LOS ANGELES : Group Seeks to Stir Interest in South Africa Election

As South Africa girds for its first all-race elections, a fledgling group of black South Africans and Angelenos is working to stir interest here in the historic event.

Countdown to Freedom Coalition, created to focus attention on South Africa’s vote two weeks from now and the second anniversary of the Los Angeles riots, Tuesday announced a series of activities beginning today.

Entitled “The Power of the Vote . . . from Soweto to South-Central,” the program combines lectures, art exhibits and a candlelight vigil to raise awareness of the South African elections and the 1992 riots.

“This occasion marks a critical juncture in both the United States and South Africa,” said Cynthia Robbins, an attorney for Public Counsel and a member of the coalition. “While we fought long and hard for the right to vote in this country, we must use the event in South Africa to refortify us to be vigilant in holding on to the right to vote.”

Robbins was joined at the First African Methodist Church by more than 30 South Africans, coalition members and supporters of the long and bloody struggle to overturn South Africa’s apartheid system. Elections for South Africans living in Los Angeles will be held April 26. Ballots will be cast in South Africa on April 27 and 28.