General has theory on cereal vote-killer

(First Edition)

JOHANNESBURG (Reuter) - A black South African general has accused ruling whites of a bizarre plot to sabotage this month's historic elections with invisible ink and porridge. The accusation carried some weight because Major-General Bantu Holomisa is number 13 candidate for the likely election winners, the African National Congress.

The general has alleged that President FW de Klerk's National Party was feeding blacks invisible ink in their porridge to disqualify them from voting.

Voters' hands will be marked with ink to prevent electoral abuses. Gen Holomisa suggested that blacks, many of whom eat porridge with their hands, would unwittingly have their hands marked with the ink, which would then show up under infra-red inspection lights.

The general is military leader of the Transkei 'homeland', due for abolition with the other black 'homelands' after the elections on 26 to 28 April. He led crowds chanting 'Down with the porridge of the Boers' in an election rally attended by 4,000 supporters at East London's Duncan Village on Monday.

The ANC said it was baffled by the general's recipe but the National Party dismissed the accusation as absurd. Its spokesman, Danie du Plessis, said: 'Gen Holomisa can definitely not be described as one of the ANC's intellectual assets.'