Opposition fury over Pretoria's amnesty plan

THE South African government generated a fresh political controversy yesterday with a proposal for a blanket amnesty, without prior confession, for perpetrators of political crimes, including those in the security forces.

The African National Congress rejected the proposal last night, equating it with 'a rapist pardoning himself for rape'.

Less contentious was the government's acceptance in principle of a United Nations proposal for an independent investigation headed by Justice Richard Goldstone into the activities of the army and police, widely believed to have played a leading role in the political violence of the last two years.

In a press conference addressed yesterday in Pretoria by Pik Botha, the Foreign Minister, and Kobie Coetsee, the Minister of Justice, Mr Coetsee pointed to the UN report's call for the immediate release of all political prisoners 'to wipe the slate clean and bury the past'. But this would only be acceptable to the government if it were linked to 'a blanket amnesty' applied multilaterally to all relevant parties.

The proposal comes at a time when the security forces are under heavy pressure to come clean on their misdeeds. The chief of military intelligence, Christoffel van der Westhuizen, has recently been implicated in four political assassinations carried out in 1985. One of the victims was the prominent pro-ANC activist Matthew Goniwe. Van der Westhuizen was also implicated in a plot to kill a police defector based in Britain. And a black policeman testified on Wednesday before the Goldstone Commission that the police had assisted Inkatha supporters in the Boipatong massacre of 17 June.

Yesterday, the Johannesburg Star revealed the existence of networks of former security force members involved in illegal arms smuggling from neighbouring countries. It named former officers who purchased AK-47s from the Renamo insurgents in Mozambique and ferried them into the country through Swaziland.

Reacting yesterday to the government's amnesty proposal, Kader Asmal, a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, said it should be rejected out of hand. 'We cannot afford to close the book on those government agencies guilty of the most heinous crimes, who continue to order killings. As the net closes in on the Goniwe killers, it can be expected that the cacophony of calls for a general amnesty will reach levels of crescendo.'

Dr Asmal, pointing to the government's failure to honour a commitment made two years ago to release all political prisoners, said that the issue of political prisoners could not be muddied with the amnesty issue.

Pallo Jordan, the ANC's director of information, said in an official response that the government was 'not morally competent to grant an amnesty to anyone'. Employing the 'rapist pardoning himself' analogy, he said the issue could only be contemplated once an interim government of national unity representing the whole population was in place.

The theme was picked up by Lawyers for Human Rights, a Pretoria-based organisation which described the government's proposal as 'an astonishing display of political opportunism', adding: 'The task of 'wiping the slate clean' cannot be monopolised by those who sullied the slate in the first place - this amounts to nothing more than the government taking upon itself the task of absolving itself from its sins.'

Judge Goldstone, an increasingly central figure in South African politics, is not likely to support the government's call. On Monday he issued a statement criticising the press for having mistakenly quoted him as saying he favoured a 'general' amnesty. He said he had indeed proposed an amnesty, but indicated that he did not agree with the wholesale erasure of past political crimes.

Mr Botha, who has been a member of the South African cabinet for 15 years, was asked at yesterday's press conference whether he thought he should qualify for an amnesty. 'I've done nothing in my life that warrants any investigation,' he replied. 'Throughout my life, the track record shows, I've fought against apartheid.'

A baby 'necklaced' with burning tyres died in the township of Evaton, south of Johannesburg, police said yesterday, Reuter reports. They found the bodies of the baby and a black man burnt to death by blazing tyres around their necks. No details of the baby's age or what happened were immediately available.