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- WORLD, Page 43World NotesSOUTH AFRICATrying to Bury a Scandal
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- President F.W. de Klerk is often hailed for his boldness in
- ending apartheid, but South Africans also regard him as a
- cautious man. Last week he displayed both traits as he appeared
- to end stonewalling on "Inkathagate," the scandal over
- disclosures that Pretoria interfered in black politics by
- secretly funding Inkatha Freedom Party, a rival of the African
- National Congress. Denying that he had a double agenda, De Klerk
- nonetheless sidelined two Cabinet members at the center of the
- doubts about the government's integrity: Defense Minister Magnus
- Malan and Law and Order Minister Adriaan Vlok. But rather than
- dismiss them, as demanded by the A.N.C., De Klerk appointed them
- to other Cabinet posts. De Klerk also fell short of satisfying
- demands for an independent inquiry. The President did, however,
- invite prospective witnesses to alleged police misconduct
- against the A.N.C. to testify at a standing government board of
- inquiry. De Klerk announced that a panel of private citizens
- would now monitor covert funds, and said he had an "open mind"
- about a proposed interim government to rule impartially during
- negotiations on a postapartheid constitution. A.N.C. officials
- said the moves were insufficient but hinted at a willingness to
- put the Inkatha affair behind them.
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