South Africa to Abolish Passes Restricting Blacks

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa--The white government formally announced yesterday that it will make the most sweeping reform in generations of apartheid by scrapping dozens of laws that restrict the movements of Blacks.

But it said Blacks still will not be permitted to live in white areas.

Anti-apartheid leaders complained that the reforms, while welcome, do not address the demands of South Africa's 24 million voteless Blacks for a share of political power.

In another action, Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee announced yesterday that the sentences of at least 20,000 prisoners will be reduced by six months in a general amnesty to be declared May 31.

He said the amnesty, to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of South Africa, will not apply to people imprisoned for offenses related to racial unrest, robbery, rape or assault.

A total of 34 laws and proclamations, some dating back 60 years, will be repealed when Parliament, dominated by the government's National Party, enacts the proposed legislation.

Enforcement of the "pass laws," which bar Blacks without permits from living or working in white areas, was halted yesterday, and the government began releasing prisoners jailed for pass offenses. The government said a maximum of 245 prisoners were affected by the move.

Millions of Blacks have been arrested under the pass laws.

A policy statement submitted to Parliament in Cape Town described the laws as "a relic of the past." It said the system, called influx control, would be replaced by "planned, positive urbanization" involving a uniform identity document for all races.

Blacks will be free to move from one city or town to another seeking work but will be allowed to live only in authorized residential areas, not with the country's five million whites.

Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu, one of the country's best known Black leaders, cautioned Blacks to "be aware of the small print" in the government policy statement.

"Some form of influx control may be brought in through the back door," said Tutu, who won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize and has just been elected archbishop of Cape Town.

Reaction from white moderates was more enthusiastic. Colin Eglin, leader of the opposition Progressive Federal Party, predicted an economic upturn for the country when it became "free from the restrictions of the past...and imbued with a new positive spirit."