home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- WORLD, Page 41World NotesSOUTH AFRICANo More Sjamboks
-
-
- Of all the ugly images of apartheid, the one that will not fade
- from the minds of horrified television viewers around the world is
- the recurrent scene of helmeted policemen lashing black protesters
- with menacing whips. Admitting that the image problem was a primary
- concern, the South African government announced last week that
- police would no longer use the 3-ft.-long hard rubber whips, known
- as sjamboks. Acting President F.W. de Klerk, who will be sworn in
- for a full five-year term this week, followed up with a still
- bolder gesture. Though all outdoor rallies are banned under the
- state of emergency, he granted permission for protests in major
- cities across South Africa and ordered police to stand back.
-
- In the largest antiapartheid demonstration in 29 years, more
- than 20,000 people, mostly black and mixed race, marched without
- incident in the southern city of Cape Town. Said De Klerk: "The
- door to a new South Africa is open."