(FORTUNE Magazine) – South Africa and its major European and American creditor banks agreed to an interim plan that would end the debt-repayment freeze imposed by Pretoria last September. Over the next year South Africa will repay some $500 million of its $14 billion in frozen debt and up to 1% in additional interest. A recent rebound in the South African economy and a conciliatory speech in January by Prime Minister P. W. Botha apparently combined to overcome the bankers' misgivings. ''The government is feeling pretty good about the improving economy, and I suspect the bankers are too,'' says Richard Hull, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan, the New York-based political-risk forecasting firm. ''Botha talked about abolishing influx control laws, which restrict the mobility of blacks, and about starting up a political council that would include people from all races. Perhaps that bought South Africa some time and made it more palatable for the banks to think about rescheduling.'' But if the banks were placated, General Motors, which operates an automobile plant in Port Elizabeth, was not. Robert White, the American managing director for GM in South Africa, wrote a letter to local newspapers condemning segregated beaches and offering legal aid to any employee who is prosecuted for swimming at white-only beaches. White did not consult GM headquarters in Detroit before writing the letter, and the company later commended his stance. U.S. businesses in South Africa, it seems, are becoming more outspoken.