Dole May Try to Delay Vote on Sanctions : Might Shelve Bill on S. Africa Curbs Until Spring if Reagan Acts

WASHINGTON —  Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole said Sunday that he may seek to delay until next spring final action on a bill imposing economic sanctions on South Africa if President Reagan, as expected, announces his own package of sanctions this morning.

If he carries it off, Dole’s move could save Reagan from an embarrassing political defeat in the Republican-run Senate, which has scheduled a vote today that almost certainly could break a conservative filibuster over the legislation and lead to its overwhelming passage within days.

The Administration has not revealed details of its sanctions package. However, several Republican sources indicated that it would closely parallel the Senate legislation, which has already passed the House.

Influence With Pretoria

Reagan has long objected to sanctions, asserting that they would undercut his clout with Pretoria and diminish the Administration’s ability to encourage reform of apartheid, South Africa’s policy of racial separation.

But Dole, as well as Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and other prominent Republicans have warned the President that anti-apartheid sentiment on Capitol Hill is so strong that Congress would override any veto of the bill.

Dole, interviewed on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” confirmed that Reagan is expected this morning to announce his own sanctions package to be implemented by executive order. As a result, the Kansas Republican said, he may suggest postponing the sanctions vote “until next March or next April 1” and then reviving it if the President does not follow through with action against South Africa.

‘We Declare Victory’

“If the President makes a strong statement tomorrow and does certain things that are already in this legislation, we declare victory, all of us,” Dole said.

A few days ago, Lugar was insisting that he would press the bill no matter what Reagan did. But one knowledgeable congressional source said Sunday that the committee chief changed his mind after learning that Reagan would act to implement provisions in the bill “with a few minor changes.”

“It’s a major turnaround by the Administration,” the source insisted. “Since we won, there’s no point in slapping the President in the face.”

But key Democrats involved in the sanctions fight reacted angrily to the news of Reagan’s plans, saying that failure to enact legislation imposing sanctions would in the long run encourage the white-minority government to cling to its racial policies.

Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (D-N.Y.) insisted that the executive actions contemplated by Reagan “would dilute an already modest piece of legislation.”

The Democrats also cautioned that the President may sugarcoat some of the punitive actions contained in the legislation, thereby relieving, rather than increasing, pressure on South Africa’s white leaders for change.

For example, Administration sources quoted in the New York Times said that Reagan will announce a ban on the sale of new South African gold Krugerrands in this country but will not implement it until the Swiss-based General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade has ruled that the ban does not violate world trading rules.

Such language “certainly will encourage them (the Pretoria government),” Solarz insisted in a telephone interview. “Some of the toughest provisions have been left by the wayside.”

Further Sanctions

Solarz noted that sanctions legislation not only limits computer sales and loans to the Pretoria government as well as banning Krugerrand imports into this country, but it also orders further sanctions in a year if no progress is made in improving political and social conditions for blacks.

The legislation before the Senate also would ban the sale of U.S. nuclear technology unless South Africa signs the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, require U.S. companies in South Africa to eliminate discrimination and provide U.S. grants to South African human rights organizations.