30,000 Mourn S. Africa Deaths; Police Pull Back

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — More than 30,000 mourners attended the funerals Sunday of six black victims of the current unrest around the South African industrial center of Port Elizabeth, and police pulled back to avoid further confrontations and bloodshed.

Three people were mortally wounded, however, in violence Saturday night, bringing to 10 the weekend death toll in black townships outside Port Elizabeth and nearby Uitenhage.

The ceremonies Sunday in the black township of Kwanobuhle, outside Uitenhage, were as much a protest against South Africa’s white-minority rule as a commemoration of those who died in the initial clashes with police there nearly two weeks ago.

Collaborators Assailed

The government and police, and blacks who collaborate with them to administer the apartheid system, were denounced one after another at the emotion-charged rites. However, no violence was reported, and police described the situation Sunday night around Port Elizabeth as “under control” after the prolonged disturbances.

The three latest victims were apparently wounded when police fired on a crowd of 6,000 that officers said were storming their lines and looting a liquor store late Saturday in Kwazakele. Two of the victims died later of gunshot wounds, and the body of the third was found Sunday.

Over the last two weeks, 45 black people have been killed near Port Elizabeth, including 19 who were shot by police Thursday at Langa township during the first funeral procession for three of those buried Sunday.

With anger running high in virtually all of South Africa’s black communities, the government is trying hard to prevent further incidents that could set off a nationwide reaction. The situation is being monitored minute-to-minute for President Pieter W. Botha.

“Could it blow? In a second,” a senior member of the ruling National Party said Sunday evening. “That we came through this weekend is a miracle. . . . We must now work to regain the equilibrium we lost. . . . And it must be that equilibrium that allows us to move forward with reforms without precipitating revolution.”

The police say they were acting only in self-defense against attacks when they fired on the crowd of 3,000 to 4,000 in the funeral procession Thursday. In addition to the 19 killed, more than 30 were wounded. Affidavits by black witnesses have now been filed with the liberal white opposition Progressive Federal Party, charging that the police action was punitive.

Errol Moorcroft, a member of Parliament from that party, said the affidavits assert that the police fired without warning, that escape routes were blocked by officers who continued firing at those attempting to flee, that policemen shot several wounded people a second time and that they walked among the casualties, kicking them to see who was still alive.

Botha on Friday appointed a respected South African judge, Donald D.V. Kannemeyer, to investigate the incident and assess the sharply differing accounts.

Police Fear Suggested

Meanwhile, South Africa’s ambassador to the United States, Bernardus G. Fourie, suggested Sunday that the police may have fired on the crowd Thursday because of fear, Times correspondent Doyle McManus reported in Washington.

“There had been some violence in areas, again black against black . . . where the houses were burned and when people jumped out, they were killed by spades and implements like that. . .,” Fourie said.

“Now when you look at that, then you must understand what must have gone through the minds of a few, a small number of policemen facing a crowd of 3,000 or 4,000 people,” the envoy said on ABC-TV’s “This Week with David Brinkley.”