Hundreds of thousands of blacks stayed away from work today to mark the anniversary of the Soweto student uprising, the rebellion that galvanized black opposition to apartheid.
Police said 25 blacks were killed Monday night and Tuesday in a series of attacks outside Johannesburg. It was not clear if the violence was linked to the protests, but black areas were tense in the days leading up to Soweto Day.For many blacks, June 16 is an unofficial holiday commemorating the 1976 student protests in the Soweto township just outside Johannesburg. This year, the African National Congress used the day to launch a mass action campaign aimed at forcing the resignation of President F.W. de Klerk's government.
"We are determined that (black) majority rule should be introduced - not tomorrow, but today," ANC leader Nelson Mandela told about 25,000 supporters jammed into a soccer stadium in Soweto.
The ANC said it embarked on the protest campaign, which is expected to last for weeks, because the government was determined to "cling to power at all costs."
The government, the ANC and 17 other black and white groups are deadlocked in negotiations on establishing a multiracial government that would formally abolish apartheid.
De Klerk called the mass action "irresponsible," saying it would hamper the political talks and could lead to a surge in violence.
"The government will not be blackmailed by the present threats or any actions which may flow from them," de Klerk said in a statement.
Various estimates said from half to 90 percent of the black workers in the major cities of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town stayed home.