2 ANC Rallies Draw Strong Zulu Support

The African National Congress showed strong support among Zulus on Friday, drawing more than 100,000 people to two marches demanding free political activity in Natal province and the traditional Zulu homeland.

The marches in Durban and Stanger ended with little of the unrest that had been expected from holding ANC rallies in territory controlled by the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party, the ANC’s bitter rival.

A few store windows were broken in Durban, but there were no clashes or other damage. Witnesses said Inkatha supporters threw stones at buses transporting ANC marchers back to a nearby black township, but no injuries were reported.

Businesses closed and hundreds of police lined the march route as the throng moved through the city center singing and dancing.

There was no sign of Inkatha, whose leader, Mangosuthu Gatsha Buthelezi, is refusing to take part in South Africa’s first all-race election April 26-28.

Political violence has increased in recent weeks in Natal and the KwaZulu homeland, and officials fear that the unrest will prevent free campaigning and voting.

The marchers demanded that South African troops and police move into KwaZulu and take over the homeland police and that residents in conflict areas be given extra time to vote so they can travel to safer areas to cast ballots.

“No one is going to stop us from voting,” said Jacob Zuma, a Zulu who is an ANC deputy secretary general.

Thousands of people have died in Natal in an ANC-Inkatha power struggle, and there are fears of more violence unless Buthelezi can be persuaded to endorse the election.

The marches were meant to disprove Buthelezi’s claim that the ANC has little support in Natal. Police estimated more than 120,000 people took part in the two marches.

In Pretoria, meanwhile, President Frederik W. de Klerk said he planned a private meeting with Buthelezi soon to try to avert a government showdown with the Zulu leader. ANC leaders have called for tough action to force Buthelezi to guarantee the safety of voters and candidates in KwaZulu, a semiautonomous homeland where Buthelezi is chief minister.

KwaZulu police have been accused in two independent reports recently of operating hit squads against ANC supporters, and several ANC election workers have been killed in the region. In addition, Zulus have taken over two stadiums in recent weeks where ANC supporters had planned campaign rallies.

The bulk of Inkatha’s support comes from Zulus, the nation’s largest tribe. But many ANC supporters also are Zulus. They accuse Buthelezi of using arguments of Zulu pride and culture to hide his desire to run a dictatorship in Natal.

Buthelezi says the Zulus need an independent state to save them from an ANC government, which he claims would crush the Zulu culture.