Mandela Announces Talks Date; Zulus Hold Protest

Nelson Mandela said Saturday in Spain that talks with the government on ending white-minority rule will resume Nov. 22. Meanwhile, about 10,000 Zulus marched through Durban to protest a ban on tribal weapons that Mandela had demanded.

The Zulu protesters also called for the army of Mandela’s African National Congress to be disbanded.

Black-white talks broke down in June after the ANC pulled out to protest political violence in the country.

On Saturday, Mandela told reporters in the northern Spanish city of Oviedo that the negotiations would focus on establishing an interim national-unity government to ease a transition to multiracial democracy.

Mandela was in Spain to receive the Prince of Asturias Prize for International Cooperation, which he won together with South African President Frederik W. de Klerk.

De Klerk did not make the trip. The government on Saturday did not confirm or deny the scheduling of talks.

The Durban march was called by the Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party, the ANC’s chief rival in a violent power struggle among blacks.

It was the second Inkatha march since the ANC and the government agreed to outlaw tribal weapons at political rallies. Most marchers flouted the ban, waving spears, clubs and sticks. Police monitored the demonstration but did not intervene.

Inkatha said the march was a cultural rather than political rally and not subject to the weapons restrictions.

Inkatha leader Chief Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi led Saturday’s march and carried a statement demanding the ANC disband its military wing.

Inkatha blames the military wing, known as Spear of the Nation, for political violence that has killed about 12,000 blacks since the ANC-Inkatha war broke out in 1984. The worst violence has been in Natal province, in which Durban is located.