A vise on S. Africa at UN to drive it from Namibia

African nations were expected to launch a drive in the Security Council today (April 22) to impose mandatory sanctions on south Africa to try to force it out of Namibia (South-West Africa). If the proposed sanctions go to a vote, the United States, Britain, and possibly France are likely to exercise vetoes, creating the first direct confrontation between African nations and the new Reagan administration. A dozen African foreign ministers and several from other developing countries were to attend the debate.

At a meeting in Algiers last week, foreign ministers of the nonaligned movement's 34-nation coordination bureau adopted a "program of action" for Namibian independence and said UN-imposed sanctions sho uld include an oil embargo.