May 17, 1999
Web posted at: 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 GMT)

In this story: A warning against tyranny Mandela's last hurrah RELATED STORIES, SITES

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- Opposition parties took aim at South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) Monday, just two weeks before the nation's second all-race election.

The white-led Democratic Party (DP) and the New National Party (NNP), formerly the National Party -- which introduced apartheid then dismantled it -- honed in on South Africa's rising crime rate.

At a news conference in Johannesburg, the DP, which seeks to replace the NNP as the nation's official opposition to the next ANC government, brought out victims of crime to underscore its message: The ANC is to blame.

"Never in the history of our country has crime been so horrific," said Rosemary Marks, whose son was bludgeoned to death by six men. "The ANC doesn't deserve to be in power."

Official figures, released Monday on the Internet, show the crime rate in South Africa is skyrocketing.

Reported murders, police say, rose 1.2 percent in 1998 -- to 58.5 murders per 100,000 population. The United States has a murder rate of about seven per 100,000.

Burglaries also were on the rise -- with a 7 percent increase in reported break-ins.

The NNP touted its hard-on-crime message by posting signs reading "Hang killers and rapists" and "No mercy for criminals."

A warning against tyranny

The ANC, after leading the battle to end apartheid, took 63 percent of the vote in South Africa's first all-race elections in 1994, propelling Nelson Mandela to the presidency.

Despite a growing belief in South Africa that crime is nearly out of control, the ANC is expected to win a clear majority in the June 2 vote. Instead of a battle for leadership of the country, 25 other parties will be vying to be ANC's main opposition.

The ANC is aiming for a two-thirds majority, which would allow it to tinker with South Africa's 1995 constitution. That worries some opposition leaders.

Bantu Holomisa, an ANC renegade, warned Monday that the ANC must not be allowed to take too much power.

"We need to make sure that South Africa doesn't slide into a one-party state because, if that is the case, we could end up with a totalitarian regime, which could be almost the same as apartheid," Holomisa said.

Holomisa's United Democratic Movement -- formed with former National Party leader Roelf Meyer in 1997 -- is the only significant new party to emerge since apartheid ended in 1994.

Mandela's last hurrah

Regardless of the election outcome, Mandela's five-year reign as South Africa's first president elected in an all-race vote will come to an end. The apartheid opponent will retire from politics after the June 16 inauguration of the new president, expected to be Mandela deputy Thabo Mbeki.

Many world leaders are expected to attend the celebration at the imposing Union Buildings, the seat of government in the capital, Pretoria.

"There will be a very impressive attendance by foreign governments," said Kadar Asmal, the Cabinet minister overseeing the arrangements.

Mandela's inauguration on May 10, 1994, was attended by a host of international officials, including U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Cuban President Fidel Castro, Britain's Prince Philip and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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