World Notes South Africa

^ The church-sponsored peace accord signed last weekend by the governing National Party and the country's leading black parties -- the African National Congress and Inkatha -- was supposed to help end the factional violence that has taken the lives of almost 11,000 blacks since 1984. But in the week leading up to the agreement, more than 120 people were killed in the year's worst outbreak of black-on-black violence, dashing hopes that the pact would soon bring peace to the strife-torn townships.

The latest bloodletting began in Thokoza, southeast of Johannesburg, when gunmen opened fire on Zulus headed for an Inkatha rally. The toll: 23 dead. Avenging Zulus held the A.N.C. responsible, and within hours were on the offensive in Thokoza and other townships. Over the next five days, at least 100 more died in clashes that included attacks on commuter buses and trains. The A.N.C. denied involvement, suggesting instead that right-wing white extremists were to blame. That could be true, but many blacks were unconvinced. "It seems we cannot cope with victory," wrote Aggrey Klaaste, editor of the black newspaper the Sowetan. "White soldiers are now needed to tear us from one another's throats."