S. Africa Releases 21 Political Prisoners; Activists to Go Free

CAPE TOWN, South Africa —  Twenty-one political prisoners were freed Wednesday as part of a government plan to release all activists convicted of anti-apartheid acts.

President Frederik W. de Klerk’s government has promised to free all inmates convicted of political offenses but has not said how many people fall into that category. Dozens of prisoners have been released in recent months.

Most of those released Wednesday belong to the African National Congress and had up to five years remaining on sentences that included convictions for terrorism, sabotage and treason.

“We are very happy to see them come out,” said Reggie September, an official of the ANC, the leading black opposition movement. “Even a short time in prison is too long for anybody.”

Eighteen men were released in Cape Town and three were freed from prisons in Johannesburg and Pretoria, the Prisons Service said.

The ANC has demanded the release of all political prisoners, estimated at up to 3,000, before it will enter full negotiations with the government on ending apartheid.

ANC leader Nelson Mandela on Tuesday visited ANC members held at Robben Island and Pollsmoor prisons near Cape Town to explain the government’s plans.

Mandela served 27 years in the two prisons for plotting to overthrow the government. He was released in February.

“We have set a date by which all political prisoners will be released and that is the end of April, 1991,” he said.

The return of ANC exiles is another major obstacle to negotiations on a new constitution.

De Klerk says he wants to draw up a new constitution with opposition groups that would allow the 5 million whites and 30 million blacks to share power. The government and the ANC have been holding preliminary talks since May.

The white-dominated government’s apartheid system deprives blacks of a vote in national affairs, controls the economy and maintains separate residential areas and schools.