
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 27, 1990                   TAG: 9007270573
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

DON'T FORGET LEADER OF 7 MILLION ZULUS

WHY DOES the press consistently talk about South Africa as if the only two players involved in shaping that country's future are Nelson Mandela and President F.W. de Klerk?

Somehow they seem to have overlooked the importance of Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the powerful leader who commands a following of more than 7 million Zulus. No peaceful solution can be worked out without his participation and support, yet the media continue to treat him as if he were some sort of political lightweight.

They are mistaken. Chief Buthelezi has been one of the principal forces behind change in South Africa. He has consistently called for an end to apartheid while simultaneously decrying economic sanctions as ineffective and detrimental to black South Africans.

He has steadfastly supported a transformation to equality through negotiation rather than violence; has called for all South Africans, not just the African National Congress and President de Klerk, to participate in making South Africa a true democracy; fought the government's efforts to divide South Africa into "independent homelands," and played a key role in the negotiations that led to the legalization of all political organizations and the release of Mandela.

Chief Buthelezi represents a powerful voice of reason and reconciliation in South Africa that should not be taken lightly.

\ RICHARD MORRIS\ LYNCHBURG

by CNB