Botha, South Africa’s foreign minister, accused the ANC of trying to seize power and said the government would not resume power-sharing talks until the ANC abandons “communist” plans. “There is a communistic shortcut to bring the economy to its knees, weaken the country and take over when it is weak,” he said on state-run television.

But Ramaphosa blamed the government for Monday’s deaths and said the killing would definitely have an effect on the stalled constitutional negotiations. “This tragedy . . . goes directly to the root of the deadlock between us,” he said.

Hernus Kriel, the government’s minister of law and order, said, “We did everything in our power to prevent this.” The minister added that the ANC protest had been a “flagrant violation” of conditions allowing the march.

Gqozo originally had vowed to use all force necessary to stop the protest. But in a last-minute compromise, the Ciskei magistrate had allowed the march, although with conditions.

South African authorities also had persuaded Ciskei to use tear gas or birdshot first in case of a confrontation. Live ammunition was only to be used as a last resort, officials said.

The marchers were to go to the stadium in Bisho. But the Ciskei defense chief said that a lead group of protesters tried to enter the stadium through a back entrance and that others poured through gaps in the wire fence marking the border.

The ANC had rejected the restrictions, saying it was the democratic right of ANC supporters in Ciskei to stage a protest against Gqozo’s government.

About 30,000 ANC supporters gathered out of sight of the border Monday night, and Steve Tschwete, an ANC leader slightly injured in the attack, said, “We are not going to leave that place until we get a satisfactory response from the (South African) government.”

Antonie Gildenhuys of the National Peace Secretariat called the shootings “a horrific tragedy.” The peace secretariat was established by the government, the ANC and other parties last year to prevent violence.

Ciskei, a 2,000-square-mile tract on the Indian Ocean midway between Cape Town and Durban, is home to 1 million people, most of whom are from the Xhosa ethnic group. The Xhosa people have been strong supporters of the ANC, and the leader of the nearby Transkei homeland has been a key supporter of the ANC.

The “independent homelands,” most of which are located on arid land far from the country’s major cities, have been the scene of many battles with the ANC. No major Western government recognizes the homelands’ independence.

Pretoria has often stepped in to thwart attempts to overthrow governments in the homelands, which have been racked by poverty and political turmoil. But the South African government has been reluctant to referee the growing disagreements between the ANC and some homeland leaders.

Both the ANC and the government agree that the homelands must be reincorporated into a unified South Africa, under one constitution.

But the leaders whom Pretoria has installed in the homelands haven’t always agreed. And they have often jailed ANC activists and used force to prevent anti-apartheid activity.

The ANC also has been putting pressure lately on De Klerk’s government to force the homelands to release their political prisoners. So far, though, De Klerk has not agreed to put pressure on the homeland leaders, some of whom, including Gqozo, are considered close allies of Pretoria in the negotiations process.

The South African government said it will send troops to Ciskei at the request of the homeland’s government to guard important installations from possible retaliatory attacks. Hundreds of homeland troops patrolled Bisho late Monday.