With one day left for political parties to register for South Africa's first all-race election, a pro-apartheid group's boycott has increased fears of violence.
The right-wing Afrikaner Volksfront, which seeks an independent white homeland, said Thursday it would boycott the April election and try to keep it from happening. The Volksfront coalition seeks an independent white homeland in the name of the nation's 3 million Afrikaners, descendants of early Dutch settlers.Ferdi Hartzenberg, whose pro-apartheid Conservative Party is a member of the Volksfront, said whites would rely on peaceful means to resist the vote. But he said "a little bit of violence might be necessary for defensive purposes."
President F.W. de Klerk's governing National Party Friday became the fifth party to register for the election. The African National Congress, which is expected to sweep the April 26-28 vote, signed up Thursday, becoming the first formerly banned opposition group to register.
Smaller parties, including the liberal Democratic Party that was the official opposition during much of the National Party's four decades in power, have also officially committed themselves to run.
Under South African law, parties have until Saturday to register. But the government said the deadline could be pushed back, and efforts continued to get conservative blacks and whites to take part.
Right-wing whites opposed to black majority rule have threatened civil war. They are not considered a major military force but could be a serious threat to peaceful elections.
Several recent bombings in rural communities, including some that damaged ANC offices and power lines, have been blamed on white extremists. More than 3,000 South Africans died last year in political violence, most of it linked to feuding black groups.