S. African police alerted as racial protests resume

Police were on alert in the black townships around Bloemfontein, South Africa , Thursday after the worst night of racial violence in a month. One man was killed and two women were wounded by gunfire. Police opened fire on black protesters in the townships of Batho and Manguang Wednesday night when tear gas failed to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing youths.

The demonstrations, part of a nationwide campaign against segregated schools, continued Thursday when thousands of mainly Colored (mixed race) high school students in Cape Town resumed a boycott of classes, which they halted earlier this week.

Opposition parliamentarians have warned the government that shortcomings in nonwhite education could result in a repeat of the Soweto riots, which began as a black student protest on June 16, 1976, and ended in nearly 600 deaths.