South Africa Violations of Another Kind

By JANICE C. SIMPSON

For most of the past twelve months, riots, mass arrests and other agonies of domestic unrest have pushed South Africa's frequently uneasy relationship with nearby African states into the background. Last week, however, those tensions resurfaced as 500 South African troops crossed into Angola, purportedly in pursuit of guerrillas fighting for the independence of South-West Africa, or Namibia, a territory controlled by South Africa under a long-expired League of Nations mandate.

The raid struck a blow at the precarious detente that exists between white- ruled South Africa and six neighboring black-governed countries: Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Earlier in the week, the leaders of those so-called frontline states had issued a joint statement urging increased international pressure against Pretoria's apartheid policies, including the use of economic sanctions. The leaders admitted that they were concerned about the potentially disastrous impact of such sanctions on their own economies, which depend heavily on South Africa's. Nonetheless, they said they saw no other way of bringing about peaceful change in that country.

Last week's South African foray revived concerns of a different sort. Angola charged that the raid was not so much aimed at flushing out guerrillas of the South West African People's Organization as at supporting Angolan insurgents fighting against the Marxist government in Luanda. (South Africa later admitted that it was aiding the Angolan resistance.) The Angolan government said the action violated a 1984 accord under which South Africa agreed to withdraw its forces from southern Angola in exchange for Angola's promise to prohibit SWAPO forces from operating there. The accusation followed the disclosure that South Africa had violated a similar pact with Mozambique by supplying antigovernment guerrillas in that country with radios and weapons. South African Foreign Minister Roelof ("Pik") Botha admitted to "technical violations" of the accord, but claimed that they had been committed in hopes of promoting peace talks between the rebels and the Mozambican government.

As for the foray into Angola, General Constand Viljoen, commander of the South African defense forces, insisted that it had been mounted in response to increased "abductions, intimidation and sabotage" by SWAPO. That explanation failed to satisfy Washington, which called for an immediate pullback. After meeting in the White House with Samora M. Machel, the visiting leader of Mozambique, President Reagan also denounced South Africa's actions in that country. Viljoen eventually announced that his troops had disrupted SWAPO supply lines and would pull out of Angola over the weekend.

On the domestic front, violence still surged in and around major South African cities. In Johannesburg, blacks rioted in response to a false rumor that ailing Black Leader Nelson Mandela, 67, had died in Pollsmoor prison. In Cape Town, 150 students, parents and teachers were arrested for trying to open schools shut down by the government since Sept. 6. Near Pretoria, black demonstrators clashed with police, following the funeral of a four-year-old girl killed by security forces.

The unrest compelled IBM, which employs about 2,000 people in South Africa, to condemn the "rapidly deteriorating situation." In the strongest statement yet issued by a major U.S. company with interests in South Africa, IBM said it intended to continue doing business there, but warned that it was "imperative" for the South African government to address the problem of apartheid. One potentially encouraging sign in that direction came at week's end, when State President Pieter W. Botha told members of his National Party that he intends to announce further reforms of the system later this month.

With reporting by Bruce W. Nelan/Johannesburg