S. African Whites Kill 2 Blacks Amid Rising Tensions
White attackers killed two blacks Thursday, hours before thousands of mourners wearing white ribbons joined hands in a circle in Cape Town to protest last Sunday’s massacre of 11 whites in a Cape Town church.
Police offered a $30,000 reward for information leading to two white men in a pickup truck involved in the drive-by shooting of a black woman at a taxi stand and the stabbing death of a black man at an apartment complex later.
Police suspect the same men were involved in both killings in the Johannesburg area.
The attacks came amid heightened racial and political tensions because of Sunday’s church massacre and negotiations on a new constitution for post-apartheid South Africa.
Extremists of both races oppose talks aimed at power-sharing between blacks and whites and have vowed to fight to stop the process.
Law and Order Minister Hernus Kriel said Thursday that the police force will be increased by more than 10,000 members to combat chronic political violence and crime throughout the country. His announcement was seen as a bid to ease the fears of whites after the church attack.
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