New Political Group Forming In S. Africa

Roelf Meyer, an estranged ally of former South African President F.W. de Klerk, announced Wednesday that he is forming a political movement which he hopes will attract both black and white voters.

Meyer, who was one of the chief negotiators during the country’s peaceful transition from white supremacist rule, said he would build the movement around the things that seemed to matter most to all South Africans - housing, health care, jobs and fighting crime.

Meyer was supposed to be sorting out new directions for de Klerk’s National Party, which is trying to remake itself. It must attract black voters if it is ever to regain power.