Word: klerk
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...forces would be self- defeating, but Buthelezi could unleash a newly organized Zulu "self- defense unit" of 5,000 men, and there are thousands of loyal Zulu irregulars who could complicate the elections with dead-of-night raids, assassinations and sabotage. If Buthelezi were to launch such subversion, De Klerk would be likely to fulfill his promise to sweep out the KwaZulu establishment, starting with its chief minister...
Such public bellicosity was too much for President F.W. de Klerk, who had been under A.N.C. pressure for weeks to crack down on Buthelezi and Inkatha. De Klerk could hesitate no longer. He declared a state of emergency in Natal Province, which includes the KwaZulu homeland where Buthelezi is chief minister. It will now be up to South Africa's army and police to control the incessant political violence in the region and make sure that voting in the country's first all-race elections can take place there on April 26, 27 and 28, despite Inkatha's fierce opposition...
...Africans were hoping against history that the elections designed to transform their country would go smoothly. But just as the centuries of white domination come to an end, the prospect of a civil war that might blow up the process has shaken the country's 40 million citizens. De Klerk, opting to fight for peace if necessary, ordered in the troops. The choice -- between rebellion and acquiescence -- is now up to Inkatha...
With the declaration of emergency, De Klerk has put Buthelezi on the road to political oblivion. The Zulu leader cannot win if he openly defies the security forces, and his refusal to contest the elections hands the A.N.C. a victory, even in Natal, and a bigger majority nationally. When the new constitution goes into effect at the end of this month there will be no KwaZulu and no chief minister. Buthelezi may well end up with many angry supporters, but as a man without a country...
With armed extremists still licking their wounds, threats to a peaceful vote remain. But many South Africans hoped that De Klerk was right last week when he observed the wreckage of apartheid's twisted hopes in Bophuthatswana: "This is the last chapter of an old, imperfect system...