The Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party decided Saturday to boycott the nation's first all-race election, joining pro-apartheid whites in a move that could undermine the watershed vote.
But political leaders said there still was time to overcome disputes and get all groups to participate in the April 26-28 election.None of the groups in the opposition Freedom Alliance had registered for the election by the midnight Saturday deadline, although President F.W. de Klerk has said Parliament could extend the deadline.
A boycott by the alliance - which includes Inkatha and right-wing whites seeking an independent white state - would likely escalate political violence that killed more than 3,000 blacks last year.
The violence - much of it stemming from a power struggle between Inkatha and the African National Congress - is considered the greatest threat to free and fair voting.
In resolutions passed Saturday, Inkatha's central committee called for supporters to boycott the election and to oppose it "in any and every way which is permissible by law."
It also said Inkatha would work with other alliance members to get the government and ANC to abandon the election.
But Inkatha leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi said he would ask the Organization of African Unity, the Commonwealth and the United Nations to mediate stalled talks. He said Inkatha could enter the campaign later if an agreement was reached.
A white church leader said last week he also was seeking international mediation after the Afrikaner Volksfront, an umbrella group of pro-apartheid whites, decided to boycott the election.
De Klerk is scheduled to meet Monday with Buthelezi's nephew, Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, while the ANC has scheduled talks later in the week with leaders of the Bophuthatswana black homeland, another alliance member.
The Freedom Alliance represents less than 20 percent of the population, but claims any election without it would fail to speak for the entire country.
Alliance members say they fear the ANC will win the election and impose a communist dictatorship.