Two student groups will hold a rally at noon today on the steps of Pattee Library to celebrate the release of political activist Nelson Mandela and to call for further changes in South Africa.

Mandela, jailed in 1963 by the South African government for his ties with the African National Congress, was released last weekend. But Andrew McInerney, president of the Committee for Justice in South Africa, said his release is only one step toward that country' freedom.

The committee, which McInerney said has been inactive for about a year, was involved in pressuring the University to divest from interests in South Africa.

After nine years of debate, the University divested in 1987. But McInerney said he wants to ensure the University does not reinvest in companies doing business in South Africa.

"We're sort of reviving ourselves," he said, adding that the group currently has 20 members.

"What we're really interested in is the complete dismantling of apartheid," said McInerney, whose organization is co-sponsoring the event.

Sipho Hrophe, a South African student in the University's SHARE program, said he and other participants in the program have been "cautiously optimistic" since Mandela's release. But he stressed the need for continuing pressure on the South African government until apartheid laws are banished.

"We want a peaceful and a democratic government in South Africa," he said. "The (South African) government is duty bound to really create conditions for negotiating."

After Mandela's release, SHARE participants released a joint statement to local media.

"We can no longer wait for our non-racial, democratic and unitary South Africa. It is imperative that a new constitution be drafted, a constitution that will be democratic," students said in the statement.

Another of the rally's purposes is to make clear the connection between racism in the United States and racism in South Africa, said Monica Somocurcio, president of the co-sponsoring group Students and Youth Against Racism.

Americans can learn about racism in their own country by being aware of South African issues, Hrophe said. The media play an important part in this awareness, he added.

Instead of the "out of sight, out of mind" attitude the media takes toward most issues, they should try to educate the public about oppression everywhere, Hrophe said.

Somocurio said she will make a statement at today's rally, followed by presentations by Sizwe Mabizela, a black South African recently returned from South Africa, and Godfrey Sithole, a representative of the ANC in New York.